Take your Bibles and turn with
me to Matthew chapter 24. Now what I intend to do tonight
is somewhat what I did this morning, is to scan through this chapter
and eventually we are going to land on my text over in verse
37. But I want to scan over some
things in this chapter so you can get a feel of the text and
the context. This is the chapter in the Gospel
of Matthew where he deals with the second coming of Christ.
And it says the Lord here in... He sat on the Mount of Olives
and His disciples came to Him privately and asked Him to tell
them when all these things were going to be. They were disturbed. When is this time coming? spoken
of the temple and talked about the greatness and the beauty
and the glory of the temple. And he said, You see that temple?
Not one stone is going to be left upon the other. And they
said, When is this going to be? When is this going to come to
pass? When would this time of judgment
and restoration of all things be? When would these great stones
of the temple be cast down? verse four and jesus answered
and said unto them take heed that no man deceived you for
many shall come in my name saying i am cry and they shall deceive
now the old writers read this and of course they applied everything
to the catholic church because the catholic church in their
day was the enemy of the gospel And they apply this to the Pope, these old writers. Just about
in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, when they talk about that man
of sin, they talk about the Antichrist, the coming of the son of perdition,
and they always apply that. If you go back and you read these
old writers, John Calvin and these old writers, they always
apply that to Catholicism and to the Pope and to things like
that. and indeed this scripture has
to do with him and men like him. But that's not what this passage
of scripture is talking about. The sense of the passage is of
many who shall come. He's not talking about one man
that's going to come, he's talking about many. In this day, before
the second coming of Christ, he said there's going to be many,
many, that's going to come saying, I am Christ. I am Christ. Laying claim to either a part
or a whole of the work of Christ, to which he was appointed. Laying
hold of a part, his office as a prophet, for instance, saying,
I'm a prophet. Or saying, I'm the priest, I'm
the king, I'm the mediator, I'm the surety, I'm the redeemer.
You see what I'm saying? Here's how Paul words it by the
Holy Spirit in 2 Timothy chapter 2. He said, "...who opposeth
and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is
worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God
as though he were God." He's talking about the spirit
and attitude of men in whom that old man of sin is revealed. As God, he sits in the temple
of God showing himself that he is God. How does he do that?
By demanding his rights. That's how he does it. He sits
there as God and demands that he has his rights as a man. By demanding his will to be acknowledged. You must acknowledge my will. By demanding his will, by saying
I'm in charge of my destiny. God's not in charge of my destiny.
I'm in charge. We're free moral agents. I'm in charge. I make my own
way. I make my own end, my own decisions
by saying, I've got a hand in this thing of redemption. That's
how they come saying, I am Christ. I play a big part, a big part
in my conversion. I steer the ship. I plot the
course. I, I, I. That's what our Lord's
talking about. In that day, He said, this great
and terrible day before the Lord comes and restores all things
and judges this world and raises the dead in Christ to be with
Him forever. in that day before this day come
this is what the same job the society is going to be it's going
to be a society of freeway that was going to be freeway uh... you know that one site was cast
out of heaven this might be interesting you may have known for twenty
years i don't know but when satan was cast out of heaven he didn't
actually do anything you ever go back and read the account
in isaiah he didn't do anything well he said in his heart i will that's what he said i
will ascend into the throne i'm going to ascend i'm going to
sit on the sides i'm going to run things i'm going to have
a part in this glory He said, I saw him fall like
lightning. That's what's going to happen
to this generation. And I'm telling you, I'm reading right now out
of the Bible written 2,000 years ago in the Greek language. I'm
reading to you a commentary that reads like yesterday's newspaper. I, I, I. He comes, he said, in
my name. And do you know that even in
judgment, He continues this deceitful claim? Our Lord said, You are
going to say to me in this day, this judgment is going to come.
Our Lord is going to come in all of His glory, and He is going
to come, and He is going to judge this world in righteousness.
And He said, Here is what you are going to say to me, the same
thing that you were saying to me before I come. Have not we
cast out devils in thy name? Have not we preached in thy name? You see what he is saying here?
Many shall come to deceive you in my name. And his name is who he is. And
men take to themselves his name. And they do it, verse 5, to deceive
many. And then he says this, he says
there's going to be famines and earthquakes and pestilences,
nations rising against nations and kingdom against kingdoms.
