All Aboard

Genesis 6:17-21, And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark -- you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them." NKJV

Isn't it interesting that God saved the animals, but the people who had rejected God and His Word perished? Under the new covenant, we see just the opposite. Jesus tells us in John 3, that He wasn't sent to condemn the world, but through Him the world might be saved. When the flood waters began to be released from the deep and poured out from the heavens, only those who didn't love or honor God lost their lives. This tells us that the flood didn't destroy them, but the sin in their hearts did. Even today, people don't seem to understand or care to know about that principle. 

Just as it was in Noah's day, the same is true today. People who reject the Lord and know they have sin in their hearts, but don't repent, tend to blame the reason for their sin on other people or circumstances. It's a total shame the way that people with sin in their hearts treat the living God and His warnings. God told Noah to preach to the lost of his day while he was working on the ark. Noah did as the Lord instructed him; for 120 years he preached according to God's instructions. Yet, after the 120 years, only he and his family were permitted on the ark. Can you begin to imagine the persecution and ridicule that Noah had to face building an ark that was large enough to house all of the animals, food, and supplies as well as 8 adults, in the middle of a dry land? Here Noah is... preaching about a flood; keep in mind, the earth, up to this point had never seen rain. If you will read Genesis 2, you will find that before the flood, there was a mist that arose out of the ground and watered the face of the earth; we call them geysers.

So, given all of these facts about the climate in Noah's day, the people simply dismissed Noah as being a religious fanatic. You can probably imagine how they mistreated him and wagged their heads in disgust as they passed by the building site of the ark. As we read the story of Noah and his faithfulness to God, it's easy to breeze over the fact that Noah endured for over a century the controversy of building this monstrosity of a boat while preaching that the end of civilization was at hand. In the book of Matthew, Jesus tells us that as it was in Noah's day, so it will be in the day of His return to this earth. We see all of the signs coming to pass just as they were foretold to us over 2,000 years ago, and people are responding to the church in much the same way as they reacted to Noah. They are rejecting the gospel of Christ.

The birth pains of creation are growing stronger as well as closer together. This tells us only one thing. Jesus' return is at hand, and we must prepare ourselves and warn our lost loved ones and friends to get ready. Even if the Lord should delay His return beyond our lifetime, none of us has the promise of tomorrow. A really good offense is the best defense. Are you ready should you get called out of the game of life today? If you're not ready, you can be!!

1 John 1:8-10, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. NKJV 

But By the Grace of God,

Pastor Asa