But As The Days Of Noah Were.....

-Bill Petite  3/21/2015

There is an old saying which I have heard for years since becoming  a Christian, "You don't have to read your Bible to know the times, just listen to the news or read a newspaper (if those still exist)." Well, it went something like that. But the point is, you can see how close we are to what the Bible refers to as the return of Christ. This world is in total chaos, nation against nation and most wanting to erase Israel from existence. Iran is on record as wanting to annihilate them. The persecution of Christians around the world is more enhanced than ever. The radical terror group ISIS has be killing  Christians at a terrifying rate.  Persecution continues in India, China and Sudan; these countries have been overshadowed by the work of ISIS but the persecution continues. Christians are beheaded, shot, brutalized and imprisoned. Super power countries are at odds with one another; they invade small countries, while others move closer to nuclear capabilities for warfare. These leaders are all blinded by their attempt at unrestrained power and are ignorant of who is and will always be the all powerful. Jesus told Pilate on the day He was crucified that he could have no power unless it had been given to him by God the Father (JN. 19:11).
Looking at our world from another perspective, people live their lives oblivious to the crisis around them. Christians in this country are sometimes unaware of the tragedies which are occurring to Christians in other countries. They think a mission trip is solely for the purpose of helping with a new Church building or digging a ditch for a water line. While these are things which are done on mission trips, they are not the sole purpose of the trip. If we read the book of Acts carefully, we will discover that as the Apostle Paul traveled from place to place, as the Lord directed him, his first priority was to teach the gospel to these gentile peoples. But, he also earned his own keep by working as a tent maker and a worker of leather. So, Paul was working on projects but the priority was the gospel. Christians who don't understand this should not be involved with a mission trip until they do know  the first reason for going is the gospel. This happens with a number of youth groups taking trips to a depressed country or a Native American Reservation. They believe it is an opportunity to get away from home for a week and do some projects and have some fun. Now, I know not all youth group missions are like this but a great number are.
I also think there are too many Christians who are closer to the ways of this world than they are to the Church and the business of God. Jesus told His disciples and us to go into the world and preach the gospel (MT. 28:19). That doesn't mean we have to go to China, India or Africa to preach the gospel or be a witness. When we go out the door of our homes, we are in the biggest mission field in the world because it is the world. When we go to work every day or to school or where ever we go, we are in a mission field and we need to allow the Lord to open doors for us to be a witness. Too many Christians are hiding in the closet or are afraid to mention the name Jesus in conversation or to anyone. We need to ask the Lord for boldness, the boldness to speak His name to friends, families and strangers (Acts 4:31). Christians should not be caught up in the ways of the world; we are in this world but we are not of this world.
I read three disturbing, but not surprising, articles this week. The first one is something which could be seen coming and therefore was not surprising but yet disturbing. The Presbyterian Church USA had already allowed gay clergy in the church and now they have went to the full extreme and changed their stance on marriage as being between two people instead of a man and a woman. This opens the door for gay marriage in this denomination which has been spiraling out of control for years. My nephew, who has since passed away and went on to the Lord, fought with 700 other pastors within this denomination against these very doctrinal changes. His fight goes back many years and I recall him sharing these things with me. He was a pastor in this denomination and it was extremely difficult for him to see these changes coming and he fought against them until his untimely death. So, a pastor in this denomination can perform a marriage between couples of the same sex, if he or she approves and there are many who do! This denomination, I believe, meets the meaning of a the following  scriptures,

Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction.  2 Thess 2:3  NLT

 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. ⁴ They will reject the truth and chase after myths.  2Tim 4:3-4  NLT

The second story I read was concerning a videographer who was contacted by a lesbian couple who wanted to hire her services for their wedding and, of course, being a Christian, she declined. Well, I don't have to tell you what followed. There was a claim of discrimination on the part of the couple and a defending of the faith on the part of the videographer and the couple went to Facebook and the Gay community was in an uproar making the usual threats. OK, so what is the point of this? Well, it took place in Ohio where Gay marriage is not legal so, the couple has no legal recourse, not even with the local Chamber of Commerce since it has nothing in place which prohibits this type of activity. I only mention it because it almost reads as if both sides were baiting the other. Allow me to explain; why do Gay couples insist on targeting Christian businesses for cakes, photos or video when they know these Christians or most of them are going to decline? Are they doing it intentionally for the purpose of putting them out of business (which has happened to many in this country)? I don't know but it does make you ask the question. On the other side, could the videographer have simply declined without going into the Christian explanation and starting an unnecessary war of words which nobody wins? Many Christians would say the videographer was defending her faith and proclaiming Jesus. Well, it almost seemed the videographer made this statement because she knew there was no recourse for the couple to take legally and was throwing it back in their face, so to speak. I don't know what any of the thought processes were and I am not taking sides in this situation but I think we must be careful when we are dealing with the world and their sinful practices. We always want to be a witness and therefore, we must select the proper approach. We don't agree with Gay marriage but we don't gain any ground for Jesus by attacking them either. Remember, all sexual sin is sin. There are no qualifiers; adultery, homosexuality, incest or sexual assault or any other sexual sin is sexual sin. Jesus does not recognize sexual relations outside of marriage between a man and a woman as OK. He sees it as sin. His recognition of marriage is between one man and one woman.

“Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’ ”  And he said, “‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’         MT. 19:4-5  NLT

And, that brings me to the final post which I found weird but not surprising for the age in which we live. It concerned the making of robots for the purpose of sex. These are referred to Sexbots. Technology is very close to producing these robots with artificial intelligence which would respond in a way similar to that of a human. I am not going to go into the details of this but will admit that I read it on a Christian web site. This really defines the time in which we live; the post did ask various Christians their opinion of these robots and their purpose and those who responded stated it is a disturbing consideration. One of the biggest concerns from any industry was from the world of prostitution. There is fear it will put an end to it. The post did go on to say that in the future it will be possible to marry a Sexbot (anyone remember The Stepford Wives).
Now, these are just three articles I read during one setting during a lunch hour. My point is, we don't have to look far to see what Jesus meant when he said,

 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day.  In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat.  People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.  MT. 24:37-39  NLT

 

 

The Most Important Thing

-Bill Petite  March 1 2015

Christians, we need to stop, look around at the world and the events which are making the biggest headlines. It is so important that we are aware of where we are on God's timetable. We need to be sure we can account properly for our time each day; are we frivolously wasting away valuable time which we could use letting the unsaved know about Jesus or are we telling them what they need to know? Are we busy posting Facebook stuff about the shambles in our political society or are we using that media to let others know about Jesus? We need to be aware of the most important thing in our lives, Jesus! We must make it a priority to tell others, who don't know, all about Jesus and what He has done for each and every one of us. Time is getting short.

Now, I'm not one of those radical prophecy nuts declaring every little thing that happens is a sign. I'm not in the habit of imitating Chicken Little declaring the sky is falling every time something appears to line up with some end time prophecy and I don't go around looking for a demon under every rock. But, if any Christian knows anything concerning the events leading up to the end, it is obvious we are close and easy to see. As Christians, we should know what the Bible tells us concerning these things. Jesus had this to say about knowing the time we live.

Then Jesus turned to the crowd and said, “When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, ‘Here comes a shower.’ And you are right.  When the south wind blows, you say, ‘Today will be a scorcher.’ And it is.  You fools! You know how to interpret the weather signs of the earth and sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the present times.    LK 12:54-56  NLT

I have felt the Lord impressing upon my heart for the past few weeks how close we are. I see the events of this world each day and know how they are fitting right into place with what the Bible tells us will happen prior to His taking the Church out of this world. As I said earlier, I am not one of those, "The end is near!" kind of people but, the end is near and each day I see more and more stuff which is proof. Of course, those who are not Christians will say I'm a kook, just another nut job attempting to scare people into believing in some religion. Well, my goal is not about religion, it is about a relationship with Jesus, my savior. And, if it is fear that will bring people to their knees in repentance, then good. The unsaved people of this world should be afraid; if you don't know Jesus, you will die in your sin and spend eternity in torment, extreme torment. That is not a scare tactic, it is absolute truth. There are so many non-believers in the world who not only reject Jesus, but they violently reject Him! The truth is, there will be those who will continue to reject Jesus and will suffer eternally. That is true. There is no universal salvation and being good gets nobody saved. The most important thing in this life is Jesus and surrendering to Him. He put Himself on the cross to die in our place. That paid the penalty for our sin. He then defeated death by rising from the dead to new life, giving new life to us when we know Him as our savior and Lord. No strings, no tricks, no cultish lifestyle, just life with Him. He is God and God is love. That is the most important thing.

So, as a Christian, how many unsaved people have you told about Jesus? How many people do you work with every day who don't know Him? The work place is one of the most fertile places for evangelism. Pray and ask the Lord to open doors so you can talk to these people. He will do that if you ask. Social media is another great place to share Jesus but all too often it turns into a slamming session. Jesus never said anything in the gospel writings about arguing people into the kingdom, we simply tell them. He told His disciples they would be persecuted for telling others about Him so why should we think we are any different. We should expect the unsaved to call us bigots, narrow minded simpletons and many other labels they like to attach to us. If we use the social media sites to spread the gospel, that's great but we should shy away from the arguments and strong opinions. If you are challenged, take it to private messages and reason it through. Those who are not into the Christians life will read these arguments and be turned off by the whole thing. I have had to block certain people for the simple purpose of not allowing others on my page to see the nonsense or the back and forth of comments which could turn some away from even considering Christianity. We have to be really careful when posting on social media; pray for guidance concerning posts which could cause controversy. I am all for being bold when posting but we need to be sure Jesus is at the heart of the message, not us.

Finally, as Christians, we must know what belongs in our lives and what doesn't. We should be taking inventory every day and asking the Lord to help us keep our hearts clean. The Holy Spirit will tap us on the shoulder to remind us when we begin to stray off the well traveled Christian path. We need to be an encourager, lifting up those who might be down spiritually. Don't be a spiritual policeman; we don't know each other's hearts. The Lord will tell us when we need to encourage a fellow believer. He will never tell us to be the spiritual cop and begin to interrogate someone concerning their faith. He will help us with the gift of discernment and He will tell us when we need to rebuke someone. It will always be done in love, never as a cop, interrogating someone concerning their faith or their morals. The Bible tells us to redeem the time and that is what we must do in these times. We can degrade ministries we disagree with and go on long rants concerning the current president or we can encourage each other in the Lord and be a witness to the unsaved. I have done all these things and I am as guilty as anyone when it comes to doing the wrong things but now it is time to concentrate on the most important thing, Jesus and His soon return! So, we should be in the word, studying to show ourselves approved and knowing how to interpret it properly. Not the way some smooth talking TV preacher tells us to or how we hear it on YouTube or even worse, the History Channel. Your relationship with Jesus is between you and Him. If you are sincere in that relationship, He will be the perfect guide through your time here on earth. Remember, He is the most important thing and time is running out.