Adrian Rogers - The Days of Noah
Be finding, please, Matthew chapter 24. In a moment we're going to begin reading in verse 36. Matthew chapter 24. I'm told that a man asked another man on the street, "Do you know what the two biggest problems in the world are today"? The man said, "I don't know, and I don't care". He said, "You have them both". The two great problems in the world today are what? Ignorance and indifference. Now, there are some things that we cannot, should not be ignorant of and dare not be indifferent to, and that is, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the end of this age as we know it. And I want to speak to you on that subject today. And we're going to call the message, "The Days of Noah".
Now, history is coming to a climax. It would be wrong; as a matter of fact, it would be blasphemous for me to set a date and to tell you when Jesus Christ is coming. Number one, I could not do it because I don't know and you don't know and no one knows. But the Bible does teach us that we can know what the days will be like when Jesus comes again. Jesus said they were like, "They will be like the days of Noah". Read with me Matthew 24 and begin in verse 36, Jesus speaking of that time. Well, let's back up to verse 35, "Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away. But of that day," speaking of the climax of all things, "but of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of Heaven, but My Father only. But," now, notice in contradistinction to the fact that we do not know the day and the hour, "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be". As it was, so shall it be. That's what verse 37 says.
Now, notice Jesus' explanation in verse 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. And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be". Now, "Eating, drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage," speaks of indifference. "And they knew not," that speaks of ignorance. Indeed, these are the two major problems, ignorance and indifference, that will mark the last days just before Jesus comes. Now, if we want to know what the days of Noah were like, we have to go back to some chapters in the Word of God, specifically, Genesis chapters 4, 5, and 6. So, for the rest of the message, would you open your Bibles to the first book of the Bible, Genesis chapters 4, 5, and 6.
And I'm going to be selecting some verses from these chapters to show you what the days of Noah were like. And then we're going to apply the days of Noah to our day, and we're going to understand why this age is ripe for Jesus Christ to come again. I have picked out of these chapters seven signs, seven marks of the days of Noah, and I would like for you to jot them down on a piece of paper, and I'll give you the Scripture for them. But what are the days of Noah and how do they compare to the days in which we live today? First of these seven signs is this: the days of Noah were days of secular philosophy. Genesis chapter 6 verses 5 and 6. The Bible says, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the Earth," now, watch this next phrase, "and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the Earth, and it grieved Him at His heart".
Now, look at the word imaginations. The word imagination, Dr. John Philips has told us, comes from a Hebrew root that means to fashion as a potter. Actually, they were trying to mold society by philosophy. And here's what Dr. Philips says, "Men fashioned wicked philosophies, espoused filthy causes, made fashionable vile sins, and endeavored to pour society into their mold". Now, New Age philosophies today are rampant. We have those, some of them were founded by Bible-believers, but no longer holding to the faith. They teach strange doctrines. They deny the Bible. They mock at the blood atonement. They do not recognize the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And once great denominations, many of them, have gone the way of all flesh, and we see today a floodgate of vile and wicked philosophies today.
The faith that was delivered to Adam, and Adam understood the blood atonement because God made for Adam coats of sin, and the truth that the martyr Abel died for, and the truth that was revealed to Enoch, the prophet, was now rapidly receding over the horizon. We live in a day and an age like that. Secularism, today, in America and in the world has taken over the arts. It has taken over the sciences. It has taken over philosophy. It has taken over education; and our days are so much like the days of Noah. There's only one acceptable bigotry in the world today. Do you know what it is? It is, you can still be bigoted against a Bible-believing Christian. A Bible-believing Christian, today, is the whipping boy of modern society.
What were the days of Noah like? Number one, they were days of secular philosophy. That cuts across the board in America and in the world today. The second mark of Noah's day, not only secular philosophy, but scientific progress. Now, you may not have thought that the days of Noah were days of scientific progress, but the days of Noah had reached a zenith in knowledge and achievement. If you will read the early chapters of the book of Genesis, you will find that in those days there were men, great men, Nephilim they were called in the Hebrew, men of renowned. They had prodigious intellects. Genesis chapter 6 and verse 4. And many of you may think that back in those days they were plowing with sticks and that they did not understand. But, no, this was a day of great scientific achievement, maybe in many ways, greater than our day and in our age.
