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Preparing for What is Coming Part 7

by Jim Marcum April 3, 2011 INTRODUCTION Dont get clobbered!: Proverbs 22:3 (in 3 versions): 1. The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it. (ESV) 2. A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks; a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered. (The Message) 3. Sensible people will see trouble coming and avoid it, but an unthinking person will walk right into it and regret it later. (Good News Translation) What is this saying, and how does it relate to preparing for what is coming in the end -time season? This verse in Proverbs plainly tells us it is WISE to SEE danger or trouble that is coming and to TAKE ACTION! And it also says that if you see trouble coming but take no action, you are SIMPLE that is, you are foolish. And to be foolish and unwise or unthinking when danger or trouble is coming will result in what? The result will be, as it says in the ESV, you will suffer for it. The Message says you will be clobbered. And the Good News Translation says you will regret it later. Jesus is telling us in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 that a season of trouble is coming, and that He does not want us to be like the simple person in Proverbs 22, verse 3. He does not want His end times generation of followers to suffer because we didnt have the wisdom to see what is coming and prepare. He doesnt want us to be unthinking to walk right into the things that are coming and be clobbered! He want us to be prepared prepared for what is coming. 1. Jesus tells us BEFOREHAND what will happen in the end time season so we can prepare! A. In Matthew 24 right in the midst of all the things He is describing that will be coming upon this end time generation, look at what Jesus says in vs. 25: Matthew 24:25 See, I have told you beforehand. (Parallel passage: Mark 13:23 But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand. ) 1) What things is Jesus telling us beforehand? He is telling us about the perils, the difficulties, the dangers that will be coming during the end times season. 2) Why is He telling us about these things? So we can be wise and take action! B. Be wise and take action. 1 Peter 1:13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1) Look at that last phrase in this verse the revelation of Jesus Christ. Thats the title of the last book of the Bible! 2) The phrase the revelation of Jesus Christ is actually descriptive of the end times, because that is what we are looking for as the end-times generation of believers we are looking for the revelation of Jesus Christ as He returns to the planet.

3) What attitude does the Holy Spirit says here through Peter that we need to have in this end times? He says to have an attitude of PREPARING for ACTION. He says preparing your minds for action 4) So what does our mindset need to be right now? That of preparing and taking action, even as we set our hope fully on the grace that will be brought to us when Jesus Christ is revealed from heaven at His second coming. C. It is time to prepare for what is coming to take action. Jesus said, Im telling you these things beforehand. So lets do it! Lets prepare, and lets take action! 1) Lets not just listen to these teachings on Preparing for What is Coming and do nothing. Take this seriously, and consider what action you should be taking right now in preparation. (Yes, you!) 2) You are being told beforehand, and so now it would be unwise and unthinking to just walk into these things that are coming very soon upon the planet - unprepared. If you do that, what does Proverbs 22:3 say will happen? It says you will be clobbered! It says you will suffer for it! If you do not prepare now, you will regret it later. That is the word of the Lord! 2. Sign # 14 Many will neglect or deny the prophetic warnings of impending catastrophe and judgment. Matthew 24:36-41 (36) "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. (37) For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. (38) For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, (39) and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. (40) Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. (41) Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. A. The misapplication of Matthew 24:36 1) Jesus says in Matthew 24:36 that no one knows the day or hour of His return to earth. 2) As we go on reading in verses 37-41, Jesus says that there will be many people who, because they do not and cannot know the day or hour, will misapply that and not prepare. a) Jesus says they will do as the people of Noahs day did. They will fail to believe that judgment is coming, and that its coming to their generation! b) And so, there will also in this end-times generation be those who will not accept that they (we) are in the very generation of these things taking place that Jesus talks about in Matthew 24, even though prophetic voices will clearly speak it, just like Noah did in his generation. 3) Let us say it once again: We do not know the day or hour of Christs coming, but we certainly know that its the generation of His coming! Jesus wants us to know this, so we can be wise and prepare! 4) Yet we must realize what Jesus says is true. Even though He has told us beforehand and prepared us for these things that are coming, it will still be like Noahs day. There will be many who wont believe the signs or the prophetic voices speaking of the soon return of

