AS IT WAS IN THE DAYS OF NOAH...

ARE THESE THE DAYS THAT JESUS WAS SPEAKING OF?

PART THREE

 

Luk 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

The question that is before us is this: Are these days that we are living in the days that the Lord was speaking of in Luke 17? The primary thing that we can notice about the days of Noah as recorded in Genesis 6 is that the wickedness of man was great, and that the imaginations of the thoughts of his heart were continually evil.

In Genesis 6:6, we see that the state of humanity in those days grieved the Lord’s heart.

In Genesis 6:12, we see that the earth was corrupt, because all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. Today we can see the earth being corrupted or destroyed because of the corruption of humanity. I believe that the Bible tells us that it was the same way in the days of Noah. That which God had called good when He created it now could no longer be called "good", because those who He had called to be stewards over His Creation had become wicked in their thoughts and imaginations, and as a result were destroying the earth He had created.

Technological advances today are the result of man’s imagination, and the motivating force behind most of that which is the resulting product of man’s imagination today is the love of money.

The Word of God declares that the love of money is the ROOT of all evil. Let’s just take a moment and briefly look at what man’s imagination has accomplished through his pursuit of mammon (wealth).

As I walk up the Mississippi River I have walked through an area called "cancer alley" due to the high incidence of cancer among the people who live in that area. Oil refineries and other kinds of industrial complexes are prevalent in that area.

The water is contaminated in many places that I visit because of the pollution that has seeped into the water table.

There are cities that have smog alerts. If you have any kind of respiratory problems, they warn you to stay in doors.

Every once in a while we read of huge fish kills that occur due to oil spills or some other kind of man made contamination of the waters.

Pregnant women are warned not to eat too much fish because of the mercury levels that are present in the fish. There are some areas of rivers and lakes that people are warned not to eat the fish caught in those areas because of industrial pollutants.

I could belabor the point, but the simple truth is that the earth is being destroyed through man’s technological advances whereby he is able to make more money at the expense of our environment. I believe it was the same in Noah’s day.

Gen 6:12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

We have been called to be stewards of this earth that God has created. But when greed and other forms of selfishness come into the picture, we cannot be good stewards, and as a result, the earth is being destroyed in the name of progress and wealth. Now let’s look at a verse in Revelation that parallels Genesis 6:12:

Rev 11:18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; AND SHOULDEST DESTROY THEM WHICH DESTROY THE EARTH.

But it is not only the fact that the earth is being destroyed through man’s poor stewardship that point to these days as being like the days of Noah. THE IMAGINATION OF MAN WAS ONLY EVIL CONTINUALLY.

Gen 6:5 And 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.

The other day I read an article in the news that shows just how wicked a man’s imagination can become. This is from a Scottish news source, but if these things become a reality, eventually it will become a world wide issue.

"MPs (Members of Parliament) will today recommend giving the go-ahead to couples to create "designer babies" and allowing the experimental implantation of human embryos into animals, as part of a radical shake-up in fertility laws. If accepted, it could allow couples, in consultation with their doctors, to select embryos on the basis of their sex, to weed out genetic imperfections, or to create a "saviour sibling" - a child that can provide life- saving treatment to an ill brother or sister. The science and technology select committee report, which will also recommend the scrapping of regulators, the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority, has criticised the precautionary approach used up until now, instead arguing that new technologies should be used until harm is proved."

If these issues get passed, eventually Adolph Hitler will be deemed a great man who was just ahead of his time. His scientists did research in creating “designer babies”. They experimented on living human beings to weed out “genetic imperfections”.

People who cry out against implanting human embryos into animals, creating designer babies, and bringing a human being into the world to be killed in order to give another life will be called short sighted and narrow minded, religious zealots, intolerant bigots. The article continued:

Committee member Dr Evan Harris said that it was more ethical to permit research on chimeras, an embryo which is half-human half-animal, than it was to permit research on human embryos. "Currently, human embryos can be used for research up to 14 days, so a ban where you say, ‘You can use a human embryo but not an animal-human embryo’ would not be rational," he said.

Terry Schiavo was starved to death, basically because she was no longer a productive member of society. Her “quality of life” was not what her husband says it should be. A news report I read said that she cried when she was told that her feeding tubes were going to be removed.

Abortions are performed in the name of convenience.

Euthanasia is legal in many countries in the name of convenience. It will eventually get to the point where people will be euthanized (a politically correct term for murder) because it is cost prohibitive to care for them.