For example, they had great cities. Look in Genesis chapter 4 verse 17, "And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch; and he builded a city". Now, not just a village, but here is a metroplex, a metropolitan center, teeming with life. There was an industrial revolution. Look, if you will, in Genesis chapter 4 and verse 22, "And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron". An industrial revolution. They were into metallurgy. They're making now tools and machinery. And so you have urban centers. You have an industrial revolution. Man, who had been driven from paradise because of his sin, is now trying to create an artificial paradise of wit and wisdom and fire. He's building his own technological paradise.
If you think that these were days without scientific progress, think again for a moment. Think of the how God instructed Noah to build the ark. Think of that ark. That ark was an engineering miracle. It was 450 feet long; that's longer by far than a football field. 150 feet wide, 45 feet, three-story vessel. Those who are oceanographers and sailors tell us that it was built to about the same proportion and size of many modern ocean-going liners. That boat had to be built with specifications, engineering strong enough to withstand the greatest storm history has ever recorded. And that ship went through all of that fearful storm. It was a day of technological advance.
Now, what is our day like? Well, think of our day. My father's day began with a horse and buggy. It ended up with the splitting of the atom. In our lifetime, we've seen men walk on the moon. We've so pushed back the frontiers of science that we've lost all ability to be surprised. We're now tinkering with genetic engineering. That holds all sorts of awesome and frightening potentiality as scientists now are actually trying to alter and manipulate man's gene pool. I was reading about a new implant technology, where the scientists are now able to take a minicomputer, inject it under your skin, and therefore, you can have an onboard computer that'll do many things. The interesting thing that this company, which has gotten a trademark and also a patent, calls this mini-computer "digital angel".
So you can have an angel within you, of a different kind. And what they're going to do with this is its tamper-proof. They mean by that is that you will have your identity with you always so that you can do e-commerce, electronic commerce, by having this computer on board. Now, when this is put into you, if that happens to you, global positioning satellites will be able to track you wherever you are from a distance no wider than this pulpit that I am speaking from. This little computer will be empowered electro-mechanically by your muscle movements. And what it is is a joining of man and machine. Now, law enforcement will be able to use this to track criminals. They will know where they are. Emergency response, if you're in an accident, they'll be able to find you. If you're in distress, your doctor can monitor your heart. He will know all about your blood pressure, other vital functions.
The article that I read said this, "Your doctor will know the problem before you do". And they said, "Already we've received many requests from around the world for this product". A contractor for the U.S. Army has been looking into this because they say, "We'll be able to track our troop movements. We'll be able to know about the whereabouts of all of our soldiers and we'll know about their health". Of course, this will help in a cash-less society. Your identity will be on board. If you want to cash a check, you can do it. "Digital Angel" will be there. A very useful method of control. I think the most frightening thing about the article that I read was in the World Net Daily, from Dr. Peter Zhou, Z-H-O-U. And he is the chief scientist, and here's what he said, listen to it, here's a quote, "We will be a hybrid of electronic intelligence and our own soul".
So you'll have electronic intelligence and your own soul together, sort of a hybrid. Now, they're also working on virtual reality. Do you know the chief money maker on the Net today is pornography? And the pornographers are doing billions of dollars of business on the Internet, and you need to guard your children very carefully; very, very carefully in this matter. And businessmen, of course, need to guard your own eyes and your employees. But they're working now on something called virtual reality. That is, you will not be able to tell the differences between the real world and the electronic world. And they're working on now, would you believe, virtual adultery so that you can actually interact with the machine in a disgraceful way. The days of Noah were days of secular philosophy. They were days of scientific progress. The days of Noah are here again.
Now, here's the third mark of the day of Noah. They were days of social plagues. They had not reached utopia. They had not taken this scientific knowledge and turned it into good. Notice in Genesis chapter 6 beginning in verse 11 through verse 13, "The Earth also was corrupt before God, and the Earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the Earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the Earth. And God said unto Noah, 'The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the Earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them upon the Earth.'"