Christ. They will miss the boat (pardon the pun)! Just like in Noahs day, they will be unaware until they are swept away not by a flood this time, but by the rampant deception, or by the catastrophes and other things that are coming upon the planet. It will be for them as it was in the days of Noah. B. The Days of Noah. Genesis 6:5-8 (5) The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (6) And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. (7) So the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them." (8) But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. 1) Many of the versions say in verse 8, Noah found GRACE in the eyes of the Lord. Praise God, he found grace! grace in the midst what? In the midst of catastrophe and judgment that is when Noah found grace. a) You see judgment and grace co-existed even then in Noahs day. They always have. God poured out His judgment upon all mankind at the flood, but He showed His grace to eight people in the midst of it. b) God has never been only judgment with no grace, or only grace with no judgment. He is the fullness of Himself, at all times. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His character has not changed, His purposes, His desires have not changed. He is and will forever be ALWAYS THE SAME. 2) Hebrews 11 speaks of Noah by faith obeying God and building the ark. Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. a) Here is an example of a happy ending for someone who took the warnings of God seriously! Noah was warned by God concerning events as yet unseen. b) We are talking about this same theme of being warned by God beforehand in this series of teachings on Preparing for What is Coming. Jesus is warning us, just like Noah was warned, concerning events as yet unseen. c) What did Noah do in his generation? In reverent fear he constructed an ark. He prepared in the way God told him to. And in so doing he condemned the world and became an heir of righteousness by faith. 3) It had never rained before, but it was going to rain! Noah knew it! Rain and a worldwide flood were thus far unseen, but Noah was warned by God beforehand concerning things unseen. Genesis 6:13-14, 17 (13) And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

(14) Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. (17) For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. 4) Noah did as God told him to do and he prepared the ark. In chapter 7 we read that as time came very near, God warned Noah again: Genesis 7:4-6 (4) For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground." (5) And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him. (6) Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. 5) Things happened just as God said to Noah, just as he was warned beforehand: Genesis 7:10-12 (10) And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth. (11) In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. (12) And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 6) VERY IMPORTANT: Jesus is relating the time that is coming upon the earth in this end-times season to the days of Noah, which was the only other time God brought worldwide judgment. a) The flood is not a fairy tale it really happened! And all that Jesus says is going to come upon this generation of time we are entering into it is going to really happen! This is not a fairy tale. b) It will be as it was in the days of Noah. And in his day, God in His grace clearly told Noah to prepare. And again, even as the time grew very near for the flood to begin, God came again to Noah and He became specific and said Its time now! In 7 days the flood will begin. Get into the ark, Noah! c) Gods grace is saying the same thing to us today. Its time! Prepare! Take action! Its not a flood that is coming but its the things weve been talkin g about in this series of teachings. They are coming. This is real. This is not practice or a trial run this is the time to prepare for what Jesus says will be coming in the last days just before His return to earth. 7) You will be mocked if you prepare now for what is coming. a) Noah may have looked a little strange building that ark because it had never rained before. But he didnt look strange on the day the flood came! b) It is likely the people of his day made fun of him mocked him, scorned him, scoffed at him. One of the most difficult things to deal with is the mocking spirit that comes against those who are following and obeying the voice of the Lord. c) The mocking spirit comes against followers of Jesus for various reasons. But know this it will definitely come against those preaching the message of preparing in this end time hour.

d) Peter speaks of these mockers or scoffers who will ridicule those preaching the message of the Lords coming, and even relates it, once again, to the time of Noah. 2 Peter 3:3-9 (3) knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. (4) They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation." (5) For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, (6) and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. (7) But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. (8) But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (9) The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. e) Its amazing that this so accurately describes exactly what many are already doing today. Just like this passage of Scripture says will happen, the main argument many of them use against the imminent return of the Lord is that what we see as signs of His coming are things that have been happening all along in history. [Look at vs. 4] 1. Some of them focus on 70 A.D. and say, Oh, those t hings all happened long ago theyve already been fulfilled, when it is clear that they havent been fulfilled. 2. Others say, Oh, things like earthquakes and famines and wars, those have happened all through history. Nothings changed. But that is no t the point that these things have happened before in the span of human history on the planet! The point is that they will happen all coinciding together on a worldwide scale within one generation of time at an increasing rate and intensity just like birth pains. That has never happened before like it is and will be happening in this generation of time. And it all began to happen after the fig tree blossomed, that is, after Israel became a nation again in 1948. The intensity of difficulty on this planet is increasing and peaking like never before, and every honest person knows it! f) But these are the very things the Holy Spirit said through Peter that the scoffers would be saying. They will say, Oh this is just business as usual on the planet nothing to get alarmed about. Them saying these things only proves that Scripture is true! g) The mockers and the scoffers they are wrong, and Jesus is right. He will return in this generation when the signs He gave are so clearly coming to pass. The Scriptures are true! Jesus words can be trusted! h) Notice that the Holy Spirit says through Peter that its actually the FLOOD that the scoffers are overlooking! They forget that this has happened once before. Once before there was a day when all seemed normal and well people eating, drinking, marrying. Life seemed so steady like it would never change. But it did change! God destroyed the world with a deluge of water and all those who did not prepare were swept away. Vs. 7 says:

2 Peter 3:7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. i) Its going to happen again. A day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly is happening again in this final end time generation. It is surely coming and it is coming soon. j) It is difficult to deal with the scoffers, but take courage in knowing that the Scriptures say that there will be these scoffers. It is part of it. Dont shrink back from preparing because of the scoffers. Dont get sidetracked into arguments or discouraged away from doing what the Spirit is telling you. Jesus said it would be like the days of Noah Noah was preparing, but the rest were not. There may be some right now who will mock or scoff at any words of warning or talk of preparing for the end times season. Well, thats what it was like for Noah! It is as Jesus said as in the days of Noah. k) Take heart! When what is soon coming begins to take place, you will be as Noah and you will have prepared for it. You will be with the 5 wise virgins who prepared and were ready to go through what is coming with plenty of oil for the journey. Be encouraged today dont shrink back from the truth of th ese messages. Prepare for what is coming! C. The Days of Lot 1) Lets look at Lukes account in Luke chapter 17 where Jesus also speaks of the days of His coming being as the days of Noah, but then also relates it to another period of time. That period of time involves another incident of Gods judgment in that of Sodom & Gomorrah. Luke 17:26-37 (26) Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. (27) 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. (28) Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot--they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, (29) but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all-(30) so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. (31) On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. (32) Remember Lot's wife. (33) Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 2) This story of Lot happens quite some time after the flood, but it is a similar story. Though not worldwide of course, like the flood was, this is another instance where God brought destructive judgments, and yet showed His grace and saved Lot and his family in the midst of it. Lets read this story of Lot and the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah. Its in Genesis chapter 19:

Genesis 19:15-17, 24-26 (15) As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city." (16) But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. (17) And as they brought them out, one said, "Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away." (24) Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven. (25) And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. (26) But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. 3) It is clear that the reason God destroyed the cities of this region was because of the extreme wickedness there. Genesis 13:12-13 (12) Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. (13) Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the LORD. Genesis 19:13 (13) For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it." 4) Jesus says that this will be how it is in the last days. It will be as it was in the days of Lot, and of Sodom & Gomorrah. It will be a time of destructive judgments from God coming upon the earth and its inhabitants even upon the cities of the earth because of the wickedness that is there. 5) VERY IMPORTANT: Look at what Jesus points out about Lot and his family, and especially Lots wife. They were lingering. They were hesitating and looking back as the destructive judgments were coming. And Jesus says Dont do that! He says very specifically, Remember Lots wife. 6) REMEMBER LOTS WIFE! a) Lots wife actually perished along with the wicked in judgment why? Because she looked back. This is serious! The grace was there for her to escape in time of judgment, but she looked back and was destroyed along with the wicked. b) In this end time hour, as the judgments of God are striking the earth and its inhabitants, we cant be standing opposed to it in our hearts! We cant be looking back looking back on our past life of ease and comfort or of identity with the worlds syste m. Jesus says here in Lukes passage, Whoever seeks to preserve His life will lose it. We must not be seeking to preserve our lives in this end time hour. c) I fear there may be some who right now love what they have (their positions and possessions) perhaps even more than they love the Lord. I fear for those who may be like Lots wife in this end-times hour. Oh, Remember Lots wife! This is serious, it is critical. She looked back, and she received the same judgment that the wicked did. The grace was

there for her to escape, but she looked back and received destructive judgment. She was judged along with the wicked, because her heart was really with them. Her body had been pushed and drug out of Sodom, but her heart was still there. d) Oh would you be serious about this today? Would you have the fear of the Lord with me about this? We have talked in earlier teachings in this series about needing to cut ties to darkness that may be in our lives. But here we are now needing to go even further yet, and talk about cutting any ties to this world to the things of this world its comforts, its wealth, its prestige! These things may become stumbling blocks and cause us to look back! e) Jesus said it would be like the days of Lot in the end-times season. And He said to Remember Lots wife. Now is the time to remember her! Remember that she turned back and missed the grace to escape the judgments that fell upon Sodom. You do not want to turn back and miss the grace of God in this hour because you had ties to the world system that is being judged. Dont do what Lots wife did! Dont seek to preserve your life in this end time hour! Dont love your own life! f) It says in the book of Revelation of those who overcome in this end time hour: Revelation 12:11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. g) You can be in this group of conquerors who in this end times hour love not their own lives, even unto death. Ask Jesus for the grace to do this! He says in this passage in Luke, not only Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but He also says, Whoever loses his life will keep it. Lets lose our lives! Do it now! Lose your life NOW for Jesus Christ so that you will keep it in the end. This is vital to preparing for what is coming. Prepare yourself for being faithful to the Lord during the tribulation that is coming to this planet and overcoming in the midst of it. Do not love your own life in this world. Remember Lots wife! D. Preservation in the midst of destructive judgments. 1) There is a final point to make about the statements Jesus makes that the end times generation will be like the days of Noah and the days of Lot. It is something weve touched on briefly already, but lets go to 2 Peter cha pter 2 and finish the point now. 2 Peter 2:5-9 (5) if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; (6) if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; (7) and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (8) (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); (9) then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,

