Business As Usual

BUSINESS AS USUAL

Genesis 6:1-8 & Matthew 24:36-42

As read, my text this morning is taken from Genesis 6:1-8 & the Gospel according to Matthew 24:36-42. In your leisure, please read both texts in their entirely. Now as I was listening to the Church School lesson on these particular texts the past couple of weeks, I was led to go back the first sermon I ever preached…which was also my trial sermon for the ministry. Being, “Business As Usual.”

Now, we all know that everyone has read the story of Noah and the ark, but permit me, if you will to speak concerning the things the Lord has given me. For you see, in this day and age, some folks go about their lives business as usual with no real thought or understanding of what God is doing or what He wants to do. They get up every morning and go about their day as if it was no tomorrow.

Oh, they go about their lives doing their own thing, saying and doing what ever they see fit, you know just going through the motions, maintaining a façade of being a true Christian but not really knowing anything of true Christianity, as a power to change lives. They even resent anything and anyone that can help draw them a little closer to God. They won’t listen to what the preachers preach nor read what the teachers teach. I mean, even within our churches, there are those who feel that, “Any way the wind blows is cool with me.”

Not taking anything in this Bible serious, due their falling away from the Faith, that will soon result in the breakdown of life itself. And as we know, this situation is occurring throughout the world in such an extent, that believers are betraying and hating one another at a rate that we can’t even comprehend. Well, as it is now…so it was in the days of Noah.

For in this 6th Chapter of Genesis, we find that even though Noah was a preacher of righteous, the folk paid no attention to him or the warnings that God had given of the coming disaster, because evil had filled the thoughts and imaginations of everyone’s heart. They had become sensual and worldly in all their eating, drinking, and marrying, for these things had become there delight, as if their lives had no intent but to live for their own desires. And since the population of the world had increased, the men proceeded to look on the daughters of mankind, and saw that they were pleasing and desirable.

They took wives, not based on spirituality, but on what was physically pleasing to them, and continued to reject God’s Word with moral corruption and violence. You see, these things they did, when they should have been repenting and praying, especially since it was in defiance of all the warnings given by God, through Noah’s ministry. So the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for he is indeed flesh.”

See, they had been called to weeping and mourning rather then to joy and gladness. And became so engrossed in their own plans, that the Lord became sorry He had ever made man. Only because, they continued working at being more and more corrupt, thinking that this day, would be the same as any other day…and went about their life, “Business as Usual”, not caring about anything, and was soon caught unaware when the flood came. And once the door was shut, it was too late for them to enter the ark, and avoid the judgment.

Oh, they have become so secure, but careless; for it says they knew not until the flood. But that’s because they didn’t know the day and the hour. For they had fair warning from GOD, by Noah; but they knew not, because they believed not. And they might have known, but didn’t want to know. Now listen to me, the reason why the people were so eager in the pursuit, and so entangled in the pleasures of this world, is because, they didn’t have the faith to know, or believe, or consider. So those that didn’t have the faith to know, was made to know by feeling, which was the wrath of God revealed from heaven against their ungodliness and unrighteousness.

But it says, “Noah found grace in the Lord eyes.” For he is identified as being a just man, by maintaining a close relationship of faith, fellowship and obedience. You see, he was walking with God as Enoch did, but instead of taking Noah to heaven, He left him here to continue the human race.

But notice, that there were only two classes of folk in Noah’s day, those that believed and those that didn’t…well…so it will be when JESUS come again. For in this same application concerning the old world, the Book of Matthew, now gives to us saying….so it shall be when the Son of man comes. You see, early in this chapter, the disciples had asked Jesus about the time of His second coming Jesus went on to described, that the destruction of Jerusalem, among other things other things, would be one of the troubles that would happen before His coming, but because the schedule of the end-time events, remains unknown and unknowable.