The Last Days Will Be Like Noah's Days by Zac Poonen

we've been thinking about this theme of the last days and Christ's return so there are a number of passages in the Gospels ticularly Matthew and Luke where Jesus spoke about certain things in relation to that and for the particular time in which we are living when we see all the things that happening around the world I think of one verse which we can begin with thinking please turn with me to Luke's Gospel in chapter 31 Luke's Gospel chapter 21 it says here that in these days look 21 verse 26 men will faint from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world or the powers of the heavens will be shaken so that's I mean men afraid of the things that are coming upon the world you begin to see that already now it is maybe they haven't started painting it maybe in some places they have but fear as to what's going to happen when's all this going to end and at that time that's where the time where we need to be like Jesus said a light in the midst of the darkness we don't hide our light under the under a bed but let it shine bright for everyone to see and what does that mean in the next verse it says in verse 28 when these things begin to take place because soon after this it says in verse 27 you'll see the Son of man coming in a cloud approaching the return of Christ but don't wait for that when these things begin to take place what is when you begin to see men fainting from fear straighten up don't bend down looking down at the things of earth straighten up and lift up your heads to the heavens in other words the meaning is not just physically lifting up our heads but in our heart our vision is going to be up more than down while the whole world is looking down the things it says here the things that are happening in the world verse 26 in the midst of it are group of people who love Jesus whose heart and mind is set on the things above and I really believe this is a time when many believers are being tested as to where their heart is set you know we've read many times in Colossians 3 if you are risen with Christ set your mind on the things that are above and not on the things of this earth but we probably never had much of an opportunity to have that tested but now we have the opportunity for that to be tested to see whether in each individual I cannot judge for you because I do not know where your mind is set most of the time but I know where mind it mind is when I get up in the morning and what I'm thinking of we have to be concerned about our earthly affairs especially those who have small children they could be sick they are hungry they need to be fed and we need to think of providing for them all that is essential and that is perfectly right but in the midst of all that that's part of our responsibility as towards God if God's given me children then it's part of my responsibility towards Dartmouth to feed them clothe them educate them bring them up properly till they are able to stand on their own feet that's part of a divine calling there's nothing wrong in that but I'm not to be so occupied with earthly things that my wine mine gets weighed down weighed down with it's like a drunken man the Bible speaks about that in the last days people will be in their mind so weighed down that they'll be like drunken people who a drunk is not looking after heaven he's looking down all the time and you know I often mentioned the fact that God created animals on the sixth day many people don't know that all the rest of the fish and birds and all were in other days but animals were created on the you'll create on the fifth day the animals were created on the sixth day the first part of the day from the same dust that God picked up and made man the only difference was that God created the animals by just a word of his mouth and all the animals all the thousands and thousands of different creatures just came into existence but man he did not create with just a word saying let a man be made like a little lion be made no he took dust and made it as it were and God doesn't have hands but the nearest we can think of God's personal touch out of the dust of the ground it says he made a man that means he first made the man the body and then he breathed into him that is also on the sixth day and man became a living soul man got a spirit which the animals didn't have but both men and animals were both made on the sixth day from the same dust to teach us one lesson that if you don't live by the spirit that God breathed into us he will end up being like animals the only difference between Adam and those animals was that God breathed in two and no other difference many of those animals had eyes and legs and hands and a heart and a kidney and all to have some internal organs just like man and some of those monkeys looked like man too but there was one big difference and that was God breathed into man and that made man look up not down if you look at every animal on earth you're always looking down whether it's a cow or a dog or you look at any animal they're looking down most of the time you never see an animal looking up they don't have a calling to look up but then we see so many men and hue men and women also they in their heart they're always looking down worried about the things on this earth now to be responsible as parents and to do our work on this earth for our family and in our job that's absolutely important if you're a true Christian you'll be a very good father a very good mother a very good brother and sister and a very good worker in your office or your factory or wherever you work if you are not that then we are a failure but along with all that our unlike the people in the world our mind is not occupied only with that in the midst of all that we do that with our heart and mind set all the things above it's very very important that we never lose that upward vision otherwise you know it says