As in the Days of Noah

   

      Matthew 4:36-39 says, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.  But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  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".

I have always read this scripture and pictured people getting married.  I wondered, "what significance do people getting married have to do with the coming of the Lord?"  I just thought it was saying people would keep getting married and having children right up to the end!  Life would be normal all the way through.

It wasn't until the other day I actually understood what this scripture was talking about.  And, unfortunately, it came to me because of what I saw at a local church one Sunday morning.

A good definition of what this scripture is saying comes from the commentary in the Nelson Study Bible.  It says of the people in Noah's day, "Jesus was referring to the indifference of the people of that time to the coming disaster.  There is nothing sinful about eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage.  However, the people of the end times will be doing these things without any thought of God or the coming judgment."

I would like to take this even further and apply it to the church today.  When was the last time you heard a sermon at your local church about the end times?  How long ago was it that you heard about the Rapture, the Anti-Christ, and the coming judgment upon the earth?  The church does not preach this anymore, instead, we hear "life lessons" that contain absolutely no spiritual benefit.  Even during all that is going on in the world right now, COVID, riots, political unrest, the church continues with game nights, movie nights, social gatherings, and life-less, powerless meetings.  Has any church or pastor in the last few months called the people to prayer and fasting?  Did anyone say we need to be on our faces before the Lord asking him for mercy and grace to make it through what is coming?  Does anyone shout from the rooftops that judgment is coming to the church, to America, and the world? 

You see, this is what Jesus was talking about.  The world, but especially the church, has become indifferent to the coming disaster.  It continues on just as it has for the last several years.  No warnings are given, no preparation is done, no one even talks about what is coming.  Instead, we continue on as we always have "without any thought of God or the coming judgment".  Many in the church will be caught unaware, and they will be unprepared physically, mentally, and especially spiritually.

Well, I refuse to be a part of that.  I refuse to be swept away by the coming flood of judgment upon the earth.  We are in the Last Days of the earth, and we have to be prepared.  We have to pray and fast now!  We have to stop living like the world and separate ourselves unto God.  We have to share the gospel with everyone who will listen.  They need to hear it.  The time is very short!

The church of Jesus Christ must wake up.  We must stop the indifference and start making a difference before it is too late!

P.S. I want it understood that not every church or every believer falls into the category I just described.  There is a remnant that is not allowing the world to change them.  They are praying, fasting, and earnestly seeking the Lord.  This is the remnant that refuses to be indifferent to the coming disaster, and this is the group that is ready for the return of the Lord.

I guess the question is, "Which group are you in?