This message is one of the Times Square
Church pulpit series.
It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times
Square Church in Manhattan, New York City.
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Almost right at the beginning, Genesis chapter 7.
Title of this message is The People Who
Believed Noah.
I guess if there are still children in
the service, it seems to be they're leaving.
Father, I come to you tonight, and I
acknowledge that you are my strength.
You're my rock.
You're my shield.
You're the beginning and the end of my
salvation.
Jesus, I thank you for the anointing of
your Holy Spirit that does flow like a
mighty river.
Thank you for that abiding presence of your
Holy Spirit.
God, I ask tonight that you would flow
from this pulpit as rivers of living water.
God, that you would overturn, firstly, false understandings
of who you are and your plan for
fallen men.
And God, that you would give drink to
those that are thirsty and life to those
who need life.
And that you would pick up and carry
and sustain those that are weak and weary
and cast down.
Father, you've come to bring hope to us
tonight, and not to cast down your people.
Lord God, I ask that you would grant
to us ears to hear, everyone in this
house, what you're speaking to your church in
this hour of time.
Oh God, I'm asking now that you would
anoint me.
That you would anoint my mind, my inward
parts, my lungs.
Oh God, every part of my physical body,
that you would anoint me.
Lord, that you would flow, that your words
would come, that you would bring life and
freedom and deliverance to your people who are
gathered to hear your word this night.
Oh God.
Lord, I declare the triumph of Jesus Christ
over every power of hell and darkness, every
lying spirit, every power of evil sent against
the testimony of Jesus Christ and the people
of God, Satan.
I say unto you, the Lord rebuke you
this night.
The Lord rebuke every weapon that you formed
against everyone that's in this house.
I declare the victory of Jesus Christ over
every lying thing, over every power of hell
and darkness.
And Father, I thank you that we can
walk in that victory tonight.
Lord, I thank you for an eye salve
anointing in this house tonight, to be able
to see your plan for each one of
our lives.
Father, we ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
The people who believed Noah, Genesis chapter 7,
beginning at verse 1.
And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou
and all thy house into the ark, for
thee have I seen righteous before me in
this generation.
Of every clean beast thou shalt take to
thee by sevens, the male and his female,
and of beasts that are not clean by
two, the male and his female.
Of fowls also of the air by sevens,
the male and the female, to keep seed
alive upon the face of all the earth.
For yet seven days, and I will cause
it to rain upon the earth forty days
and forty nights.
And every living substance that I have made
will I destroy from off the face of
the earth.
And Noah did according to all the Lord
commanded him.
Noah was six hundred years old when the
flood of waters was upon the earth.
And Noah went in, and his sons and
his wife and his sons' wives with him
into the ark, because of the waters of
the flood.
Of clean beasts and of beasts that are
not clean, and of fowls and of everything
that creepeth upon the earth, there went in
two and two unto Noah into the ark,
the male and the female, as God had
commanded Noah.
And it came to pass after seven days
that the waters of the flood were upon
the earth.
In the sixth hundredth year of Noah's life,
in the second month, the seventeenth day of
the month, the same day were all the
fountains of the great deep broken up, and
the windows of heaven were opened.
And the rain was upon the earth forty
days and forty nights.
In the self same day, that's in other
words the day that it began to rain,
entered Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth,
the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and
the three wives of his sons with them
into the ark.
They and every beast after his kind, and
all the cattle after their kind, and every
creeping thing that creeps upon the earth after
his kind, and every fowl after his kind,
and every bird of every sort.
And they went in unto Noah into the
ark, two and two of all flesh wherein
is the breath of life.
And they that went in, went in male
and female of all flesh, as God had
commanded him.
And the Lord shut him in.
And the flood was forty days upon the
earth, and the waters increased and bare up
the ark, and it was lifted up above
the earth.
And the waters prevailed and were increased greatly
upon the earth, and the ark went upon
the face of the waters.
And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth,
and all the high hills that were under
the whole heaven were covered.
Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail, and
the mountains were covered.
And all flesh died that moved upon the
earth, both of fowl and of cattle and
of beasts, and of every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth, and every man, all
in whose nostrils was the breath of life,
of all that was in the dry land
died.
