As In The Days Of Noah

As In the Days of Noah

CCCAG

9-19-21

Scripture- Matt 24:36-44, Genesis 6, 7

Does anyone remember the old Billy Joel song called “We Didn’t Start the Fire?”

It was one of the most famous music videos of all time. In the video, He lists several dozen historical events that have occurred in his lifetime, most of them were fairly negative or had bad outcomes.

The last stanza says,

"Wheel of Fortune", Sally Ride, heavy metal suicide

Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz

Hypodermics on the shore, China's under martial law

Rock and roller, cola wars, I can't take it anymore

We didn't start the fire

But when we are gone

It will still burn on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on

Well, Billy Joel was wrong in that last line. It’s not going to go on and on and on. The bible tells us very explicitly that sooner or later the sin of the world will reach a breaking point that occurs God’s wrath just as in the Days of Noah, and then Jesus will return to set things right.

We are going to talk about that this morning, and look at what Jesus said was coming on the earth.

Turn to Matthew 24. Jesus and his disciples are walking toward the temple mount in Jerusalem. The temple was plated with gold and when the sun hit it the light would be blinding. Most of the disciples were country boys and not used to seeing large structures at all, much less one so bright you could barely look at it.

In many ways, the disciples represent us here in church today- so focused on this world that we fail to consider that this is not our true life. We are spiritual beings having a temporary earthly existence inside these bodies, and that our future home is so much more glorious and that is where our focus really showed be pointing.

Jesus knew this and He took this moment to get their eyes of of this world, and consider the next.

Jesus’ disciples had just asked HIM when He was going to return, and what that day will look like. They wanted to know when their lives here on earth would get a lot better, and Jesus instead points out to them that all of these things in this life that they love and think they can’t do without will disappear one day.

Jesus then tells them very specific events that will happen in the near future, and into the future you and I now exist in. Then He gets specific about the time right before he returns here in Matthew 24 Vs 36

Matt 24:36-44

36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

42 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Prayer

Something stood out to me this week as I was preparing this message and that was this line, “Such as in the days of Noah”.

What does that mean?

What secrets does the scripture have to tell us the type of world we will be living in at Christ’s return?

Let’s find out. We are going to spend the rest of our time in Genesis Chapter 6, 7 and let’s look at a few of the signs we will see.

This will not be a very long message in light of our fellowship meal, but I thought it would be a good thing to look at given our current world climate.

There are three principles we are going to see right away that are going to be the signs of the Day’s of Noah that Jesus refers to here-