The Conditions in Noah's Time
By Calvin P. Bollman
THE SAME SCENES TO BE REPEATED
IN answering the question of the disciples, "What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" our Saviour said, among other things, "As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matt. 24:3, 37. In the time of Noah, the people thought much of pleasure, and little of God and of their duty toward Him. Our Saviour Himself says that "they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark." Verse 38. And "as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." THE WICKEDNESS OF THE TIME
In the days of Noah, "the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Gen. 6:5. "As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Human life was little regarded in the days of Noah, and crimes of violence were of frequent occurrence. "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." Gen. 6:11, 12. "As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." But notwithstanding the wickedness of men in the time of Noah, the Lord sent them a warning message of the coming Flood. Noah was "a preacher of righteousness." 2 Peter 2:5. During all his ministry, by precept and example he was teaching the people that a flood was coming that would destroy the earth. But the people were unbelieving; and "as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Out of the large population of Noah's day, only eight persons were actually saved in the ark. All the others who lived until the time of the Flood, rejected Noah's message. This too will be paralleled in the days of the coming of the Son of man; for of the teeming millions living upon the earth in the last days, only a very few will be saved. The Lord Himself indicates this clearly in the question, "When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8. THE MAJORITY NEVER ACCEPT IT
Indeed, at no time in the history of the world will the truth of God be popular and the majority walk in the paths of righteousness. To the question of the disciples, "Lord, are there few that be saved?" Jesus answered, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able." Luke 13:23, 24. And again He said: "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Matt. 7:13, 14. The doctrine of a temporal millennium wherein all, or nearly all, or even a very large proportion, of the inhabitants of the world will be converted, is a delusion of the devil. The Bible teaches nothing of that kind. The Word does declare that "this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness" (Matt. 24:14), but nowhere in all the Bible is it intimated that all the world or even a majority of the world will accept the gospel. Those who are looking for a more favorable time to repent and be saved will look in vain. There can be no better time than the present. Instead of the last days' being a more favorable season in which to obey the truth and secure salvation, the apostle says: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." 2 Tim. 3:1-5. The darkest side of this dark picture is the statement in verse 5 that those who are indulging all these sins are those who have a "form of godliness"; in other words, these sins are found right in the church in the last days. When this is the condition in the church, what may we not expect to find in the world at large? And with the church honeycombed with these heinous sins, where is there any opportunity for the conversion of the world? "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."