11. The Sudden Return of Christ

And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him…

Matthew 25:6

Shortly after I was married and before I had children, I came up with a brilliant idea to solve the logistical challenges of owning just one car and not being able to afford a second car: I would buy a motorcycle. For three months in 2009 my wife and I saved money on gas, insurance, car payments, etc. as I commuted to work, cruised around town, and all around enjoyed my ability to go from 0-60 as fast as I could twist a throttle.

One Saturday afternoon I was riding a distance behind a two cars. We were travelling about 65 mph on a country road. I was enjoying the speed and beauty of the day. I remember how peaceful and relaxing the Georgia farmland seemed, how great our God is for making such a beautiful creation. I remember thinking how fun it would be to have my wife ride the motorcycle with me and someday perhaps my children would even ride on the back.

Faster than I can remember my thoughts completely changed. The car two vehicles ahead of me abruptly slammed on its breaks and made a hard left turn. The vehicle immediately in front of me was squealing to a stop in order not to hit the first car. My motorcycle didn’t make any noise. My brakes locked as I squeezed them with everything I was worth. My last memory was that I was going to crash a motorcycle at 65 mph. No further thoughts came to my mind until I woke up looking up at the sky with a dozen people looking down on me telling me not to move.

In what seemed to be an instant, I went from having not a care in the world to being unconscious and flying many feet in the air towards oncoming traffic. There wasn’t any time to buy life insurance. There was no opportunity to tell my wife and family I loved them. There was no time to buy a car instead of a motorcycle. There was no time to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered in the gospel. The accident happened too suddenly for any of that and there was nothing I could do about it.

Jesus tells us that the end of the world will be like this, sudden. People, nations, tribes, and tongues will be going about their ordinary business. They will be working, getting married, giving in marriage, eating, drinking, playing, warring, enjoying the beauty of the Georgia countryside, and then suddenly, the Lord will return (24:38).

The sudden return of Christ means there is not time for other things. There is not time then to go and get right with the Lord and fill our empty lamps with oil. The time to be reconciled to God is right now. It is this time. It is this hour. When the hour of salvation is over the Lord will return suddenly (II Cor. 6:2). The wise virgins were prepared for the sudden return of Christ, the foolish were not.

Dear friends, are you prepared to meet the Lord of glory? Are you prepared to leave this life today and be in the presence of Christ? How can a man be reconciled to God? Repent, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be reconciled to God through Him and be saved!

Just as in the days of Noah so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Sudden!

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation!

II Corinthians 6:2

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