Signs of the Last Days: Remember Noah

 

Matthew 24:38-39 “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, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

Jesus said that in the days just before His return, the spiritual condition of men on the earth would be as it was in the days of Noah. During the 100 years that Noah was building the Ark and warning of a coming judgment, people went on with their daily lives with no thought of God, nor the results of their actions. When the Ark was finished, judgment came and it was too late for anyone to be saved.

The Bible describes the fact that in the days of Noah, the thoughts and intention of man was constantly towards evil. Every thought of man’s heart was towards evil. The last time that the world reached a pinnacle where sin abounded to such an extent that it covered the earth, the Lord destroyed all living things by covering the earth with water.

Genesis 6:5-7 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

Today, people will wake up and go off to start their day with no thought of God, nor the results of all of their actions throughout the day. One day, just as suddenly as in the days of Noah, Judgment will come again. Jesus will return and remove all those who have recognized their sin and have come to God in repentance and have looked to Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Then will begin a time of horrors on the earth the likes of which no one in all of their mind could imagine. Two-thirds of those who dwell on the earth will perish in three series of seven judgments, each of which will grow progressively more severe.

The question is: Are the days in which we live, similar to the days in which Noah lived?

When Paul wrote to Timothy regarding the last days, he told him that “In the last days perilous times would come…” Then he listed a set of negative qualities that would be present in the behavior of men, indicating that this was the generation referred to by Paul’s warning.

2Timothy 3:1-5 “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!“

Are people today lovers of themselves?, yes. Is the population of the earth preoccupied with making money and spending money?, yes. Are men proud and boastful?, definitely.

And we can go down the list that Paul gave to Timothy and find that every one of these characteristics listed are present today in the lives of people all over the earth.

During the 100 years that Noah was building the Ark, people passed it everyday and saw before them a stunning reminder of the judgement that God had said would come. Yet everyone not only ignored Noah and the Ark, they laughed and mocked him for even stating that judgement was going to come.

With all the violence and sin that was in the world, there was one man who “Found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” Was Noah a perfect man, no of course not. Noah recognized that he was a sinful man and that he needed God. He needed a Savior to cover his sin so that his guilt could be removed and Noah could go on and live his life in a relationship with God. Noah pursued a relationship with God and that is why he found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

The rest of the people on the earth cared nothing for God. So the Lord saved the one man who loved Him, out of the earth before the judgment began. Just as Jesus will remove all those who love Him in the last days before the Tribulation begins. There is not a single place in the Bible where the Lord permits those who love Him to be judged along with the rest of the world who does not Love Him.

Genesis 6:8-10 “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”

Genesis 6:11-13 “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”

Today, we live in a world where most people have no daily thought of God. The thoughts and intentions of their hearts are also continually towards evil. It s not that they cannot be saved, it is that they are unwilling to be saved. Those who have no thought of God are not loved less by Him than those who recognize their need for forgiveness of their sin and look to Jesus as their Savior. God loves the whole world with such intense and fervent love that He was compelled to do something about our sin. He sent His only Son to pay for us. If we desire we can have the forgiveness of all our sins and know that heaven is our destination when we depart this earth. It is up to us, it is our choice.

Peter wrote that one of the signs of the last days and the soon return of Jesus and the coming judgment of the seven year Tribulation, was that men would begin to mock the fact that Jesus is coming soon.

2Peter 3:3-4 “knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”

2Peter 3:5-7 “For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”

When the final generation is living on the earth and sin has once again reached a pinnacle, then men will begin to ridicule those who teach that Jesus return is near. And this they willfully forget; that once in the past God destroyed every living person on the earth by covering it with water. If God did not spare those who would not turn from their sin and turn to God then, He will not spare those who refuse to take Jesus as their Savior now in this final generation.

Then Peter explains why the Lord has seemingly taken so long to return and bring His judgement: He is giving people time to repent. If it has seemed like a long time, remember that God dwells in eternity where there is no passing of time. To Him a thousand years passes as though it were a single day.