here when these things begin to take place straighten up why straighten up because most people are looking down and the Lord says you my disciples should not be looking down like that worried what's going to happen worrying what's gonna have a straighten up and lift up your heads because Christ is coming back so really especially in these days we lift up our heads expecting the Lord to come is it right for us to expect the Lord to come in our lifetime I'll tell you I was born again 60 years ago it's more than 60 61 now and all these years I'll tell you honestly I have never expected that I'm gonna die I see I'm gonna see the Lord coming I expect that I've always expected that right from the time I was born again and I shall see the Lord face to face when he comes I'm not promising anything please don't misunderstand me I'll show you from Scripture and that is the right attitude to have turn with me to 1 Thessalonians in chapter 4 that's where I learned it from I learned it from Paul Paul had this attitude that he would see Christ in his lifetime coming back see 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 it says here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 is speaking about the Lord's coming we who are verse 1 Thessalonians in chapter 4 and verse 15 this we say to you by the word of the Lord remember this is the word of the Lord we who are alive notice the word we he's not saying those who are alive if he says those who are alive then we can understand that somebody is talking about somebody else we all you include yourself as one of those who's going to be alive when Christ comes yes if you had asked him just when he wrote that letter hey listen Paul you said we who are alive you did you believe that you're gonna be alive when Christ come he's absolutely and I remained until we who will remain until the coming of the Lord will not be taken up before those who are dead we'll go up together and the Lord will ascend and verse 17 we again we who are alive not those who are alive when we talk about other people we don't say we we say those all never said those inspired by the Holy Spirit he said we so that's where I learned that all my life I have to have the attitude that I might the grave is not my goal you know we sing that in one of our songs the sky not the grave is our goal yeah so but later on in his life when he was about 66 so 67 years old he writes his last letter 2nd Timothy and now see what he says in 2nd Timothy in chapter 4 he says in verse 6 the time of my departure has come I have fought a good fight I finished my course 2nd Timothy 4 verse 6 7 and 8 and he say hey Paul I I thought you were gonna be alive - the Lord comes no now the Lord has shown me the time of my departure has come and so I'm not gonna be alive till the Lord comes the Lord's gonna take me home and I finished my course that appointed number of days God said for me I've kept the faith I did not deny the faith I kepp fought a good fight all these years and now there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord will revive me in that day and that day I'll come out of the grave Paul says I won't be alive so when do we decide that we're not gonna be alive when the Lord specifically shows us that you're not gonna be alive now if the Lord hasn't specifically shown that to you anybody even if you're 100 years old you say the sky not the grave is my goal so we have to look up all the time like Jesus said and not be looking down and let's turn now to a verse I want to show you from the Book of Leviticus is very interesting verse that's being a blessing to me for I think more than 55 years more than 55 years when I first studied the Bible as a young man in the Navy I read this verse and I've never forgotten it it challenged me then and it challenges me today you know the Old Testament Redemption from Egypt is a picture of our Redemption from sin and when they got out of the slavery of Pharaohs like our getting out of the slavery of Satan and when they came through the waters of the Red Sea that baptism is a picture of our water baptism and coming out into Canaan's land in the land of victory and here the Lord says in Leviticus 26 verse 13 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt you can say applied to today I am the Lord your God your heavenly Father who brought you out of slavery to Satan and so you don't be their slave so you don't be a slave of sin and I broke the bars of the yoke of sin I broke it on the cross and through my resurrection so that from now onwards you will walk erect or upright as the King James Version says upright never bent down boy that encouraged me more than 55 years ago when I read it and I say Lord I never want to forget it you delivered me from the slavery of sin so that I'll never be bent down in discouragement and gloom and know that anything happened I'm gonna walk upright with my head held up because I'm not an animal animals put their head down God has made me from the same dust but he breathed into me the Holy Spirit you see it was Jesus out there in the beginning the second person of the Trinity who breathed into Adam don't forget that Jesus breathed into Adam and made him a living soul the same Jesus when he came to earth we read in John chapter 20 in John's Gospel chapter 20 he was among his disciples and we read there in John chapter 20 he came into the midst of his disciples verse 21 and he said peace be to you and then it says here in verse 22 when he said that he breathed on them and said receive the Holy Spirit four thousand years earlier when Jesus breathed on Adam in the Garden of Eden he said receive your spirit your human spirit which will make you a living soul not a dead soul a living soul which is in touch with God living mean spiritually living God breathed Jesus breathed into Adam and gave him a spirit a human spirit and that's why it today and man is spirit soul and body