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NOVEMBER 25, 2007
Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
Luke 17:26–30
It has already happened in Europe. People have forgotten God.1 The huge cathedrals that were built to hold the masses are now inhabited by only a faithful few on the Lord’s Day. It may well be happening in America today. If we look around us, we see the signs. Each year 1½ million unborn babies are murdered by abortions–of–convenience.2 Today, we have churches and church bodies that are so liberal that they have long ago abandoned the Bible. And we are witnessing what happens to a nation that no longer feels itself accountable to a holy God. Crass immorality is not just tolerated. It is celebrated!
Is it true that our tolerant, politically–correct culture has forgotten God? I fear that, if it hasn’t, it soon will. Such a culture believes that Christ’s final coming to judge the living and the dead is nothing more than a relic of an antiquated Bible and of a useless God to whom we hold no accountability.
Yes, the modern world scoffs at the idea of a visible return of Christ to earth. But when it does, it unwittingly brings to pass the prophecy of the apostle Peter who said, “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with theirmocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For eversince the fathers fell asleep, all things continue just as they were from the beginning of creation.’”3 In other words, their argument is that, since Christ hasn’t shown up in 2,000 years, he’s not going to show up now—or ever!
But we who know Christ believe what the Scriptures teach, namely, that our Lord shall return visibly on the Last Day. Peter, in his 2nd Epistle, says, “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”4 And Jesus himself said, “Be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”5 Moreover, in the last chapter of the Bible, the Lord Jesus says three times, “Behold, I am coming quickly!”6 Yes, Jesus is coming! But when? Only God knows, for Jesus (the coming One!) says, “Of that day and hour no one knows; no, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”7
And so we see that Jesus urges us to be prepared. He is saying to the whole world, “Have great fear; for the end is near!”
In our text, Jesus tells us what it will be like on earth at the time of his return. Like it was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, people were carrying on with business and usual, and, then, boom, “God’s wrath torched all who remained in the twin cities of infamy. He also says that the same kind of thing happened in the time of Noah. Jesus says, “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will also 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.”8 Did the world in Noah’s day think that a cataclysmic flood would come upon them, wiping out every air–breathing creature on earth? No, who would be so foolish as to think such a thing? We can well imagine the ridicule directed at Noah and his family as they labored to build what, to them, was “Noah’s folly.” They didn’t believe God’s warning, so they went on with business–as–usual.
And then it happened. With torrential force and lightening–quick speed, the “fountains of the great deep” burst forth and the “windows of heaven”9 were opened, and all but Noah and his immediate family perished. How horrible it must have been for those who were left outside the ark. As the floodwaters rose, they surely ran to high ground. We can almost see them gathered together on the highest point. They surely cried for help at the top of their lungs. But the only reply was the tumultuous roar of the wind and the waves.
O what a great evil the human heart is! Hardened to the warning of God, it will not believe until it sees. But then it is too late. Too late for mercy! Too late for grace! Too late for repentance! Too late for salvation! Too late!
The Flood was, and still is, the greatest cataclysm ever to hit planet earth. Yet, it is only a foreshadowing of the great and final destruction of the world by fire that will come when Christ returns at the end of time. As surely as the Flood came, just as surely will Christ come again to judge the world. And we, as his people, must not be caught napping. We must be found in faith, resting on Christ’s merits, and living a life of constant repentance.
My friends are you ready for Christ’s return? Am I? Or are we more concerned with our image, how we look on the outside. On the outside, we may look good. But on the inside we may harbor secret, unrepented–of sins. We seem to like a lot of things . . .
If that is the way it is with us, God says to you and to me, “Have great fear, for the end is near!”
My friends we cannot live like this. God demands our repentance. I implore you, therefore, take my words to heart, truly repent of your sins, and wash your polluted hearts in the atoning blood of your Savior.”11
Repentance is, as you know, one of the key words of the Bible. A repentant sinner is not merely one who feels genuine sorrow over his sins and resolves to do better. No, Martin Luther, before he came to faith, was truly sorry for his sins. Day after day, night after night, he fasted, prayed, and confessed his sins to God. But to no avail. He kept longing to find a gracious and forgiving God. He was contrite, i.e., truly sorry for his sins, but he was not truly repentant, for he did not yet trust in Christ for his forgiveness.