How long has it been since Jesus promised to come again, 2,000 years? No, only two days….

2Peter 3:8 “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

In the Old Testament the Lord stated that “He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, why don’t you turn now and repent.” Judging the world and allowing those who reject Jesus as their Savior to go into everlasting fire is not something that the Lord is looking forward to. That is why He has put it off so long already.

People mistake the longsuffering and patience of God for license to sin as much as they want to. “The Lord doesn’t care if I sin. If He did then why hasn’t He judged me and sent me to Hell already?’

The answer is: Because He loves you so much that He does not want you to go to Hell. That is why He allowed His own Son to die for your sins. It s the reason that judgment has takes over 2,000 years so far since Jesus died. God is patiently waiting for people to change their minds and come to Jesus for Salvation.

But, The Day of the Lord will come. When it does it will be quick and sudden and it will take the world by surprise because most people are not watching for Jesus return. Then when the Lord does come , it will be to remove from the earth all those who have been watching and waiting for Him to come. Soon after the seven year Tribulation will begin by the signing of a seven year peace treaty between Israel and the surrounding nations. At the mid-way point of the seven years, a new world ruler will declare himself to be God. This will begin what Jesus described in Matthew chapter 24 as “The Abomination of Desolation”. This event will trigger the Great Tribulation. For the last 3 1/2 of the 7 years, Jesus will pour out His wrath on the world that has Rejected the sacrifice He made on the Cross and has counted the blood of His covenant as nothing. Two-thirds of those who dwell on the earth during this time will perish in the 21 plagues of those last 3 1/2 years described in Revelation 6-18.

Then Jesus will return to the earth at the end of the seven years with His church to set up His kingdom on the earth for 1,000 years. Righteousness will reign over the whole earth and there will be no rebellion against God any longer.

At the end of the 1,000 years, Jesus will destroy the heavens and the earth and recreate both brand new. Those who had rejected Jesus and awaited their judgment in Hell will be raised to life to stand before Him at the Great White Throne Judgment. All of these will be found guilty of their rejection of Jesus and be cast alive into the lake of fire for eternity.

The Lord is Love, He is the very definition of what Love is. He is also Justice and man has sinned against God and is therefore worthy of judgment. God was willing to withhold that judgment from man and place it upon Jesus for a limited period of time. When a person dies, their fate is sealed and there is no longer any hope for them after they have departed. The decision that they have made to accept or reject Jesus was sealed at the moment of death.

For the living, there is each day of their remaining life to make a decision either for or against Jesus. To make no decision is to be against Him. Only a firm acceptance of Jesus as Savior and Lord guarantees a person escape from Judgment and the sentence of Hell. The Day of the Lord is coming and from the appearance of the way the world is today, it will not be much longer.

2Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”

2Peter 3:11-13 “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.“

This morning I am writing from Cebu in the Philippines. A week ago we ordered something from the United States that we needed and could not find here in the Islands. It was sent by the United States Postal service. When I placed the order I was given a tracking number so that I could watch for the arrival of the package. As I have checked the progress of the items I ordered, it came into the Philippines, went through their customs process and then went out to be delivered to me here at my residence. Today the package is set to be delivered and I must watch for the postman. If I did not know that there was something coming, I would not be watching. If I was not watching, the event would happen and I would miss the one who came for me.

The Bible has given us a tracking number for the package of our redemption to be completed. It is set for a certain delivery date. If we are not watching the progress of that delivery it will come and we will miss it.

Jesus is coming soon and then it will be too late for many to be saved. Today is the day to live for the Lord and to tell your friends and family that He is coming soon and that without Jesus there is no hope of eternal life. Do not be afraid to tell them the truth. If you love them you must tell them. If they reject you and your message do not despair. You never know that perhaps in the final moment of their life they will remember what you told them about Jesus and turn to Him and be saved.

The Lord Bless you as you are bold and declare to all those you come into contact with in these last days that Jesus is the only way to Heaven and that eternal life is found only in Him.

Rob Robinson

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