To Encourage You

2 Corinthians 1:20 “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”

Luke 13:25 “When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’”

Are you on the outside or the inside?  All of life and eternity hinges on your answer to that question.  Outside or inside of what?” you might ask.  Outside or inside of Christ.  There are many types or shadows of Christ in the Old Testament. One such type is Noah’s ark.  Those who were inside the ark when the rains came were safe and secure. It didn’t matter that utter destruction was all around them, for they were inside the ark, completely protected.  Those outside, on the other hand, found themselves outside of protection for all eternity, drowned in the flood and then overwhelmed by the judgment of God.  

In the Scripture above from Luke 13 we are told that it will be just like that in the final judgment. In that account Jesus is speaking about the coming judgment of God at the end of time.  He spoke about a narrow door to salvation that very few would enter.  It’s not that they didn’t have time to enter.  And it’s not that they didn’t have the opportunity to enter.  It will be just like those of Noah’s day who, for what some Bible scholars estimate to be around 100 years, watched the ark being built and heard the preaching of Noah to escape the coming judgment (2 Peter 2:5).  Sadly, they just didn’t listen.  You see, it had never rained before the ark was built and since rain and flooding had never happened, almost all the people on the face of the earth at that time thought it could not happen.  But it did happen, to their eternal destruction, while just seven people, other than Noah, were saved. 

Today, many people, in fact most people, won’t listen to or take seriously the call of the good news of the gospel. Today, no one alive has ever seen the second coming of Jesus, although people have been warning about it for over 2,000 years.  It hasn’t happened yet, so it won’t ever happen, or that’s what most people think. But it will happen, most assuredly.  Jesus spoke of this with these words: “For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:37-39).

Scare tactics! That’s what many believe.  They mock and with self-assurance assert that nothing like this will ever happen.  But if they aren’t in Christ, which is another way of saying they haven’t been saved from the wrath to come because they have never believed what Jesus said and therefore have never put their faith in Him, they will be just like those who were not in the ark when the floods came in Noah’s day.  It is only when one is “in Christ” that all the promises of God are fulfilled.  There is safety there, and eternal life there, for that’s exactly what God has promised. But those promises of God are futile to those who aren’t “in Christ” for it was only to those who are in Christ that the hundreds of wonderful promises of God were made.  Outside of Him there are no promises – except the promise of utter destruction like that which came on the world in Noah’s day. 

So, what about you?  Are you on the outside or on the inside?  I urge you, because God in His Word has urged all of us, to get in the ark, while there is still time.