soul is our mind and our emotions but this spirit is what has our conscience the deepest part of us which contacts God animals don't have that they don't have a conscience they can't contact with God Jesus breathed a human spirit into Adam and now on his disciples he breathed the Holy Spirit that's the New Covenant where he breathed into us and gave us the Holy Spirit and that's why we're not gonna live like the animals with our face down to the ground we're gonna look up we've been called walk erect not looking down never I want you to remember this dear brothers and sisters as we approach the end of time it's not gonna be easier as we approach the end it's gonna be more and more difficult because Jesus said turn with me to another verse I'm not trying to picture a very dismal future no the future is as bright as the promises of God it's a beautiful expression I don't know whether you've heard it the future is as bright as the promises of God who said I will never leave you I will never forsake you I will be with you I will make you more than a conqueror neither death nor persecution nor sword nor peril nothing will separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus so we don't hear anything you know that well-known works from Isaiah 8 verse 12 and 13 the Living Bible says Isaiah 8 verse 12 and 13 living Bible if you fear God you need fear nothing else nothing no person no event no circumstance no pandemic nothing means nothing nothing means zero if you fear God you need fear nothing else if you don't fear God and fear means reverence God if you don't have a reverence for God then you better fear all the other things that are going to happen to you and to the rest of the world but if God is the one you fear and reverence you don't have to fear anything else because he's your father so here it says in Matthew 24 when he said some of these things you know they asked him what's gonna be the sign of your return he said first of all works for don't let anybody deceive you that's one other thing we got to be very careful about because there's a lot of deception going on in the last days a false gospel I'll come to that in a moment many will come to say I'm the Christ and we'll receive many I read that carefully Matthew 20 or worse why it's not that somebody comes and says I'm Jesus Christ you're not gonna believe that nobody'll believe that read it like this many will come in Jesus name and say that Jesus is the Christ understood they're not going to say there's other the Christ they're going to come in Jesus name and say Jesus is the Christ Jesus is saying many will come in and remember thing Jesus saying many will come in my name and say I am that is Jesus is the Christ that's the meaning of that sentence and we have lots of people today saying yeah Jesus is the Christ and they deceive people I mean they took the name of some other heathen God you can't deceive Christians impossible Christians are deceived when somebody comes saying yeah Jesus is the Christ of course I believe he's the son of God and we trust him he's the one who died for the sins of the world you think the devil doesn't believe all that you can ask the devil do you believe Jesus son of God of course you believe he died for the sins of the world and rose again of course you believe is coming back of course these things mean nothing so but he says there'll be many many things rumors of wars and you know it says you're about famines and earthquakes and on verse 7 see to it look at this word in the middle of verse 6 so we'll take that word to your heart make sure you don't get frightened did you hear that make sure you don't get frightened because these things have to take place before the end isn't it good to have a warning about things that are coming if you're warned about something you can be prepared for it it's when you don't get a warning that you get a sharp hey I didn't know that was coming but the Lord has warned us you read Matthew 24 you read Luke 17 Luke 21 ticularly these three chapters with the loads warns about is coming in don't be frightened lift up your head I call I called you out of sin so that you can walk erect please remember these words and then it says when it says there'll be famines and earthquakes and shortage of food so many people dying I told you in revelry it speaks about a time in the future when one-third of humanity will die but some type of pandemic worse than what we're seeing today and today people get disturbed when they hear that 1 million people are sick or a hundred thousand people died in the last one month just of this one sickness well wait till the world hears one day over the internet or the television that one third of humanity has died don't be frightened it's all written in Scripture God will never forsake his own he's still on the throne as a beautiful song God is still on the throne and he will remember his own though trials may press us and burdens distress us he never will leave us alone the song that I sing often it's a little chorus you should learn it and sing it God is still on the throne he will remember his own yeah look if you don't know the words look it up on the internet and learning just the chorus you never forsake his own something we can sing to ourselves you know the Word of God is what strengthens us and then it says here in verse eight this is what I want to show you these are just the beginning of Sorrows they're gonna be many more there's a lot more and it says your birth pangs yeah women know this that before they deliver a baby they go through what is called birth pains tremendous pain I've heard women who say they feel like dying because the pain is so great when they have to deliver the baby crying out in pain but at the end of it all they smiling at happiness because a baby is born so that's the picture Jesus uses of the last days birth pains because a new world is going to be created by God