The days of Noah were days of great violence. And our day is a day of great violence today. In my lifetime, I have seen wars after wars after wars. Some of you have lived through two world wars, World War 1 and World War 2. But we live in a day where there are minor wars and rebellions and upheavals everywhere, and skyjacking, and kidnappings and guerrilla warfare and needless murder and assault. Our murder rate soars. Organized crime, in some ways, is a bigger business than the United States government. And people are filled today with violence and a spirit of revenge like never before, but it was true, not in recent times, but it was true in the days of Noah.
Look, if you will, in Genesis chapter 4 and verse 23 and 24, "And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, 'Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech; for I have slain a man to my wounding.'" That is, "I got in a fight. I killed him. He wounded me". "And a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold". Here was a man who was eaten up with a spirit of revenge. And he's picked out and put in the Bible as typical of many who are so filled with the spirit of violence and revenge. Did you know that since 1960 there has been a 560% increase in violent crime? Just since 1960, 560%. Most of us live behind closed, bolted, and locked doors at night.
The social engineers have done their work. And they've told us that if we would relax about sex and not get so upright about it, we could do something about sex crimes. And yet violent crimes against women today are epidemic. We've been told that we were too tough on criminals. We should relax and go easy on them. And now we don't have enough space to warehouse the criminals. We've been told that our churches are too old-fashioned, that we have to modernize and liberalize and rationalize and compromise. And these churches have compromised themselves right out of business. We've been told in our schools that we don't need prayer in the schools, that we can take the Ten Commandments off the walls, and as a substitute, we can put in values clarification and substitute, "Thus saith the mind of man" for "Thus saith the Word of God".
And we've reared a generation of young people with refined intellects and undisciplined emotions. Think of the mayhem that's in the schools. It's almost laughable if it weren't so sad that they're putting metal detectors in the doors of the schools. Very frankly, friend, when I went to school, that couldn't even be conceived of. Since 1990, there has been a 200% increase in teen suicide. And now, we've got a group of people telling us we need to legalize drugs. God have mercy. Friend, this day was a day, in Noah's day, it was a day when society was coming unraveled. It was a day of a multiplicity of marriages.
There was a plague of divorce in Noah's day. Look in Genesis chapter 6 verses 1 and 2, "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the Earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose". Bible commentators tell us that when Jesus said they were marrying and giving in marriage, they were not talking about regular marriage; one man for one woman till death do them part; but a multiplicity of wives. Look, we know that Lamech, this man that we mentioned before, had introduced polygamy into society. Look in Genesis chapters 4 and verse 19, "And Lamech took unto him two wives; and the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other was Zillah". Now, God wants one man for one woman till death do them part.
Again, when I was a youngster, divorce was rare and it was a mark of shame. We're seeing now so much juvenile crime, and much of it roots in broken homes. Think, today, we're talking about social plagues. Think, today, of the crime against the unborn, little babies. Now we have something called partial birth abortion, where a baby is all but delivered, the head alone remains in the birth canal. And scissors are put into the base of the skull of that child, and then a catheter sucks the brains out of that head to collapse it, so that this child, 90% born, is then born, dead, dead on arrival.
Former Senator Bob Smith of New Hampshire said this, and listen, "Unfortunately, the dirty little secret that large amounts of cash are changing hands, abortion clinics and wholesalers are making a killing, literally, off of the sale of human baby parts". They don't want these little babies dismembered in the womb. They want them partially born so they can get the whole parts. And now there's an industry selling baby parts. Former Representative Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania said, and I quote. "Now we know why the partial abortion procedure was developed; to give this industry whole body parts". It's about as macabre as it can be, that little babies are being murdered, and we have laws, in so-called God-blessed America, that allow such a thing. Are you surprised?