And every living substance was destroyed which was
upon the face of the ground, both man
and cattle and the creeping things and the
fowl of heaven.
And they were destroyed from the earth, and
Noah only remained alive, and they that were
with him in the ark.
And the waters prevailed upon the earth one
hundred and fifty days.
Now in Genesis chapter six and verse five,
the scripture says that 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.
And he repented to the Lord that he
had made man of the earth, and it
grieved him at his heart.
It was an hour of judgment.
And I believe that in this society we're
vastly approaching that hour that God has spoken
of through the prophet Isaiah and through the
prophets in the Old Testament, through the apostle
Peter, and yet Christ himself even spoke of
an hour, an hour of fire, an hour
of incredible judgment, a suddenness of something coming
upon the earth that is going to catch
those who are sleeping suddenly and unawares.
They're not going to be prepared for what's
about to happen.
But Noah, in Genesis 7 verse 1, the
scripture says he was a righteous man.
He was a man who walked in right
standing with God.
In chapter 6 and verse 9, it says
Noah was a just man and perfect in
his generations, and Noah walked with God.
In New Testament Hebrews chapter 12 verse 14,
the scripture says, Follow peace with all men
and holiness without which no man shall see
the Lord.
In Hebrews chapter 11 verse 7, the writer
says, By faith Noah, being warned of God
of things not seen as yet, moved with
fear, prepared an ark to the saving of
his house, by the which he condemned the
world and became heir of the righteousness which
is by faith.
And I trust with all my heart that
those who are in this house tonight, that
you are moving as God is beginning to
speak in this last hour of time.
And you are preparing an ark to the
saving of your house.
I trust with all of my heart and
I'm persuaded that we are a people who
are more wise than most of the people
of Noah's generation.
That we will not walk casually by the
word of the Lord any longer, but will
turn in unto the house of God and
let our hearts become reproved by His word
and get into that place of safety for
surely as I stand here, surely as I
stand here we're fastly and rapidly approaching a
day when God is coming with a fiery
judgment upon this entire earth.
I thank God that I'm in an ark
of safety tonight.
I thank God that I found Jesus Christ
as my high tower and my refuge.
And I hope with all my heart that
everyone who's in this house that can hear
my voice tonight, that you have also found
that ark of refuge.
That you're not playing games with a holy
God tonight.
That you understand that there is only one
way to eternal life.
Jesus said, I am the way, the truth
and the life, and no man can come
to the Father except through me.
In Matthew chapter 24 and verse 43, Jesus
said, But know this, if the good man
of the house had known in what watch
the thief would come, he would have watched
and he would not have suffered his house
to be broken up.
Therefore be also ready, for in such an
hour as you think not, the Son of
Man cometh.
I trust tonight that those who are in
authority in your respective houses will take to
heart this scripture where Jesus said, If the
good man of the house, that means the
one in charge, the one in control of
that house, the one who exerts spiritual influence
over the lives of others, if he would
have known in what hour the thief would
come, he would have watched and not allowed
his house to be broken up.
It's a great day that's coming upon this
whole world when Christ comes for his church.
But it's a sad day for others who
have been spiritually lazy and have not been
watching out for their homes as we heard
about in the message this afternoon so wonderfully
preached by Brother Greg.
There are so many who have forfeited the
glory of God upon their homes for substandard
things which will not be able to hold
up in an hour of testing and trial
that's coming upon all flesh, the whole earth,
to judge the earth.
Noah heard the word of God.
Noah was a discerning man and Noah understood
that they were living at a time when
God was about to send judgment upon the
earth.
He had heard the word of the Lord.
He was not a man who just sit
there and did nothing about it.
So he heard and the scripture says, move
with fear.
You see the scripture says, the fear of
the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom.
To understand when God speaks, He's not speaking
for nothing.
There's a purpose, there's a reason and everything
that God says will come to pass.
A day is like a thousand years and
a thousand years like a day.
But be not deceived, God is not slack
concerning His promises.
Everything He said in this book is going
to come to pass.
