AS IN THE DAYS OF NOAH (Matt 24:35-39) A. There is one N.T. prophecy that every faithful child of God truly longs to see fulfilled:

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1 AS IN THE DAYS OF NOAH (Matt 24:35-39) A. There is one N.T. prophecy that every faithful child of God truly longs to see fulfilled: 1. Second Coming of Christ in judgment. B. In my view, all of Matthew 24 relates to the destruction of Jerusalem. 1 Thess 5:2-4 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, "Peace & safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 2 Pet 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, & the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth & the works that are in it will be burned up. THEREFORE, THE SAME ADMONITIONS APPLIE TO BOTH EVENTS: Matt 24:44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Matt 25:13 (Foolish Virgins) Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. 1 Thess 5:4-6 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light & sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch & be sober. 1. But some of what Jesus said in Matthew 24 can also be said about His 2 nd coming in judgment on the world. Matt 24:36 But of that day & hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, [nor the Son, Mk 13:32] but My Father only. Matt 24:42-43 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 & not allowed his house to be broken into. [But the main point Jesus is making, along with His apostles in the other texts, is that there is no way of knowing when He will come in judgment. It s wrong to speculate (Col 2:18), but it is right to watch & be ready for the Lord s return & final judgment. Jesus is telling us in our text that by comparing the days of Noah with our own time, we will be in a clearer state of mind to watch & be ready for that day.] COMPARE TO PASSAGES REFERRING TO THE FINAL JUDGMENT:

2 I. COMPARING NOAH S TIME WITH OUR OWN TIME A. They were extremely wicked. Gen 6:5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, & that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 2 Pet 2:5, 9 [God] did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly... 9 the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations & to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment [What method did God use to reserve the unjust under punishment? He allowed them to be...] 1. There was a lot of wickedness in Noah's day; but Jesus said they were unprepared to meet God because they were wrapped up in living. 2. Normal activities & concerns can get in the way of what we should be thinking about. a. Martha (Lk 10:38-42) b. Sower (Lk 8:14) c. Timothy (2 Tim 2:4) [Let s not neglect the command to watch & be ready for Christ s coming in judgment because we had too many things going on in our lives Another similarity of Noah's day & our own time is...] B. They were busy in secular activities. Matt 24:38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating & drinking, marrying & giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark (cf. 1 Kings 20:39-40). C. They had forgotten God s word. Matt 24:38-39 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating & drinking, marrying & giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 & did not know until the flood came & took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

3 1. Even though they had a preacher named Noah, they still did not know what was happening to them when the flood came. Notice now a similarity of God s judgment in Noah's day & the final judgment when Jesus returns.] a. Noah preached righteousness for 120 years (2 Pet 2:5) while building the ark with his sons. b. But the people were taken by surprise when the floodwaters came. c. WHY? See the next chapter. D. God s judgment took them ALL away (Matt 24:39). 1. No one escaped the doom of judgment except those eight souls aboard the ark (1 Pet 3:20). 2. Concerning the final judgment, Paul quoted from Isaiah, every knee shall bow to Me [LORD], & every tongue shall confess to God (45:23; Rom 14:11). 2 Pet 3:5-6 [mockers] For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, & the earth standing out of water & in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. a. The substance: Jesus C, is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:10). [They heard Noah preaching it. They knew about it. But they willfully allowed many other thoughts to entertain their minds. We are at risk for that kind of forgetfulness, with all there is to fill our thoughts during the day. 3. The longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah (1 Pet 3:20), but His patience ended one fateful day & He took them all away in the wrath of His judgment against sin.

4 4. There is another day like that yet to come (Jn 3:36; Rom 1:18; Eph 5:6; Col 3:6), are you ready for that day? 3. Today God uses water baptism & the church to save man before dealing out punishment against the disobedient. [There is one final similarity between God s judgment in Noah's day & the final judgment when Jesus returns.] E. Few were saved, & many were lost. 1. For eight people it was a day of salvation because they were faithful to God. 1 Pet 3:21 There is also an antitype which now saves us baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, We are baptized into Christ & into His death (Gal 3:27; Rom 6:3). We are baptized into one body (1 Cor 12:13). He is the Savior of the body (Eph 5:23). 4. But just as in the day of Noah, only a few will seek the refuge that God offers when one is baptized into Christ. Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world & became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. Matt 7:13-14 Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate & broad is the way that leads to destruction, & there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate & difficult is the way which leads to life, & there are few who find it. 2. God used water & a boat to save Noah while punishing the wicked (1 Pet 3:20). [Jesus said, "Surely I am coming quickly." John replied, "Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus!" (Rev 22:20). A reply like that is an indication that he was watching & ready for that day. Are we ready for that day to come?]

5 CLOSING A. We don t know when that day will be. 1. But if our souls mean anything to us, then we must be ready for when that day might be. 2 Peter 3:7, But the heavens & the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment & perdition of ungodly men...11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct & godliness, 12 looking for & hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, & the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens & a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 2. The people of Noah s day were wicked, they were busy with life, they were willfully ignorant & so they were lost when God came in judgment. 3. Noah & his family were righteous, they were busy doing God s will, they were knowledgeable & so they were saved & spared that terrible judgment against sin.