by Billy Graham, Decision magazine, BGEA, 2/1/23
"We do not know at what hour the Lord Jesus is coming back. But we are told in Scripture that there will be signs pointing toward the return of the Lord. I believe that we see those signs in the world today, and I believe that the coming of the Lord is near.
The Bible tells us, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. … Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:36, 42).
We read in the Scriptures about Noah and the flood. It was the greatest catastrophe in the history of the world. Scripture says that the flood destroyed everything. The importance of Noah and the flood is emphasized by the many references in the Bible. The flood was both a warning and a promise. God warned that He would not always strive with man. Then He made a covenant with Noah and his sons that He would never again destroy the world by flood, and He gave the rainbow as a promise.
The Apostle Peter wrote that in Noah’s day “the world that then existed perished” (2 Peter 3:6). But he also wrote that “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10).'"
Comments