When I was a Pentecostal, I heard and believed, a lot of heterodox teachings. Whenever some immoral scandal was talked about on television, I remember my in-laws would always say, “As in the days of Noah!” I’d ask them what they meant, and they explained how wicked it was then, and how things are going to be wicked like that, and that is a sign of the times. Now, if I had just heard it from them, I might have doubted it more, but I even heard it at Church. When we were going to a Nazarene Church I heard it from many people. I was younger, and figured they knew what they were talking about. I even heard T.V. preachers say it.
Of course now, I know better. I can’t believe it took so long for God to bring me out of those, “wacky” ways. I say, “wacky” because looking back, I think I must have been extremely biblically ignorant to go along with the insanity. Pentecostals told me I should be speaking in tongues. They taught to be slain in the Spirit. They taught us to engage in what they called, “spiritual warfare.” They taught us to speak directly to satan, and to bind him up, gouge out his eyes, stuff up his ears, and that we could send him away. Looking back, why would anyone pray to satan? That’s what speaking to him is you know. Why would a person do any of that? If you thought that was what Christianity was, and you wanted to be Christian so you wouldn’t go to hell, you might do those things like I did.
I’m not going to tackle all the heterodox teachings tonight. I’m just going to address the one that stems from Matthew 24:37. I’ll cite it here once, out of context so you can see the verse I’m talking about. Then, I’ll cite it with its surrounding context so you can follow along and see the true meaning for yourself. This way, if you are in the same error I was, you can repent, and come into fuller knowledge of the truth.
Matthew 24:37 LSB “For just as the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.”
Now, out of context, this could mean a lot of things. That’s how false teachers do what they do you know. They take some verses they like from all over the Bible, and rip them from their context, string them together, and pervert the word of God.
Here it is in context.
Matthew 24:29-51 LSB
The Coming of the Son of Man
“29 “But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the POWERS OF THE HEAVENS will be shaken. 30 And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. 31 And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
The Parable of the Fig Tree
32 “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; 33 so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 37 For just as the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then there will be two in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding grain at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.
Be Ready for His Coming
42 “Therefore stay awake, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43 But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
45 “Who then is the faithful and prudent slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. 47 Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; 50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, 51 and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
After reading all of that, hopefully you can see this is in regards to when Jesus will return. The comparison to the flood is to let us know that nobody knows when He is returning except God Himself. Just like the people who lived in the days of Noah, they didn’t know when the flood would occur. They kept on living their lives as if it was never going to happen. They even mocked Noah. Just like those days, people will keep living their lives. They won’t repent. They won’t trust Christ. They’ll go on as if there is no judgment to come. Like then, they will be swept away, and burnt up like the chaff, or the tares.
What should you take from all of this? Instead of worrying so much about end times lunacy (There are a lot of lunatics out there preaching crazy things.) Make sure you understand the gospel of Christ Jesus. Make sure you are preaching it to everyone you can. Make sure you are studying the Bible rightly, and that you are yielded to the Spirit, in obedience, and joy.
Acts 17:30-31 LSB “30 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now commanding men that everyone everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He determined, having furnished proof to all by raising Him from the dead.””
This isn’t a suggestion. Repent of your sins, and trust in Jesus alone for your justification, and everything that coincides with it. Do so now, before it is too late, and the judgment of God is poured out on the Earth. This time it will be a universal conflagration, and nobody will escape unless they have been purchased by the blood of Jesus, our Lord, and God. Just like the ark was the vessel God’s elect were brought through flood that was the God’s judgment against the unrepentant sinners of the world, Jesus is our ark to rescue us from the fiery flood of judgment to come.
