UNEXPECTED & UNPREPARED
FOR WHAT IS COMING
By W. G. Guy
I marvel at how unaware most people are about their surroundings and current events. People are not paying attention to things that can seriously impact their lives. Almost everywhere I go I observe too many people staring at their smart phones, totally oblivious to their surroundings. They fail to realize how dangerous this is.
Nature itself teaches us to always be alert. Consider animals in the wild that are always attentive to what is going on around them; their lives depend on being alert. Jesus told us to have that same level of awareness:
Luke 21:34-36 – And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Jesus told us what it is that is coming that will be totally unexpected; and the unprepared will be caught by surprise, and to their own destruction. What is it that will come unexpectedly to the unprepared? The return of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Matthew 24:36-39 – But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Most ministers who preach on this passage focus on “one shall be taken and the other left”. Note that Jesus says that it is the wicked that are taken and the righteous are left. These preachers miss the point Jesus was making about the unexpectedness of His return. They also miss identify who it is that are taken.
Matthew 24:40-41 – Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
This unexpectedness is also reflected when Jesus spoke of the ten virgin bridesmaids when He concluded this message with:
Matthew 25:13 – Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
When Jesus spoke of conditions in the days of Noah (Noe), He was saying that things would continue as usual, but then SUDDENLY, it happened; what they were not expecting. Jesus also adds the example of Lot with Sodom and Gomorrah.
Luke 17:26-29 – And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
The apostle Paul also gives us the same warning for the unprepared:
1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 – For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
But for the prepared, the born-again, the redeemed, the saved, those who are in Jesus Christ, Paul goes on to write:
1 Thessalonians 5:4-10 – But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
The apostle Peter also addresses the unexpectedness of the Day of the Lord using the same metaphor:
2 Peter 3:10 – But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.
Peter also reports that in the last days there would be deniers of the words of Jesus:
2 Peter 3:3-4 – knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. (Just as it was in the days of Noah.)
Please do not be among the scoffers or deniers of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; who originally came to make atonement for your sins with His death upon the cross; followed by His resurrection from the dead in order to impart His life to any and all who believe and accept Him. You will not be taken by surprise if you know Him and are obedient to His Word. As previously stated, (in MEV version):
Luke 21:34-36 – “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts become burdened by excessiveness and drunkenness and anxieties of life, and that Day comes on you unexpectedly. For as a snare it will come on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Therefore watch always and pray that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Don’t let the festivities of the season distract you from the truth of the Word of God, and Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
FOR WHAT IS COMING
By W. G. Guy
I marvel at how unaware most people are about their surroundings and current events. People are not paying attention to things that can seriously impact their lives. Almost everywhere I go I observe too many people staring at their smart phones, totally oblivious to their surroundings. They fail to realize how dangerous this is.
Nature itself teaches us to always be alert. Consider animals in the wild that are always attentive to what is going on around them; their lives depend on being alert. Jesus told us to have that same level of awareness:
Luke 21:34-36 – And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Jesus told us what it is that is coming that will be totally unexpected; and the unprepared will be caught by surprise, and to their own destruction. What is it that will come unexpectedly to the unprepared? The return of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Matthew 24:36-39 – But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Most ministers who preach on this passage focus on “one shall be taken and the other left”. Note that Jesus says that it is the wicked that are taken and the righteous are left. These preachers miss the point Jesus was making about the unexpectedness of His return. They also miss identify who it is that are taken.
Matthew 24:40-41 – Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
This unexpectedness is also reflected when Jesus spoke of the ten virgin bridesmaids when He concluded this message with:
Matthew 25:13 – Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
When Jesus spoke of conditions in the days of Noah (Noe), He was saying that things would continue as usual, but then SUDDENLY, it happened; what they were not expecting. Jesus also adds the example of Lot with Sodom and Gomorrah.
Luke 17:26-29 – And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
The apostle Paul also gives us the same warning for the unprepared:
1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 – For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
But for the prepared, the born-again, the redeemed, the saved, those who are in Jesus Christ, Paul goes on to write:
1 Thessalonians 5:4-10 – But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
The apostle Peter also addresses the unexpectedness of the Day of the Lord using the same metaphor:
2 Peter 3:10 – But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.
Peter also reports that in the last days there would be deniers of the words of Jesus:
2 Peter 3:3-4 – knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. (Just as it was in the days of Noah.)
Please do not be among the scoffers or deniers of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; who originally came to make atonement for your sins with His death upon the cross; followed by His resurrection from the dead in order to impart His life to any and all who believe and accept Him. You will not be taken by surprise if you know Him and are obedient to His Word. As previously stated, (in MEV version):
Luke 21:34-36 – “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts become burdened by excessiveness and drunkenness and anxieties of life, and that Day comes on you unexpectedly. For as a snare it will come on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Therefore watch always and pray that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Don’t let the festivities of the season distract you from the truth of the Word of God, and Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