Let me tell you what a professor at Princeton said, ivy-league Princeton. This professor's name is Peter Singer. He, by the way, is founding philosopher of the animal rights movement. And Peter Singer says it's not all that bad to kill a baby, especially if the baby is disabled or malformed. And I quote him, "Killing a disabled infant is not morally equivalent to killing a person". So, if a little baby is malformed, it does not have the status of a person. And then again, and I'm quoting, and I'm not just quoting some yahoo from off the wall, though he is a yahoo. I'm quoting a professor of Bio-Ethics at the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. He said this, "The life of a newborn baby is of less value than the life of a pig, a dog, or a chimpanzee".
Now, that's the world in which we're living. Can you believe, I mean, can you believe these things? You would say, "Pastor, surely that is not true". But, friend, these things are true. What were the days of Noah like? They were days of social plagues. God says the world has become corrupt. And then, number four, the days of Noah were days of sexual perversion. Notice Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the Earth," now, watch this, "and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually". Well, this verse doesn't mention what that evil was, how sick that imagination was. But Jesus gives us further insight.
You might want to put in your margin or even turn with me now to Luke chapter 17, because I want you to see in Luke chapter 17, Jesus, again, is speaking of the days of Noah, but it does something very interesting. He links the days of Noah with the days of Lot. And He shows us in the days of Noah, there had been a sexual revolution, and they were days of great sexual perversion. Luke 17 verses 26 through 30, Jesus said, "And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. 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. Likewise," now, underscore this, "Likewise, also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from Heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed".
And Jesus now links the days of Noah with the days of Lot. If you know the Bible, that Lot was an inhabitant of the city of Sodom. The city of Sodom is the city we get the term sodomy from, which speaks of sexual perversion, the perversion of the Sodomites. How does God feel about this sin? Well, if you can read black print on white paper, you don't have to guess. Put these verses in your margin. Leviticus 20 verse 13, "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them". Now that was the Old Testament economy under a theocracy. The death penalty is not allowed for this sin today, but it was. It gives God's heart and God's mind about the matter. God says it is an abomination.
Now, we live in a time when there's an epidemic that is bringing so many precious lives to a conclusion in the United States, and, actually, is eating the heart out of Africa today. Well, these vile diseases, are they the judgment of God? Well, it's really the built-in result of these sins. Put these Scriptures down. Romans 1 verse 27, "And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly," now, notice this next sentence, "and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet". That is, fitting. The New American Standard says, "The due penalty of their error".
You know, sometimes people ask this question: is Aids, for example, the judgment of God? Well, you have to be careful when you answer that because some little children have Aids, some hemophiliacs get Aids. There are many ways to contract Aids, but, primarily, if we would got back to God's plan concerning marriage, the Aids epidemic would evaporate overnight. I mean, that's it. The answer is so clear. They say it's not preventable; it's clearly preventable. Just put one man with one woman till death do them part. That's God's plan. I mean, when everything else fails, just go back and read the directions. But you say, "Pastor, what about little babies". Well, if a man steps off of a ten-story building, willingly does it, and he hits the bottom, that's the due recompense of his error.
Now, what if he has a little baby in his arms when he steps off? Will the innocent baby die also? Yes, because the innocent often suffer along with the guilty. Yes, we know that the innocent people suffer. When God judges the world, He's going to do it with a lot more specificity. God does not really have to judge this sin. God just leaves people to themselves. When people begin to say this is all right, not only is it all right, it is to be approved, here's what God does. Romans 1 verse 24. I just read verse 27, but read verse 24, "Wherefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves". God just gave them up.
Romans 1 verse 26, "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections; for even their women did change the natural use to that which is against nature". And then Romans 1 verse 28, "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind". That is, a mind that cannot think straight. So, what does God do when people begin to justify this kind of vileness? God just says, "All right. I give you up. I give you over". The judgment is built into these sins.
"Pastor Rogers, are people born this way"? God would never cripple somebody and then blame them for limping. Well, you say, "But where do these urges come from"? They come out of the heart which is wicked and sinful. The same urges that urge people toward incest, the same urges that urge people toward adultery, the same urges that urge people toward violence, the same urges that urge people toward drunkenness, the same urges that urge people toward kleptomania. "Yes," people say, "I feel this way". Of course they do. You say, "I was born this way". Yes, we're born sinners, we are born sinners. We need to be born again. That's what it's all about.