a new heavens and a new earth and Jesus is gonna establish his kingdom it's like a birth of a completely new world and it had to be birth pains before that but in those days verse 11 there'll be many false prophets man first of all verse 10 many will follow a they'll follow me they won't deny that Jesus is the Christ you don't have to follow it by saying Jesus is not a Christ you can follow away with the love of money you can fall away by watching pornography definitely you know it says here Jesus says the last days will be in verse 37 Matthew 24:37 the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah he repeated that again in Luke's Gospel also where he said in Luke 17 about the same thing because just like in the days of Noah they were eating verse 38 and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage and suddenly one day Noah entered the Ark to be like that in the day of the Son of Man and the lord comes to will be in the field who want to be taken the other will be left to women will be at the mill one will be taken the other will be left so he reminds us of the days of Noah and if you turn back to the days of Noah there were two things that characterized the days of Noah which we see today turn with me to Genesis in Chapter six one of the things that's mentioned here is that the earth was filled with violence verse 11 Genesis 6 verse 11 in the days of Noah the earth was corrupt in the sight of God and filled with violence you know what why violence means murders terrorism kidnapping little children for sexual sin kid for selling little girls to be prostitutes and violence murder terrorism Wars wars between nations and all types of evil ways in which man discovers to kill one another earth is filled with violence and the earth was corrupt in God's eyes and it's an amazing word here in verse six if you ever thought of this verse it's an amazing verse to me genesis 6 6 the Lord was sorry he was sad that he made man on the earth and it grieved him in his heart do you know the difference between somebody being angry and somebody being sad if a good father sees his son go astray or his daughter go astray not really angry it grieves him in his heart and he's sad God is not angry with his children he's angry with the wicked the Bible says he's angry with evil people but with his children those have received him he's sad when he sees them like animals looking down he's not angry when he sees a worldly minded believer God is not sad God is not angry he's sad look at that son of mine just like you would be concerned if your son was wayward wasting his money wasting his life and he could be productive and useful on on earth instead of that wasting his time and money on useless things you'd feel sad as a father or mother god is a father and mother and he feels sad he's not angry I often have to tell believers that don't think God is angry with you but he's terribly sad well the way the way you behave and it says you have the Lord was sad and it grieved him in his heart and remember this is immediately before he destroyed the world for their sin your earlier in verse three I'm going to give man a hundred and twenty years and 120 years nobody repented just Noah and his family the Lord was sad that people were going out of violence and evil and one of the sins mentioned in those days listened to this violence was one of the primary sins of the last of Noah and is true in the last days people hating one another and hurting one another and even among believers hurting one another and the other sin was sexual sin it says here in Genesis 6 verse 1 in those days when daughters were born to men human beings the sons of God now whenever the Bible speaks about the sons of God it's referring to the direct creation of God all of us are not the direct creation of God b-bomb born through our parents holy Adam was a direct creation of God Adam and Eve so Adam is called a son of God in the last verse of Luke chapter 3 where the genealogy of Jesus comes because he was a direct creation of God anything directly created by God is called a son of God if that's the language created by God let's say those who were created directly by God in refers to the angels here is referring of the angels you read in the book of Job about these sons of God are the Angels so in those days the angels some of the angels in heaven saw looked at the daughters of men there were many beautiful girls in the days of Noah gonna be true in the last days many beautiful girls who know how to beautify themselves in numerous ways and they these angels now they can't the Bible said Jesus said that once somebody asked Jesus you know a man had seven brothers and he died then who's gonna marry is each of the brothers had their wife one is white because that was the law your brother dies you got to marry his wife all seven had them one by one and they all died Jesus whose wife is she going to be in the resurrection and Jesus said in the resurrection there is no marriage there's own sex and marriage in heaven they'll be like the angels he said angels don't marry jesus said that but here we read the angels saw the daughters of men and he took wives how is that they could not do that they could not have sex with these girls they possessed men they lusted angels can lust and they lusted after these pretty girls and they possessed men men became demon-possessed and then those angels could satisfy that lust through a man just like they possessed men to do evil and they satisfy the lust to do evil they satisfy their lust to murder people they satisfy their lust to hurt people they can't do it directly they have to possess a person and they possess these men and satisfy their lust with pretty girls that they saw and the Lord saw it and he was angry with the wicked and he said my spirit will not strive with man forever I'm gonna punish him so what is it that made the Lord say that perverted sexual