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Noah and the Day of the Lord #returnofChrist

18 Sep

Rain SignI’ve been posting about how Jesus compared the last days to the days of Noah in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 17.  Noah obeyed God and built the ark to save his family.  When the rain was about to fall, God told Noah and his family to enter the ark.

At that point, when all were safe inside, God shut the door.  That was it, there was no turning back.  No one could leave, and no one else could enter the ark of salvation.  This is an important point in the principle Jesus is trying to get across to His disciples.

When all these things had taken place, the judgment of God fell upon that ancient world.

Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died.  Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth.  Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.
Genesis 7:22-23

Now it’s important for me to ask you another question.  According to the Scripture above, who was left?  The answer is simple yet ignored.  It clearly states that Noah and everybody in the ark were left.  Who was wiped away from off the face of the earth?  Every person and animal not in the ark.

It’s so clearly stated that you might ask why I’m emphasizing this issue.  There’s a very important reason.  Most of the people, who interpret this section of Scripture, rip it from its context, reverse it, and say that Noah was taken and the rest were left.  We’re not going to do that today.  I believe this verse as written and refuse to do any scriptural gymnastics to try and make it say something that it doesn’t.  A parallel passage of Scripture is Matthew 24:39.

“…and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.  That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”
Matthew 24:39

Even in His comments concerning the flood Jesus makes it abundantly clear that it was the sinners that were taken and Noah who was left.  This is a very important concept to grasp.  It goes against most of the teaching in the church today.  Yet it’s vital that we agree with what Christ says no matter what a man teaches.

Question: Does this challenge or confirm your beliefs about the second coming of the Lord?  How?

© Nick Zaccardi 2013

 
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Posted by on September 18, 2013 in Return of Christ

 

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Are You Ready for Christ’s Return – Really?

14 Jun

ClockJesus made some surprising statements about His return.  Don’t be one of those who are unprepared for what will happen before His return.

“It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night.  But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.  You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
Luke 12:38-40

The Lord says that His return will come when you don’t expect it.  Notice that it will not be a surprise because He comes before you expect Him.  What is going to throw people off is that He will arrive later than they thought it would be.

The second watch of the night is from 9 o’clock to midnight.  The third watch is from midnight to 3 in the morning.

What if I said to you, “Can I come over your house tonight?”

“Sure,” you reply and you wait for me to show up.  7 o’clock, 8 o’clock and 9 o’clock go by.  At that point you’ll probably shut the porch light off.  At 11 o’clock you will probably be in bed.  If I then bang on your door at 3 o’clock in the morning, I’m sure you wouldn’t even get out of bed to answer the door, even though I told you I was coming.

That’s what Jesus is saying.  He’s telling us that He’s coming later than we think.  Most people would think that if you’re going to come for dinner you should arrive early.

Naturally, we think “suppertime.”  But Jesus is asking how long after the suppertime is past are we prepared to wait?  There will be a time when people start thinking that Jesus should be here by now, but He’s not.  It’s midnight.  A lot of people have these religious clocks that are set at five minutes to midnight.  They think that the Lord is coming soon – at midnight.

I’ve got news for you.  The Bible says He might come as late as 3 in the morning, spiritually speaking.  There are many Bible teachers who have taken certain future prophetic events and defined them as occurring “after midnight.”

Someday the “prophecy clock” will strike midnight.  If you’re one of the people who believe that He’s going to be here at this prophetic midnight, you might be disappointed.  We’ve got to be careful.  Most of Christianity is expecting Him to come at this midnight hour.

Jesus said, “I’m going to come later than you think.”  As a matter of fact, what you’re going to find as we go through these Scriptures, is that whenever Christ warns us about being ready, He always qualifies it by saying that He will come later than we’re expecting.

Question: How far are you prepared to go if Christ delays His second coming?

© Nick Zaccardi 2013

 
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Posted by on June 14, 2013 in Faith, Return of Christ

 

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Waking Up on the Last Day

19 Apr

Clouds ReturnI’m continuing my posts on John chapter 6.  So far I’ve covered through verse 44.  If you read through the rest of this chapter, you’ll find that Jesus continues talking about eternal life.  He explains that you must eat of His flesh and drink of His blood to have eternal life.

I’m not going to go through the whole doctrine of the sufficiency of the body and blood of the Lord, given for us.  That would take a year’s worth of posts!  Suffice it to say that the Lord tried to tell them, “I’m the One who gives eternal life and I will raise you up (or literally wake you up) at the last day.”

Please take the time to understand this.  Jesus’ audience refused to hear it.  Even today many Christians have missed this simple truth.

He gives the disciples and us a term we must understand: “the last day.”  The word day in this Scripture is a literal, 24-hour day.  The word is singular.  Jesus said that if you put your trust in Him, He would raise you up at the last day.  What exactly is the last day?

I believe that Jesus built the disciples’ faith step by step.  The disciples were taught by the Lord that there was a time period called this age.  They also knew that the Lord intended to do some cleaning up of the world toward the end of this age, just before He called His people from their graves to receive their rewards. (Matthew 33:24-43)  The only conclusion that makes any sense is that Jesus was talking about the last, literal, twenty-four hour day of this present age.

I think it’s amazing that some preachers and teachers who normally make it a rule to interpret the Bible literally, unless it’s impossible to do so, suddenly lose all concept of reality.  Jesus said, “the last day.”  There’s nothing in this context to indicate that He meant anything other than a normal 24 hour day.  Yet, so many people have interpreted this last day from months to years long.

Throughout the Bible we find both of the terms last day and last days.  I believe that the Holy Spirit knew which term was appropriate in each section of the Scripture.  I also believe that Jesus meant what He said and said what He meant.  I believe that He intends to raise His people – to resurrect them – on the last day of this present age.

Jesus’ teaching is very clear on these points if you dare to take Him at His word.  As we approach the end of this age, God will somehow do a work that establishes a clear distinction between the “sons of the kingdom” and the “sons of the enemy.”  This work will culminate on the last day of the age when “all those who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out – those who have done good will rise to live…” (John 5:28-29).

This is the great hope of the church.

Question: How does meditating on the return of Christ give you hope?

 
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Posted by on April 19, 2013 in Return of Christ

 

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