A Time of Darkness
If you have your bible, please open it to Genesis Chapter 6 and when you get there, place a marker, and turn to Matthew Chapter 24. One day a young boy was driving a load of grain to the market. He came around a corner too fast and his trailer load of grain tipped over. A farmer was watching nearby and asked the boy to come into his house for lunch. The boy replied, “my father would not like it.” The farmer insisted and told him it would not take too long and afterwards he would help this boy reload the grain onto his trailer. The boy agreed and went into the house for lunch. The lunch was wonderful and was exactly what he needed. When the farmer and boy went out of the house, the farmer asked why the boy said his dad would not like for him to eat lunch with him. The boy replied, “well, my father is under the trailer!”
Today, we are going to look at a very serious topic and if your Bible has section titles like mine, you see that Matthew 24 talks about the end of the world and the return of Jesus. If you were in Mrs. Lynda`s Wednesday night class, she just did a whole series on the signs of the End Times. She is now teaching a class about living in the final days before the rapture and return of Christ so, if the message today intrigues then make sure you come back on Wednesday night. Let us look at Matthew Chapter 24 starting in verse 36.
READ MATTHEW 24:36-40
Look back at verse 37.
“For as were the Days of Noah”
This is primarily where my message comes from today. Jesus said that the Earth will get so bad in the last days that it will resemble the Days of Noah. Folks, if you have not been able to tell, our world today matches the Days of Noah. Flip back over to Genesis Chapter 6 starting in verse 5.
READ GENESIS 6:5-13
The Days of Noah can be described as nothing but days of evil. The Days of Noah were completely evil, and sin was rampant across the planet, and nobody cared. In those few short verses, we find a few characteristics of what the Earth was like in the Days of Noah. Here are 3 Characteristics:
1. Days of Wickedness
READ GENESIS 6:5
God looked at His creation and all that He could see was the wickedness of mankind. Wickedness can be described as this:
“A mental disregard for justice, righteousness, truth, honor, and virtue.”
The people at that time had no regard for what is just and what is right. They did whatever they wanted to do whenever they wanted to do it. Does that remind you of anything today? People today have no regard for what is just and what is right. In today's age, people base what is true and right off their own personal feelings. Listen folks, this book right here is the absolute truth whether you like it or not. God`s word is the only absolute truth no matter how you feel about it. It does not matter if it offends you. It does not matter if it upsets you. It is the absolute truth, and it tells us what is right and what is just.
Wickedness is rampant today like it was in the Days of Noah. Not only are people today wicked, but they are also doing their best to promote it, spread it and shove it down everyone's throat. As of May 29th, 428 major companies including Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Best Buy, and Coca-Cola have openly expressed their support for the LGBQ community and many have even changed their logo to show it. Everywhere you look, there they are broadcasting it everywhere. Listen folks, if the Bible calls it wrong, then it is wrong. There is no debating that. I am not sure who said it, but I saw quote that said:
“The rainbow is a sign of God`s mercy not a symbol of humanity`s confusion.”
People today have taken what God designed as a symbol of mercy and a promise and used it as a symbol of confusion, evil, and wickedness. The devil has trapped these people and most of them either do not even know it or they know it and do not care. They are a lost and hurting community. This next part might confuse you and some of you may not like it, but we are supposed to love and share the Gospel with them too. The Bible tells us to love everyone and loving them requires you to share the Gospel with them. Romans 8:38-39 says this:
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
That is without a doubt my favorite scripture in the Bible. Listen folks, God still loves them and if God still loves them, then we need to love them also. There is enough hate in this world. Let us, the church, show some love. Verse 5 tells us that the people also had evil intentions. Not only were they wicked, but they also purposely intended to do evil. Sounds a lot like today. The Days of Noah were days filled with wickedness and evil intentions. Today's world is also filled with wickedness and evil intentions.
