18. A Neighbor of Noah and the Imminency of Christ’s Return

Too many Christians, when they have been long in profession, grow remiss in their preparations for Christ’s second coming…

Matthew Henry

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How many years did Noah take building the ark and preaching the righteousness of God? Some have suggested as short as 50 years and others as long as 120 years. In all those years of building the ark and preaching, no one listened to Noah save his sons, their wives, and Noah’s wife.

A Neighbor of Noah

Consider what it might have been like for a young boy living near to Noah and his family. This boy’s earliest memories were with his friends and family laughing at that babbler Noah, his preaching, and his silly ark. That ark was never going to be built. That day of destruction Noah kept talking about was never going to come. As the boy grew he eventually got married. Passing Noah’s land with his new bride, the hull of that ark was barely completed but the preacher was still going strong. After many children, that young man was not so young anymore. His children were getting married, divorced, remarried, and they were having children of their own. That young man filled with strength changed into an older man with the pains and frailties of age. All around him everything was changing except this, Noah was still preaching, and that ark was getting larger and taller.

Finally, too old to do much work that old man liked to take walks to get away from all the turmoil at home. He would complain to himself of his short and bleak life. He remembered the wasted years of his youth and how he wanted them again.  One day while walking, he passed by Noah’s land with some special words prepared for that madman. Approaching Noah’s property, the old man noticed something was very different – things were taking place that had never happened before. Animals from all over were coming two by two and seven by seven, as if guided by a shepherd, and walked right into the ark. But there was more… the old man noticed for the first time in all his life, he couldn’t hear Noah’s preaching. Looking for Noah, he saw him in the distance walking into the ark with his wife, his three sons, and their wives. Suddenly, without Noah closing it, the door of the ark was shut!

The old man quickly turned for home to tell his family what he had seen. As he went it started to rain. The drops started large and quickly grew into torrents. Water seemed to be coming from everywhere. The old man could not get home for the rains came too quickly. He was struggling to stay on his feet, so he wrapped his arms around a tree for support. He was not able to warn his wife of many years. He could not hug his pregnant granddaughter or shake his son’s hand one last time. He saw his friends, filled with merry hearts that morning, swept away by the water near him. In their eyes he saw terror and fear that he had never seen before. He saw a neighbor on his roof dashing a rock on his own head trying to end his life before the water reached him. Others were struggling up hills to little avail. The water was swiftly rising.  He saw children, grandchildren, friends, and acquaintances, swept away nearby. He reached an arm to them but there was nothing he could do, it was happening too quickly, the water was too powerful. His childhood home where he had lived for 100 years crashed to the earth and was gone.

At last, he could hold his own no longer. Looking out towards the ark it begin to float. He realized Noah was no fool at all but had been speaking the truth. Now it was too late for this unbelieving boy who had grown into an unbelieving old man. The time was at hand and the door was shut.

The Continuous Testimony of Christ

How long have gospel preachers been proclaiming the return of Christ? For more than 2,000 years! The second coming of Christ is at the core of the gospel message. Christ before whom all people are called to bow down and worship is returning with great power and glory. This message of the return of Christ is not merely that He will someday return, but rather that Christ’s return is imminent. He is about to come!

Christ’s return is not conjecture, rhetoric, or the whim of overzealous preachers. It is not a message that has been crafted by the church over the years to submit Christians to fear and bondage. It is the message of God Himself throughout Scripture and it is the final message of Christ Himself in Scripture, He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. (Rev. 22:20). If you want people to remember your message, you speak to them early about it, remind them often of it, and in conclusion you say it again. Our Savior does just that from Matthew 4 to Matthew 24; I Corinthians 15 to I Thessalonians 4; from the beginning of Revelation to the end. Christ is coming quickly!

Watch and Pray!

Some unbelievers surmise that since Jesus has not returned yet, He hasn’t come quickly like He said, therefore neither Jesus nor His Word are true. Thinking of God like a man they judge Him as a man, and they forget that with the Lord 1,000 years is but a day and one day as 1,000 years (II Peter 3:8). Like in the days of Noah they say, where is the sign of His coming? Like in the days of Noah, the ungodly will be shocked by His return and unprepared to meet Him. Like the foolish virgins they will be without oil when the call goes out.

Christians must live in the light of the imminent return of the bridegroom. If we think our Savior delays, we are prone to grow weary in waiting and begin to fall into sin. The temptation will arise, “if the bridegroom has waited 2,000 years surely He will wait until at least tomorrow or next week… maybe even next year.” Giving in to this temptation, forgetting the rich man of Luke 12, we begin thinking little of sin and the lusts of this world. Taking our eyes off Him who reigns above we set our eyes longingly and lustfully upon the things of the world that are so quickly perishing.

If the Lord were to return today many would be ashamed at the coming of the Lord for they would not be found doing the will of the bridegroom. Many would be found living in sin for they assumed time was plentiful for repentance and the securing of oil for their lamps. Many would be found living an unprofitable Christian life, weary in well-doing, zealous for rest and good times with family and friends but without zeal for the Kingdom of God. Many would be found who forgot their first love.

To you and to all, the Lord calls you today to awake from your sleep. Pray for strength to endure in watching for the Lord’s return. Pray for help to live in light of the imminent return of Christ. We confess that Christ’s return is much nearer than in the days of Augustine, Huss, Luther, Calvin, Hodge, Spurgeon, Machen, and Lloyd-Jones, and it is much nearer than when we first believed. Christ is coming quickly. What manner of men and women, boys and girls, ought you to be?

When the great day of the Lord appears my desire above all else is this – that you might be clothed in the pure white robes of Christ’s righteousness joining the innumerable company of saints and angels singing before the Lamb, “blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever, Amen!”

The Lord’s return is imminent, prepare your soul to meet Him!

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