Friday 16th March Christians Together Meeting in Haslingden, England

My nephew who now lives in Australia came to know Jesus as his Lord and Saviour through hearing about the prophesied signs that precede Jesus ‘second coming that are currently being fulfilled. One of these signs Jesus referred to was the days before the flood of Noah.

 

“But of the day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of man. Then two men will be in the field; one taken the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one taken the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” Matthew 24: 36-42.

Days of Noah before the flood
Jesus indicated to his disciples that the sign of his coming it would be like the days of Noah were murder, polygamy and violence were rampant.
Before the flood Cain murdered Abel, afterwards he became a wanderer, a fugitive; his sin separated him from God.
Polygamy is mentioned; Lamech had two wives Adah and Zillah. He boasted to them that he had killed two men in self defence.
However after Seths’ son Enos was born, “Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord.” Genesis 4: 26

Jared’s son Enoch walked with God. Enoch named his son Methuselah which means ”When he is dead it shall come.” The name of his son prophesied the coming judgment. (The flood judgment) “Dake’s Annoted Reference Bible” Published 1961

Enoch was translated when he was 365 years old, he did not die, as a result he did not go through the flood judgment. Genesis 5: 21-24
His son Methuselah was born when Enoch was 65 years old. Methuselah lived till he was 969 years old.
Methuselah lived 187 years when his son Lamech was born. Lamech was 182 years when Noah was born. Adding the two figures together, we find that Methuselah was 369 years old when Noah was born; it was in the 600th year of Noah’s life when the flood began. Methuselah died in the year of the flood fulfilling the prophecy in his name, ”When he is dead it shall come.”

Judgment
“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6: 5.

Noah was a man who walked with God and God asked him to make an ark. The ark would hold Noah and his family 8 persons in all, along with two of a kind of every living creature.

Extract from the Blog ‘Emmanuel.’ (Isaiah named his two sons with the prophesies given to him
The eldest son Shearjashub meaning ‘a remnant shall be saved.’ Isaiah 6: 13
Isaiah’s youngest son Mahershalahashbaz
The name meaning ‘The wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the King of Assyria.” Damascus and Israel and later Judah would be taken over by the King of Assyria. Isaiah 8: 1-8
Isaiah must have been delighted with the fulfilment of this word as it confirmed that his two sons were visible signs that God was with the people of Judah.)

Days of Noah the sign of Jesus’ coming.
St. Paul wrote of ‘Times of stress’ in the last days, “For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanders, profligates, fierce, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. Avoid such people.” 2 Timothy 3: 1-5
Add to what Paul wrote the following:
During my life time I’ve seen a dramatic increase in murder, a decline in marriage and divorce rates that have soared.
The majority of people do not place their hopes in Jesus or in the God given biblical prophesies in the Bible. Instead hopes are placed in science and technology as the means to provide answers to the ultimate question of ‘How did life begin? and ‘The securing of eternal life through science.’ Bodies that can have new parts as they wear out.
Synthetic biology is
A) the design and construction of new biological parts, devices, and systems,
B) the re-design of existing, natural biological systems for useful purposes.
I ask myself how far will God allow mankind to travel along this path of human engineering.

Nuclear Energy
We have the unstable nations developing nuclear technology plus the natural disasters that can have devastating consequences like the Japanese Nuclear power plant hit by the earthquake followed by the tsunami.
The land surrounding the plant is now uninhabitable and the people who once lived there are now affected by radiation from the explosions and fire that took place as the nuclear rods over heated.

Space Exploration
Cain left the Eden and became a wanderer in the earth. Our failure to steward the earth’s resources plus the human fallen nature’s desire to control everything and everybody, which usually ends up in conflict between people. Our human instinct is leading us to wander across the universe looking for planets that would sustain life as we know it on the earth.

Have we got the answers to our current world problems? I do not think so. We are certainly living in the days like that of Noah before the flood.

Enoch’s Prophecy
Jude wrote of Enoch’s far reaching prophecy, “Behold, the Lord came with his holy myriads, to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness which they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” Jude 14, 15.

