Ready or Not*

When we were children, we played the game Hide and Seek. We would call out, "Ready or not, here I come!". Is the Body of Christ ready to meet Christ? Solomon wrote that no one will have power over that day: "There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those who are given to it...". (Eccl. 8:8). Solomon also wrote in this chapter that those who keep the commands of God will not suffer evil. He said that the heart of the wise discern both time and judgment, and there is both a set time and a judgment (v. 5-6). Those who think that evil is not punished quickly, set their hearts to do evil. Though a sinner's days may be prolonged, it will not go well with him because he does not fear and revere God (v. 11-12). In the days before the flood, God said that men's hearts were evil continually, and the LORD regretted that He had created man. Only the man Noah had grace with God (Gen. 6:5-8). It is the grace of God found in His Son, Jesus, that makes death but a shadow for those who believe, for we have passed from death unto life in Him. Have you found this grace with God? In the days of Noah, life went on as usual for men until Noah was shut into the ark and the earth was flooded. In the days before the total destruction of Sodom, life continued as usual for the wicked inhabitants of that city. Only Lot and his immediate family survived, because the angels pulled them out. The ashes of Sodom testify today of the day of destruction that they faced. Jesus said that the same conditions would exist before His appearing: life as "normal", and then sudden destruction (Lk. 17:26-30). Are we ready for that day? Because ready or not, He is returning. Have we silently tolerated sin, participated in it, and aided in its proliferation? God is not afraid to call sin, sin. However, we do not need to remain in sin. Paul, in listing the sins of men wrote, "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Cor. 6:11). We don't have to remain in sin, and suffer the consequence of sin, death. The Apostle Jude warned of a danger to the church of believers and wrote: "...It was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." (v. 3). Jude felt that the salvation faith of the saints was in danger from within the church. Ungodly men, who were ordained to condemnation from the beginning, were "turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." (v. 4). In the face of this spiritual undermining, even in the church, it is not enough to be comfortable and satisfied with your faith, but you will need to actively contend for it in order to keep it. Jude wrote that this undermining of faith in the church is the same that caused the Israelites, who had been delivered from Egypt by God, to then become filled with unbelief towards Him. This undermining caused the angels to fall, and end up in chains. It is the same underming that caused Sodom and Gomorrah to give themselves over to fornication until they could not be saved. They then became those who suffer the eternal fire (v. 5-7). The apostles felt by the Spirit the nearness of the day of reckoning. If they felt it so strongly then, how much closer is that day to us? Peter wrote: "But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. And above all things, have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins...as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." (1 Pet. 4:7-8). As Jude wrote, Peter said that there was a need for fervency regarding the faith. He also wrote that in whatever way that we speak and minister, we are to do it by the oracles and gifted abilities that God has given to each. Only these things will cause God to be glorified. (v. 11). If we suffer, we are to suffer because of our faith, not in the suffering that the sinners and evil-doers will experience: "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saived, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? ...But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." (13-18). The Prophet Jeremiah wrote the Word of the LORD concerning the undermining of the truth, and the faith of the people of God, and again there is a comparison with the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah. The LORD said to Jeremiah: "I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of the evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah...concerning the prophets...Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land." (Jer. 23:14-15). The LORD warned not to listen to these prophets. "For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked." (v. 18-19). Those profane prophets were prophesying peace, and telling those "that walketh after the imagination of his own heart", that no evil will befall him. Jeremiah wrote about the latter days: "The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly." (v. 20). Jesus taught in a parable about a king who had prepared a wedding banquet for his son. The king saw among the guests one who was not clothed in a wedding garment. The king said: "Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless." (Mt. 22:11-12). Because that guest was not wearing a wedding garment, he was bound, taken away, and cast into outer darkness: "...there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen." (v.13-14). This parable offended the religious Pharisees, who felt they were already justified in God, and did not want to listen to anyone who said that they were not accepted by God in their own righteousness. In Jewish wedding traditions, as well as in the scripture, there are wedding garments that must be made ready. The Word of Jesus in Revelation: "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." (Rev. 16:15). And then they were gathered into the place called Armageddon (v. 16). I believe the day is near. We can understand that day as we understnd the appointed feasts of the LORD. We are coming into the season of the spring feasts now. Are we ready? *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 4/3/2022 message to the church. To contact us, submit a prayer request, give a praise report, or to support this ministry: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and endtimeschool.com.

