The Boy who cried Wolf
I think most of us, especially those of us who went to school when they actually taught these little stories, remember the story of the Boy who Cried Wolf.
For the benefit of those have never heard this story I shall attempt to tell it in it's original transcript.
There once was a boy named Peter, about 10 years old who had the task of watching over some sheep on a hillside just out of town.
Watching sheep for a ten year old boy was rather boring. After climbing rocks, chimbing trees, chasing sheep, and an occasional nap, he would become bored.
What else could he do? "Oh I've got an idea that will create some excitement."
So he climbed up in a tree and starting crying, "Wolf, Wolf, Wolf."
The village people thinking a wolf was about to devour their sheep grabbed their rakes, axes, hoes shovel and ran up the hill to save the boy and the sheep.
But when they got there, Peter sitting a rock laughing uncontrollably.
He got a good spanking from his mom that night, but the next day Peter was up to it again.
Same thing. "Wolf, Wolf, Wolf." Here come the villagers with their weapons ready to pounce upon a ferocious wolf.
Again, they found the sheep peaceably grazing on the hillside with Peter sitting on a rock laughing uncontrollably.
Well, this went on for a few days until the people would pay no attention to Peter's false alarms.
But one day a real, live, vicious, wolf did appear, creeping along ready to attack one of the sheep.
This time Peter cried out, "Wolf, Wolf, Wolf." Finally he was screaming, "Wolf, Wolf, Wolf."
But nobody came! They just thought it was another false alarm from Peter and went on with their business.
Little did they know, just up the hill, the wolf was devouring their precious sheep.
When they finally went to the hillside they found remains of sheep lying everywhere, and Peter? Well, he was up in a tree whimpering and crying.
He said, "I cried out, but nobody came."
That was the short version of The Boy who cried wolf."
Now for the narrative to be revealed!
Now in the real story, the moral of the story was, that if you keep on lying and lying to people, soon they won't believe what you say, even if you are telling the truth.
But I want to turn this around a little and look at this story in a completely diffferent perspective.
In my perspective of the story, there is no lying, but there is complete truth, but only a very few people are believing it.
Turn your bibles to 2 Peter 3: 1-9
2Pe 3:1 ¶ This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
3 ¶ Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 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.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 ¶ But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 ¶ The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
So the story changes doesn't it? Peter was calling out false alarms and finally when things got back to normal, they didn't believe him when he was actually telling the truth.
Well, the Bible, prophets, preachers, and teachers have been saying for years that Jesus is coming, you had better get ready.
We have been sounding the alarm that the Lord is coming as a thief in the night, unexpected, and all of God's people will be caught up in the air to be with the Lord.
We've been hearing that story for years! Paul taught that Jesus could come at any moment.
He warned the church to be ready. Jesus warned us to be ready.
Then down throughout the years, around 2000, to be exact, preachers have been preaching, "You had better get ready because Jesus is coming!"
There have been false prophets that have said Jesus was coming on a certain date, but when that date arrived, there was no Jesus.
People have written books about when the Lord is going to come, and yet, He hasn't come.
Unlike Peter in our story, who was telling lies about the wolf, the Word of God is telling the truth, and yet people are going about their evil ways ignorning the warning that Jesus is coming.
Not only is Jesus coming, but the Great Tribulation will soon follow his coming and there will be all sorts of catastrophies, disasters, and calamities around the globe..
And here in 2 Peter, chapter three, He is predicting the attitude of the people in general around the world. Listen again!
3 ¶ Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 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.
Or put into a different translation, "2Pe 3:3 First be assured of this, that, as the age draws to an end, scoffers, led by their own passions,
4 will come and ask scoffingly-- 'Where is his promised Coming? Ever since our fathers passed to their rest, everything remains just as it was when the world was first created!'
In other words people will say, "Where is this rapture you are talking about?
I've heard that all my life! My grandfather talked about it all his life.
Things haven't changed, they are exactly the same, no rapture, no anti-christ, no tribulation, FALSE ALARM!!!!"
So, as a result the Bible says in Matthew 24:36, "But about that Day and Hour, no one knows--not even the angels of Heaven, nor yet the Son--but only the Father himself.
37 For, just as in the days of Noah, so will it be at the Coming of the Son of Man.
38 In those days before the flood they went on eating and drinking, marrying and being married, up to the very day on which Noah entered the ark,
39 Taking not notice till the flood came and swept them one and all away; and so will it be at the Coming of the Son of Man."
You must recall, Noah also warned the people for years upon years that God was going to send a flood to destroy the earth, but they went on their merry way, thinking Old Noah was a buffoon, a zany old man, who had a spectacle going in the wilderness.
This old world is about to crash and burn, my friend! You can't say we haven't been warned!
We've had years and years to get ready!
You see, God's timetable isn't like ours. To Him time is nothing!
For God is eternal, always has, and always will.
Notice what 2 Peter 3:8 says, "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
Psalm 90:4
4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
God does not estimate time as we do. To him no duration can be long.
Yes, to us, 2000 years ago was a long time, but you must remember what I just said, "God does not estimate time as we do. To Him no duration can be long!
So two thousand years to God is like, a couple days ago!
You see, we make the mistake of thinking God measures time as we do! Oh no!
According to God's timing, Jesus left the earth just a "couple days ago!"
Remember? "that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
So it hasn't been that long after all! Jesus is coming back whether you want to believe it or not!
God is not crying Wolf! His word is truth! His promises are true!
It's time to get ready! Even if He doesn't come today, He most certainly could call your name and take you out!
The Word is still true!
1Th 5:1 ¶ But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 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.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6 ¶ Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
8 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.
9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
"1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 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.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
1Co 15:51 ¶ Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 ¶ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
This preacher is crying "Wolf, Wolf, Wolf," this morning!
I am sounding the alarm! Jesus is coming! This world is about to come to an end as we know it!
The saints are about to be taken out of this world! Its closer now than it ever has!
The anti-christ system is getting ready to take control.
Everything is happening just like the Bible said it would! And the fact is, you know it! So what are you going to do about it?
Are you going to go along in your merry way and ignore the warning, or are you going to get ready to meet the Lord in the air?
More than 230,000 people were killed, 500,000 were injured, and 1.7 were left homeless on December 26th, 2004, after a 9.2 magnitude earthquake caused a tsunami that affected 14 countries in Asia and eastern and southern Africa.
The incident remains one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded human history.
But seven years before the earthquake and tsunami hit, a top government official in Thailand warned that the country would soon be hit by a tsunami.
His calls were ignored, and he was termed, "crazy."
He was also banned from entering some parts of Thailand, where he was considered a threat to tourism.
The Pacific Ocean Tsunami warning system also called the embassies and government officials of several Asian countries after the earthquake and warned that they were at risk of a tsunami.
But their warnings went unheeded. As a matter of fact, after the tsunami began to happen, as the water was retreating, and as the big wave was coming in, many people ran out into the coastline to catch stranded fish, but it was a deadly action.
People are warned every day that Jesus is coming, but they still continue to live their sinful ways, ignorning the warning.
Are you ready?
