Matthew 24:35-42 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. [36] But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. [37] But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. [38] For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, [39] And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. [40] Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. [41] Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. [42] Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Our Lord Jesus is coming again to receive His Church. We don’t know when He is coming. Jesus said:

of that day and hour knoweth NO MAN, no, not the angels of Heaven,

BUT MY FATHER ONLY

Jesus will come back for His Church. Jesus will come and receive His people. Jesus will return and as the Scripture declares, He will come:

1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. [15] For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. [16] For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, (that will startle a Presbyterian, dismay a Methodist, and wake up Baptist … my words 😉 ) with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: [17] Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Those souls who are (Revelation 6:9) “under the altar”. The souls of the loved of Christ are in His presence, in His care, and are aware. But Jesus is coming again. When He comes He will bring these Christian saints with Him. “The dead in Christ shall rise first”. They shall receive their glorified bodies first. Then “we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air – so shall we ever be with the Lord”.

Jesus is coming again.

When He comes He shall take His children from this vale of tears. When He comes the Great Tribulation will begin. When He comes this earth will go through seven years of judgment. When He comes He will sort the wheat from the tares. When He comes the goats will be separated from the sheep.

The Sunday after Jesus comes, many Churches will still gather together. Pastors who loved the world but not God will look out on their goat-like congregations and wonder “where has all the people gone?” Recently Andy Stanley (son of Charles Stanley and founder of North Point Ministries – a series of 7 churches that are attended by some 33,000 people) said this of the Bible:

“Christianity does not exist because of the Bible
any more than you exist because of your birth certificate.”

Stanley is among a growing number of professing “Christian” Pastors who tell their Churches that the Bible is just a book. Just “believe Jesus” – whatever Jesus you want to believe in – and as many liberal Pastors promote stop telling people you believe this because the Bible tells me so.

G. Shane Morris wrote in Breakpoint (October 6, 2016):

“There’s a very simple reply to Stanley’s recommendation that we rely on the testimony of the eyewitnesses instead of the Bible: The Bible is the testimony of the eyewitnesses. Without the Bible and the historical and doctrinal truths it teaches, there is no Christianity.”

Jesus is coming soon, I believe, because we are “In the days of Noah”.

Several years ago Horrorwood did a movie on Noah called Noah, but it was nothing like Noah. It was a bit of fantasy taken from a disturbed mind.

Noah was a real person in a real time. How do I know?

Because it’s in the Bible.

Because Jesus spoke of the “days of Noah” not as fantasy, but as reality.

That is what Jesus said in the Bible.

We wouldn’t know that there was a worldwide flood if it were not for the Bible.

We wouldn’t understand the fossil record if we did not understand there was a worldwide flood, which is in the Bible.

Jesus spoke of the flood. He spoke of Noah. And He tied both events to His Second Coming.

1 Noah Was A Real Person Saved By God. Noah lived in a time where there were few believers in God. The Bible tells us of that time that:

Genesis 6:2 (ESV) the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.

Righteousness mingled with darkness.

The Sons of God – those saved by faith – mingled with the daughters of men – the lost. Good and Evil combined. Just as it is today, many Churches are compromising with the world in order to reach crowds. Large crowds, large facilities, but little of God’s Word and little of God’s Spirit. God tells His Children:

2 Corinthians 6:17-18 (KJV) Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, [18] And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

When light stands against the darkness the darkness will retreat. But when light blends with the darkness it can only blend by dimming itself. As dark and light reach an accord the darkness consumes the light.

Genesis 6:5-7 (ESV) The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. [6] And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. [7] So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

God was going to destroy the evil that we had made. God was going to blot out man, to erase the people who had erased Him. But God always has His remnant.

God had Noah.

Genesis 6:8 (KJV) But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

Noah was a man saved by Grace. If you are saved by Grace, you received that Grace from God. And if you are saved by Grace, you stand with God. The Bible says:

Genesis 6:9 (KJV) … Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

If you are saved by Grace, you do not walk with the world. You walk with God.
You walk with God.
You walk with God.

The world was filled with wickedness, but Noah walked with God.

Noah was surrounded by false prophets, just as we are surrounded by false prophets. In the latter days Jesus said (Matthew 24:4-5) “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, claiming, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many”. Noah kept his eyes on Christ – he walked with God. He loved the Lord. Though all around him, it was, as God said:

Genesis 6:13 (KJV) …. The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Everywhere he looked Noah saw sin. Even his own family was not saved. Do you know how I know this?

Because the Bible says so!

The Bible says “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord”, but it doesn’t say “Noah and his family found Grace in the eyes of the Lord”. Only Noah found Grace. No one else did. His family would be saved, but God would save his family out of his love for Noah.

Noah stood alone. The majority voted. God was out, and Noah was supposed to follow the majority. But Noah stood alone … with God.

If you are saved you will often have to stand alone with God. The majority may vote, and you may find yourself standing alone. But that’s fine, as long as you are walking with God.

