AND as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." Luke 17: 26-30.
IN his time Noah was "a preacher of righteousness." The ark that he was building, in much louder tones than his preaching told of his faith in the coming flood. Every word of the great preacher, and every act of his life, were a powerful warning to the giddy world at that time.
BUT, notwithstanding this warning from the servant of the Lord, the people in that time went right on with their rounds of business and pleasure, and paid no attention to what was told them. The message sent from heaven did not please them, and therefore they would drown the warning by their riotous pleasures. And they were so successful in sweeping away every conviction that the record in Matthew tells us they "knew not until the flood came, and took them all away." Their lack of knowledge of the coming destruction did not come from a lack of opportunity to know; for they had been faithfully warned by "a preacher of righteousness," who told them upon the authority of Jehovah that the flood was surely coming. They did not believe, for the reason that they stifled their convictions and destroyed their consciences by the intoxications of pleasure and business.
FOLLOWING the Lord's usual plan, we know that He gave evidences, in addition to His word preached by Noah, to tell the people in unmistakable terms that the flood was surely coming. There were fulfilling prophecies, and signs and wonders in the physical world, all of which spoke in the most unmistakable and positive language of the overhanging doom of the antediluvian world. And, in addition to these evidences from without, there was the continual presence of the Spirit of God, that was striving with men. Before the days of the flood the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man." Gen. 6:3. This text is some of the positive evidence that the Lord's Spirit was working within the minds of men, impressing them with the truth that was coming to them through the preaching of Noah. God's Spirit always accompanies the preaching of His Word. And one of the strongest evidences that we have of the truthfulness of the Word as it comes to us, is the manner in which the Spirit causes it to rest upon our consciences as a positive conviction, that will not leave us unless we drive it away by the most abandoned follies and sins.
"And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away." Matt. 24:39.
"EVEN thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." Then the record of the condition of things in the days of Noah is given as a warning to those of us who shall be living at the time when the Son of man is revealed. There were some in the days of Noah who "knew not until the flood came, and took them all away;" and then the significant words are added, "So shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
THEN it is perfectly evident, because it is plainly stated in the Word, that there will be those who will be startled by the revealing of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven. They will not know that the event is near. But it will not be for the reason that they have not had the opportunity to know. It will not be that they have never had deep convictions upon the subject. A large part of the Bible is taken up with prophecies that point to the second coming of Christ. And Jesus says, "When ye shall see all these things, know that He is near, even at the doors." He tells us that we are to "know" that He is near, that2His coming is "even at the doors." But, as it was in the days of Noah, there will be those who will stifle every conviction and drown every impulse that comes from God, so that they will not know these things that the Lord is taking so much pains to have them know.
LINE upon line of prophecy tells us that the end of all things is right at hand. There are multiplied signs in the physical world that speak it out clearly, telling us that the coming of the Son of man is "even at the doors." The Spirit of God, with all of His mighty persuasive power, is urging this truth upon the minds and consciences of men. You who are resisting the subject know that there is a mighty conviction resting upon you that can come from no human source. As you see the terrible things that are beginning to come upon this world, there settles upon you the irresistible conviction that the great day of God is at hand. This is the voice of God seeking to win you to Himself, so that He may save you from the destruction that sin is bringing upon this world.
ONE of two things is right before us: either we will yield to this voice from God, or else we will continue to stifle conviction until that voice can no longer be heard. And when the Spirit of God is resisted until His warnings can no longer be recognized in the mind and heart of man, there is but one thing for man, and that is to be left to "know not" what is coming upon the world. The devoted and loving Father has sought to teach all such, but they have refused to hear the voice of warning and entreaty.
ARE you hearing and cherishing the voice of God's Word to-day? or are you drowning the convictions that come from it by plunging deeper and still deeper in the whirlpool of business and pleasure and sin that is so completely absorbing the energies of men and women to-day? These are times of solemn import. We should be wise in every step we take.