And so Noah began to build an ark.
And I hope with all my heart tonight
that you are building an ark and preparing
for the saving of your house.
Now I'm going to draw some conclusions from
what I feel in my heart would have
been a reasonable thing to do in building
an ark.
Knowing a little bit about building, having, I've
built or at least repaired old barns and
things like that.
And I know that if you're going to
build something of wood, you see this ark
was built of wood, it has to be
built in a high place.
If you build something of wood in a
low place, then the morning dew will get
around it and before you have a chance
to finish it, you see that Noah's ark
was many, many years in preparation.
Before you have a chance to get it
completed, the whole foundation will be rotted out
from underneath it if you let it sit
in a place of dampness.
And so anybody that knows anything about building,
if you're going to build something of wood
that's going to endure, you have to build
it up in a high place or in
a visible place.
So we can say safely that the ark
of Noah was in a place of high
visibility and it was many, many years in
the making.
Noah was working and Ham and Shem and
Japheth and Noah's wife and their wives, they
were all working, they were sawing and hacking
away and building this ark according to the
specifications that God had given them and it
was a magnanimous thing, a very, very large
ark.
And you can imagine what the people were
thinking, living in a generation when it didn't
rain.
And here's a man building this huge boat
because God had spoken something to his heart.
Now in 2 Peter 2, verse 5, let
me just read it to you.
The scripture tells us that Noah not only
built, but he preached while he was building.
It says in 2 Peter 2, verse 5,
And God spared not the old world, but
saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of
righteousness, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the
flood upon the world of the ungodly.
So Noah not only built, but he preached
while he was building.
I don't know what his format for preaching
was.
I don't necessarily think that he had services
like we have here on Sunday.
But I think Noah perhaps stood up on
that high place beside his boat, maybe once
a day.
As people passed by for year after year
after year, going into the city, going into
places to buy and sell, going about their
daily business.
You see, Noah and his family were not
the only people of that generation.
And as Noah stood there, he preached and
said, God has called me to prepare an
ark for a flood is coming in on
the world of the ungodly.
God has looked down and He has seen
your deeds.
It has repented Him at heart that He
has made man and He's sending a great
flood upon the earth.
And everything that has breath in it is
going to pass away.
The only people that are going to be
safe are those who get into the ark
that God has called me to build.
Now, can you imagine?
Can you imagine?
People going by every day into the city.
Walking by, and here's Noah, that the apostle
Peter said was a preacher of righteousness as
he was building this ark.
Going by into the city, I can see
the laughers and the mockers saying, look at
that old fool.
Look at the old fool.
It hasn't rained in months.
As a matter of fact, it's never rained
in this area.
This area is not even known for floods.
Can you hear them scoff?
Can you hear them laugh?
Rolling, holding their signs.
Look at the old fool, talking to Noah's
sons.
You know, you're going to waste your life
working with this old man, building this ark
in a place where it never rained.
All things carry on just like they always
have.
Nothing's ever going to change.
It's going to carry on the way it
is.
Don't listen to the old fool.
Sounds very familiar with the church today, doesn't
it?
The church is an ark.
The whole story of Noah is a type
and shadow of the church of Jesus Christ.
We have been called by the Holy Spirit
to build a building.
Not fashioned with the hands of man, but
fashioned according to the plan of God.
Every stone being crafted by the Holy Spirit
and the Word of God being put into
place, this church is being built.
The whole body of Jesus Christ is being
built.
And someday soon, we're about to arrive at
the place where the last stone is put
into place.
There's going to be a last person that
comes to a last altar in a last
house somewhere, bows his knee before God and
gives his life up to the Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.
And then in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, the trumpet of the Lord
is going to sound.
Hallelujah!
The dead in Christ shall rise out of
the ground.
And we who are alive and remain shall
be caught up together with them.
And so shall we ever be with the
Lord.
Can you imagine having the distinction of being
the last man, the last woman, the last
one on the earth to bow his knee
and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord?
Hallelujah!
To lift your head and all of a
sudden you're in heaven, and to be able
to say, boy, that was quick.
Scoffers, scoffers, scoffers, scoffers.
