Day: September 3, 2024
The Son of Man Will Return
by William Oldham
“When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat and the flood came and destroyed them all. And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building—until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” Luke 17:26-30
Make no mistake: Jesus Christ is returning, not as a suffering Savior, but as the King of kings, and Lord of lords. No one knows the hour or the day of His return, but we know He’s coming. We also know that it will be a day of great rejoicing for those who belong to Him, and a day of dark despair for all the evildoers.
Jesus said that when He returns, it will be like it was in the days of Noah. The people were going about their daily lives as if everything was just fine. There was some crazy man building something called an ark, and talking to folks about a disaster that was coming—a flood. He tried to warn them, but they cared less; they didn’t want their lives interrupted by such nonsense; there had never been such a thing, and never would.
Yes, they were content with their lives and didn’t want anything disturbing them. But God saw that they were wicked. The Lord tells us that He observed the extent of their wickedness. He saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. And it was because of these conditions that God rained down judgment on the wicked, and saved righteous Noah and his family.
In that Day, the world will be like it was in Lot’s day. Those folks in Sodom and Gomorrah didn’t want their lives interrupted either. Interestingly, when Jesus describes the daily lives there, He omits the word marriage. We have no trouble finding the sins of those cities. Genesis 19 and Ezekiel 16 are plain. Pride and sexual perversion was the order of the day. Yes, they were proud of their wickedness. It was because of these conditions that God rained down fire and brimstone on them, and rescued Lot and his family.
The daily news affirms that the world in which we live has become like it was in the days of Noah and Lot. The disgraceful displays of wickedness at the Olympics testify to the world’s pride and arrogance against God. The vast number of people that support the atrocities of terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, testify to the proud acceptance of violence and corruptness, worldwide. So the world we live in today exactly fits the conditions Jesus foretold would exist when He returns.
On the Day of Jesus’ return, you will find yourself in one of two people groups; either you will be transformed and rise to meet Jesus in the air, or you will face the fiery wrath of God. You can’t have it both ways, and you can’t have it your way—Jesus will be the sovereign Ruler over it all.
Let’s say that you most assuredly want to be prepared to meet Jesus on that Day. What do you do? Well, I sure wouldn’t want to be haphazard about it; I would want to consult the supreme authority on the matter to make sure I was in the group that meets Jesus. Where would I find the supreme authority that would give me the assurance that I would be safe?
There is only one authority that can give you that assurance, and that is the Bible. God ordained that book and breathed into the writers every word you need to know to be saved. The word of God is your sure and sufficient authority to tell you how to leave this world alive when Jesus returns.
Brother Bill is a Bible teacher and can be contacted at bboldham@sbcglobal.net
Brethren – Brother Bill has been writing a column for a local newspaper with his Bible teaching for 18 years. He was just notified by the paper that they will not publish him anymore because they think he is too “Politically controversial.” This was quite a shock to him. Please pray for our brother in Christ.
Also, would many of you please write to Brother Bill and let him know what his teachings mean to you? bboldham@sbcglobal.net
Thank you so much!
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Help Us To See
by Brother Bill
“…We don’t look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18
Looking at the people in the Bible that are commended to us by God, they all shared a common bond in very diverse and difficult circumstances: they kept their eyes on the unseen God. They trusted God by holding onto His words of promise. By doing that, they pleased God, and their reward awaits them. God’s word always gives His chosen people a “Sight by faith.”
Probably no child of God ever suffered more for his faith than the apostle Paul. In his own words, Paul said, “…We are pressed on every side, yet not crushed; perplexed, yet not to despair; pursued, yet not forsaken; struck down, yet not destroyed; always carrying in the body the putting to death of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-10
Paul describes in plain words his sight by faith: “…Our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory.” 2 Corinthians 4:17
What is God’s word teaching here? Just this: By faith, Paul looked at his present affictions and troubles and saw that they were (in light of eternity), trivial and temporary; by those same eyes of faith, he saw that God was very present in his trials and tribulations and was working them out for an eternal glory for Paul.
If you are a child of God, know that whatever trial you may be facing today, your Father is present and working it all out for your good, because you are His child; He loves you and has called you to be His child; and you love Him because He loves you and has adopted you.
Here is your strength and encouragement in your daily life: the Holy Spirit lives within you to help you see that, “…It is God who works in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13 And here is our confidence: “…God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we may ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” Ephesians 3:20 Great is our Father’s faithfulness to help us and keep us until the day Jesus returns for us, or calls us home.
God help us to keep our eyes on Jesus!
Brother Bill is a Bible teacher and can be contacted at bboldham@sbcglobal.net
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How Do You Negotiate—With Evil?
From redstate.com
I vividly remember thinking to myself, “It’s getting close to bedtime” on the evening of October 7, 2023. But then my wife called and said, “Turn on the TV—NOW.”
I watched as Fox News reporter Trey Yingst described an unfolding attack against Israel, apparently by the terrorist group Hamas. I (incredulously) reported on it that night, and myriad times in the months following, and even though I was appalled by the slaughter, I was not prepared for the true evil that it turned out unfolded on that day.
Babies killed. Women raped. Innocents assassinated in cold blood. Hundreds of young people enjoying their lives brutally massacred at a music festival. It could have been my kids. It could have been yours.
The images haunt me to this day. As more and more information was revealed showing the true depravity of the Hamas assailants, it became clear to me that there was only one word for what we witnessed: evil.
Actually, make it three words: pure, unadulterated evil.
In the following days, Israel did what it had to do if it didn’t want to see repeats of this almost inhuman perversion—it went on the offensive, declared war, and took on the dark forces of Hamas. Civilians have died in the process, and that’s a sad reality of most warfare, but remember that none of them would have died had Hamas not savagely murdered over 1,200 Israelis. Remember also that many of the civilian casualties in Gaza—notoriously overstated by the utterly mendacious Gaza Health Ministry—would be alive today if the terrorist group didn’t use them as human shields and hide their military operations in hospitals and schools.
And yet, did we see worldwide protests decrying the sick actions of Hamas? Did campuses in the United States erupt in outrage over the barbaric carnage inflicted upon innocent Israelis (and some Americans)? Did thousands congregate In Manhattan’s Union Square Park, as they did Monday, to demand that Hamas embrace peace, lay down their arms, and release the remaining hostages—at least, the ones who they hadn’t murdered in cold blood?
No.
Instead, what we’ve seen is an almost universal response against Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. How dare they prosecute a war against the forces that assaulted them so viciously? Campuses have become war zones with unhinged protesters trashing the facilities and harassing Jewish students, major cities have been embroiled in violent demonstrations where “activists” openly support terrorism and wave the flags of their murderous organizations.
I don’t get it.
Meanwhile, the Incredibly Shrinking President and his clueless VP (and current Democrat presidential nominee) kneecap Netanyahu at every opportunity and demand ceasefire negotiations. Is Netanyahu doing enough to end the conflict and get the hostages released, Biden was asked Monday. “No,” he answered curtly before shuffling away.
HOW do you negotiate with pure unadulterated evil?
