Matthew 24:38 – …until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Matthew 24:39 – And knew not until the flood came…
Matthew 26:29 – But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.
Luke 13:35 – … Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Luke 15:4 – What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
Vance Havner preached a message called “Why” (I guess you figured out I like to listen to Vance Havner. Try looking him up on SermonAudio.com sometime). In that message he talked about living in The Great Until. He also talked about in his book Lord of What’s Left.
Israel today looks for Messiah to come the first time. Christians are looking for Him to come the second time. “Until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in”, “Until they shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” I am living in The Great Until. What time is it? It is until. Recently a dear Christian brother closed his letter to me not with “Yours truly” but “Until”!
The great until is the time between now and when Jesus’ returns to earth. We are patiently waiting for that time day after day. We do our business, we come and go just like they did in Noah’s day. The flood just kind of snuck up on those folks. They weren’t paying a lot of attention to Noah’s preaching, kind of like you don’t always listen to your pastor. But eventual it was no longer until and the flood came.
The word until implies patience in waiting for something to happen. We are waiting for our Lord’s return and while we are doing that we should be about our Lord’s business. We should be earnestly expecting the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. The problem that happens is we have a lot of questions and often ask why? It is difficult to live in the great until, waiting and asking why. When we go through trial and affliction, we just want it to be over at times. We begin to question God as he tarries. Until becomes very long.
So, are you busy waiting like a waiter waits in tables, doing the Lord’s business until he comes? How are you living in the great until? Are you living a holy life, are you laying up treasures in heaven, are you trying to patiently win souls, are you about the Lord’s business? We need to live in this great until. We have no choice. We will have questions and we will ask why Lord. In the end though, you need to live a life of faith until the Lord comes back.
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