There are warnings going out from the house
of the Lord continuously, and yet we hear
the scoffers in our society, the modern day
scoffers, even sadly to say so many of
them wearing a cloak or a veil of
religion and scoffing at the warnings of God
and scoffing at the coming judgment of God,
saying the very same things that these people
said.
Listen to the old fools talking about the
judgment of God.
All this talk about gloom and doom.
No, we're living in an age of success
and prosperity.
Oh, no.
Judgment is not coming on this world.
Listen to what Jesus said.
Matthew 24, verse 37.
He said these words, But as the days
of Noah were, so shall also the coming
of the Son of Man be.
In other words, He's saying just as it
was in the days of Noah.
For as in the days that were before
the flood, verse 38, they were eating and
drinking, marrying, giving and marriage until the day
that Noah entered into the ark.
And they knew not until the flood came
and took them all away.
So shall also the coming of the Son
of Man be.
And so what Jesus is speaking about is
that there's a nonchalant attitude in that last
generation.
We've heard it all before.
We've heard all the doomsday.
We've heard all the preaching about the coming
day of the Lord.
We've heard everything about the judgment of God.
But all things carry on just the way
they always have.
2 Peter chapter 3, if you'll turn there
please.
2 Peter chapter 3.
The apostle Peter talks about scoffers.
In the last days, scoffers.
Verse 1.
This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto
you, in both which I stir up your
pure minds by way of remembrance, that you
may be mindful of the words which were
spoken before by the holy prophets and of
the commandment of us the apostles of the
Lord and Savior, knowing this first, verse 3,
that there shall come in the last days
scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying,
Where is the promise of his coming?
For since the fathers fell asleep, all things
continue as they were from the beginning of
creation.
Now this is what the Holy Spirit has
revealed to Peter is going to be an
attitude of heart of many people in the
last days.
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that
by the word of God the heavens were
of old, and the earth standing out of
the water and in the water, whereby the
world that then was being overflowed with water
perished.
But the heavens and the earth, now in
other words there was a judgment by water,
that's what Peter is saying.
Now in verse 7 he goes on and
says, But the heavens and the earth which
are now by the same word are kept
in store, reserved unto fire against the day
of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
But beloved, be not ignorant of this one
thing, that one day is with the Lord
as a thousand years, and a thousand years
is one day.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise,
as some men count slackness, but is long
suffering to usward, not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night, in the
which the heavens shall pass away with a
great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, the earth also and the works
that are therein shall be burned up.
Seeing then that all these things shall be
dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to
be in all holy conversation and godliness?
Looking for and hasting unto the coming of
the day of God, wherein the heavens being
on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat.
Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for
a new heavens and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousness.
Verse 14, Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look
for such things, be diligent that you might
be found of him in peace, without spot
and blameless.
Scoffers are going to be around, scoffers are
going to be saying, where is the promise
of his coming?
All things are going on just the way
they always have.
I see in my spirit, an approaching era
of incredible, time of incredible dangerousness.
I feel in my heart, that we are
very, very close to the return of the
Lord.
I can't give you a time, I can't
give you a year, as a matter of
fact, nobody can.
And if you see any more books in
the bookstore, talking about when Jesus is going
to come, don't waste your $5.95 buying
it.
Turn to the Bible, and read the words
of Jesus, where he says, No man knows
the day nor the hour.
And just settle it in your heart once
and for all.
But we do know the season.
We do know that there are going to
be certain signs, that precede the coming of
the Lord.
There are so many people that are around
today, and they're discussing numbers, as we see
the year 2000 approaching.
That's the dangerousness I sense in my spirit.
There's going to be all kinds of people
predicting, the year of Jubilee, 1998 for Israel,
the year of freedom, the year when everything
happens, the year 2000, and you're going to
be hearing it over and over, in the
next five years.
But I want to warn you, should the
Lord tarry beyond the year 2000, I see
a dangerous slumber beyond that year.
A time when everybody was built into almost
like a picture, a crescendo, the Lord's coming,
the Lord's coming, and then we enter into
the year 2000 and beyond.