Jesus spoke of his coming death before he could bring in the Day of Judgment.
“I came to cast a fire upon the earth and would that it were already kindled. I have a baptism to be baptised with; and how I am constrained until it is accomplished.” Luke 12: 49, 50.

The fire of judgment that the Messiah would bring in was not to be kindled until after his death, resurrection and ascension.
Jesus having accomplished the task that his Father had given him to do: to take upon himself sin and the causes of sin by paying the price with his life’s blood being poured out in his death on the cross, where he made that final sacrifice for sin. God raised Jesus from the dead, and Jesus was seen by over 500 people after his resurrection.
It is through faith in what Jesus has done for us on the cross we receive forgiveness of all that stood against us: the generational inherited sin of Adam and Eve and personal sin. Just as Jesus was raised from the dead by God so we are raised up with Christ. We are baptised into his death and resurrection and receive the gift of eternal life.

Water Baptism
Peter in his first letter tells us that when Jesus went to the place where the lost souls of Noah’s flood were held. They heard from Jesus the message of salvation and were given the opportunity to accept or reject it. Those who received his message were raised from the grave on the day of Jesus crucifixion. 1 Peter 3:18-22 Matthew 27: 52, 53. Ephesians 4: 8

The flood waters are like the bitter water found at Marah
The Israelites left Egypt and as they travelled towards the promised land through the desert, they found themselves without water. In their search for water they came upon a pool but the water was bitter and undrinkable. Moses prayed to the Lord, in response to his prayer the Lord showed him a tree he threw it into the water. Afterwards they found the water was sweet and drinkable. Exodus 15: 22-25.
This illustrates water baptism were the bitter water represents sin and the tree represents the cross forgiveness of sins, and the sweet water represents the new life in Christ.
The Flood
The Flood represents sin and judgment.
The wooden ark representing the cross, the cross carried the Saviour; Jesus paid the price for our sin and the causes of sin through his life’s blood being poured out as the final offering for sin against God.
The dry land representing forgiveness that opens the way to the beginning of a new transformed life.

Jesus having this expectation in himself of his coming, this expectation is in us, because Christ is in us.
This hope of Jesus’ coming is born in us through Jesus’ own desire to come from heaven and call out his church.
“Then two men will be in the field; one taken the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one taken the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”

Where ever Christians are found or what ever we are doing when we hear Jesus’ call, we leave the earth to meet Jesus in the air. 1 Thessalonians 4: 16, 17. Like Enoch who did not die and did not go through the judgment, we will be translated into Christ’s kingdom.

Mary, Martha and Lazarus. (Signs of the Times by M. R DeHaan)
Martha was told that Jesus was on the road approaching Bethany so she went out to meet Jesus and in her distress she cried out, “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died.” Jesus re-assured her that there will be a resurrection, ”Your brother will live again.” Martha replied, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection at the last day.”
Jesus told Martha about the resurrection of believers in him. “I am the resurrection and the life: he who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” John 11: 25, 26.
We look again at Jesus’ words to Martha from the point of view of Jesus calling out his church from the earth,
“Though he was dead, yet shall he live?” Lazarus died in faith and Jesus called him out and raised him up from the grave. This illustrates that when the dead in Christ hear the call of Jesus, they will be resurrected to meet Jesus in the air.
“And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” Martha and Mary also heard Jesus’ call. Illustrating those who are alive will meet Jesus in the air when he calls out his church.
St. Paul wrote that we come together simultaneously to meet the Lord in the air and we shall be forever with the Lord Jesus. This true account taking place at the tomb is the picture of what takes place when Jesus calls out his church.

“Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”
We need to be ready for Jesus’ coming. Noah believed God’s word to him that he would make an end of all flesh because of the violence and with them destroy the earth.
Noah and his family lived through the flood judgment by being kept safe in the ark; they escaped the judgment, like the Christians who will go through the tribulation their salvation will be kept safe in heaven.
“When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Colossians 3: 4