sin unnatural sex that's unnatural what happened there in verse two whatever it was they did and the Lord was angry and that's going to be one of the characteristics of the last days not only violence but unnatural sexual sin not normal marriage between man and woman which is very sacred in God's eyes do you know that marriage is very sacred in God's eyes when God created Adam he created him Adam and Eve with the function to be able to produce children through each other and he said be fruitful and multiply that is saying you must have children you must have the normal intimate relationship and have children and it says God looked at it in Genesis 1:31 he said it is very good the intimate relationship in marriage is very good God says that in Genesis 1:31 there's nothing bad about it but when it goes outside marriage or in some unnatural way it is very bad it's evil it's corrupt and that's one of the things that made God judge the world in no attack and we see that today and one of the evidences is pornography married men who do not were not satisfied with what God is provided always lusting after others and I want to tell you this whenever people going to that that demons are very close people watch pornography on their phones and on their laptops and they look around or nobody is watching in AHA demons are there with they laugh with Glee when they see this person watching pornography one more person that I've got in my grip and if that person happens to be a believer who claims to love Jesus Christ that demons are even more delighted you know the Bible says the devil accuses believers to God and I can imagine those demons delightfully going to God and saying God did you see this guy he claims to be your child he sings and preaches on Sunday morning but see what he's doing right now just because his wife is not looking and just because nobody else watches him look at this guy God is he your child he accuses believers to God in the last days remember like the days of Noah perverted people who try to get sexual satisfaction in not the normal way God is intended but all types of perverted even married people they do perverted things with their own wives you believe that and with lusting after other women in their office and when they walk down the street the days of Noah all right how many believers take all this seriously how many believers compare what we read in Matthew 24 with Genesis chapter 6 and see how terrible this sin is around God that is the thing that may God said I will not let my holy spirit strive with these people anymore I've spoken to enough the word is my holy spirit Genesis 6:3 will not strive with these people for ever I give them a time limit and I believe that every believer I'm talking about believers now because the believer isn't the only one without the Holy Spirit when believers indulge in any type of sexual sin and their thoughts are in their habits the Lord sees it and says my Holy Spirit's not going to strive with that child of mine forever I give him a time limit maybe so many days maybe so many weeks and we so many months and then he's gonna get it from me that's the lesson from the days of Noah and the last days are going to be like the days of Noah and I tell you see if no the best way to avoid sin is not by being afraid God will judge me no the best way to avoid sin is not by saying Oh God will send me to hell no and it's not we don't avoid sin in order to go to heaven that's also wrong I want to go to heaven so I'll avoid sin or I want to have a good testimony so I'll avoid sin there are so many reasons why we can avoid sin and all those reasons are wrong I don't want to go to hell good that's not the reason to avoid saying I want to go to heaven so I don't sin good but that's not the reason to avoid sin oh my testimony will be spoiled but for others if I sin that's not the reason they're watching those are all good reasons if you can't find the best reason then use all of those or I want to have a powerful Ministry of preaching I won't be able to do that if I oh they're not avoided all these are wrong reasons jesus said if you love me keep my Commandments that's the only right reason to avoid sin and obey God not I want to go to heaven or I'm God God to use me or people might catch me rubbish let the whole world watch my private life let the whole world watch my thought life I want to hate sin everywhere because I love Jesus Christ so dear brothers and sisters that is the solution in the last days how shall we stand walk erect how shall he value our spirit more than the lusts of our body how shall we prevent the lusts of our body from begin you control our mind and our thoughts only one way by make sure that in my heart I love Jesus more than anything else and if I seek to fellowship with Jesus and develop an intimate love relationship with him every day you know how when a young boy and a girl are in love with each other they can hardly think of they will never think of anybody else it's just each other and that's how we must be all the time in our relationship with Christ we do all our earthly work that boy may be terribly in love with a girl but he's working and he's doing his job and all that and he's looking forward to the day when he can marry that girl and set up a home with her it's the same way we are to be with Christ lord I love you you're my bridegroom and I'm looking forward to the day when we can get married I have to do my earthly work I've got a family to look after I got to do all these things I've got to work 810 hours a day to support myself but underneath it all Lord I love you with all my heart and that's how I want to live on this earth anything that hurts you or displeases you I want to avoid you know this verse in some 139 Psalm 139 and verse 24 Psalm 139 verse 24 it says here Lord you know earlier on it says in verse 23 Psalm 139 verse 23 search me O God and know my heart try