Last Call?
10/18/03
Have any of you ever ridden on a train?
I have never been on a train before but I have seen shows and movies where people get on a train.
You see all of these romantic movies where the man and the woman are standing outside the train holding hands, And the man comes around and yells,
“All aboard”
What is that?
Why is he saying that?
Well, it is the last call.
If you plan on being on that train, you better get on board.
I have also never been on a ship.
I have been on a boat, like a small ferry down in Biloxi Mississippi…
But I have never been on a ship.
One of my dreams in life, and I have many, but one of my dreams is to take a cruise ship to Alaska. I think this would be absolutely beautiful.
Now, it will probably never happen but I can dream right?.
But again, I have never been on a ship, but I have seen them on these programs, and you can hear someone call out,
“All ashore that’s going ashore”
There it is again,
A last call.
I am going to change the subject now for just a moment.
How many of you remember the story of Noah and the flood?
Most everyone knows that story don‘t they.
GOD was grieved over the fact that he had made man because man was so evil.
The Bible says that man, God’s creation, had become so wicked,
Man had become so vile, Man had become so evil,
That God had pain in his heart.
The Bible says that every inclination of every thought of man was evil.
Every thought was evil.
Men were beating other men,
Men were robbing other people
Murder had become a common occurrence.
Man had just become wicked.
The word of God says that man was so evil and so wicked, that God decided to wipe man off of the face of the earth, God was going to do away with his creation, God was going to get rid of mankind, except that one man found favor with God.
This mans name was Noah.
Genesis 6:9 says that Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his people.
Noah was so righteous that God decided to repopulate the earth, after the flood, with Noah and his family.
Now we all know the part of the story where God gave Noah exact information, measurements, etc. that Noah used to build the ark.
Even while everyone around him was scorning and mocking him, Noah still kept doing what God told him to do.
Noah was willing to be obedient to the Creator.
Now turn with me in your Bibles to Geneses chapter 7 and verse 1. I am going to read through verse 12.
READ GENESES 7:1-12
Again, we have just read part of the Bible that most everyone knows.
But what I want to show you today is something that is all to often overlooked in the Bible.
I noticed this in my studies a few years ago…
After I noticed this and studied it, I talked to a friend of mine who pastors a Church in Mississippi.
He is 76 years old, and when I talked to him, he said that he had noticed the same thing for the first time in his life, just a week or two before I mentioned it to him.
Isn’t it wonderful how God’s word continually has something new for us all throughout our lifetime?
Notice that verses one- three say for Noah and his family and all of the animals to go into the ark.
Then look and see what verse 4 says.
Genesis 7:4
Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made."
Now look with me and see what verse 10 says.
Genesis 7:10
And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.
After the seven days.
Have you ever noticed that the Bible says that?
Have you ever heard that when you hear the story of Noah and the ark?
We are shown here in the Bible that God left the ark sitting still on dry ground for seven days after all of the animals had gone in.
After Noah and his family had finished the ark, and had entered the ark as God commanded.
Think about it.
Noah had been obedient to God.
Noah had done everything God had told him to do.
Can you picture the progress of the work?
First, all of the trees had to be cut down,..... By hand,
Then the trees had to be cut up into planks and lumber.....by hand.
The wood had to be cut and trimmed.......by hand
The wood had to be formed and shaped to fit exactly as God had wanted it done.
Hard physical work, no machines like we have today.
Some of you in here today have cut trees by hand, or even with chainsaws. Many of you have split wood.
The company I used to work for sells tree cutters that will cut a 22” tree ............ in two seconds,
and then lay the tree wherever the operator wants it.
There are log skidders that drag many trees at a time to a certain location.
There are knuckle booms that pick the trees up and pull them through another machine that cuts all of the limbs off of the tree.
Then they can either be put in another machine to strip all of the bark from the tree, or loaded on a truck.
All of this equipment is out there to get the job done.
I assure you, Noah did not have anything like that.
After over a hundred years of work had been finished
After over a hundred years of mockery and scorn by neighbors, friends, and maybe even family members,
After all the hard work had been completed.
After every prerequisite had been taken care of and Noah and his family and all the animals were ready to go,
God left the ark sitting there for seven more days.
With our kids, quite often, when we want to go somewhere, we will spend hours getting ready to go.
Like when we make a trip back to Mississippi.
I make sure I service the van so I can be sure it is ready to go.
We pack all of these cloths into suitcases.
We usually buy some snacks and stuff to take on the trip with us.
We don’t even think about a map any more, we have the route memorized.
Then, finally, we will tell the kids to all get in the van.
And just as we start to pull out of the driveway, we hear this voice coming from behind us in the back of the van and it says “ I have to go to the bathroom.”
We spend all of this time getting ready,
we spend all of our energy making sure everything and everyone is in the vehicle and then,
when everything that had to be done is done,
when we finally get all the hard work done and we are ready to go,
Just as we are getting started on our journey,
we have to stop and open the door, and wait.
And I get anxious when I have to wait.
I wonder if Noah was anxious at this time.
After all his hard work, he finally had everything completed.
For over a hundred years he had worked diligently to get the job done.
He had not fallen to the temptation to quit,
He had not stopped because of ridicule from others,
He had not given up because it was hard,
He had finally completed the job,
He had gotten all of the animals onto the ark,
He had gotten his family onto the ark.