2. Days of Corruption
READ GENESIS 6:11-12
In Noah`s day, the people were corrupt. Corrupt to the point that it took a world-wide flood to fix it. People today are also corrupt. If you do not believe me, look at the government. I am not just talking about one party either. Both the Democratic and the Republican Parties are corrupt. No longer do we have politicians who are willing to serve the country and make it a better place, but instead they are more committed to serving their pocketbooks and wallets. Before office, Obama was worth $3 million and after office, he was worth $40 million. Before office, Hillary Clinton was worth $480,000 and after office, she was worth $100 million. Before office, George W. Bush was worth $20 million and after office, he was worth $40 million. I know that they get paid for the work they do, but they do not get paid that much. We are considered to be the best country in the world, and we are led and ran by people who care more about themselves than the American people.
Both parties are corrupt. Look at the Democratic Party. Any party that is willing to support abortion is corrupt. That goes back to the wickedness and evil intentions I mentioned earlier. Every person and every child are made in the image of God and the Bible tells us that murder is wrong. Abortion is nothing more than a fancy word for murder. They are a party that took to the streets and marched and chanted Black Lives Matter, but they were not willing to go to the local Planned Parenthood building and save the black lives that were about to be aborted. They are a party that wants equality for all unless you are a white Republican Christian. Then, you are nothing more than a racist, a bigot, and a hypocrite. The purpose of the government is to reward good and punish bad, but instead the Democratic Party rewards bad and punishes good. How many people today have been victims to cancel culture because they did fall in line with the modern day woke agenda. An agenda that includes everyone being forced to accept the LGBQ community and transgenders. I said it a few minutes ago, but every person is made by God. He did not make any mistakes. If He made you a man, then you are supposed to be a man. If He made you a woman, then you are supposed to be a woman. God knows what He is doing. The Democratic Party has without a doubt become corrupt.
Yes, they are corrupt, but so is the Republican Party. They have become a party that is more focused on the wealthy than they are on the poor. They impose taxes and new government programs or laws that make the rich richer. What does the Bible say about that? Jesus told the rich man to sell everything he owned and give it to the poor. James 1:11 says this:
“So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.”
The Bible also says that the love of money is the root of all evil. The Republican Party is also a corrupt party. It is not just the Democrats. Another problem with the Republican Party and even many Republican Christians is that they have more faith in the United States than they have faith in God. Think about it. They depend on the military to keep them safe. They depend more on their jobs to get by. They depend on the court system to enforce justice. They depend on America more than they depend on God. The Bible says that God will protect us, not the military. They military will fail, God will not. God will make ways for us to survive and get by if we trust in Him. No job is permanent or guaranteed. God will repay evil if they have truly done wrong. The justice system is corrupt, but God is not. America will fail us. It does that daily, but my God never will.
This next part will probably make some of you a little mad and that is okay because what I am about to say is Biblically correct. Another flaw with many Republicans is that they cannot get over the 2020 election. You could hear a pen drop right now. They cannot get over the 2020 election. Listen folks, whether it was rigged or not, God intended for it to happen. It did not come as a surprise to God and the sooner we can come to terms with that and move on, the better. God`s plan had Joe Biden being president so, it happened. Folks, it does not matter who sits in the oval office because the King of Kings still sits on the throne. It does not matter who is in the White House because I know who is in Heaven. You do not have to understand God`s plan, you just need to believe in it and trust it. There are several parts to God`s plan that I do not understand. I do not understand why some people live to be over a hundred years old and my mom lived to be 44 years old. I do not understand why some people have healthy lives until the day they die, but my mom had to fight cancer tooth and nail for 13 months. There are parts to God`s plan that I do not understand, but I know that He has a plan and I know that God is good. God planned for the 2020 election to happen. Both political parties are corrupt. People today are corrupt like in the days of Noah.
3. Days of Violence
READ GENESIS 6:13
The Days of Noah were days of violence. I believe it is very obvious that the days today are full of violence. Every time you turn on the news something horrific has happened. Let us look at a few statistics.
The current crime rate for the United States is at 47.7%
In 2023 alone, there have been 24 school shootings.
In 2023 alone, there have been 272 mass shootings.
In 2023 alone, there have been 3,000 murders.
In 2021, there were 40,000 robberies reported.
And the list goes on and on. I want y`all to think about something. All but one of those statistics are from 2023. They are awful numbers and what makes it worse is that we are only halfway through the year. We are 6 months into 2023 and those are the numbers already. People today are violent. People today murder others without thinking twice about it. People walk into schools for children and start shooting. 30 years ago, the two safest places from shootings were schools and churches. It was almost guaranteed that you never had to worry about a shooting at those two places, but today those are the main targets.
