by Tammy Phillips
August 30, 2021
“Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:44 NKJV)
It is wedding season! We celebrated our oldest son’s marriage in May and have been to several weddings since then. I cannot even count how many weddings the kids have attended this year. I awoke at 3 AM this morning thinking about my youngest son’s future wedding. He told me about a unique idea he had for his groom’s cake, NEXT YEAR. My creative, artist brain started running in an attempt to come up with a design. Then Holy Spirit kicked in and reminded me of His words that have been echoing between my ears for weeks:
“For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,” (Matthew 24:38 NKJV)
“They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:27 NKJV)
I am sure that the people thought Noah was crazy! They had never seen, nor did they know about rain, so that had no real concept of a flood. The earth was watered from the Lord’s irrigation system in the ground, a mist that rose from the earth not from rain that fell from the sky (Gen.2:5-6). I assume there were many conversations around the construction of the ark, but the Bible does not say so. The only thing the Bible alludes to was that Noah was a “a preacher of righteousness.” (2 Peter 2:5) They Bible does not say that Noah warned the people of the impending flood. Also, Noah was told to build the ark when he was 500 years old, and the flood did not come until he was 600. People kept living however THEY wanted, unrighteous and ungodly, just like today.
The Lord saved the righteous but destroyed the unrighteous with with a flood. He turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes and made reservations in hell until judgment day for the angels who chose to sin against Him. He came quickly, without warning and executed justice. For most of my life, at least the last forty years, I have believed that Jesus was coming soon. Christians have believed in Jesus’ eminent return since His death over 2000 years ago. The disciples believed that He would return quickly and set up His kingdom. The Bible tells us repeatedly that Jesus is coming quickly…
“Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.” (Revelation 3:11 NKJV)
“Behold, I am coming quickly” (Revelation 22:7 NKJV).
“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward [is] with Me, to give to everyone according to his work.” (Revelation 22:12 NKJV)
“He who testifies to these things says, “Surely, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20 NKJV)
I know what you all are thinking…two thousand years is a long time and Jesus has not come yet. News alert, time is irrelevant to God, to us it might be 2000 years of grace, but to the Lord it might be two years of grace. “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day [is] as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Peter 3:8 NKJV)
The question is really not, “when is Jesus coming again?” He is coming! Jesus will come quickly and without warning. He has been so good to us and warned us over and over and over again. He has given us chance after chance to get our lives right. The real question is, “Are we prepared to meet Him?” Have we kept on doing what we want to do? Have we been our own god? Have we kept on eating, drinking, marrying, and partying and forgotten the LORD our righteousness?
I strongly, strongly, enCOURAGE you with everything that is in me to get right with the Lord. Choose Him as your Savior and allow Him to be Lord of your life. As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; … There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:10, 18 NKJV) ” (Romans 3:10- NKJV). Don’t let this be you when Jesus comes. You cannot do, nor be good enough for the Lord. You are only made righteous and justified in Him. He is your Justifier, and He is your Righteousness. I do not know when Jesus is coming. It could be today, tomorrow or hundreds years from now. I am going to live like He is coming today and prepare for the next 100 years.
If you read this far, you have been advised and you have been invited. Have you accepted the proposal of Jesus, the Groom? Have you Répondez S‘il Vous Plaît? Have you RSVP’d to the party of all time, the marriage feast of the Lamb? Are you ready? Please respond!
Complete in Him 