Introduction
I don’t think I am wrong when I say that this generation has moved further away from God than other generation in modern history. And because of that my view regarding the timing of the end times has changed. When I first got here at Bala Chitto in 1994, I believed with all my heart the biblical doctrine that Jesus is going to return again but I felt like it was somewhere in the distant future. And I cannot pinpoint the exact time, but it was sometime within the last ten years, I changed from thinking that Jesus’ return is in the distant future to soon. And unfortunately, I would have to tell you that within the last two to three years, I changed my position once again from soon to real soon. Jesus could very well come during our lifetime. I believe that!
And if I believe in my heart that Jesus’ return is real soon, then I have an obligation as your pastor to instruct you as to how the Bible says we should live as we approach the end. So, today, I am beginning a new series entitled “Biblical Instruction for End Time Living”.
Today, I want to look at a man who was living in his end time. His name was Noah. In his end time, his world was going to be destroyed by a great flood. In our end time, the world is going to be destroyed by fire. But Jesus tied these two events together in Matthew 24 which we will read in just a moment.
But understand this: the way that Noah lived in his end time is the way that you and I should be living in our end time. So, let’s see what lessons we can learn from Noah’s life.
Scripture
Matthew 24:37-44 (NKJV)
37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.
41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.
42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.
43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Points
#1
NOAH LIVED WITH A HOLY REVERENCE FOR GOD WHEN THE WORLD AROUND HIM DIDN’T REVERENCE GOD. YOU AND I SHOULD LIVE WITH A HOLD REVERENCE FOR GOD EVEN AS OUR WORD HAS TURNED IRREVERENT TOWARD GOD.
Hebrews 11:7 (NKJV)
7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
The Scripture says that Noah moved with great fear. In other words, Noah had a holy reverence for God.
So, the question I need to ask myself is how would I show a holy reverence for God?
First, it begins with attending worship. Remember God instructed Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him: Let my people go so that they may worship me. God requires our worship. But according to Outreach Magazine April 10, 2018 edition less than 20% of people who refer to themselves as Christian attend church regularly. As we approach the end times, I need to make sure that I find myself coming together with other Christians on a regular basis to worship Jesus. I need to guard against falling into the habit of skipping worship. I need to quit coming up with excuses that I feel justify my lack of attendance. What do you think God will say about those excuses?
Secondly, reverence is seen in how we treat God’s name. Do we allow God’s name to be used in a joking way or do we allow God’s name to be used in a rant of cursing and swearing? We all know the third commandment: “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7 NASB). Let me show you how tolerant we have become. Donald Trump, our 45th President, if you listened to many of his speeches, he would use God’s name in vain somewhere in his speech, but I didn’t hear the Christian community rise up in arms against that type of language. I don’t hear Christians rise up against the movie industry for producing movie after movie which in some way defames the name of Christ. And I can tell you that there is not a comedy that does not belittle the name of Christ for the sake of laughs. At the end time, we need to stand up for the name of Jesus and if someone is making funny of Jesus, we need to speak up and tell them not to be talking about my Savior that way.
Thirdly, in Psalm 138:2 (NKJV) For You have magnified Your word above all Your name. Imagine that! The Scripture says that God exalts His written word above His own name. At home, after church, do you place the Bible in a spot where stuff just gets piled on it all week long? You won’t do that with a picture of your family that you treasure. Do you demonstrate reverence for God’s Word by picking it up to read it at home?
At church, do we reverence God’s Word by making God’s Word the center part of our worship? There are churches where a Scripture is read at the beginning of the sermon and that is the last that is mentioned of the Scriptures. At the end time, we got to be sure that we are people of the Word. At the end time, you better be sure you are attending a church where God’s Word is an essential part of worship.
#2
Noah walked with God when the world around him didn’t. You and I need to walk with God even as our world is walking in the opposite direction.
Genesis 6:9 (NKJV)
9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.
What does it mean to walk with God?
First, walking with God means you are in agreement with Him and His ways. Amos 3:3 (NKJV)
3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed? So, I need to ask myself is there anything that I am fighting God on? Has God told you to do something and you are fighting it? Then you are not walking with God.
Secondly, walking with God means that I have made the choice to follow God and I am not going to let how difficult it is to hold me back. Anne and I use to love to go to craft fairs. They were always crowded. And there were times we seemed to be going against the flow of traffic in those narrow aisles. Making the choice to follow God is going to be difficult because we are going against the flow of traffic. Wide is way that leads to destruction and many are on that path and narrow is the road that leads to eternal life. If I chose to follow God, I am going against the flow. And it is easy to be swept up by the crowd. In Noah’s day, he was the only one going in the opposite direction of the crowd. He didn’t allow the crowd to sweep him up; he went against the flow. Are you walking with or in opposite direction of the crowd?
Thirdly, walking with the Lord means you live to please Him and not yourself. It may mean that I need some things in my life to please God, but it also means that I might need to cut some things out of our lives that keep me from walking with God. Psalm 1:1-2 (NKJV)
1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.
In that Scripture you chop something from your life, but you also add something to your life.
#3
Noah was a witness of God when the world around him didn’t want to hear it. You and I need to be witnesses for Jesus even if the world we live in don’t want to hear it.
2 Peter 2:5 (NKJV)
5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;
Noah preached as he built the ark; and it took 120 years to build the ark. Do you know how many people this preacher converted to follow God? None. But despite of his lack of success in saving souls, he is highlighted as a preacher of righteousness.
In other words, God was pleased; Noah was a seed planter. He planted seed; it might have fell on unfertilized soil, but his job was plant seeds. In the end times, our job is to continue to plant seed even if it seems to fall on deaf ears. But we are not doing it. In the book “Street Level Evangelism, Where is the Space for the Local Evangelist,” by Michael Parrott, it states that 80 % of Christians do not consistently witness for Christ. In the end time, your witness might be the last witness a person hears about Christ before the end time arrives.
Conclusion
So, if I want to be the end time Christian that I need to be I should have a holy reverence for God; I should walk with God and finally I should be a witness for God.
Let us pray.
