Are You Concerned About The Future?

Matthew 24:36-44 Like the Days of Noah

 

Intro: When the Bible speaks of the Coming of Christ – 3 Comings

A)   1st – Lamb – Give Himself a ransom …..

 

B)   2nd Coming :  Comes not as a Lamb but as a Lion – KINGDOM

 

C)   In-between those 2 Comings is an event known as the Rapture – Comes not to the earth but to the CLOUDS

 

Now the event Known as the Rapture & as well as the 2nd coming – make up a time period known as THE DAY OF THE LORD

A)    The Day of the Lord speaks of that time that starts at the Rapture and ends at the end of the Millennial Reign (New Day Dawns – New Heaven…

 

B)    Matt. 24 Jesus intertwines these 2 events in His teaching

1)   v.1-14 Talking about the nations in General – the Birth pangs that will Precede His coming in the world at Large

 

C)    V. 15-35 – Focus Shifts to Israel & the things that are going to be happening during the tribulation (Abomination of Desolation)

 

D)   Then here in v. 35-Ch.25 – the focus is on the Church & our need to be Aware of the times & Seasons that we are living in !!!!!

 

Now I believe that the focus of this latter section is primarily talking about the Rapture of the Church

A)   How it is going to happen at an unexpected time but we need to be on guard – Ready

 

B)   Jesus ends this section in Ch.25 by sharing 3 parables H E uses as illustrations to Contrast the Believer from the Unbeliever

1) Each parable deals w/ the subject of WATCHING & READINESS

          Faithful & Wise servant vs. Unwise / 10 virgins / Sheep & Goats

 

C)   Now if Jesus was mainly talking about the 2nd Coming – We the Church don’t need to watch – We are not going to be here

1)   we are going to be coming back w/ the Lord

 

D)   But if He is talking about the RAPTURE – these EXHORTATIONS make all the sense in the World !!!!

 

 

So Jesus Likens this time to before the Rapture as being like the days of Noah / Noah was an end times believer, a last days believer.

A.)           He lived in the last days before God judged the earth with a flood. 

          Great similarity between us and Noah!

 

B.)           We also are end times believers - The world is once again about to

           be judged (not with water but with fire)

 

2 Peter 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

 

C)     Now In V. 36 Jesus said that No man knows the Day or the hour ....

          but we are to Know the times & seasons

          1)      Here He gives us a hint " It will be like the days of Noah!"

                   v. 38 Eating, drinking, giving in marriage

 

D) Nothing wrong with eating, drinking, marriage /  Jesus is saying      

         that the last days will be like the days of Noah

          1)Business as Usual – not paying attention to times and seasons

 

E)    Even though the Birth pangs are increasing & getting more intense – people are for the most part Oblivious to what is going on.

 

 

 

One of the things that was a mistake after Sept. 11 is that we were encouraged to quickly get back to business as usual

A) Now Economically I agree that was a smart thing to do / But Spiritually we could have done a lot more Soul searching as a Nation

 

B) Because the Busier that people get the less that they Pray – and we are a Busy nation !!!! 

  1) Our Busyness causes us to IGNORE our spiritual condition !!

 

C)So Jesus says that in those days Men will be eating & drinking …..

  1) Business as usual / the Point being - People were caught unaware at the

         Flood  That will be the case w/ the World at the Rapture

 

D)Boy - dinner at friends - not saved  bowed to pray - noticed  man of

      house   No son  we don't do that

          1) Oh, just like my dog, digs right in!

 

E)That is what Jesus is saying /  those times would be characterized by a disregard for the Lord & the things of the Lord!

      1) Men will be preoccupied with Pursuing pleasure and other things

         People seeking Pleasure at all cost!

 

Besides an indulgence in pleasure seeking What were some of the other Characteristics of the Days of Noah?

A) In Gen. Ch. 6/  4 other Things Characterized the days of Noah

         

B)1st preoccupation w/ sex & abnormal sexual practices/ 2nd Increased in Violent activity / 3rd  Increase in Population

 1) 4th And that every intent of the thoughts on men’s hearts was only

       Evil Continually

 

C) All 4 of Which Describe our Culture today !!!!!!