Enoch stood alone with God – and God took him.
Elijah stood alone against the Prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.
John the Baptist stood alone when he condemned Herod for incest.
Nehemiah stood alone when he felt God tell him to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls.
Jesus Christ stood alone before Pilate,
and died on Calvary for our sins

If you’re standing alone make sure you are standing with God. If you are standing with God then you are not alone, but in a powerful place. I can do all things through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:13). Apart from Christ, I can do nothing (John 15:5).

2 Noah Was A Real Person Given A Real Purpose By God. You are not saved by God just so you can go to Heaven. The Bible tells us that God saves us for a purpose. The lives we lived before Christ prepare us for the life we will live after Christ.

The name “Noah” (Nôach) means “Rest”

People today believe that God offers salvation like a type of fire insurance – something to save you from a later hell. Too many people today are Cultural Christians – that is, they are Christians because they are not Buddhists or Muslims or Troglodytes. They hear the Gospel, are allegedly saved, but then for all intents and purposes live just like everybody else does. But Noah found “Grace” in the eyes of God. Noah “walked with God”.

Romans 8:28 (KJV) And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

God calls Christians according to a purpose. You are called to walk with God. You cannot walk with someone while sitting down. To walk you must get up. To walk with you must get up and move when that Person moves. God does not call people to sit. He calls people to shine. He calls people to be purpose driven, not according to our purposes, but to God’s. You are to do as God says do.

Noah rested in Christ but did not rest on his pew.

God told Noah:

Genesis 6:14-16 (KJV) Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. [15] And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. [16] A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

An “Ark” is not a ship. An “Ark” is a chest, something to hold something that is valuable. You do not sail an Ark. You sail a ship. You pilot a freighter. But an Ark is like a hot air balloon on the water. It has two purposes – hold something important, and float.

God told Noah exactly how to make the outer size of the Ark. The Ark was to have three decks, with rooms on every deck. And God told Noah:

Genesis 6:18-21 (KJV) But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. [19] And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. [20] Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. [21] And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

This section ends with:

Genesis 6:22 (ESV) Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

God did not make a covenant with Noah’s children, but Noah only. Noah didn’t know how long he would have to complete his task, but he worked. He didn’t linger. And here’s something to think of:

God didn’t call a florist to build the Ark
God didn’t call a grocer to build the Ark
God called someone who knew how to put wood together
Then Noah and his family had to get into the Ark – or die!

That which God calls you to do will be based on what you know. He will use the talents and abilities you have in His call to do His will.

God doesn’t call His people to do a little work, but a BIG work for Him.

the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits

Since we don’t understand what “cubits” are, let’s put the size of the Ark into modern terms. The Ark was to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet tall. If you were to lift a 40 story building from its foundation and turn it sideways, it would lay down inside of the Ark. The Ark had an estimated 1.4 million cubic feet of space. If you took one of every animal we know of today – even the extinct species – and multiplied them by 2 (male and female) and put them on the Ark, you would only use 60% of it’s storage capacity.

There was plenty of room for all to come into the Ark, if they would come.

The Ark was to be used by whosoever will. If people would take the time to do so and get on God’s Ark then they would be saved.

3 Noah Is What We Must Be In These Latter Days.

Genesis 7:6 (ESV) Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth.

Matthew 24:37-39 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. [38] For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, [39] And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

America is a perfect picture of the Days of Noah.

I was listening to a man the other day explain why he left his wife and children for another woman. He explained this by saying:

it’s complicated

I’ve noticed that people like to misuse this word. When I was in the Air Force working on Electronic Warfare Systems that was complicated. I had to know which line carried what voltage, and what diode did what, what transistor did what. There were manuals that were 500 pages thick that covered just parts of what the equipment did. When I retired from the Air Force I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement but honestly I couldn’t remember all that I knew without the manuals. Why?

it’s complicated

It isn’t complicated as to why a man leaves his wife and children. It isn’t complicated why two men try to be a husband and wife. It isn’t complicated why a woman would abort her child, effectively murdering a baby. It isn’t complicated why a man would murder another man.

Sin complicates things, but it isn’t complicated.

It’s complicated is a smokescreen that people use today to try and hide the truth. The truth isn’t complicated.

God will judge sin.
Jesus is coming soon.
When He comes, He will take His Children off the earth.
The Tribulation will come.
Sin will be judged.
Hell is real.
Are you prepared?

The Gospel is not complicated. God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Are you prepared? Are you ready? Are you – like Noah – working and looking for the Coming of your Savior? If not, today is a great day to be saved!

Someone asked me “Can’t a person be saved after the Rapture? After Jesus comes?”. I would say more than likely. But the wrong time to be saved is during the Great Tribulation. Today is the day.

2 Corinthians 6:2 (KJV)… behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

Dr. David Jeremiah wrote:

“It appears to me that we could well be living in the last days. Alarming as this is, it has always been part of God’s plan, and there’s great comfort in knowing that His program is right on schedule. I’m excited about the future because I’m excited about Christ. In Him, we’re safe and secure from all alarm. We’re hidden in the cleft of the Rock. We’re engraved on the palms of His hand.”

Make sure you are where you need to be with God. Then live life in His will. Walk with Him daily. Do as He says. Be prepared! Christ is coming soon!