But one day he was reading Paul’s letter to the Romans (1:16–17, 3:23). And suddenly something jumped out at him, namely, the Gospel and with it his salvation. What Luther discovered was that God, by grace alone, sent his only–begotten Son into this world to rescue humanity from the penalties of sin. Forgiveness was not something for mankind to earn, but something that Jesus Christ had already earned for mankind. He earned it by his perfect life and substitutionary death. Upon this discovery, Luther said, “I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors to paradise.”12 So then, true repentance properly consists of two parts: first, sorrow over sin, and, second, trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of sins. For the first time in his life, Luther was at peace with God.
Some—but only some—of the anguish Luther went through, I experienced myself. I remember going through Pastor Keturakat’s adult instruction class in the mid–seventies. When I learned that Jesus was coming again to judge the world in righteousness, I was frightened. The picture of the sun being darkened and the moon not giving its light was bad enough. Add to that the image of Jesus coming on the clouds with great power as my Judge made it even worse.13 I remember thinking I was doomed for I had committed many sins. So I voiced my fears to him privately. I said, “Pastor, I’m afraid God will never accept me.” He replied, “David, he never will accept you . . . so long as you insist on bearing your own sins. But he has already accepted Christ’s atoning death on your behalf.” I am sure I smiled, if not on my face, then in my heart.
When I learned that trusting in Christ not only secures the forgiveness that forgets sins, but also guarantees that I would be counted among the blessed sheep at the Judge’s right hand, I felt as though I had been snatched from the jaws of hell!
So then, when Jesus says, “Behold, I am coming quickly,” I can honestly say, “Come Lord, for in you I am prepared.” And, beloved, so are you! And we shall be properly dressed for the occasion for see what the Lord God Almighty gives us to wear for the great Day. In Isaiah 61 we read, “He has clothed me with garments of salvation. He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness.”14 So you and I will be wearing the robe of Christ perfect, white righteousness.
The Scriptures stress two things with respect to Judgment Day, viz., the plight and fright of those who are not prepared to stand before Christ, and the joy of those who are prepared through faith in Christ. To you and me, the Scriptures say, “Have no fear, for the end is near!
The end of what? The end of all your fear, sin, disease, heartbreak, frustration, anger, and death.
United with Christ through faith, we shall be accounted worthy to stand before the great Judge, the “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”15
No need to fear him, for he is our salvation. No need to fear condemnation, for all of our sins have been pardoned. Instead of fear, our hearts shall be joyous, for as Jesus says, “Look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption is drawing near.”16 Indeed, the kingdom of heaven which Christ has earned for us, and in which we are heirs, is upon us. And then he shall say to you and me, “Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”17 And then he shall usher us, body and soul, into glory where we shall experience the fullness of joy forevermore in the “Paradise of God!”18
And so, beloved, I say to you, “Have no fear; for the end is near!” And with one accord we lift up our voices with the entire New Testament Church and say, “Amen, come Lord Jesus!”19 Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Endnotes
1 Alexander Solzhenitsyn, when he accepted the 1983 Templeton award began his acceptance speak with these words: “Over half a century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: ‘Men have forgotten God. That’s why all this happened.’ And if I were called upon to identify briefly the principle trait of the 20th century, here, too, I would be unable to find anything more precise and pithy than to repeat once again, ‘Men have forgotten God.’” See http://www.roca.org/OA/36/36h.htm.
2 See, for example, http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/aboramt.html.
3 See 2 Peter 3:3-4.
4 See 2 Peter 3:10.
5 See Matthew 24:44.
6 See Revelation 22:7, 12, 20.
7 See Matthew 24:36, NKJV. Older manuscripts add that the Son doesn’t know the day and hour of his coming. It needs to be kept in mind that in Matthew 24, Christ is only three days away from his crucifixion. Indeed, Jesus, deep in the state of his humiliation (self-humbling and abasement) chooses not to know.
8 See Luke 17:26-27.
9 Genesis 7:11 reads: “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened,” KJV.
10 See John 13:34.
11 Dr. C. F. W. Walther first spoke these words to his congregation on the General Day of Repentance, 1854. The entire quotation is as follows: “We must fear that many of our members have never truly repented of their old sins. Miserable men that you are, take my words to heart, truly repent of your sins and wash your polluted hearts in the atoning blood of your Savior.” As quoted in Karl H. Ehlers, “Repentance,” The Abiding Word, Vol. 2 (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1947), p. 258.
12 See Roland H. Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (Nashville: Abingdon, 1950), p. 65.
13 See Matthew 24:29-30.
14 See Isaiah 61:10.
15 See Revelation 19:16.
16 See Luke 21:28.
17 See Matthew 25:34.
18 See Revelation 2:7.
19 See Revelation 22:20.
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