There is an old story, forgive me if you are familiar with it, but it is worth telling. In this allegory, Satan meets three demons who each have ideas on approaching lost souls and how to keep their eyes off the Cross of Christ. The first says that the best way is to get them to believe there is no heaven, while the second suggest that telling them that hell is not a real place would be the best idea. To both of these demons Satan replies, “Neither of those ideas will work, for deep inside every one of them they know that both of these places exist, even if they won’t admit it to themselves.” The third demon then speaks up and say’s “I know, I will make them believe there is no hurry.” “That,” our adversary replies, “will work.”
Whether they are young or old, almost everyone thinks that they will have just one more day, that life is long and that there is no hurry, no reason to rush into any decisions, especially one about where they will spend eternity. The catch words are nearly always the same, “That’s a long time away,” or “I had better give that some more thought.” They are at rest and quite happy here, but as Luke 12:20 says “This night thy soul shall be required of thee.” No one alive can tell what tomorrow will bring, only the generalities, and these can only be based on past experiences or, perhaps to a lesser degree, what the weatherman is forecasting. An interesting word, forecasting, for outside of the charlatans of psychic shops, palm readers, astrologist and other diabolical devices of our adversary, the forecaster of tomorrows weather is generally seen a s trustworthy person, his prediction of the future, his forecast, is normally taken implicitly as truth, and even when he is wrong, the masses will tune in again the next day, just in case.
O, that they would search the Scriptures with such dedication, to see that every single prophecy, forecast if you will, by our Lord has come to pass, every single one. I believe that one of the reasons that the third demon in the little story was correct was because there is only one more event on Gods calendar before His wrath is revealed, and that is the rapture of the church, (1st Thess. 4:17) and since it has been nearly two-thousand years, “There is no hurry” is quite fitting for many.
Many times when I have brought this subject up, even to some Christians, it is sad to say, I have heard “Where is the promise of His coming…” (2nd Peter 3:4) not in these exact words of course, but phrased in such a way that the meaning is quite understandable, “It’s been a long time and people have been saying that forever.” This is the reason, I would suppose, in their own lives that they do not study the Scriptures diligently, not opening their Bibles each and everyday to search out the Will of God in their lives, because they believe there is no hurry.
My wonderful wife recently purchased a book that is assisting her with Scripture memorization, and it is a beautiful thing to watch. Her determination is quite admirable, and she is well aware that the main purpose of this task is not only for herself, so that she can hide Gods word in her heart, (Psalm 119:11) but for others. She is preparing herself to serve, and this is one of the ways that our Lord is leading her, her lamp is being kept full. (Matt. 25:1-13)
Because Satan does not know the hour of our Lords return to take his children home to glory, he is always prepared, he does not rest, and in my opinion, he may be one of the only created beings, along perhaps with the angels of God, who has the entire Bible memorized. He takes no chances, he knows no relaxation of his efforts, for he knows his time is short, (1st Peter 5:8) and so one of his greatest ploys is to convince all that there is no hurry, that the return of our Savior or the end of your life is a long time away. One of the most amazing things that I have witnessed in my life is the debt load that many Christians take upon themselves, for not only is this in disrespect of the Word of God, (Prov. 22:7 and Matt. 6:25) but it shows an impatience, the desire to have now what they should pray and wait on. They rush to purchase what they are sure they will be here tomorrow or next year to pay for, but show no signs that the approach of the Lord or the end of their lives is imminent, seeking earthly treasures but none for the eternal life to come. Their Bibles get dusted off, as it were, once a week, if remembered at all, while the cell phone begins to lose its outer coating from continuous use, the glow of the Word of God diminishes within them, while the things of the world and all it has to offer performs its daily ritual of diversion upon them. “There is no hurry, life is long, I will serve Him greater when I have more money or after I retire.”
When Jesus spoke of “But as in the days of Noah were, so shall also shall the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matt. 24:37) did you notice that everyone but the chosen eight were going about their business as usual, that it was the normal ‘nine-to-five for them? Those that believe that they have all the time they need, that there is no hurry, are simply repeating the same phrase that all of those that died in unbelief did in the flood, the only difference is the wording, instead of “no hurries’ or “where is the promise of His coming…” they said, mockingly, “What’s rain?”
Study the Scriptures in this area and then listen to just some of the news of what is happening around the globe, see if the Holy Spirit opens your eyes to the truth that the leaves are turning green, (Matt. 24:32) then not only will you make sure that your lamp is always full, but you will find yourself warning others that time is short, but prepare yourselves, my friends, for you will be mocked and ridiculed, even by some of those that call themselves Christians. We set no dates, for no man knows the day or hour of our Lords return, (Matt. 24:36) we do not know the moment of death either for ourselves or for those we have been speaking of, we know only for a fact that one of these two things will happen, we will leave this earth by death or in the rapture.
If you have no heart for the lost, if you have no desire to correct or reprove your brother in Christ in love, if those who profess Christ with their lips only are of no concern to you, if you believe that there is plenty of time, then you are in no hurry. He is coming like a thief in the night, (2nd Peter 3:10) the warning signs have long since begun, it is imminent, and we must not only prepare ourselves to meet Him, but warn others.