If that should happen, then all of a
sudden a slumber sets upon the church, and
everybody says, Oh well, I guess it's another
thousand years, at least before the Lord's coming.
We've mistaken somehow.
Be careful, be careful.
The scripture says, In an hour that you
think not, remember that God's calendar does not
necessarily coincide with our calendar here on this
earth.
There is a difference with God's timetable.
So beware of men's calculations.
Know this though, that we are in the
season of the Lord's return.
We are seeing the signs, the gospel is
going forth with great power throughout all of
the earth.
We're seeing kingdoms come crashing down that have
dedicated themselves to the crushing and extinguishing of
the word of God.
And we see a move of God like
this, unprecedented in the history of the world.
We also see a dangerous, dangerous slumber coming
upon much of the western nations.
But I'm believing God with all of my
heart for an outpouring of His Spirit on
America before the Lord returns.
Can you hear the people?
Can you hear Noah warning the people of
the peril of trusting in riches more than
trusting in God?
I can hear Him in my spirit standing
beside that ark as it's in construction, as
the frame is built, and as the walls
are going up, and as the ark is
getting to a place of nearing completion, as
the people are walking by day after day
and Noah is warning them, don't trust in
riches.
Don't trust in these uncertain things.
Seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness.
All these things will be added unto you.
Don't worry about what you're going to wear
or where you're going to live or what
you're going to put on.
Don't the heathen seek after all these things.
Don't be concerned about these things.
Your heavenly Father knows what you need even
before you ask Him.
But seek first the kingdom of God and
His righteousness.
I can hear Noah pleading with the people.
And can you see other voices trying to
lure God's people away from wholehearted consecration?
It is possible.
It's entirely possible that there were people standing
there swaying under conviction, perhaps considering the message
that this man was bringing forth by his
words and actions to that generation.
But there are other voices that are saying,
forget this old fool and his ark.
God wants you buying and selling in this
city.
As a matter of fact, the Scripture speaks
of those voices that we're hearing so clearly
in this generation.
Turn to the book of 1 Timothy please,
chapter 6.
1 Timothy chapter 6.
Voices even, sad to say, in the house
of God turning so many people away from
wholehearted consecration to Jesus.
Turning them away from the ark of safety
and sending them into a city to buy
and sell and get gain.
1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 3.
The Apostle Paul says, If any man teach
otherwise and consent not to wholesome words, even
the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and
to the doctrine which is according to godliness,
he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about
questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy,
strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men
of corrupt minds, destitute of the truth, supposing
that gain is godliness.
The NIV version says, Supposing that godliness is
a mean to financial gain, from such withdraw
thyself.
Do you read those words?
Do you see that there?
I don't think it could be put any
more clearly in the word of God.
Withdraw yourself from people that teach you that
godliness is a mean to get financial gain.
God will prosper His people if we walk
wholeheartedly with Him.
You'll always have a roof over your head.
You'll have food in your belly.
You'll have clothes to put on your back.
And beyond that, you can just thank God
for the opportunity to give for the furtherance
of His kingdom.
But we're to seek first the kingdom of
God.
Verse 7 says, We brought nothing into this
world, and it's certain we can carry nothing
out.
And having food and raiment or clothing, let
us be there with content.
But they that will be rich fall into
temptation and a snare, and into many foolish
and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction
and perdition.
For the love of money is the root
of all evil, which while some coveted after,
they have erred from the faith.
Not from heathendom.
They have erred from the faith and pierced
themselves through with many sorrows.
But I can hear Noah even speaking these
very words, But thou, O men of God,
flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness,
faith, love, patience, meekness.
Fight the good fight of faith and lay
hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also
called and has professed a good profession before
many witnesses.
There are voices in the church that are
encouraging people to go and buy and sell
and get gain.
But there's another voice, and I believe it's
of the Holy Spirit, it's the only voice
that's of the Son of God, encouraging people
and urging and warning to get out of
these things and get in a place of
safety.
Get into that ark, get into that house
that God is preparing for Himself.
Learn what it is to become part of
the church of the living God.
The prophet Isaiah, let me just read it
to you.