And these, he said, are just the beginning of sorrows. Then
shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and to kill you
and you shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. Verse
11, And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. and because iniquity shall abound,
the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto
the end, the same shall be saved. Verse 14, And this gospel of
the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness
unto all nations, and then shall the end come. And I could go
on and on in this chapter talking about the abomination of desolation,
sitting in a place where it ought not, great tribulation such as
was not since the world began. False prophets, false Christs
showing great signs and wonders. He said insomuch that if it were
possible even the very elect would be deceived. If it were possible. Verse 30,
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven.
And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they
shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with
power and great glory. And He shall send His angels
with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together
His elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the
other. Verse 33, So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these
things, know that it is near, even at the door. Now in the light of this, listen
to my text, verse 37. But as the days of Noah were,
so also the coming of the Son of Man shall be. Here's what he's saying. I read
this, I think John Gill said this. I like this and I jotted
it down. As were the practicers in the
day of no so shall the practice urs b in the day of the coming
of our lord i've just described to you i've
just read to you a commentary on the day in which we live and
i want to give you tonight i've just got a short message tonight
but i want to give you four things that i believe our day and the
day of noah have in common four things. And these four things
ought to give you some confidence. They ought to give you some assurance.
I'm not trying to trouble you. I'm trying to speak peace to
you. And here's four things. Our Lord said, As it was in the
days of Noah, so shall it be also in the coming of the Son
of Man. Now here's the first thing. Everything God purposed to say
in the days of Noah, He said by one man. one man. You ever think about that? The
world was not filled with preachers like it is today. One man. God singled out one man and everything
he had to say about judgment and righteousness he said in
that man. You heard that man or you didn't
hear it all. You took his testimony or you
didn't get one. you learn from this man for you
didn't learn at all as it was in the days of no so shall it
be also in the coming of the son of man turn with me to first
peter chapter three i want to show you what this man had to
say you know we think these old patriarchy
is dumber than a box of rocks we think they sit back there
and they you don't know it's good uh... preached about a boat
we thank you he walked with god we got i think pictures religious
pictures that uh... ignorant me and pat of any walk-along
holding god's hand walking along you know unit didn't know anything
he just walked god he just whistled through cemetery you know one
day got to give me one you read about any you find a pretty fine
thing i'm pretty you read about no where you'll find out he preached
same thing your pastor preaches oh no! noah stood alone in his generation
one man declaring the work of god and the judgment of god and
the righteousness of god listen to this first peter three eighteen
for christ also hath once suffered for sins the just for the unjust
that he might bring us to god being put to death in the flesh,
but quickened by the Spirit." Now listen, "...by which also
he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which sometimes
were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in
the days of Noah, while the ark was a-preparing, wherein few,"
that is, eight souls, Now Christ didn't go into hell
when he came to this earth and preached to a bunch of folks
who got caught outside the ark and died in the flood. That's
not what this verse is talking about. And Jesus didn't mystically appear
as some apparition in the days of Noah and preached to men drowning
outside the ark. That's not what this verse is
saying. What's being said here is that the Lord Jesus Christ
went in the message and the ministry of Noah. That's what he's talking
about. And he preached to the souls
of men bound in their spirits by sin, the same as we're bound.
He preached Christ suffering for our sins, verse 18, the just
for the unjust. That's what he preached. By which,
you see that word there? By which, he preached the same
thing. He preached the sovereign Christ bringing us to God. He preached substitution, one
dying in the room instead of another. And he preached the
righteousness of Christ imputed by faith to all them that believe.
