It has been said that "Coming events cast their shadows before," and the "shadows" of the present day are very dark and long. The world is growing desperately weary. Beneath a mask of gaiety there are empty, aching hearts. Tears of anguish flow down disillusioned cheeks. Men and women grow old. Diseases are killing millions. Things in the world are growing worse. The moral and spiritual fabric of the present time are rapidly declining. The future looms ominously ahead. All attempts by world leaders are unable to solve the problems of these times.

How could the darkness be otherwise with the apostasy of the last days so far advanced? Modernism and a host of other false religions are abounding, leading thousands into the mire of dark unbelief and destruction.

God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). But the patience and grace of God will not always linger, for His Spirit will not always strive with men. Someday, when "the Master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and He shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are" (Luke 13:25)—will this be a "coming event" for you, dear reader?

One of the greatest and grandest events that is very near is the return of Christ in Person, according to His promise (John 14:1-3). THE REALITY of this is beyond the question of a doubt, for it comes from the lips of Him who cannot lie (Titus 1:2), and is stated repeatedly in the Word of God. Men would not believe the testimony of Noah, that God would bring a flood upon the whole earth because of the corruption and violence that filled the earth. Nevertheless, the flood came, and they perished in their own corruption (2 Peter 2:12). Do you believe the testimony of God's Word that Christ is coming again, or are you like those in Noah's day?

THE RAPIDITY of the Lord's return will be "in the twinkling of an eye" (1 Corinthians 15:52). He will return to the air to call all the redeemed to Himself, and conduct them to the Father's house on high—"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). This is the next event of world-wide importance. When the redeemed are taken from the earth and from the tomb, the judgments of God will then envelop the whole earth, and "Who shall be able to stand" when the great day of His wrath is come (Revelation 6:17)?

One can only raise the question: "What will be THE RESULT of such an important event?" For Christ, the blessed Son of God: "He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied" (Isaiah 53:11). For the believer in Christ it will be the completion of his eternal salvation when the body is changed to an immortal, incorruptible body: "For our conversation is in Heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself" (Philippians 3:20,21). For the unbeliever, the door of grace will be closed forever (Matthew 25:10). "But the … unbelieving … shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8).

Reader, are you ready for the next great event? Are you "born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever" (1 Peter 1:23)? Jesus said, "Ye must be born again (John 3:7). Do you know your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake? "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). May God bless you with His great salvation.

—F.B. Tomkinson