Isaiah chapter 2, he speaks about what's going
to happen to those that spend their time
seeking financial gain.
Isaiah 2, he says, In verse 12 he
says, The day of the Lord of hosts
shall be upon everyone that is proud and
lofty, and upon everyone that is lifted up,
and he shall be brought low.
And upon all the cedars of Lebanon that
are high and lifted up, and upon all
the oaks of Bashan, and upon all the
high mountains, and upon all the hills that
are lifted up, and upon every high tower,
and upon every fenced wall, and upon all
the ships of Tarshish, and upon all the
pleasant pictures.
And the loftiness of man shall be bowed
down, the haughtiness of man shall be made
low, and the Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day, and the idols he shall
utterly abolish.
And they shall go into the holes of
the rocks and into the caves of the
earth for fear of the Lord and for
the glory of His majesty when He arises
to shake terribly the earth.
Now Isaiah is speaking not of his day,
he's speaking of our day.
In that day a man shall cast his
idols of silver and his idols of gold,
which they made each one for himself to
worship, to the moles and to the bats,
to go into the clefts of the rocks
and into the tops of the ragged rocks
for fear of the Lord and for the
glory of His majesty when He arises to
shake terribly the earth.
The Lord is going to arise in a
day soon and is shaking terribly the earth.
I warn you with all of my heart,
brothers and sisters in Christ, precious and beloved,
in the sight of God, don't do like
Esau, who was a young man who was
to inherit a blessing, but sold off his
blessing for a bowl of porridge.
He sold it off for the satisfying of
his flesh.
And yet he sought a place of repentance
greatly, the Scripture says, with tears later on,
but couldn't find it.
Don't sell off your birthright.
Don't sell it off for the satisfying of
your flesh.
You have something much more valuable in the
ark that God has prepared for you and
I through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
So we see the mockers and the scoffers.
We see the warning of Noah.
We can hear other voices trying to lure
the people away from this man.
But I think the most tragic of all
and because Jesus drew an analogy between our
day and the days of Noah, I think
it's reasonable to assume that there are possibly
some people who stopped and considered what He
had to say.
They rejected it ultimately by not taking it
to heart.
But it's certainly possible there were people who
stopped as He was building and as He
was preaching and they listened to Him.
And some of them maybe said, yes, He's
right.
He's right.
I sense in my heart that what He's
saying is the truth.
It's going to rain.
There's going to be a judgment, some kind
of calamities.
I'm feeling it inside.
All of society right now is feeling something
inside.
People can't put their finger on what it
is.
Do you know that?
But everybody is feeling something inside.
You secular writers now as you begin to
read secular publications and newspapers, there is an
ominous foreboding in the hearts of men all
around the world now.
That things are out of order.
Things are changing.
Some kind of a cataclysmic thing is about
to happen in the world.
And yes, they're right.
They don't know what it is.
They're sensing it.
It's the revelation of Jesus Christ.
It's the return of Christ for His church.
It's the horrible judgment spoken about in Matthew
24 when the wickedness of man is loosed
upon the whole earth to finally bring Himself
to His own tragic destiny.
And there are people that were standing there
saying, yes, He's right.
But I'll just wait till the rain starts
and then I'll get on board.
Yeah, the thing looks...
It looks good.
It's in a high place.
And there are so many.
You see, they saw the ark daily.
They passed by into the city and they
saw it and they knew where it was.
And they knew that refuge could be found
there.
But they said, we'll wait until the things
prophesied about begin to happen and then we'll
get right with God.
There are so many people like that in
the society right now.
Brothers and sisters, all you have to do
is go out the door and begin to
talk to people on the streets.
There are so many backslidden Christians out on
these streets.
It's incredible in this city.
They walk by Times Square Church.
They walk by Brooklyn Tabernacle.
They walk by other churches preaching the gospel
all throughout this city.
This is the end of side one.
You may now turn the tape over to
side two.
The churches are generally visible in their neighborhood.
They know what the message is all about.
But in their heart, they're saying, well, I'll
just go into the city, buy and sell
and get gain.
I'll play my games.
I'll do the things that are in my
heart to do.