And he preached regeneration. dying in the flash but quicken
by the spirit. In that day of Noah stood one
man with understanding, one man with wisdom, one man with instruction,
one man with the means and design of God. Now what I'm laboring
to point out to you here in Peter, that Christ has always been the
one man. He was the one man at the altar
of Abel. that's why i've got accepted
ables offering and turned it back on k that would get one
man in the floor if more everything god had to say to
this religious world purpose to say in his son everything
from adam to crash everything from crash distinction to crash
return he says in him. To him, he said, give all the
prophets witness. In Luke, I think it's chapter
24, the apostles on their way to Emmaus were just, oh, they
were down in the dumps. They piled all their hopes on
this man, just as I exhorted you to do this morning. Piled
all their hopes, put all their hopes on this one man. And they
watched him led down to a cross and raised up like a common criminal
and put to death and laid in a tomb. And they were just devastated. Devastated. And they walked along
that road and he appeared to them. And the women had told
him that the tomb had been empty and they didn't know if somebody
had come and stole him out of the tomb or what happened and
they were just down in the dumps i mean everything was gone all
their hopes dashed to pieces and he come out and he said what's
going on and i said were you mad? and they started to tell him
about christ and they said and we thought that this was he and he said oh foolish foolish
foolish men and beginning in the old testament under the law
and in the profits through all the scriptures he began to show
them both signs concerning himself you know what says then open
he their understanding that they might understand scriptures you'll
understand the scriptures when you understand that everything
god has to say you make this book say anything you want to
Peter went out and hanged himself, and you can jump over here to
another verse and say, go ye and do likewise. You can make
it say anything you want it to. But if you want to know what
God says, you'll learn it from Christ. He's the key. He's the key. Everything God
had to say to this world, He purposed to say by one man. Listen
to this. This is the second thing. Everything
God purposed to say and to preserve, he gathered by the hand of one
man you ever read that careful nobody helped him god told him
he said noah i want you to build an ark out of gopher wood he
didn't say now noah go in town i want you to recruit a bunch
of guys and and whosoever will let them come out here and just
help you get this thing built he said you build it now he said
i want you to go and get two of this kind of animal and seven
of that kind of animal and i want enough food brought into the
ark to feed them you go do it everything god purposed to preserve
he did it by the hand and labor of one man everything everything make thee an ark of gopher wood,
room shalt thou make in the ark thou shalt pitch the vessel within
and without sealed that word pitch i think i'm pronouncing
this right i'm no greek scholar by any means but uh... i read
this in a book a long time ago and it really helped me that
word i think is pronounced kay-far or kay-far you know what that
word means? Atonement they were sealed that
park was sealed inside and sealed outside with the atonement of
christ you know what the word noah means resting place pitch
the vessel within without seal it by the atonement a place prepared
for you our lord said i go to prepare a place for you who prepared
it he did all by himself rooms he said shop that building is
all there's a lot going to be the way when any other way to escape
the judgment of god you got narco you are you died under the wrath
of god no up and listen to him he found
the objects of god's preservation He went out, Larry, and sought
them and found them. You ever think about that? All
these animals weren't just lingering around the ark two by two and
in groups of seven, so all he had to do was go out there and
put a rope around their neck. He had to go find them. He had
to go get them. He had to look for them, search
for them, labor for them, and then get them and bring them
to the ark. They wouldn't come. He didn't
whistle for them like you did your dog and they ran over and
jumped up in the ark. He had to go get them. lead them
up, bring them into the ark. That's what Christ has to do
for sinners. He found the objects of God's
preservation. He sought them out. He led them
into the ark. Noah made provision for them
in the ark for their preservation. And God shut them all up in one
place. One place. One vessel by the hand of one
man. Everything God purposed to save
in the old world, He saved by the hands of one man. Paul says
this in 1 Corinthians 1, he said, By Him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. He did all the work. If you're
in the ark, you're in there because of His labor, not yours. As it
was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the Son
of Man. Everything God has to say, He's
going to say it in one man. Everything God's going to preserve,
He's going to gather it in, gather it in by the hand of one man. Listen to this, Ephesians 1-9,
having made known unto us the mystery of his will according
to the good pleasure which he has purposed in himself, that
in the dispensation of the fullness of time, that's what we're talking
about, he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him. Then listen to this, here's the
third thing. Everything that God purposed
to redeem, to rise up above the judgment, to be preserved by
the grace of God, He put in one vessel. There wasn't a fleet of ox, just
one ox. Just one ox. The whole of the preservation
of the life that was in this world was put into one vessel. there was a lot in that mess
nowhere and long before the flood come now would judge this world
day and everything only thing he held out any hope for a lot
what's in that listening to this invasion one it tells us that
we were blessed in crime children in crap predestinated back right
excepted in the below Ephesians 2, 5, quickened together with
Christ, raised to sit together in heavenly places in Christ,
and were His workmanship created in Christ unto good works. And
