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!