God's Great Object Lesson

"God’s Great Object Lesson"

[Pastor R. A. Deem, Jr.]

Ezek 33:1-6 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: 3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; 4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. 6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.

Mat 24:37-41 "The world will be at ease--banquets and parties and weddings-- 38 just as it was in Noah’s time before the sudden coming of the flood; 39 people wouldn’t believe what was going to happen until the flood actually arrived and took them all away. So shall my coming be. 40 "Two men will be working together in the fields, and one will be taken, the other left. 41 Two women will be going about their household tasks; one will be taken, the other left.

Introduction: In December, 1990 my family traveled to West Virginia for Christmas. As we left North Alabama, the rain was coming down in buckets. I remember going through some standing water on the roadway and thinking, "Boy, someone is going to be in trouble if this rain doesn’t stop." The evening before setting out on our trip we had been watching the news, and the region was under a flash flood watch. "Someone" was sure going to be in trouble.

You can imagine our surprise when we received a phone call the next morning from our Youth Minister. "Pastor", he said "We’re in a flood down here in Owens Cross Roads. As a matter of fact, the water has come within one inch of coming into the parsonage." We were SHOCKED --- but we shouldn’t have been. You see I had listened to the reports. I knew SOMEONE was going to be in trouble. Little did we know, it would be US!

You see, we had heard all the warnings, yet didn’t imagine they applied to us. You see, these things never happen to US, they always happen to someone else, right?

On my way back from West Virginia, the Lord began to speak to me using this flood as an illustration. It seemed I could hear Him say “Son, this is exactly how it will be when I come again. The world will be oblivious to my coming --- and even much of My church will be caught unawares.

May I tell you this morning that I believe in the second coming of Christ. I must! You see, if I believe He came the FIRST time, I MUST believe that He will come the SECOND TIME. The same Bible tells of both events.

May I tell you this morning that not only do I believe He is coming again, I believe He is coming again SOON. I believe I will see with my own eyes the Second Coming of Christ. In 1 Thess 4 we read these words:

1 Th 4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

In Acts 1:11 we read: Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Jesus gave these words of comfort to His disciples prior to His departure: John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.