LESSONS from the days of Noah and Lot - Luke 17:26-30 (2)

‘’And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be 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 Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.’’ (Luke 17:26-27)

‘’ likewise also in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.’’ (Luke 17:28-30).

Lesson 2   -   Rejecting the Ark of Salvation

God always warns men about an impending judgment and destruction for sin. Are we listening and heeding His calls to us for the salvation of our souls? He sent Prophet Jonah to warn the inhabitants of the city of Nineveh about the need to repent from their wicked ways or else they would perish in their sins. 

Repent or you perish in your sins is one of the messages of the Gospel (Luke 13:3). God warns men to repent because He is a merciful God who is not willing that men perish but that they come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). He is merciful and more willing to exercise mercy than judgment (James 2:13).

In the days of Noah, God created an Ark for the salvation of men based on repentance. Unfortunately, only 8 persons entered into the Ark and were saved from destruction while the unbelieving multitudes that refused to repent perished in the 40 day floods due to their disobedience and unbelief in God’s Word.

The Ark of salvation that God has created to rescue men from eternal death in this Last Days is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus is the sacrifice for the sins of men. He is the one who died at Calvary, was buried but rose again from the dead and is living forever more (Revelations 1:8). Jesus’ resurrection conquered death and sin and is the assurance of eternal life to anyone who believes in Him.

As God warned in Noah’s days, He is warning and calling for all men to repent and be converted in this Last Day. He has set aside a day to judge this present world on account of sin and that day is the Day of Judgment also called the Day of Wrath or Day of Reckoning (Acts 17:30-31). 

Man born in sin is estranged from God and doomed to eternal separation if he dies in sin. He must be reconciled with God first before he can spend his eternity with God. The reconciliation is what salvation is all about i.e. sin and death must be conquered in the lives of men which Jesus Christ did for all men by His resurrection from the dead.

If men reject the salvation which God offers the world through Jesus Christ, there are several reasons as there were in the days of Noah and Lot. In the days of Noah and Lot, many doubted God’s calls for repentance and salvation. Therefore, one of the reasons is unbelief in God and what He says (His Word).

Unbelief was one major reason why the multitudes perished in the days of Noah and Lot. Many who perished in the days of Noah doubted the reality of the flood just as some today are denying the reality of Hellfire as an eternal place of punishment and torment for lost souls. Some even deny that God and Heaven are real.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1:18-20 that the preaching of the Cross of Christ is foolishness to those that are perishing but to those that are saved, the message of the Cross is the power of God unto salvation.

The unbelief of men in the Word of God does not invalidate God and His Word (Romans 3:3-4). Salvation is personal and an individual decision as every man will render a personal account of his life before God on the Day of Judgment.

There are many false doctrines that are circulating, blinding the eyes of men from seeing the truth. ‘Rather than diligently seek for the truth that sets free, many are seeking and following after popular opinions instead of convictions and are being led astray by false doctrines.’’ (Warren Wiersbe).

The Bible writes in 1Timothy 4:1 that in the Last Days, many shall fall victim to seducing doctrines of demons that leads astray. Men are falling for other ‘gospels’ or ‘teachings’ that are contrary to the teachings of the Gospel of Christ.

Some deny the death, burial and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. Some deny that Jesus is the Son of God. Some do not accept that Jesus is God who came in the flesh. Some deny the existence of the Trinity. Some do not accept the reality of the Holy Spirit as one of the Trinity.  Some do not believe the virgin birth and the deity of Christ.

Some believe in the false doctrine of eternal security or ‘Once saved, forever saved’ and the doctrine of good works which is religion without salvation. Some do not believe the reality of Judgment saying that because God is Love, He cannot cast unrepentant sinners who died in sin into Hell. They seem to forget that the God of love and mercy is also the God of Judgment (Isaiah 30:18)

Some deny the existence of a Heaven and a Hell. Some believe in a place called Purgatory where they say they would go after physical death to be cleansed of their sins and from there would be transported to Heaven. Some do not accept that Jesus is the Saviour of the world and that He died for the sins of all men. Some do not believe that the Blood of Jesus cleanses one from sin.

False and strange teachings of demons are one reason why many doubt the Gospel of Christ and are rejecting the Jesus Ark of salvation as in the days of Noah and Lot. These false doctrines are a leaven that corrupts the whole in the lives of those who believe them. False doctrines are a reason why those who subscribe to them will not be allowed into the Ark unless the leaven is purged out of them.

Admission into the Ark of Salvation is by faith in Christ. To inherit eternal life in Christ which is the only solution to eternal death, one must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and make Him his Lord and Saviour.

One must confess Jesus with his mouth and believe in his heart that He was raised from the dead and is alive forever more. One must surrender his heart and life to Jesus Christ and allow Jesus to be the director and controller of his life going forward (Romans 10:9-10) (Revelations 3:20).

Ayodele Adegbulugbe
www.xtianrace.blogspot.com.ng.
Lagos Nigeria
Phone:+2348035978352