Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
You can't deny that it's a temptation: for well over 150 years [170 years now] "we" have been preaching that Jesus is coming "soon," "it's the eleventh hour," "time is almost finished," etc. Now, many are wondering, because they are tempted to doubt: "Is Jesus really coming back again soon, as we humans are forced to understand the word "soon"?
And some who have long believed that Jesus promised to return visibly, personally, in the clouds, are beginning to try to redefine "the second coming" so it won't be personal and visible. (That means they are repeating the arguments of 170+ years ago, while telling us they still believe in the Second Coming!)
If you are tempted to doubt the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, let me suggest one simple observation you can make that will clarify your vision: consider how our modern world is fast becoming like Jesus described the days of Noah before the Flood.
Look at Matthew 24:37-39 (these are the simple, direct words of Jesus Himself): "As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 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, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." Genesis 6 describes those "days" as "corrupt ... and filled with violence" (vs. 11). All the people cared about was pleasure. And Genesis says that God repented that He had made man (vs. 7).
Think of how we are living today in a time of solemn judgment, and contrast the irresponsible, pleasure-driven, yes, corrupt spirit that prevails, and you can't help but see that it's as it was in the days of Noah before the Flood. It's time for solemn, serious, sober thinking! Nothing in this world makes sense except the truth as it is in Jesus! God give us grace to believe it!
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 22, 1998.
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