Oppositions of Science

 

Noah's Ark has often been in the headlines lately. There are places where full-scale ark replicas have been built for people to experience. They have been built according to the dimensions and description found in the Book of Genesis. These replicas have been subject to many challenges and attacks. There are many mockers, some of whom mock in the name of science.

One particular article is the account of someone, describing himself as a Christian, who visited one of the newly built replicas. This article describes his belief that the flood and ark descriptions in Genesis are not to be believed as truth. He also describes his god, who bears no resemblance to the God of scripture.

It is very interesting to note that scripture itself brings warnings of those who do not believe  the accounts of the flood, nor the saving ark of Genesis. These warnings also have to do with the deceptions of the Last Days that will come upon the earth:

"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they are willingly ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished."            2 Peter 3:3-6

In the above verses, Peter tells us that these mockers are willfully ignorant of the flood event. They choose to ignore the event, rejecting the idea that a divine judgment had once covered the earth. They apply this same denial to the return of the Lord. Recognizing the truth of a world-wide judgment, as well as the return of Christ, would require a change in behaviors from them, of course.
Both Peter and Paul discuss the motives and methods used to deny the concept of the flood specifically, and God's judgment in general. The methods used include false prophets and teachers, even among the church, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord. Their followers will blaspheme the way of truth (2 Peter 2:1-2). These heresies ruin those who hear them, and cause the increase of ungodliness. They spread like a cancer, destroying from within, causing the hearers to stray from the truth, and overthrow their faith (2 Tim. 2:14-18). They also use science falsely called to oppose the Word of God as being unbelievable, and unreasonable (1 Tim. 6:20).
True science is not an opponent of God, nor of scripture. Many scientific principles and laws were revealed in scripture hundreds and even thousands of years before man discovered them. "Science falsely called" in the 1 Tim. 6:20 scripture above, if it is like the false science of today, ventures outside of the protocols of the scientific method, and is filled with bias and unverifiable, unrepeatable conclusions. It is interesting that even in Paul's day, as it is today, these biased false findings tried to present themselves as fact. We are aware of the terrible toll some of these biased, unverifiable "theories" have had on faith in our time, because they have been taught as fact.
The motive behind these heresies that overthrow faith in the hearers, is the desire to continue in the thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors that are destined for the judgment of God as the earth is corrupted by them. These behaviors are rooted in lusts, and covetousness, by those who are self-willed and presumptuous (2 Peter 2 and 3). We have seen these behaviors proliferate in our time, and we have seen the hostility and rejection of God's Word in these same persons. The nature of the deception of these blasphemies and heresies is such as to cause them to be acceptable to even some of faith, and that faith becomes ruined. As mentioned in the above example of the person who visited the ark replica, even some who claim Christianity see no problem in denying the truth of the nature of God, and of His Word.





The judgment flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis are true. Every culture in the earth has a common flood account*. The accounts of these judgments told in scripture are told not only as truth, but as a warning example not to be willfully ignored. Along with these warnings, also comes the message of deliverance and salvation. Noah and those with him were delivered in the ark out of the judgment of the flood. Lot and his family were delivered by angels out of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (2 Peter 2:5,7,9). The LORD's deliverance was always a foreshadow of His Salvation, His Son, Jesus. So the heresies not only try to rob man of the truth of God's judgment, but also to rob the knowledge of God's provision of merciful deliverance and salvation from that judgment. No doubt we will hear more challenges and mockery of the Genesis flood and the ark in the future because it is a phenomenon of the Last Days.
However, even as the rebellious angels who sinned and were chained with darkness in the pit, were not spared judgment, sure judgment is also determined for those who teach the destroying heresies that overthrow the faith of others in order to increase ungodliness (2 Peter 2:4-9).





What are our instructions in these matters? Paul tells us to shun these deceptive teachings, which are profane and idle babblings, and teach instead the truth with gentleness, patience, and humility, correcting those who are in opposition. It is possible, through these efforts, that God may grant them repentance. We are to flee from our own destructive lusts, and cling to righteousness, guarding what has been entrusted to us (1 Tim. 6:20-22). We are to study the Word of God, rightly dividing (holding the straight course, teaching correctly) the Word of truth (2 Tim. 2:16-25).
Though heresies and deceptions abound, we determine in our hearts to guard what has been entrusted to us.


*Flood Accounts of Different Cultures Handed Down from Antiquity
http://www.nwcreation.net/noahlegends.html