A short time ago, my wife and I were having lunch in a small restaurant on a Sunday, and nearby was a lady pastor, dressed in black clergy garb and collar. She was sitting with several couples around a large, round table. It appeared this was a group from her church, having lunch after their service. As they ate, there was a lively discussion about “fundamentalist” Christians, and how deluded they are. “The problem,” this lady pastor laughed, “is that so many people are stuck in the mindset of what they have always been taught. But now we KNOW so much more. Now we have SCIENCE, which explains so many things that were mysteries to the Bible writers. If only these fundamentalists would open their eyes and adapt to the times!”
Here we had a modern, ultra-liberal lady pastor (and very likely a practicing lesbian, based on other things we observed) surrounded by adoring members of her congregation, and she was instilling doubt in the minds of her flock – doubt that the Bible could be trusted; and more than that, she was actually holding Biblical Scripture up for open mockery and ridicule – along with anyone who would believe God’s Word.
Now, you might think this was maybe a Unitarian Universalist gathering, and it could have been, but it wasn’t. It was a group of people from a MAINLINE so-called “Christian” denomination; and if I shared that denomination with you, you might be surprised. I won’t do that here. I’m trying to be tactful.
But this is an example of what is taking place in our world today. As I sat nearby, overhearing this discussion, the Lord showed me an image of this lady pastor – not as she appeared there in the diner – but as she really is, in her true form: as the serpent we read about in Genesis 3. From the very beginning, Satan’s tactics have been the same… instilling doubt in the minds of God’s people, causing them to distrust God’s Word, and scoffing at people who believe Him.
Here was a mainline Protestant “pastor,” presumably entrusted to teach and instruct and rightly divide the Word of Truth… openly and proudly lying and planting the seeds of doubt in the souls she is responsible for. Literally, there was NO DIFFERENCE between this lady and the serpent in the Garden. Both were betraying the Creator. BOTH will reap the same reward.
As human beings, we do not know everything. We are not omniscient. But we have been blessed with the knowledge the Lord has seen fit to entrust us with. By reading, studying and meditating upon God’s written Word, we have all the information we need to base our lives on this earth upon. If we needed to know more, we can rest assured, God would have told us more. Some things, however, will remain mysteries to us. Some things are not for us to know. It’s not foolish or simplistic of me to say this or accept this. It’s simply a matter of faith.
I trust my Creator to provide for me and give me the knowledge, information, discernment, judgment and wisdom I need in this world. As I seek to know HIM more, He reveals Himself and His ways to me. He’s my heavenly Father, and I trust Him. Good grief – why wouldn’t I? And how arrogant and presumptuous to assume I know better!
This is not the topic of my message today. But this anecdote is instructive because it is important to remember, Satan, the serpent, is still here today, and still using the same old tactics he did in the garden…and moreover, sometimes he will disguise himself as an angel of light – or, in this case, as a modern-day, liberal Protestant pastor.
But it’s easy to see through the devil’s disguise. Because anytime someone tells you or tries to teach you something contrary to God’s Word, or anytime someone tries to get you to doubt God’s Word – or as they will say, “think critically” (which is code for “did God really say…”) – you can be sure you’re dealing with a serpent. Of course, in order to know if something you’re hearing is contrary to God’s Word, you have to already KNOW what God’s Word really says. I’m assuming, here, that you do.
But now, let’s move on, because I want to talk about a few things we can count on, from God’s Word. Specifically, how Jesus said when He returns, the world will be like the days of Noah and Lot. So let’s get started, back in Genesis.
Biblical scholars place the time of Creation at approximately 4004 BC. That makes the Earth and all things in it about 6,019 years old. And at that time, in the beginning, when God created all things, He declared everything “Good.”
But it wasn’t long before the serpent lured mankind into sin, and this was accomplished first of all by causing Adam and Eve to doubt what God said. One simple doubt, one lapse of faith and good judgment, brought death and destruction upon all mankind.
If you read the Bible through from cover to cover, you will see a pattern woven throughout the history of all humanity… all of our woes, all of our sorrows, all of our regrets… we bring all these things upon ourselves because we doubt what God said. How many times did Jesus lament, with great sorrow, “Oh ye of little faith?!” If only we believed. If only we had the faith of a mustard seed! Indeed.
History moved on. Many centuries came and went. In Genesis, we read about Cain and Abel, Seth, Enosh, Jared, Methuselah, Lamech, and finally, Noah. Finally, we come to chapter six in Genesis, and I’d like to share that with you, starting at verse 5.
“The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with pain. So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air – for I am grieved that I have made them.’”
