Days of Noah
God promised that a flood would come. One man responded and his family then responded with him. He built the strangest boat. It was built specifically for something the earth had never seen. The faith of that man!
Hebrews 11:7 It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.
Building the boat by the faithful man actually condemned the rest of the world. One responding demonstrates that it was possible for everyone to respond, if they only cared more about God than their own agenda.
The promise was kept by God. The trouble did come. No one had ever seen this kind of trouble. The same flood that killed those who didn't care to respond is the SAME flood that lifted Noah and his family to safety. It was great for Noah, and terrible for those who didn't do anything in advance... but it was the same flood:
Genesis 7:17-18 For forty days the floodwaters grew deeper, covering the ground and lifting the boat high above the earth. As the waters rose higher and higher above the ground, the boat floated safely on the surface.
Jesus said his return will be the same way. It will happen just like Noah's flood. How you experience the coming days will have everything to do with what you do BEFORE it is obvious to everyone else. If you wait to see like everyone else, then you will be drown in the trouble like everyone else. It is that simple:
Matthew 24:37-39 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.
Jesus was very clear about this. He was very clear about what it would take to be ready:
Luke 18:1-8 One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’” Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”
Luke 21:34-36 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Pray always. That is night and day prayer. Ham, Shem, and Japeth got saved in Noah's boat because they were in it with him. Participation is what is required.
God has promised one last "flood." This is a flood of trouble... the end time sifting of every heart to see who really loves God... who will really obey him. To love Him IS to obey Him. God has already promised the ark for the flood of trouble coming will be "David's Tabernacle"... the practical expression of "praying always."
Amos 9:9-12 “For surely I will command, And will sift the house of Israel among all nations, As grain is sifted in a sieve; Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground. All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, Who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’ “On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old; That they may possess the remnant of Edom, And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,” Says the Lord who does this thing.
Being one of God's people and saying "no trouble will come" is called sin. Those who respond now... in faith... in praying always... will be spared.
The same trouble that is coming to judge the world, will actually make the people who respond NOW safe... just as in the days of Noah.
The "key of David"... which IS night and day prayer and worship... opens and shuts the door of the ark:
Revelation 3:7-10 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens” : “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
If you want to build for the future, build an ark... now, while there is time:
Genesis 7:16-18 A male and female of each kind entered, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the lord closed the door behind them. For forty days the floodwaters grew deeper, covering the ground and lifting the boat high above the earth. As the waters rose higher and higher above the ground, the boat floated safely on the surface.
Hebrews 11:7 It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.
Building the boat by the faithful man actually condemned the rest of the world. One responding demonstrates that it was possible for everyone to respond, if they only cared more about God than their own agenda.
The promise was kept by God. The trouble did come. No one had ever seen this kind of trouble. The same flood that killed those who didn't care to respond is the SAME flood that lifted Noah and his family to safety. It was great for Noah, and terrible for those who didn't do anything in advance... but it was the same flood:
Genesis 7:17-18 For forty days the floodwaters grew deeper, covering the ground and lifting the boat high above the earth. As the waters rose higher and higher above the ground, the boat floated safely on the surface.
Jesus said his return will be the same way. It will happen just like Noah's flood. How you experience the coming days will have everything to do with what you do BEFORE it is obvious to everyone else. If you wait to see like everyone else, then you will be drown in the trouble like everyone else. It is that simple:
Matthew 24:37-39 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.
Jesus was very clear about this. He was very clear about what it would take to be ready:
Luke 18:1-8 One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’” Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”
Luke 21:34-36 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Pray always. That is night and day prayer. Ham, Shem, and Japeth got saved in Noah's boat because they were in it with him. Participation is what is required.
God has promised one last "flood." This is a flood of trouble... the end time sifting of every heart to see who really loves God... who will really obey him. To love Him IS to obey Him. God has already promised the ark for the flood of trouble coming will be "David's Tabernacle"... the practical expression of "praying always."
Amos 9:9-12 “For surely I will command, And will sift the house of Israel among all nations, As grain is sifted in a sieve; Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground. All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, Who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’ “On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old; That they may possess the remnant of Edom, And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,” Says the Lord who does this thing.
Being one of God's people and saying "no trouble will come" is called sin. Those who respond now... in faith... in praying always... will be spared.
The same trouble that is coming to judge the world, will actually make the people who respond NOW safe... just as in the days of Noah.
The "key of David"... which IS night and day prayer and worship... opens and shuts the door of the ark:
Revelation 3:7-10 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens” : “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
If you want to build for the future, build an ark... now, while there is time:
Genesis 7:16-18 A male and female of each kind entered, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the lord closed the door behind them. For forty days the floodwaters grew deeper, covering the ground and lifting the boat high above the earth. As the waters rose higher and higher above the ground, the boat floated safely on the surface.
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