My heart goes out to parents who have precious children who've gotten into this lifestyle, because Hollywood has so glamorized it, and television now has tried to normalize it. And if you say anything, do you know what they'll tell you about television? They say, "If you don't like it, turn it off". You know what that's like? That's like saying, "If you don't like the crime on the streets, stay inside". That's like saying, "If you don't like the pollution in the air, don't breathe". Friend, the streets belong to us, the air belongs to us, and the airwaves belong to us. They get the idea that they're there to pollute the airwaves. They have no more right to pollute the airwaves than they have to pollute the air that I breathe. But, what has happened in Noah's day. God said, "Look. Jesus said, 'As it was in the days of Lot, it's going to be in those days when I come again.'" And this sin had been made fashionable.
Now, let me give you the next mark of Noah's day. They were days of selfish prosperity. Some think that surely God must be pleased with America because of the prosperity that we have in this nation. But not every place is prosperous. America is prosperous, but not every place is prosperous. America is an island of prosperity and perversion ensconced in an ocean of need. It was exactly the same in the days of Lot and in the days of Noah. Put this Scripture down. Ezekiel chapter 16 verse 49 and 50. Ezekiel says to Israel, "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister, Sodom: pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me; therefore, I took them away as I saw good".
Now, notice how He describes Sodom. They were proud. I mean, sin that used to cower and hide now struts. But He says, not only pride, but fullness of bread. They had more than they needed. And abundance of idleness. They had a short work week. Hardly needed to work at all in Sodom. I can imagine two men of Sodom walking down the street. One of them says to the other, "You know, God teaches that the lifestyle of Sodom is wicked and vile. Do you think God is going to judge us because of the way we're living"?
"Well, I don't think He's going to judge us. Look how prosperous we are. Look," if they had a Stock Market, he would have said, "Look at the Dow Jones, look at the Nasdaq, look how we are doing. Surely, God is smiling upon us". But the Bible teaches that at the very zenith, the very height of their prosperity is when the fire and the brimstone came. And God left Sodom with its smoking ruins. Second Peter 2 verse 6 tells us, "As an example to those who should after live ungodly". May I tell you something friend? God wants me to tell you not to let a soaring economy lull you to sleep and think that everything is all right. It is not! It is not! "As it was in the days of Noah, as it was in the days of Lot, so shall it be".
Now, let me give you the sixth mark of Noah's day as it was in the days of Noah. Those were days of solemn preaching. God never sends judgment without first sending warning. In Genesis chapter 6 and verse 13, "And God said unto Noah, '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.'" God sent a preemptive warning. Before God sends judgment, God always sends warning. Noah not only built the ark, he preached. Put in your margin Second Peter chapter 2 and verse 5. The Bible says, "And God spared not the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth person," now, listen to this next phrase, "a preacher of righteousness".
Noah was a preacher. He preached with the wrath of God in the foreground and the ring of hammers in the background. A near contemporary was a man named Enoch. And Jude 14, tells us that, "Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, 'Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints.'" But the preaching of these ministers in that day did not penetrate their hearts. Why? They were marrying and giving in marriage, eating and drinking. Their technology, their art, their culture, their entertainment. They had eaten of the fruit of the tree of knowledge and they saw themselves are rich and increased with goods and had need of nothing.
Can you imagine what the newspaper columnists of our day would have done had they gone out to interview Noah? Can you imagine him being interviewed today? What a field day they would have had. Can you imagine the political cartoons that would be drawn about this narrow-minded fundamentalist called Noah? Can you imagine what the liberal clergy would have said about Noah? "Well, if Noah had heard anything about a flood, I can assure you it would not have been literal water". That's what they would have said.
Our generation has been warned. There has been so much faithful preaching, and the last days are days that are going to be marked by solemn preaching. Noah was a preacher of righteousness. And God sent me here to warn you that the days of Noah are upon us. Now, the last of these signs, of these seven signs. They were days of sudden panic. Just when everything seemed to be going fine. Jesus said eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. That is, the round of life went on. But Genesis chapter 6 verse 17, "And behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the Earth, to destroy all flesh upon the Earth".