And when the rain starts, I'm going to
run back to the house of God.
I'm going to get on my knees just
like in old times.
I'm going to cry hot tears of repentance.
I'm going to get saved at the last
minute.
And I'm going to go up into heaven
to be with Christ for eternity.
Sad to say, that's the thinking in the
hearts of much of this generation.
So many who know the truth and have
made a choice to just carry on their
way and are living in a delusion.
They're hearing the message, but they're not doing
anything about it.
And it's so sad.
They knew that many of the things that
they were doing were wrong.
But a false sense of security, and I
believe that was the visible presence of the
ark, made them feel that they could get
right at the last moment.
There are so many people, there are even
some here tonight, that if you were going
to be honest with God, that thought is
in your heart.
At the last moment, I know that what
I'm doing is wrong.
I know I shouldn't be in that relationship.
I know I shouldn't be reading those magazines.
I know I shouldn't be watching that sort
of film or whatever it is that you're
watching.
I know I shouldn't be cheating on my
income tax.
I know I should be dealing honestly in
my place of employment instead of under the
table.
I know that these things are wrong.
But as soon as the first nuclear bomb
falls on America, I'm going to get it
all right.
Oh boy, I'm going to just clear the
slate.
I'll even write the IRS or whatever you
call it here, and I'll make it all
right.
And I'll clear the slate and I'll just
do it right.
I'll get down to Times Square Church and
I'll fall on my knees and I'm going
to get my life right with God.
It is quite possible, conceivable, that that was
the thinking of people in Noah's day.
The ones who stopped.
You see, that's what this message is all
about.
The people who believed Noah but never got
on the ark.
They stopped and they considered what he had
to say.
Now in Matthew chapter 24, if you'll turn
there please.
Matthew chapter 24.
There are signs around us today that we're
living at a time of God's judgment.
We're living at a time when the ark,
the ark is a type and shadow of
the church.
The ark was lifted off the face of
the earth and the church is going to
be lifted off the face of the earth.
And as we go through these passages of
Scripture now, you're going to see some remarkable
similarities between the day of Noah and the
day that we're living in.
And if it doesn't put the fear of
God in your heart, if you're not living
right with God tonight, then I don't think
anything I can ever speak to you from
this pulpit will ever do that.
Matthew chapter 24, verse 6.
Jesus said, You shall hear of wars and
rumors of wars.
See that you be not troubled.
For all these things must come to pass,
but the end is not yet.
For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom
against kingdom.
There shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes
in diverse places.
All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom.
Men's hearts, the Scripture says elsewhere, failing them
for fear of the things that are beginning
to come to pass upon the world.
Suddenness.
Suddenness is what the Scripture speaks about.
Now, Genesis.
Go back again to Genesis chapter 7.
Genesis chapter 7, verse 11.
In the 600th year of Noah's life, in
the second month, the 17th day of the
month, the same day where all the fountains
of the great deep broken up and the
windows of heaven were open.
Well, it's going to come in a similar
way.
The windows of heaven are going to open.
The clouds are going to part.
Christ is coming back for His church.
It's going to happen suddenly.
And the rain was upon the earth 40
days and 40 nights.
Verse 13 says, In the selfsame day entered
Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the
sons of Noah and Noah's wife and the
three wives of his sons with them into
the ark.
And verse 14 goes on to say, Every
beast and all of the things, the animals
that were gathered.
Verse 16, They went in, male and female
of all flesh, as the Lord had commanded
him.
And the Lord shut him in.
Who shut the door?
The Lord shut him in.
On what day?
The very first day that it began to
rain.
Now, keep that in mind.
The selfsame day, verse 13.
As soon as the rain started, God commanded
Noah and his sons and family to get
into the ark and then God shut the
door.
And verse 17 says, The flood was 40
days upon the earth and the waters increased
and bear up the ark and it was
lifted up above the earth.
Verse 18, The waters prevailed and were increased
greatly upon the earth and the ark went
up upon the face of the waters.
In the selfsame day, the Lord shut him
in.
The rain started.
