The Bible speaks of a time when the “Presence” and the “Spirit of God” will no longer be noticed. Faith in God will be replaced with faith in a prosperous economy and in a secularized human knowledge. We are experiencing similar trends in the twenty-first century and have so for a long time. In Noah’s days only one person hung on to his faith in God. During the post-Davidic time, God, Himself, had preserved seven thousand men. Jesus, the Immanuel (God with us), envisioned a godless time when evil will dominate humanity and the world. Jesus, in particular, drew attention to the days of Noah and Lot:
Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it (the end) is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, now the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him (Matthew 24:32-44).
Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come visibly, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”
Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. Men will tell you, ‘There he is!” or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
Just as it was in the days of Noah so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
It will be just like this on the day of the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything.Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.
“Where Lord?” they asked.
He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather” (Luke 17:20-37).
Wickedness Defined the Time of Noah and Lot; What Defined Our Time?
The Nephilim were the leaders in Noah’s days. They were a breed of man that had taken control over their fellow man in place of God’s Spirit. Adam had began to demand that his son Seth follow in his own footprints, and that concept was later demonstrated in Noah. And this concept is still prevalent in the twenty-first century AD. The Nephilim, however, were a product of healthy godly men and healthy beautiful worldly women. In all probability, their matches were paired and selected to bear a superior human race. The children of these marriages became achievers and famous heroes (Genesis 6:4). These super intelligent people became too smart to believe in a “Creator God.” And therefore, they gave, and they still give, birth in every generation to millions in the world. These people glory in themselves, in their commercial and in their secular accomplishments. Is it a society that is similar to the days of Noah or Lot without a God-consciousness?
The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and girds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth” (Genesis 6:5-13).
How Do Our Conditions Compare to the Days of the Apostles?
The Apostles believed in a final and last time. Yet, history teaches us that every person has a final hour! Also, every person carves out his or her destiny while here on earth. Both, the good and the bad come to an end. However, Jesus said that when the Lord God withdraws His Spirit from the world, evil will become rampant. The denial of Christ is the same as denying the “Presence of the Spirit of God.” Jesus claimed that to see and to believe in Him was indeed seeing and believing in God, the “Spirit.” The same divine “Presence” is also to be seen in Jesus’ followers (John 14:5-14). We are encouraged by the revivals and by conversions to Christ. Christ, as He has promised, still draws people to Himself (John 12:32). Then, Jesus, Himself, said that “His Presence” (Christmas) would become commercialized, materialized, and secularised. This world religion will appeal to man as the bees to honey and the vultures to a carcass.
Jesus answered (his disciples), “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, I am the Christ, and will deceive many.You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquake in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time may will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
So when you see standing in the holy place the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of he elect those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time.
So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning, comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man (Matthew 24:4-28).
Lawless Judges will Arise and Abort the Laws of God, and with it the “Presence” of the Lord God
Paul, the Apostle, warned the Thessalonians of a leader who will not respect the Laws of the Bible; especially Jesus and Jesus’ teachings. Paul instructed Timothy to be leary of similar tends. These “Letters” have been a timeless messages against every lawless leader. The Laws in the Bible are the Laws of God. God is present in His Word (John 1:1; 14:10).
Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by soe prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He opposes and exalts himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, and even sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness (II Thessalonians 2:1-12).
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth—men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone (II Timothy 3:1-9).
Christmas is the Evidence that the Lord God is Generous and Impartial
Jesus reminded his disciples as follows: “He (God the Father) causes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45).
No other enterprise or system has been more beneficial to mankind than Christmas, or the “Presence” of God for man and the economy of the world. For the believer, Christmas bears the witness to God’s Grace and God’s Love! But, to the greedy unbeliever, it is an opportunity to capitalize and to manipulate the blessing Christmas for his/her pleasure and profiteering. The question is, “How much abuse can Christmas endure at the hands of wickedness? Will it end like the days of Noah and the days of Lot? The Apostle Peter received this revelation:
First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this coming he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and with water. By water also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction (II Peter 3:3-16).
Let the Christ, the Heart of Christmas, cheer you much!
DAK.
Stop and Think - Rev Dr. Daniel Kolke 