2) We are talking about PRESERVATION. How God preserved Noah and rescued Lot during the days of destructive judgment upon the ungodly in which they lived are proof positive that in this end time hour of judgment God will do the same for us! 3) God knows how to rescue the godly from trials even the great trials that are coming upon the planet during the tribulation. Noah was preserved and sheltered in that ark while the ungodly were being swept away during the flood. Lot was rescued by those two angels and taken to a nearby city which was preserved from judgment, as destruction came upon the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. 4) But notice this, that both Noah and Lot remained on the planet, but they were preserved from the destruction that came in their day. That is how it will be in the end times generation for us, the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will remain on the planet during this time of destructive judgments, but we will be kept, sheltered, and preserved in the day of judgment. 3. Conclusion: Preparing for the days of Noah & Lot happening in the end times: A. Dont listen to doubters, mockers, scoffers. The Holy Spirit told us through Peter that these scoffers would arise in the last days. They are just further proof that it is the last days, and that the return of Christ is close at hand! Dont be moved by them or shrink back from what the Lord is telling you to do to prepare for what is coming. B. Continue to prepare. Jesus said, I am telling you beforehand. Its so we can prepare for what is coming. What if Noah had not prepared, if he had not built the ark? Hebrews 11 says Noah was warned by God concerning events as yet unseen. That is what is happening in this day, a day that Jesus said would be like the days of Noah. We are being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen. But they are coming, and the Lord wants you to be prepared! C. Continue to warn those who are not prepared. Noah is called by the Holy Spirit in 2 Peter 2:5 a herald of righteousness. A herald is one who proclaims, one who speaks a message to other people. We need to speak the truth and warn in love those around us that it is time to prepare for what is coming. The prophet Ezekiel was called by God a watchman, and it was required that as such he warn people of judgment coming from God upon the wicked. But remember our message is the cross of Jesus Christ! We need to remind and warn of what is coming, but we need to lift up the cross of Jesus and believe there will be a demonstration of the power of God as we do so! D. Trust the protection of God during the judgment that is coming. God knows how to preserve the righteous in the day of judgment. He did it for Noah, for Lot, and for his people in Egypt during the plagues. We can trust that we will, like Noah, find grace in the eyes of the Lord during this coming hour of destructive judgments. We can trust that He is good, and His love endures forever. E. Remember Lots wife. As judgment & destruction come, let every tie to the things of this world go and dont look back. Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us 1) What weights are there that we need to lay aside the weights keeping us from running our race with endurance in this end time hour?

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2) Remember Lots wife! This is not a time to linger, to hesitate, to lag behind and l ook back. Take this seriously! Jesus said that we cannot put our hand to the plow, and then look back. He said the one who seeks to preserve his/her life in this end time will lose it. But He also said that the one who loses his life will keep it! Today is the day to lose your life! 3) Your life does NOT consist of your possessions. Lets cut the ties today the ties to this life and this world, to money, careers, wealth, ease, comfort, position , prestige, notoriety. Lets just lay them all down! And lets die to our own lives in this world, yes in that sense let us lose our lives! 4) Some of us, this may be why we cant get on with the things God has been calling us to, perhaps for years! It is because of the cost involved the laying down of our lives. Could it be that you havent been willing to lay it all down? Now is your opportunity, now is the time to do it! Oh, Remember Lots wife dont be like Lots wife in this end time hour holding on to your stuff, holding on to your life! Dont hesitate, dont look back! Dont be like that! Dont be in that group in this end times hour! Come aside now, come apart from all of that, and be among those who have prepared for what is coming by casting aside the weights. 5) Be like the apostle Paul, and count everything in your life as loss for the sake of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. Do it now! Dont wait. There will be no regrets. This world and everything in it passing away. Dont be encum bered by the things of this world in this end time hour! Lose your life, and you will keep it for all eternity!

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