NEAR THE END OF THE AGE:
There is no doubt in a reasonable thinking persons mind that we’re surely in the last days of this Church age.
Listen as I read today’s text Genesis 6:1-6:13
1And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
4There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. 5And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. 10And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth
Do you recall all the caouse as we approached the new year of 2000? Almost everybody was a little concerned about what might happen as for as the computer controlled world was concerned, people were uneasy because there was a lot of talk about things shutting down at the stroke of midnight.
Planes possible could crash. Bank computers would scramble our accounts. The stock market would plunge. Stores would run out of food. Traffic lights would not work. So people stock piled food, topped off their gas tanks, stored up lots of water, took out large amounts of cash from their banks, stayed away from planes and stayed home on New Years Eve.
And then the clocks struck 12:00... and nothing happened. Neither did anything happen the first business day. There was plenty of food. Planes flew; traffic flowed as usual, accounts were correct; lights were on and there was water at the tap. All of the talk of terrorists’ activities didn’t happen.
There were people who prospered during the whole ordeal. Some people sold lots of books. Others sold great quantities of dried food; guns and ammo, generators and batteries; Christians were not without their share of guilt in adding to the frenzy and hype. Many were selling books and materials to get people ready for the impending disasters associated with the coming of the new millennium.
And some were even predicting the return of Jesus Christ at the stroke of midnight. January 1st of 2000. Christians gathered in Jerusalem, and some even sold or gave away all their possessions in preparation. But nothing happened. not any terrorist attacks. And most of all, Jesus did not return.
For the most part this is all good news. Our lives continued without the problems, which were predicted, and the world had not come to an end.
But could there be a hidden danger here? The result may be that the people of the world are not only breathing a sigh of relief, but they now believe that since nothing did happen, nothing can happen. And the danger is we will continue in our self-assured arrogance.
The temptation is to ignore the problems we are facing and believe that they will simple go away.
The apostle Peter warned: 2 Peter 3:3-73Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 5For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
So what happens when the warnings are real? What happens when God is saying something we should take seriously? What happens when God is about to do something? What do we do now about the fact that the Bible says Jesus Christ will return to the earth and that someday the world will end? What if we don’t take what God is saying seriously and fail to make the right kind of preparation?
Jesus, in talking about the end of the world said, Matthew 24:35-3935Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 36But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 37But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38For 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, 39And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. What he was saying was that people will be going about life as usual, believing that nothing will happen.
The people of Noah’s day surely laughed at him the whole time he was building the ark. It took many years to build, and the entire time Noah was warning people of the danger that was about to come, but they laughed at him & mocked him and refused to take him seriously.
They lived as though nothing was going to happen, but the flood did come and they were swept away.
It would be a serious mistake to think that the scriptural admonitions to obedience and warnings of impending judgment are “much to do about nothing” as the prognostications were as the year 2000 drew closer.
The second coming of Christ will not come with a lot of imminent warning. We will not know the exact date or time. The Bible says, 2 Peter 3:1010But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Let us remember that it was not raining when Noah started to build the ark, the story of Noah has some important messages for us.
First of all, it tells us that: God holds the world accountable for its behavior. It tells us that God is grieved over our sin and the harm it does to others. He will not put-- --up with it forever. We live in a moral universe, and to go against the moral laws which God has built into the world invites disaster.
Sin affects our personal lives, our families, our church, our community, our nation and also our world.
The Bible says that every mouth will be silenced and that the whole world will be held accountable to God Romans 3:1919Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. We cannot escape the fact that we are responsible to God for our behavior and that a future judgment is coming when we will answer for the way in which we have lived.
The Bible says, 2 Corinthians 5:10 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Knowing that fact should certainly affect our perspective in life and make us want to be faithful to the God who has been faithful to us. The problem is that we live as though there is no tomorrow. We live for the moment and do not take into account that there is a future day of reckoning.
By now most people know that the terrorist party of Hammas was elected as the governing party of the P.L.O,A GROPE OF PEOPLE THAT HAS SWORE THE DISTUCTION OF Israel, they don’t realize their nearing their own destruction and finally hell for their stand against Gods chosen people Israel.
Look up children we’re going home soon. To the unsaved it appears that the war drums are beating, but to the born again we see it as a sign of the end of the age.
The second thing that the story of Noah tells us is that: God is in control. Man is not in control. The government is not in control. The scientists are not in control. Evil is not in control. God is in control.
This is his world and he will have his way. Paul wrote to the Philippians saying, Philippians 3:18-4:1 18(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) 20For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
4:11Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.
God is in charge of all things because he created all things and the only way the world continues is by his divine will and purpose. The whole world belongs to him. The Bible says, Acts 17:24-26 24God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; God was in control of the beginning of the world and he is in control of the end of the world. Because God is in control he is in no hurry.
The third thing that the story of Noah tells us is that: God is patient.
God takes no delight in judgment. He is not anxious to “get even” with his adversaries. In fact, he is extremely patient with them. The Bible says,
2 Peter 3:99The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance If God had his way every person would be saved and be a part of his eternal kingdom, but he never forces anyone and always gives them the opportunity to say yes or no to him.
Those choices have eternal consequences, but God waits patiently for us to make the right choices.
Remember how he was patient with you. That is the way it was in the days of Noah, for the Bible says, 1 Peter 3:18-2018For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 20Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
God was patient because he waited many years before he sent the flood. First, he waited to see what people would do without his warning them of impending judgment.
Secondly, he waited while Noah built the ark and preached to the people of his day. He told them what was going to happen. He gave them a chance to turn their lives around.
God waited for them to listen and obey, but they did not. God never brings judgment without giving people a warning and plenty of time to turn from their sin and turn to him. He is patient because he cares.
A National Geographic program on TV, Showed color photos and drawings of the swift and terrible destruction that wiped out the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in A.D. 79.
The explosion of Mount Vesuvius was so sudden that the people died in the middle of the routines of life. Common people were in the market, the wealthy were in their luxurious baths, and slaves were at their backbreaking work.
They died after breathing superheated gases and then were buried in volcanic ash. Life was going on as usual, but sudden destruction overtook them on that terrible day.
The tragic thing is that the people did not have to die. The program stated that scientists have verified what some of the ancient Roman records indicate: that there were weeks of rumblings and tremors preceding the actual eruption.
There were even plumes of smoke visible from the mountain several days before the volcano erupted.
If only they had responded to Vesuvius’s warning! God was warning them, but they were not paying attention.
They went about their lives as usual instead of paying attention to the warning, which God had provided.
And speaking of the second coming of Christ, Paul wrote these words to the Thessalonians: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-31But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. God has given all the warning he’s going to give. Are you ready?
