Topic(s): Eternity & Judgment, Jesus

Bob Prichard

Jesus is coming again. Everyone must be prepared to meet Him when He returns. It comforts some to think that a loving God just cannot send people to hell without giving them a second chance. Some even go so far to say that God is so loving He will save everyone. The scriptures are clear, however, that when the Lord returns, the lost will be lost eternally, and will not have a second chance to obey God.

Paul reminds us, “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: 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). These words are comforting to God’s people, but this most spectacular of all events will be a sudden event. Paul adds, “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2). His coming will be sudden, unexpected, and men will not have a second chance.

Often a tragedy, such as war or a traffic accident, causes people to repent and ask the Lord for forgiveness. However, many never get that chance, because death comes so swiftly and unexpectedly. The Lord’s second coming will be such that many who would repent if they had another chance, just will not have time. John described a scene of men unprepared to meet God in the book of Revelation. “The kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” (Revelation 6:15-17).

In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man in torment would have done anything to get away. Abraham told him, “beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence” (Luke 16:26). He even expressed concern for his brothers who had not obeyed God, but he got no second chance.

Peter said, “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. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:9-10). God is longsuffering, and wishes none to perish, but when the Lord comes again, there will be no second chance. We have this life to prepare to meet God. We will have no second chance. Be prepared now!