Now, folks, I don't know how that day began. Maybe that day was bright and fair. Maybe the clouds began to gather. I don't know what happened, but I know that it came suddenly, it came cataclysmically. Perhaps the wind picked up and began to moan like a funeral dirge across the Earth. And then God had said to Noah, "Noah, come, come thou and thy family into the ark". And God brought Noah into the ark and God shut the door. And God shut Noah in and God shut others out, and God shut the water out. Suddenly the Earth rocks, the heavens open, and the slough gates of Heaven begin to pour great floods of water. And water belches out of this Earth and the water begins to rise. And those who've been laughing at Noah and those who've been mocking Noah now begin to wonder, "What is this"?
There's some indication that up until this time it had not rained, but that the Earth was moisturized by a vapor, a canopy of vapor that came. There are those in the valleys who begin to run to the high places. Those in the high places are seeking even higher places. After a while, when the water gets up to dangerous proportions, they come and begin to beat upon the door of that ark and say, "Noah, let us in," but it was too late. God had shut the door. And God shut the water out and God shut these people out who laughed and mocked and scoffed. And God shut His people in.
Can you imagine in that day, a little boy, before it began to rain, coming to his father and saying, "Daddy, can I talk with you"? "Yes, son, what do you want to talk about". "Daddy, you know crazy Noah, the one everybody's laughing about, the one who's building a big boat"? "Heh, yes, son, I know old Noah, crazy Noah, yes, I know him". "Well, daddy, I was over there and he stopped working on that boat and he talked to me for a while. And he said, 'God is going to destroy the world with something called a flood.' Daddy, what is a flood"? "Well," he said, "son, I'm not sure exactly what a flood is, but don't worry about it". "Well, daddy, Noah says that everybody that's not in the ark is going to drown, and daddy, Noah seems very sincere. He seems to know what he's talking about. Daddy, frankly, I think we ought to go and ask Mr. Noah if we can get on board that boat".
"Now, son, son, listen. Wait, son, heh, heh, heh, excuse me for laughing, son, but wait a minute, son. The reason I'm laughing is this. When I was a little boy I went out there and, heh, heh, heh, and old Noah was building his boat back then. You wouldn't believe it. And, son, the reason I'm laughing. I'm not making fun of you, son, but I felt just like you did, and do you know what, son? I went home, just like you came home to me, I went home to my daddy and I told my daddy what you've told me. Now, son, here's the funny part. My daddy, your granddaddy said that old coot had told him the same story. I mean, your granddaddy was frightened for a while about that old man Noah. Son, don't you worry. Noah is a religious fanatic. Pay no attention to Noah".
And as it was, so shall it be. Look at me. I'm preaching to you the Word of God. I'm telling you there's an ark of safety. His name is Jesus. And if you will come to Him, put your faith in Him, I promise you, on the authority of the Word of God, He will change you, He will transform you, He will give you joy unspeakable and full of glory.
You say, "What if it cost me". Well, when Noah drove that last nail into the ark, he may have had nothing left, but when he came out of the ark, he had inherited the Earth. He went in a minority; he came out a majority. I'm telling you, folks, it pays to serve Jesus. And if you're not saved, you need to get saved. I mean saved, not just be a church member. You need to be born again. Jesus is the ark of safety and if you'll put your faith in Him, He'll save you. Jesus may come this afternoon. As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be, eating, drinking, marrying, giving in marriage, and then the day came.
Would you bow your heads in prayer? Heads are bowed and eyes are closed. And if you're not saved, let's get it settled right now. I'm going to lead you in a prayer. And He will save you. I promise you on the authority of the Word of God that He will save you. And He will keep you saved if you'll trust Him. Pray this prayer:
Dear God. I am a sinner and I'm lost and I need to be saved, and I want to be saved. Jesus, You died to save me and promised to save me if I would trust You. I do trust You now with all of my heart. I believe You paid for my sin with Your blood on the cross. I believe that God raised You from the dead. And I receive You this morning as my personal Lord and Savior. In Your name I pray. Amen.