me know my thoughts tell me about my thoughts are my thoughts preoccupied with something of Earth and see if there is any the margin of my Bible says way of pain anything that causes pain in me pain to whom not to me pain to the Lord Lord is there anything I'm doing that causing pain to your heart see if there's any way of pain in me the Living Bible paraphrases it very well Lord point out anything in me that makes you sad I remember some years ago in Bangalore we printed out cards with those words Lord pointed out anything in me that makes you sad when you give it out to everyone I said keep it in front of you Lord point out anything in me not that makes you angry makes you sad wonderful word to keep in front of our mind all the time Lord point out anything in me that makes you sad that's a Living Bible paraphrase of his first Psalm 139 verse 24 and so you see it's because we love Jesus that we don't want to hurt him in any way that is the real fear of God you know as someone has said there are two types of fear of God one is the fear that God will hurt me I don't have that fear because I know God will never hurt me he's my father a loving father never hurts his child the other fear is the fear that I may hurt God yeah that's up here I have Lord I don't want to hurt you I don't have any fear that you hurt me you'll never do that I know I do have a fear that I may hurt you by something by the way I behave the way I speak to my wife the way I talk to even a beggar on the street the way I speak to other human beings I may hurt you by my language or by my anger or my despising somebody or by my gossiping about someone and speaking evil my mind not loving somebody just because he doesn't love me so what so what if somebody doesn't love me you know when people kill Jesus on the cross they were serving the devil now in the world this is our worldly people if when somebody serves the devil and hits another person that person says as it were you serve the devil I'm gonna serve the devil - I hit you back to people and the demo kills two birds with one stone you heard that expression killing two birds with one stone so here's what happens the devil hits one man with one stone and he goes and fights to the other person and the devil doesn't have to touch the other person now the person automatically fights back devil got two birds with one stone he's got two men by just provoking one person that's where a Christian should be different no matter what another person says that you can't provoke me I'm sorry I'm rooted and grounded in the love of God I don't agree with you I will not fight with you or argue with you very important my brothers and sisters to preserve ourselves in purity and in love the love of Christ is what makes us hate and avoid pornography the love of Christ is what makes us hate anger and evil speaking and tearing down other people and having grudges against them or not forgiving somebody do you know the number of believers I have met in my life who have sicknesses because of one reason only one they haven't forgiven somebody many years ago somebody did something to them until today they haven't forgiven and they'd rather live with this sickness and take tablets and injections and go to doctors all types of things and they're never healed they don't realize that what they need to do first of all is forgive I believe God's basic will for us is health sickness is not from God no sickness came because of sin there's a curse on the earth do you know that God never cursed man no turn with me to Genesis chapter 3 to understand something in Scripture we got to read scripture care for me when Adam sinned God came to him and said to him in Genesis 3:17 because you have listened to the voice of your wife and you disobeyed me Kersten is the ground genesis 3:17 what did God curse not Adam he never cursed Adam or Eve he cursed the ground the dust but Adams body was made from that dust so therefore there was a curse on that dust that's how sickness came and do you know that's why even believers get sick because we have the same our body is made of dust if it were not made of dust none of us would die he says here because you're made of dust verse 19 Genesis 3:19 you were made from dust and you will return to dust because you were taken from the dust in the ground and you will return to the dust so that happens to believers believer died and the body becomes dust again the only human being whose body did not become dust was Jesus Christ his body never became dust because there was no curse in him he died on the cross taking the curse of man Galatians 3:13 says Christ became a curse for us for three hours but he was raised from the dead he took the punishment of sin but we we have a body that is part of this dust God did not curse Adam I want his return to Genesis 4 and it says here Genesis chapter 4 God told Cain when he killed Abel Genesis 4 verse 9 the Lord said to Cain where is your brother he said I don't know and the Lord said to Cain in Genesis 4 verse 10 the voice of your brother's blood you've killed him he's crying to me from the ground because you hurt your brother verse 11 you are cursed the first person God cursed was not added it was King I called this the difference between Genesis 3 sin and Genesis 4 sin Adam was not cursed because what he did he hurt himself Genesis 4 Cain was cursed because when he did something he hurt somebody else his brother you can smoke you hurt only yourself you can take drugs you hurt yourself you can drink alcohol you hurt yourself but if you do something that hurts another person that comes under the Genesis 4 category where Cain was cursed when he hurt somebody else how do you hurt somebody else not only by murder you can murder a person's reputation by speaking evil of him that's called gossip how many believers realize that speaking evil of somebody is worse than smoking or drinking or taking drugs now