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Those who study physics are very pessimistic about the future of the world. They say, by the second law of thermodynamics, that the energy of the cosmos is running out, and the universe will ultimately end in what they call "heat death." Dr. Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906) was the first physicist who understood this clearly. "Heat death" means the death of the universe by the loss of energy (or heat). Dr. Boltzmann discovered that the entire universe will become a burned out shell. When he felt the impact of that, in his study of physics, it drove him into a deep depression - and he committed suicide. He couldn't live knowing that the world and everything in it was headed for destruction.

Was Boltzmann insane? No - he was a realist. The world really is headed toward total destruction. A realist who doesn't know Christ has no reason to hope, and no reason to live.

Physics is not the only realm of science telling us our world is doomed. Biologists are constantly saying that the world is running out of everything. We are running out of oil. We are running out of rain forests. We are running out of ice at the Arctic Circle, through global warming. One species of animals after the other is vanishing into extinction before our eyes. And soon we will be running out of drinking water. Dr. Christopher Cagan says that thirty or forty years from now there will be global warfare over fresh water - just as there are wars over a decreasing supply of oil today.

The world is running out of energy. The world is running out of time. The judgment of God is about to fall. And this isn't the first time that has happened. The Bible teaches that God judged mankind in the days of Noah.

"And all flesh died that moved upon the earth…all in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died" (Genesis 7:21-22).

And Christ told us that the condition of the world in Noah's day would be repeated at the end of history. He said,

"As the days of Noe [Noah] were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be" (Matthew 24:37).

The Son of man judged the world in Noah's day - and He's going to do it again soon.

Nearly everyone knows we are approaching a climactic moment in history. And Christ said "As the days of Noah were" - that's the way it will be when the coming judgment falls, and the world as we know it will end. When the situation on earth becomes like it was in Noah's day, you can expect that judgment to fall. So, what was it like in Noah's day?

I. First, it was a time of great corruption and sin.

In Noah's day the world was filled with violence and wickedness.

"The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence" (Genesis 6:11).

Violence and corruption were everywhere.

I have gotten so fed up with the violence and filth on television that I hardly ever turn it on any more - especially the news. It's bad enough to read the newspaper, but at least you don't have to see it all acted out in front of you. "The earth was filled with violence."

One of the young men in our church was robbed at gunpoint a few days ago while he was walking home from school. And it's everywhere - just like it was in Noah's day.

"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5).

"Only evil continually." Think of it! They couldn't get their minds out of the cesspool. Everything they thought about was twisted and wicked. And many young people are sucked into that today through pornography and the Internet. "Every imagination of the thoughts of [their] heart was only evil continually."

It was a time of false religious beliefs. In that day "began men to call upon the name of the Lord" (Genesis 4:26). But their religion was perverted and false. Just as it was in Noah's day, the world of our day is filled with false religion. Men may call on God's name, but their religion is so corrupt that it's a stench in the nostrils of God.

The Bible teaches that there is only one way to God - and that is through Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son.

"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (I Timothy 2:5).

And that's why Christ said,

"No man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6).

Your sins have separated you from God. But God sent Christ to die on the Cross - to pay the penalty for your sin. And Christ is the only remedy for sin.

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Mohammed did not die on the cross to pay for your sins. The Buddha or Confucius did not die on the cross to pay for your sins. Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, did that - and He alone did that! And God raised Christ's physical body from the dead to prove it! Come to Christ! He alone can save you!

Yes, in Noah's day, it was a time of great corruption and sin.

II. Second, it was a time of great materialism.

Jesus said,

"In the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe [Noah] entered into the ark" (Matthew 24:38).

The people of Noah's day were materialists. All they thought about was eating and drinking.

There's a twenty-four-hour-a-day TV station on cable television, devoted all day, and all night, to the subject of eating. While millions are starving in the Third World, people in America and other parts of the Western world spend much of their time obsessed with eating and drinking. Their whole lives revolve around food, liquor and drugs. And the rest of their time is spent on advancing their career and making more and more money. This is sheer materialism at its worst. Many Americans are so caught up in a mad drive for "success" that they have no time for God, no time for church, no time to pray.