the skies opened up, and the great springs of the deep broke
loose, and the seas left their boundaries, and they covered
the earth in judgment, and the judgment fell on every man, and
it fell on those within and without. but it couldn't do harm to those
with him because God shut him in. God shut him in. Can you imagine how foolish this
message must have sounded to his generation? Judgment's coming. The only way
out would be an ark. How foolish they must have thought
that sounded. how often does the prophet say
the overflowing scourge when it comes through it's going to
sweep away your refuge of lies it's going to overflow he said
your hiding place come with me into the ark that's what an old
priest said come in the ark there's safety in the ark there's rest
in the ark it's God's ark it's God's design purpose to withstand
his wrath everything god's purpose to preserve in that day and day
he put into a single vessel of his design and you know when
this design was put forth before the world war he told us this
long and he said god had from the beginning chosen you unto
salvation now found me like uh... The Arminian's version or explanation
for that where they say God looks down through the telescope of
time and sees what you will and won't do. He chose you to salvation. That's what He says. And He provided
the means. He provided the vessel. It was
His hand, His labor that gathered them in. His hand that shut them
in, sealed them in. It's God's Ark. God's design,
purpose to withstand His wrath. He put it all in one vessel,
His design. And then last of all, everything
that God put into His vessel withstood the flood and landed
safe on the other side. Everything. I don't read of a
single loss, do you? He didn't lose a parakeet. He
didn't lose nothing. he'd lose anything. Sealed in
so that no man could escape out, find themselves outside under
the wrath of God, and sealed out to keep out the desperate
desires of those condemned from compromising the vessel of God. And that's what they do out of
fear. They want to compromise the vessel. Let me in. Let me in. And I look around me in this
day, and I see men and women the same as He said they were
eating and drinking and giving in marriage, and then they're
just business as usual, just going on. And I look around in
this day, and I see men and women indifferent to the warnings,
indifferent to the promises, indifferent to the plain declarations
of the Word of God. There was a fellow in here this
morning. It was his first time to visit
this church. here we go now if you get to
take a listen to he said you know i just don't feel comfortable
no churches they won't let me they won't let me say amen i
won't let me stand up and acknowledge that they won't let me hold out
my hands when the worship gap that what's going to keep you
from going in our you need to think about it you may think
about it You know what they told me down at that church? It really
don't matter, does it? You know why things disturb us?
Because we're way up here. God brings you way down here
and you're looking up and everything looks a lot better. That's right. I see indifference. to the plain
declarations of the word of god i've seen me in mocking and making
light of the best will crop well i wouldn't serve a crash like
that you you are if you are most values that they're throwing
a spare up into the side of crashed in spitting in his face and jamming
that crown of thorns they were all serving the sovereign crime
Ain't that what he says over there in Acts? They did what
God's hand and God's counsel determined before to be done. And I don't care if you get mad
and stomp out and slam the door and go home, you're still serving
the sovereign Christ. That's right. He's on the throne. He rules and reigns over all
things. Life's in the ark. Assurance
is in the Ark. Deliverance is in the Ark. Rest
is in the Ark. Peace is in the Ark. And the
Spirit and the Bride know where it's at. And they say, Come! They say, Come! Well, how do
you know if I'm elect? Come! Get in the Ark! I guarantee you Noah didn't look
to see if they had 666 stamped on them. Come on in the ark! Get in the ark! Everything God has for sinners,
everything God has prepared to withstand His judgment, to withstand
the providence of God, to withstand the temptations of this world,
to withstand the wiles of the devil, everything in that vessel. Come in the ark. Safety in the
ark. Turn with me to Colossians chapter
3 and I'll wind this up. Over in Colossians chapter 3, Paul gave them this bit of advice. He said in Colossians chapter
3 verse 2, Set your affections on things above. not on things
on the earth. Where's your affection? Where's mine? Listen. Verse 3. What's that
say? Ye are dead. Ye are dead. Judged in the person of Christ.
judged by the fall of Adam by one man, sin entered into the
world and death by sin. He said, you're dead. You just
don't know it. You're dead. Judged by that great
day set in eternity. Noah said, there's a flood coming.
You're dead. Can you see yourself dead? Paul said, he said, I was alive
without the law once upon a time. But he said when the commandment
came, when it came in power, when it came in spirit, he said
sin was revived and I died. You hear what he's telling these
people? He said you're dead. Why do you worry so much about
trying to sustain life when you're dead? You're dead. Don't set
your affections on things here. Everything here is dead. There's
a flood coming. Judgment's coming. You don't need three stoves.
You just need one. Don't set your affection on things
of this world, set your affections on things above. You're dead
and your life, he said, is hid with Christ in God. And when
Christ, who is your life, is it? When He shall appear, then shall
ye also appear with Him in glory. Everything God has determined
to preserve, He puts into that precious vessel. and everything
in Christ lands on the other side. As it was in the days of
Noah, so shall it also be in the coming of the Son of Man. Our Father, take these things by our poor attempts to preach and make them burn in the hearts
of these people. Our Father, we don't want just
to stand and speak empty words. Cause this word to live in our
hearts. Calls us to walk and live and
lead us safely in the ark for Christ's sake. Amen.