And then God left them there for seven more days.
Why would God do that?
Why would He do that?
Well I want to show you why.
Turn with me now to 2 Peter 3:9
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
God does not want anyone to perish.
God was giving a “Last call” you might say.
God was giving extra time for the people to come to repentance.
God was wanting the people of the world to trust in him.
Now the people had seen Noah’s faithfulness to God for years,
And the people saw all of the animals come to the ark, If you will study the scripture, it does not say Noah had to round up or heard the animals into the ark.
Do you think that Noah could have rounded up all of these animals and put them on the ark by himself?
No.
The animals came to the ark freely.
Why? Because God commanded them to.
And the people saw this.
The people had to have seen the animals coming from everywhere and entering the ark.
Now Noah had been talking about this for a very long time, and now what he had said, what he had been talking about to all of these people, was starting to come to pass.
But did the people change?
Did anyone say they wanted to come along?
No.
How blind could they be not to notice that God was at work.
No more blind than we are today I’m afraid.
Even though the people were wicked
Even though the people were cruel
Even though the people were so evil that God was about to destroy the world as they knew it,
He was willing to give them one final opportunity.
God left the ark there for seven more days.
But the people did not take the opportunity
The people did not listen
Even though the people had to have seen miracles in action, they did not repent and turn toward God,
They did not enter the ark, the only salvation that would be on the entire earth.
There are other instances in the Bible where God gave people a chance.
Jonah was sent to the city of Nineveh to try to get them to repent. They listened to the Word of God and they repented, and God did not destroy their city.
John the Baptist called out,
Repent, Repent,
And many people listened to the Word of God, many people heeded that last call, and were saved.
Most of you will remember the story of Sodom where Lot lived.
God told Abraham that he was about to destroy the city of Sodom and Abraham said,
God, if there were 50 good people in the city would you spare it? And God said he would.
So , Abraham continued on, God, if there be 45 good people found, would you spare it? and God said he would.
So Abraham said God, If there are 40 good people in the city would you spare it? And God said he would.
So, Abraham said, God, if there be 30 good people found, would you spare the city?
And God said that he would.
So Abraham said, God, if there be 20 good people found in the city, would you spare it? And God said he would.
And Abraham did this until he got down to 10 ,
God , If there were 10 good people in the city , would you spare it? And God said he would.
Boy, this shows me how much Abraham truly cared for others, and we should care for others the same way.
But the city was not spared, It was destroyed.
But even then, God offered provisions, a “Last Call”.
Before God destroyed Sodom and Gamora the angels told lot to get himself, his wife, his two daughters, his daughters fiancés and
anyone else that would go with them, out of the city.
Turn with me to Geneses 19 verses 12-14
Genesis 19:12-14
The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here--sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, [13] because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it."
[14] So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
Notice that God offered the provision, God gave the opportunity
God gave one last chance,The last call, and the people did not accept.
The city, and all the people in it, were destroyed.
You see, once death comes, it is to late.
Once death comes, there are no second chances.
Luke 16:22-31 says
Luke 16:22-31
"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. [23] In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. [24] So he called to him, ’Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
[25] "But Abraham replied, ’Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. [26] And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
[27] "He answered, ’Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, [28] for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
[29] "Abraham replied, ’They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
[30] " ’No, father Abraham,’ he said, ’but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
[31] "He said to him, ’If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ "
Once we die, it is to late.
Hebrews 9:27 says,
Hebrews 9:27
Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,
Have you ever heard the story of the man sitting on top of his house in the flood waters.
Before the water got to deep, a large four wheel drive truck came along and the driver said, climb in the back, we will get you to safety. And the man on the house replied
No thanks, I am going to wait on God to save me.
Later, as the water got deeper, a boat came along, and the operator of the boat said, climb on, we will get you to safety.
And the man said , no thanks, I am waiting on God to save me.
Then the waters had gotten up to the roof of the house, and a helicopter came along and lowered a basket to the man, the helicopter pilot said, climb in , we will get you to safety.
And the man on the house said, No thanks, I am waiting on God to save me.
And the man drowned.
And when the man got to heaven to meet God, he said, God, how come you did not save me but let me drown?
And God said, I came by three times, once in a four wheel drive, once in a boat and once in a helicopter, and you refused my help every time.
God does not want anyone to perish, we have seen that here this morning.
In a small short passage of scripture, God’s great love is shown,
“Seven days from now, I will send rain”
God left the ark there for seven extra days.
God gave the invitation for salvation, for seven extra days.
God is willing to give a second chance to someone who needs it.
But don’t act like the people of Noah’s time.
Don’t act like the people of Sodom and Gamora
Don’t hear the warning from God, but then ignore it or laugh about it.
This could be your “last call” for salvation.
This could be your last opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as your lord and Savior.
We are not promised another day.
We are not promised another minute.
If you are here this morning, and you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior,
God has given the opportunity for you this morning,
God is showing you how much he loves you.
God is showing you how much he cares for you,
God is giving you that second opportunity.
Don’t waste the opportunity that God is giving.
If you are here and you are not 100 percent certain, that if you were to leave this life today, you would be in heaven,
If you have that doubt,
Or if you know for sure you are not on board the safety of the ark, if you are not saved,
Would you come this morning, as we have a hymn of invitation.