Look at the protests and marches that happened in 2020 through the Black Lives Matter movement. Cities and neighborhoods were robbed, looted, and destroyed. People lost their livelihood and many even lost their lives. Countless videos were shown and reported of people robbing stores and then burning them to the ground. Even the elderly were attacked in some cities. Not only that, but it got to the point that people who owned stores would go to them and sit outside of them waiting to shoot anyone who came close with bad intentions. Ready to meet violence with violence.
As crazy as this next one may sound, look at Black Friday Shopping. All it is a discount on something, and people are just about ready to go to war over it. Fighting one another and yelling at each other over the dumbest things and more than likely, they probably do not even need it. What makes it worse is that the day before Black Friday, everyone gathers with their families to celebrate and be thankful for what they already have. Thanksgiving. And one day later, there are fights in stores to get something. Violence over the smallest things that do not matter.
Look at many churches today. It may not always be physical violence, but in a lot of churches there is a lot of verbal and mental violence. You can be violent without even lifting a finger. We would rather tear each other down to get what we want than let what needs to happen actually happen. People talking behind each other's backs. People talking behind closed doors and secretly scheming up plans. Folks get in arguments and never fix things. Listen folks, a divided church is a church that will ultimately fail. We spend so much time worrying about things that do not even matter. What matters most is where people spend an eternity. That is what we need to focus on. Now do not get me wrong, I know we have committees for a reason, and they do important work, but we should never be more focused on committee work than we are reaching the lost. We should never be more inwardly focused than we are outwardly focused. I firmly believe that when you set out to purposely make God`s name known, God figures out the rest. We just got back from a mission trip. I can personally testify to how true that statement is. From the planning to going out in the field, God laid out a plan for the 16 of us whose sole purpose was to make His name known in one of the darkest cities in the country.
Like the Days of Noah, we live in a time of violence. This violence seems to be everywhere you turn around. Look at the end of verse 13 again.
“Behold, I will destroy them with the Earth.”
God looked down at the Earth and He saw all the wickedness, the corruption, and the violence and verse 6 says that God literally grieved over His creation of mankind. He grieved over it. He then decided that He must destroy it. We know the story from here. God sent a flood and Noah, and his family were on the ark for 40 days and 40 nights because they found favor with God. 2 Peter Chapter 3 tells us that the next time that God destroys the Earth it will not be with a flood, but instead it will be with fire. God will burn the Earth. Verse 8 tells us that Noah was saved from the flood because he found favor with God. Listen closely to what I am about to say. There is coming a day when this planet will be destroyed again... and the only way to be saved from it is to know Jesus Christ and accept Him. That is the only way to escape the upcoming destruction. Flip back over to Matthew Chapter 24. Look back at verse 36.
READ MATTHEW 24:36-37
Jesus says that He will return, and nobody will know when except for the Father. While we may not know when He will return, He did tell us something that would indicate that the time is near.
“For as were the Days of Noah...”
The Days of Noah were wicked, corrupt, and violent. So, if you plug that into the scripture, it will mean that Christ will come when the days match the days of Noah. Guess what folks... we match the days of Noah. The world today is wicked, corrupt, and violent. That means that the return of Christ is near. Are you ready for it? Are you a true born-again believer? Do you know without a doubt that if Jesus came today to get His church, He would take you also? Listen folks, the time is drawing near for His return. Scripture says that He will come in the twinkling of an eye at a date and time that nobody knows.
Maybe today, everyone here knows without a doubt that they would be taken by Christ. That is great, but what are you doing to tell others? In this world of wickedness, corruption, and violence, what are you doing to spread the light of Christ? How focused are you on the salvation of others? I want y`all to listen to this quote by Shane Pruitt:
“When the church is silent on issues that the culture is screaming about, then a whole generation only hears one worldview. The church must speak up, disciple up, and train up a generation to navigate through cultural issues with truth and love.”
Right now, the culture is screaming about the LGBQ community, politics, and violence. The question is are we willing to let the world only hear those views or are we willing to stand up and let Christ be proclaimed. Let us pray.