Of course, we all know what happened next. God purified the earth through the flood, saving only eight souls alive, and we began again. Then the Lord promised to never again destroy the earth with a flood. He said,
“I have set My rainbow in the clouds and it will be the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.”
It is interesting to note that the rainbow – the symbol the LORD chose as His covenant with us – has today been hijacked by the homosexual lobby, and they’ve turned it into a sign of prideful rebellion against God and nature.
Bible scholars place the time of the flood at approximately 2304 BC, so there were approximately 1,700 years between the creation of the earth and Noah’s flood. It was about 406 years later, in approximately 1898 BC, that we read another account of God’s anger. You can read about this starting in Genesis 18… the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.
God said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous…”
Yet He promised Abraham that for the sake of ten people who might be found in those cities to be righteous, He would not destroy them. Apparently, there were not even ten, because the next thing we read, the LORD sends two angels, appearing as men, to investigate the cities and to rescue Abraham’s nephew Lot and his family.
As we read the account of the angels visiting Sodom, the way the men of the city of Sodom behave is eerily familiar. These men are homosexuals. They march in unison against Lot’s home. They surround it and make demands. They yell and scream and condemn Lot for “judging” them. They attack and try to break down the door.
It sounds very much like the typical “gay pride parade” of today… anytime there is a homosexual “pride” march or parade, there is always anger and hatred, there is always those among them accusing Christians of “judging” them, there is always mockery of God and Christianity, along with vile displays of perverse sensuality, and vicious disrespect of the things we hold sacred. Because the same demonic spirit inhabits modern homosexuals as it did in the days of Lot… Satan is not that bright – he only has a couple of tricks.
Now here we are today. As I write this message, it is literally impossible to keep up with all that is happening in our world regarding man’s rush to self-destruction. It’s mind-boggling, and we have taken the offense of Sodom and Gomorrah to a whole new level. Not only have we used our silly Courts to try to redefine the God-ordained institution of marriage, we have made it mandatory to steal the innocence of young children, and indoctrinate and confuse them about sexuality; and then we’ve made it illegal to counsel them to remain “straight” when they become confused!
We not only kill our own babies for convenience, we then sell their body parts for profit. And we have leaders in power who praise child-rapists and savages who behead and torture innocent victims, while calling humble, peaceful Christians who follow God’s Word “homegrown terrorists.” I can’t imagine it was any worse in Noah’s time or in Lot’s time, can you?
But Jesus said it would be like this. And once again, God’s Word proves true. There will be plenty who laugh it off, and cast doubt. And the Bible even tells us plainly that THIS will happen. There will be those who defiantly boast, “Where is the promise of His coming?” But remember how I said to identify a serpent…
We are reliving the days of Noah and Lot right now. Look at the words of Christ in Luke 17:
“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.”
He went on: “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.”
“I will come again,” said Jesus in John 14:3. Really, that is the only solution to this mess. We don’t know when He will come, not the hour nor the day. Only the Father Himself knows the appointed time. But, observing the signs of the times and believing God’s Word, we know that surely we MUST be at the very brink of eternity.
So how shall we live then? In fear? In dread? Should we hide in our closets or our churches and just let the wicked world around us burn? No! God’s Word tells us:
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do good works.”
We can get caught up in the mess, we can put our hope in the leaders of this world, we can hope and pray “our” candidate wins the White House next year and solves all our problems. But we would be wrong. Our hope, our only hope, lies in the Savior, God’s Son – just as it always has.
I’m not saying we should resign ourselves to a wicked, evil world. Surely, we are still to be salt and light here. We’re still to stand up for God’s Word and Truth, we are to share the Gospel, and like those angels who were sent to warn Lot, rescue as many as we can from the fire. We are to stand in the gap for the innocent, and to minister and love those the world – and the “religious leaders” – choose to pass by on the other side of the street, refusing to look upon. We must still BE that good Samaritan.
But meanwhile, we also have a great hope. We know God’s Word and His promises are true, and we know we need never doubt, nor should we put our trust or our hope in the temporal and vain things of man. Our faith, our resolve and our fortitude will be greatly tested, as through the fire. But we know, the one who endures to the end shall be saved.
The raindrops fell in Noah’s time. The fire fell upon Sodom. And now the Grace of God will come from the sky next, riding on the clouds, just as He departed.
Luke 21:28 tells us, “Look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption is drawing near!”
Any day now. Watch… and pray.
Audio CDs and text versions of this message are available when you call me at Wisconsin Christian News, (715) 486-8066. Or email Rob@WisconsinChristianNews.com. Ask for message number 136.