Page 360 - The Faith I Live By (1958)

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As It Was in Noah’s Day, December 1
And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of
the Son of man.
Luke 17:26
.
From age to age the warnings which God has sent to the world by
His servants have been received with ... incredulity and unbelief. When
the iniquity of the antediluvians moved Him to bring a flood of waters
upon the earth, He first made known to them His purpose, that they
might have opportunity to turn from their evil ways. For a hundred
and twenty years was sounded in their ears the warning to repent, lest
the wrath of God be manifested in their destruction. But the message
seemed to them an idle tale, and they believed it not....
Scoffers pointed to the things of nature—to the unvarying succession
of the seasons, to the blue skies that had never poured out rain, to the
green fields refreshed by the soft dews of night—and they cried out,
“Doth he not speak parables?” In contempt they declared the preacher
of righteousness to be a wild enthusiast; and they went on, more eager
in their pursuit of pleasure, more intent upon their evil ways, than ever
before. But their unbelief did not hinder the predicted event....
Christ declares that there will exist similar unbelief concerning His
second coming. As the people of Noah’s day “knew not until the flood
came, and took them all away; so,” in the words of our Saviour, “shall
also the coming of the Son of man be.”
Matthew 24:39
.
Solemnly there come to us down through the centuries the warning
words of our Lord from the Mount of Olives: “Take heed to yourselves,
lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunk-
enness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares,”
“Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy
to escape all these things....”
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