You must beware of that. It's easy to see that drugs and liquor and partying will keep you from God and destroy your soul. But the Devil has a more subtle way of deceiving you. He can get your mind so caught up in studying and making a "game plan" for success that, little by little, he will take you, a step at a time, into a life dominated totally by "getting ahead." But the Devil's real purpose is not for you to be a success in life. His real purpose is to wean you away from prayer and personal Bible study. His real purpose is to get you so caught up in advancing your "career" that you lose your soul along the way.

Jesus once asked a very probing question when He said,

"What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26).

What good will it do you if your "game plan" leads you to obtain great riches - if you don't have God, and are not saved? What good will it do you in the end if you become very rich and lose your soul, and go to Hell? There are young people here this morning who are wrestling with those questions. And I hope you will make the right choice. Christ said,

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness" (Matthew 6:33).

"Strive" to enter into salvation in Christ. Striving to enter the strait gate is more important than any activity you could undertake in life. Put all your strength and mental and spiritual energy into finding salvation in Christ Jesus. Nothing in the whole wide world is more important! Don't lose your soul. It's the most precious possession you have! Strive to enter in at the strait gate to the salvation offered by the Son of God! Forget your totally materialistic goals, and make Jesus Christ the goal and purpose of your life! And come back to church next Sunday to prove you are serious about it!

Yes, in Noah's day people were very greedy, materialistic and self-centered. Their lives revolved around food, liquor and money. The Bible says,

"God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth…and it grieved him at his heart" (Genesis 6:5-6).

III. Third, it was a time of judgment.

In verse 39 of our text Jesus gave these startling words. Please stand and read Matthew 24:39 aloud.

"And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be" (Matthew 24:39).

You may be seated. When Christ comes, the nations of the world will be judged. Each individual will go through fiery judgment.

"And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory" (Revelation 16:8-9).

"And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great" (Revelation 16:21).

These judgments are predicted in the Book of Revelation.

Dr. James O. Combs, former editor of the Baptist Bible Tribune, will be with us this evening. We are going to have dinner. At 6:00 PM I will lead in grace. Please be here five or ten minutes before 6:00. Right after I say grace, we will have a meal together in the fellowship hall. Then I will speak briefly and we will observe the Lord's Supper. Then we will go downstairs to the main auditorium and Dr. Combs will present a one-man play titled "John the Revelator." Dr. Combs will play the part of John, in costume, as the Apostle. He will give an overview of the entire Book of Revelation in this forty- to fifty-minute play. I think it will be tremendously exciting, and I hope you will come back at 6:00 PM tonight for dinner and this special live show.

Dr. Combs will be showing us, from the Book of Revelation, the great and terrible judgments of God, which are about to fall on this world. He will be telling you that the only way to escape God's judgment of this sinful world is to come wholeheartedly to Jesus Christ!

Come to Christ. Be washed from your sins by His precious Blood! Come to Christ and you will be prepared for the coming judgment! And be sure to come back tonight for this one-man-play, acted brilliantly by Dr. James O. Combs. Come home to the church for dinner at 6:00, then the Lord's Supper, and then Dr. James Combs starring as the Apostle John - telling us of the coming time of judgment in "John the Revelator." Don't miss the spiritual message and all the excitement tonight at 6:00! Why be lonely? Come home - to church! Why be lost? Come home - to Christ, the Son of God!

(END OF SERMON)
You can read Dr. Hymers' sermons each week on the Internet
at www.rlhymersjr.com. Click on "Sermon Manuscripts."

Scripture Read Before the Sermon by Dr. Kreighton L. Chan: Luke 17:24-30.
Solo Sung Before the Sermon by Mr. Benjamin Kincaid Griffith
"In Times Like These" (by Ruth Caye Jones, 1944).