“And this was in the time of Noah, so will it be in the time of the coming of the Son of man. Men were eating and drinking; they were marrying and being married, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. The same was true in the time of Lot; they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building; but on the day that Lot left Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. In the same manner it shall be in the day that the Son of man shall be revealed. On that day, if a man is on the housetop and his goods inside, let him not go down to take them away; nor should a man in the field turn back. “Remember Lot’s wife! “Whoever seeks to keep his life shall lose it; but whoever loses it shall preserve it. [Luke 17: MNT].
One of the many signs of the Lord’s Second Coming which we are seeing today, is the moral decline in how people are living in their non-God fearing activities and way of life. Jesus told His disciples, at the time of His return, men and women would be living just like they were in the days of Noah, when He destroyed the world, and like the days of Lot when God destroyed the cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah. What are we told about the days of Noah? For one thing it was a very violent world, and as it is today everywhere seems to be under the threat of violence. Not only in the Middle East is violence. Time and time again we are seeing murder and mayhem, whether it be in a café or a pop concert in France or people simply travelling to work in England or going to hear a singer perform, violent men must destroy and murder innocent people. It is a way of life and police forces and citizens are constantly on their guard. School teachers are regularly finding uncontrollable and violent children in their classes brought up on a mixture of neglect, lack of discipline and fuelled by drugs and violent influence. Often it is not safe to walk alone at night or go certain places. In some cities in the world there are no-go areas where even police take care when they enter.
We are not told a lot about what happened in the way of genetics and contamination in the days before the flood of the human gene. Some believe Satan’s wicked angels came to earth took wives, and their offspring often were giants. Because of their stature, possibly, they became men of renown, where in fact they were wicked men who lead others astray. There are today men who are looked upon as leaders of their community and yet in some countries are leading the people astray causing them to do wicked actions, like killing innocent people and causing distress among communities.
One thing that is mentioned about Noah’s day was that everyone just carried on as normal. They married and had children and lived everyday lives, ignoring the wickedness around them but in many cases joining in. Today it is generally accepted that the world is in a mess and no-one does anything about it, and are heedless of God, His way of Salvation and what will happen in the future. They probably thought Noah was a nut case and probably laughed at him building a very big boat in the middle of a desert. They were not so sure he was mad when the flood came but it was too late by that time. No doubt after the Rapture, for people who nearly believed and didn’t, or left it till later, will regret they rejected the Lord and His way of salvation. Again it will be a bit late then.
When Lot lived was in many ways similar to Noah’s day but mainly confined to the cities of the plain. In fact the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were so wicked that God thought they were due for judgement. Abraham pleaded with God that if even only ten people were righteous the cities would be spared, there were not even ten. However Lot and his family would be rescued before it happened. When Lot had left Abraham due to overcrowding, he was very rich. Originally Lot had pitched his tent near Sodom but at this later date he was living in a house in Sodom. Somehow he no longer had his herds and servant’s, but now it appears, was living as a private citizen in the city. He had become a senior member of that city because he was in the gate when God’s messengers found him, where the judges and senior men sat. Lot had learned to live with the other people in Sodom but it appears he had not yet succumbed to the wickedness there, because it says their wickedness grieved him. The other day in the same news bulletin. There was an announcement of a same sex wedding and later on in the same bulletin it was announced that there have been an alarming increase in AID’s and HIV cases. I just don’t see why it is so promoted. We know what God says about it in His word: “Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due”. [Rom 1:27 NKJV] or “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites. [1 Cor 6:9 NKJV]. Fairly clearly written in God’s word. If you say that this subject is not prevalent in our world today, you don’t know what’s going on. Unfortunately it is also infiltrating the Christian Church along with adultery, and pornography in people’s lives. We are in the last days, and I believe that Christ could call His Church to meet Him in the air at any moment, are you ready for Him. Are you ready to greet Him in the clouds, and will you be clean and have on a wedding garment ready for His banquet, your light burning brightly and a clear conscience, when He comes to call us home?
Brian D. Papworth
Representative for the P.W.M.I. in the South Pacific.
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