What Lies Ahead?

The subject for my message today might be entitled, What Lies Ahead of This Poor World? When Christ was living on the earth, He said, As it was in the days of Noah, 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, or had their marriage annulled, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Did you notice those three words, until the day? It must have been a shocking day, a very rude awakening.

The Bible clearly tells us of an event that is yet to occur, which will give to the world its greatest shock. The shock will consist in the sudden disappearance of millions of its choicest inhabitants. The disappearance will be of such a mysterious nature, that it will seem as though the earth has opened its mouth and swallowed them.

But that will not be the case. Heaven will have opened its doors to receive them. I do not wish to be sentimental, but these facts are clearly stated in the Bible.

Listen as I read from 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 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.

When this world-shocking event takes place, those who are not saved will be left behind for punishment, and the world's experts will have to give an explanation of the mysterious disappearance of millions. And I am sure they will be able to offer explanations that will be accepted by some. However, I think there will be some who have heard of the second coming of Christ, who have read about it in the Bible, who will not fall for the explanations that experts will offer.

These will know what has happened and will find no comfort, for they will know that their doom is sealed. In Noah's day, the coming of judgment was proclaimed for 120 years, but as now, so then, many would not believe the report. Only eight souls out of the teeming thousands believed that God's program would be carried out.

The masses were saying a loving God wouldn't send a flood, and by this satanic reasoning, they brushed aside all responsibility of taking shelter in the ark which God provided. After the fateful day arrived, many believed, and if a second chance had been offered, they all would have crowded into the ark. After Christ comes again and all Christians will disappear in a moment of time, many Christ rejecters will be anxious to be saved, but God will not offer a second chance.

Remember Christ said, as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man, and the flood or the judgment came and destroyed them all. If you raise the question, what lies ahead of this poor world? The Bible answers your question in a twofold manner. For those who are born again, who have come to Christ for salvation, heaven and eternal happiness lies ahead, not just as a possibility, but as a definite certainty.

The other half of the answer to the question, what lies ahead of this poor world, is extremely sad. For those who are not born again have nothing ahead but judgment. Facing such a dark prospect will rob you of all possible joy, and life becomes unbearable, a mere waste of energy.

The solemn fact of judgment ahead is announced in the Bible, not to cast a gloom upon the future, but to cause men and women to face the facts, and to turn from that coming judgment. The coming judgment will not fall upon all men. It will only come upon those who neglect God's free salvation.

So there is no reason why you should ever be caught in that fearful day. It's God's desire that you might be saved before Christ comes again. He would much rather save you than punish you.

But if you refuse his kind offer of salvation, there's nothing left for him to do but to banish you from his presence for all eternity. The shock of Christ's second coming will apparently not last very long, for men will learn the necessity of adjusting themselves to any existing conditions. The Holy Spirit, who is now in the world restraining the forces of evil, will also be removed when Christ comes again.

The bounds of Satan's power will be greatly enlarged, with no representative from heaven to restrain him. And if you think the world conditions are bad today, you have a few more guesses coming, for after Christ comes, this poor world will rock and reel like a drunkard. The front page of your newspapers will only be able to carry a few of the blood-curdling events of the day.

I'm glad I won't be here when the devil's ropes are lengthened. His present power is more than I care to see. In the light of these Bible facts regarding the future, do you still think that you should go on without being saved? I appeal to your better judgment.

Does it seem reasonable to you that Christ should stand ready to save you from the awful day of impending judgment, and still you should refuse him and deliberately wait for God's wrath to fall upon you? The tremendous price that Christ paid on the cross of Calvary in order to save you ought to melt your cold heart. Those of us who are saved still shudder to think of those days when we were exposed to God's judgment. How stupid of us to hear of God's free salvation, and then to turn a deaf ear and prefer to go on in our sins.

Among the greatest regrets in my life are those days when I turned down God's offer of salvation. I now look upon them as a form of insanity. Evidently I didn't believe that God meant what he said, but I'm glad, I'm eternally glad for the day when I trusted Christ as my Lord and Savior.

As I read in the Bible of the fearful judgment that will fall upon Christ rejecters, I read it calmly saying, Thank God when all this happens I will be at home with my blessed Savior. But I find it difficult to read about these things that shall fall upon this poor world without being concerned about you who are still unsaved. I wish you too would believe in the seriousness of this occasion that is about to fall upon the earth.

Perhaps you don't believe what God says. Perhaps you prefer to listen to the world's experts. Bible haters have a wide variety of answers to offer.

You can take your pick. Any one of them will lead you to hell. The creature who claims to have more knowledge than the Creator is not intelligent, and even less intelligent is the person who would rather listen to the creature than to the Creator.

I'm glad I'm saved, for I don't think I would enjoy living if I wasn't. It's a grand thing to retire for the night with the assurance that if Christ should come before the daybreak, I know I'll be with Him in Emmanuel's land, never to see sin nor sorrow again. Christian friend, rejoice with me, for one of these days when the trumpet sounds, those of us who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ will go up to meet Him in the air.

In my closing remarks, I ask you who have never trusted Jesus Christ, look to Him as He hung for you as a substitute on Calvary's cross and died for your sins. Trust Him as your Lord and Savior, and God's word assures you that you will pass from death unto life. God bless you for listening to this message from His words.