 

 

Preoccupation w/ Sex. Consider this  Josh McDowell travels country - average       American who watches an average amount of TV.

A)Watches over  10,000 sexual acts or implied sexual acts on TV. each yr. sexual acts or implied - 83% out of marriage

 

A)  After 10 yrs over 100,000 sexual Scenes on T.V. -  Does it affect us

 

One out of three sexually active 12- to 18-year- olds reports that the media influenced their decision to engage in sexual intercourse.  They said TV and movies make it seem normal.

 

B)Result: By the time they graduate from high school, 7 out of 10 girls and 8 out of 10 boys will have had sexual intercourse.

 
C) Recent report to the Vista teachers Association .

 

This Year over 1 million teenage girls will become Pregnant / 40% of those pregnancies will end in abortion! / 60% of those same girls will become pregnant in 2yrs. /

 

On a given day in America 480 teenagers get a STD / 1,115 teenagers have abortions / 2,781 teens get pregnant / 8,400 teens become sexually active

 

 

2nd Increase in Violence   (Police forces today feel outgunned)

A)       Things are getting so bad that among the unsafest places to       be in

            America today are in school or at work.

 

B)     Murder has jumped to #3 as a leading cause of death in the         workplace - tripling in incidence during the 1980's.

 

C) Same  report to the Vista teachers Association .

 1) In any given day in the US / 13 kids die from guns / 30 are wounded

      / 307 are arrested for crimes of violence

 

According to the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee

The U.S.  is the most violent civilized nation in the world For youths,.

One in five high school students frequently come to school armed.

 

B) The FBI says high schoolers have been killing each other or

      somebody else at a rate of more than a thousand a year.

 

 

Question Haven't we always had these Problems is it really

Changing that much?

A)     "Since 1960 there has been over  560 % increase in violent crime..

 

B)              In the last 30 years, illegitimate births have increased 419%        

       And the Divorce rate have tripled.

          1)      And The # of children living in single-parent homes has                        tripled as a result !

 

C)     The teenage suicide rate has increased 200 percent.

          1)      Child Abuse cases the number has increased from about    670,000 cases in 1976  to nearly 3 million in the early 90's.

 

3rd Thing Population explosion during time of Noah! Man began to multiply

A)     Took 2 people - man, wife - 4 kids - lived to be about 70 years old

          - lived long enough to see grandchildren

 

B.)    That ratio - after 5 generations - 96 people on earth

          1.)     After 10 generations - 3,070

          2.)     "       "  20 generations - 3 million  150,000

          3.)     "          30 generations -  3 billion - 220,000  - if lived average                       70 years, but they lived well beyond - average 800  -    

         

C.)    SO Mathematically - population explodes

 

 

We are also living in time of extreme population explosion

A.)    Consider: Took from time of Noah to 1850 - 1st billion   people       

          1850 to 1935 next billion  - 2 billion

          2.)     1935 to 1965 to reach - 3 billion   30 years

          3.)     1965 to 1975 to reach 4 billion   10 years

          4.)     1975 to 1985 to reach over 5 billion  

 

B)  Today we are somewhere in the 6 Billion range / Despite all the Famine & Disease that kills people every Yr.

 

C)     Several years ago in some scientist packed rats together in a         space equivalent to density of N.Y. city

1.)             strange sociological effects - abandoned their young                             - no longer looked after and cared for their young -      

         

          2.)     Then they became Cannibalistic - turned on each other!

 

D)     Could some of the Problems we see going on in our culture be

          related to the growth in Pop. ?

