Noah's Day--Our Day--Last Days

Noah's Day--Our Day--Last Days

Genesis 7:18, "And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters."

Matthew 24:37-39, "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

The waters of judgment shall eventually prevail (triumph) against all ungodliness. The first part of our text shows some examples: It shows the waters prevailing over unbelief. The waters prevailed over all indifferences. The text continues--the waters prevailing over all the God-dishonoring pleasures and the waters prevailing over their efforts to save themselves.

"The 24th of Matthew fortells the course and consummaton (completing & perfecting) of the Gentile age."__Herbert Lockyear

As the end of the age of God's grace, the church age, approaches, the faithful should be characterized by diligent service in the Kingdom of God and loving expectancy of meeting our Lord in the air.

There are some clear and simple facts we can consider: The state and conditions of the world that was is clearly shown in the text. Noah was a real person. The whole earth flood is a great fact. The second coming of Christ is an unfailing certainty.

As in the days of Noah, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. The world did not grow better and better until the days of Noah. The inhabitants of the world grew worse and worse. Imaginations and thoughts were continually wicked. The wickedness of mankind was great (Genesis 6:5).

Consider, also, the days of Sodom (Luke 17:29-30, "But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed."

Perilous times when sound doctrine and healthy biblical teaching will not be tolerated. Many will depart from the faith. The majority of the citizens of Earth will prefer damnable heresies. They will be visited by strong delusion which will push them to scoffing and mocking the things of God and His Holy Word. At that time they will walk after their own lusts. Some of the things that will be lusted after will be: believing that we are becoming little gods, participation in cults, far eastern religions, witchcraft, Satanism, occult practices, channeling, self hypnosis.

(Illustration) One teacher reportedly suggested to his students to clear their minds, close their eyes, and repeat a phrase that they thought would help them. The was a cacophony of sound in the classroom, but one child's phrase stood out. He was repeating, "hamburger, hamburger."

Noah, a preacher of righteousness, gave faithful warnings as he worked on the ark (2 Peter 2:5).

(Illustration) A very young Sunday School student questioned how the Israelites could carry that big ol' ark around in the wilderness.

From Hebrews 11:7 we learn that Noah condemned (passed sentence upon) the world.

Every board in the ark was a note of warning that judgement was coming; yet, folk chose to be unaware until taken away by the mother of all tsunamis--the universal-yes, universal flood.

Until Noah entered the ark, worldly, humanistic daily living continued as usual. Seemingly this will be the condition of the human population at the time of Jesus' return.

Noah entered the ark and judgement came! So it will be in that day (the day of the rapture and return). Jesus Christ will come suddenly. Will He find faith (Luke 18:8)? There will be believers, but their faith will not be held by all. Who shall be able to stand?

All who entered the ark were saved from the onslaught of the flood. They had approprated the Lord's offer of salvation. The Lord shut the door and kept them by His power. When the door was shut salvation was beyond the reach of those outside. Their day of opportunity was gone. There was tribulation and anguish; weeping and wailing; then they we all swept away.

Amid gathering shadows, we must be resting in the Lord.

For believers who are waiting patiently for the return of our Lord; there lies blessings for life and character. As God recognized Noah's faithfulness, He will observe Christ's imparted and imputed righteousness in the true believer.

The storms of life; the insidiousness of sin; the disbelief of the wordly; the attacks upon one's Christian walk and testimony will eventually be under the waters of our Heavenly Father's righteous judgement. The christian is already in the ark of salvation. As Noah and his family waited on God to "shut to" the door; so we who are born again wait on the words "Come up hither." We will be lifted up above the shadows and our feet planted on higher ground--the ground of New Jerusalem.