Homosexual marriages are being sanctioned in some churches. Are these modern days like the days of Noah, and Lot?

I believe that we are fast approaching those days that the Lord spoke of. We are told that those days will precede the Second Coming of the Lord.

And what a terrible day the Day of the Lord will be! We have seen a brief picture of the wickedness of those who reject Jesus Christ, and that their imagination is consumed by evil.

In my previous study, we saw the fate that awaits those who die without a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet somehow, the Church, which is referred to as the BODY of Christ for the most part has turned its head away from those who are most definitely rushing head long toward the Day of the Wrath of God.

For the most part, we shake our heads in disgust at the things that are taking place in this world, and expectantly await His Coming so we will be raptured out of this mess, and so the wicked will get what they deserve.

But truly, that attitude is a wickedness that abides in the church today which needs to be repented of.

Almost any Christian would agree that it is wrong to stand by and watch someone be murdered before our very eyes.

Almost any Christian would agree that it is wrong to stand by and watch people being exploited for another’s selfish gain.

Yet Satan and his demons are freely murdering and exploiting people spiritually every moment of every day, and Christians stand by, silently letting it happen. I believe that this is happening because of the unbelief and the lack of compassion that prevails in the Church.

If a person truly BELIEVED that there was eternal torment awaiting that neighbor who is living in sin, the Love of God that should be evident in his or her life would compel them to do what they could to warn them to turn away from their sin, and to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

There is an urgency to warn people from the Lake of Fire that seems to have escaped most of the Church.

Before I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I walked in wickedness. Before I came to the Lord, I might have thought there was nothing wrong with the abominations that are being committed in the name of progress or scientific progress. Before I came to the Lord, I thought Christians were too narrow minded. Before I came to the Lord, I mocked many who professed to be Christians.

During that time in my life, I didn’t encounter a whole lot of Christians who cared enough about me to demonstrate to me the Way of Righteousness that is in Jesus Christ. There weren’t many that told me of His Saving Grace. There weren't many who warned me of the Judgment to come. And when they did, they did it in a way that lacked compassion. So I continued in my sin, walking in my wickedness, headed for a place of eternal torment, but I didn’t give it much thought because of my penchant for sin, and most Christians didn't give my heading to hell a second thought, either.

But every time I encountered a true Christian who demonstrated the Love of Christ to me, I would be genuinely touched by their witness.

Finally one day five sincere children of the Most High God shared with me the Truth that is in Jesus Christ. As a result of their faithfulness to endure three and a half hours of my arguing and hard headed attempts to prove them wrong, I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ later on that night.

In Amos, we read this concerning the Day of the Lord:

Amo 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

On that day, multitudes will experience fear that could never be comprehended in this life. On that day, they will begin to exist in an eternal state of torment originally intended only for the devil and his angels.

Yes, these may well be the days that Jesus spoke of. But Noah was a preacher of Righteousness, and he warned people to turn from their wicked ways. Lot was vexed with the wicked behavior of those who were in Sodom, and we are told that Lot sat in the gates of the city (Gen 19:1. Biblical accounts of men sitting at the gates refer to them as being in a position of judgment or as a ruler over the city; or as being in a place where prophets would prophesy {2 Sam 19:8; 1 Kings 22:10; 2 Chron 18:19; Esther 2:19; Jer 26:10,11; Dan 2:49}).

Since the Word of God says that Lot was vexed by their behavior, he was probably sitting in the gates as a prophet, warning the people to repent of their ways.

Yes, these may well be the days that the Lord spoke of. But the Lord has commissioned His Church to preach the gospel and to warn the wicked from their ways. Christian, are you doing that? Are you about the Lord's Business? Do you have the mind of Christ?

Eze 18:23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?

2Pe 3:9 The 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.

Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

If people we know have not the knowledge of God, it is because we have been silent about our faith, and have been too absorbed in our own selfish pursuits.

1Co 15:34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

2Co 5:10 For 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.
11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men…

Knowing that eternal torment awaits those who reject Jesus Christ, how can we who profess to know Christ and who have tasted of His Love and His Grace remain silent? If the wickedness of men in Genesis 6 grieved the Lord, don’t you think it grieves Him when His children are indifferent to the fact that multitudes are headed to Hell?

IF THESE ARE THOSE DAYS, THEN WE OUGHT TO GET BUSY!

Eze 3:17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
20 Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
21 Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.

GO TO THE NEXT PAGE

GO TO MY INDEX PAGE