if you saw a believer who's drunk coming to your church yeah what do you see a believer who's gossiping oh he's not so bad who said this guy who's drunk is in Genesis 3 sin and this guy who's gossiping destroying another person's reputation Genesis 4 that's worse many people don't realize the seriousness of sin because their understanding of sin has come from the world or from worldly preachers and worldly creatures that those will never judge sin in their own life and so God doesn't give them light on any other sin they only know the 10 commandments sins don't worship idols don't murder don't steal don't bear false witness in the court don't commit adultery and a lot of worldly people who keep those Commandments and the holy spirit comes in he convicts us of a lot of things anything that Jesus would not do is sin what does it mean to be a lamp in the in these days when there's so much of corruption and evil like in the days of Noah violence and sexual sin God's people must remain pure lift up your to walk erect means to walk free from sin that's a great need of the hour my brothers and sisters turn with me to 2nd Timothy in chapter 3 2nd Timothy chapter 3 we read about the last days again in the last days difficult times will come 2nd Timothy 3:1 difficult in what way not persecution he's not talking about persecution in the remaining verses he says the Living Bible paraphrases are beautifully it says in the last days it will be difficult to be a true Christian that's the meaning why you got to read verse 3 4 and 5 along with verse 2 3 and 4 along with verse 5 so let me read each phrase in verse 2 along with verse 5 read it let me read it like and reading each phrase in verse two three and four with verse five it'll be difficult to be a Christian in the last days because Christians will be lovers of self but verse five holding a form of godliness they will be lovers of money verse two but they will hold a form of godliness that means they will preach godliness and talk about godliness is a doctrine but they'll be lovers of self they be lovers of money they'll be boastful but they will have a teaching of correct teaching that doctrines will be right but they'll be boastful arrogant revilers unloving irreconcilable Isha's gossips verse three without self-control treacherous reckless verse for lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God see there are four types of lovers mentioned here love is the main thing God created man to love and the last part of verse four lovers of God that's what we should be the opposite of being lovers of God is first two lovers of self verse two lovers of money and verse four lovers of pleasure today the three lovers who oppose the lovers of God so if I want to love God there are three things I've got to stop loving myself money and pleasure self means my pride in my position and honor but it would be very difficult to be a Christian in the last days because there are going to be people who speak godliness and talk about love for God and all but they are lovers of self they're lovers of money they gossip they are treacherous they don't keep their promise they are lovers of pleasure this is the days of Noah so what shall we do in these days every trial that comes we believe God will not allow us to be tested beyond our ability we believe God will preserve us in these days but I'll tell you this my brothers and sisters once this pandemic is over and life has come back to normal and you don't have to sit cooped up in our homes again we can go out to a work and those who go have a habit of going to restaurants to eat can again go to restaurants and those who have the habit of going and spending money still have the opportunity to go and spend money and all that and you think it's all over what about at the end of it all if you continue to be a lover of self and a lover of money and a lover of pleasure we have learned nothing these are the days when we should take time we have a lot of spare time to say Lord you've given me time let me use it carefully to learn to love you more to meditate on how much Jesus loves me to meditate on how much I being forgiven to meditate on the fact that I deserve to go to hell but God saved me from it I'm to meditate on how much of hypocrisy and pretends there still is in our life or we are careless in our thoughts careless in our words and lets repent if you repent the light will burn again in our lives and in our homes and God will not be sad make that your prayer in the coming days Lord find out anything in me that's making you sad and make these days eternally profitable for me that I can be ready for your coming that when you come I'll be ready to meet you and that you'll not be disappointed in me that's pray Heavenly Father it's so easy to hear and understand you have a form of godliness without its power we want the power of godliness in our life the power of the Holy Spirit working in us every day freeing us from sinful thoughts sinful thought patterns simple language angry words freeing us from wrong attitudes towards others making us merciful even towards those who hate us but if somebody else serves the devil we don't take revenge by serving the devil ourselves no we serve God if somebody hates us that we can love in return that we overcome evil with good and overcome hatred with love and patience Lord we can't do this on our own we ask you to fill us with the Holy Spirit that's the only way we can lift up our heads and walk erect in these days please help us each one help us not to forget what you've heard today we pray in Jesus name Amen

Channel: SermonIndex.net

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Keywords: Revival, Character Of God, Free Sermons, Video Sermons, Jesus Christ, What Is The Gospel, SermonIndex, What Is The Truth, Zac Poonen

Id: a-pmBmoQMfU

Length: 54min 53sec (3293 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 11 2020