 

4th Thoughts of Evil Continually – Growing interest & addiction to Porn

A)Danielle Van Damme Story – just another example

 

B)USA Today Vegas – going away from family focus – Sin City for real

  1) Every night 1,000 strippers employed - 

 

C) Guys we are back to the days of Sodom & Gomorrah

 

 

And it was Because of such  characteristics back in Noah’s day that the  Lord said - sorry He made man. Judge and destroy earth

A)     Jesus said times before next judgment will be like those days

          I think it is safe to  say we are living in those days

 

 

B.)    Before judgment happens - rapture important be ready

1)   Because Just like the Flood happened at an Unexpected time so also will the rapture

 

38  "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,

39     "and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40  "Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.   41  "Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.

 

42  "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.

43  "But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.

44  "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

 

 

Now in v.40 & 41 the Lord says something interesting that has caused

A fair amout of Debate – what is the Lord talking about here

A) Some suggest during Tribulation time one taken to be slain one left

 

B) Others - this talking at judgment after the 2nd coming of Christ one

      taken judged one left behind

     1) Others - Rapture of the Church - Church taken unbelievers

                   left behind.

 

C)  Moment  in the twinkling of an Eye ...... we are in heaven

 

D) There are those who like Dr. John  Walvoord – Highly respect yet Disagree w/ on this issue – Believe this can’t be the Rapture

1)   This has to be judgment – but – His argument is very weak

 

 

Dr. Walvoord – asserts that the Rapture is not mentioned in the Bible until John ch. 14 – I am going …prepare a place – will come & receive you to be w/ me !!!!!

 

A)   Now if I look at my Bible – Matt.24 – John 14 miles apart

1)   Yet Chronologically speaking -  1 Day – Jesus gave this message on Wed. /  John 14 on Thurs.

 

B)   Also those who believe this is speaking about Judgment ignore a key aspect of the Greek text

 

V.39 Says  " Flood came & took them all away !"

A)     Took = airo common / but then in V. 40 & 41  ' Two in the field        one taken /   Mill one taken  other left  

 

C)   Now this is an entirely different Greek word used here taken  /  Paralamboni ( Look up in Vines or concordance)  

1)                        And it is this word that is used specifically in 3 places                  

             that has significance

 

C)     It is used in Matt. 1:27  Where Joseph is told not to be afraid     to take

          Mary as a Bride / Paralomboni - Take a bride

         

D)     it is used in Mark 9;2  Jesus is going up on the Mt. of Transfig.  where He was shinning glory was unveiled & it says

          1)      He took w/ Him  Peter James & John     He took them               there  so that they might see His glory !

 

E)      3rd place used is in John Ch. 14 where Jesus is talking to Discip.

          on the night if His betrayal

          1)      There He says "  Let not hearts be troubled you believe in

                   God ..... Me ...... Fathers house ......... come again & take ...

         

          2)      Take again is Paralomboni

 

See the pattern here: Taking a bride / taking up to the Mt.

to see Glory / taking to heaven!

A)     Not talking judgment or damnation we are talking bride, glory

          and heaven !

 

B)     What will the rapture involve ? The bride ( us the Church)       being

         taken to heaven to see The Glory of the Lamb

          1)      So Jesus says here You shall be taken Paraloboni /   I

                   Believe Clear He is Talking Rapture

 

 

So In light of this we are to be Watching & Ready like people who have been notified that a thief is going to come Break in –

A) Just don’t know when !   He is for sure coming

 

B) Now what would you do – if you Knew – a thief was going to break in to your House (Watch – trap / Install Alarm System)

1)   Guys we have a Built in Alarm System – H.S. in our Hearts

 

C)Temptation – Alarm goes off -  ( Sin Alarm goes off)

1)   Our Problem is we ignore the Alarm –

 

D)   Fire Alarm – Middle of the Night – ( Couldn’t get it to go off – Until I dealt w/ the Problem – ( candle burning in the Bathroom !!!)

 

E)    H.S. is like that – Keep Convicting – seeking to make us Miserable until we deal w/ the Problems / run from the temptation

  1) One foot in the Lord & one foot in the world

 

 

So Christ is coming not as a thief – but He is coming like a thief – coming at an unexpected time –

A)   But He is coming – We need to be ready / Are You ready? How know? Heart to Christ / Living for Christ