I see in my spirit, I have no
evidence in scripture of this, so you'll just
have to bear with me, but I can
see in my spirit that people begin to
run out of the city now.
The rain has started.
Those that have heard the message for tentatively
as long as a hundred years, they've heard
this man preaching, they've seen him build.
You see, not only did he preach, but
there was something about his life.
He put what he believed into action and
prepared an ark.
That's what Pastor Greg talked about this afternoon.
They saw the rain start and I can
see somebody at a counter of commerce and
they're about to buy something for their children
and all of a sudden they begin to
feel something.
The rain.
And it's a rain like it's never ever
been seen before.
This was not just a rain, it was
a deluge.
It was an open heaven.
It was buckets and buckets of water coming
from everywhere.
An absolute deluge.
You can see people, all of a sudden
the horror begins to overtake them.
He was right.
Husband turns to wife and says, I told
you.
I told you he was right.
We should have listened to him.
Let's get down to the ark.
And you can see the people now beginning
to pour out from everywhere.
And they're running from the highways, they're running
out of the towns, they're running out of
the villages.
They're leaving their shops with all of the
things that were so precious.
Like Isaiah said, the gold and the silver
are going to the moles and bats now.
They're casting it off as they're running to
the ark.
That's what Isaiah said is going to happen
to this generation.
Do you know those things that you hold
to, folks, that are keeping your heart from
God, are just like anchors in the middle
of a sea.
They're not going to do you any good
in the coming days.
Cast them off now.
Loose the cords from these things from your
heart now.
And now is the hour to run to
the ark.
Not when it's too late.
And so they come running out of the
cities, they come running down the roads, they
come running to this high place.
And I can see as they got close
to it, they said, oh, thank God, the
ark is still there.
There's coming a day when people are going
to come running down the streets of New
York to every church they can find, any
place they ever knew that was preaching the
Gospel.
And they'll see the building and they'll say,
oh, thank God, the church is still there.
And they walked up to that ark and
they ran.
But something was wrong.
They couldn't find the door.
The same day that it began to rain,
the Lord of the Lord says, the Lord
shut them in.
You couldn't find the door.
It must have been an incredible thing.
It must have been heartbreaking for Noah.
He could hear outside of the ark that
family that used to stop by perhaps on
the way to the city with the little
curly haired blonde girl and the little boy
that was there.
And he could hear the voices of children
knocking and hammering.
And all he could say to them is,
I can't let you in.
I didn't close the door.
I don't even know how to open it.
I don't know where it is.
I didn't shut it.
God shut it.
I can't open it.
A fearful thing.
How long did it go on outside that
ark?
Maybe it was 15 or 20 days.
I don't know how long it took.
But it took a season for the water
to rise high enough to cover the mountains
and lift that ark off the face of
the earth.
And all around that ark would have been
masses of people seeking to get in.
Do you understand something in the Spirit tonight?
They would have been seeking to get in,
trying to find the door, but they couldn't
find the door because God had shut the
door.
And when God shuts the door, it says
in the book of Revelation, no man can
open it from the inside or the outside.
No man can open the door that God
shuts.
All of the weeping and all of the
crying, all of the repenting, all of the
making things right that were going on outside
that ark, but to no avail, for the
door was shut.
The door was shut.
Listen, go back now to Matthew chapter 24.
I want to show you an incredible truth.
Matthew chapter 24, beginning at verse 42.
Watch therefore, for you know not what hour
your Lord doth come.
But know this, that if the good man
of the house had known in what watch
the thief would come, he would have watched
and would not have suffered his house to
be broken up.
Therefore be ye also ready, for in such
an hour as you think not, the Son
of Man cometh.
Who then is a faithful and wise servant
whom his Lord shall have made ruler over
all his household to give them meat in
due season?
Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when
he cometh, shall find so doing.
Verily I say unto you, that he shall
make him ruler over all his goods.
But and if that evil servant shall say
in his heart, My Lord delays his coming
and shall begin to smite his fellow servants.
In other words, smite is even with the
tongue.
In other words, begin to hurt or harm
those who are his fellow servants and to
eat and drink with the drunken.
The Lord of that servant shall come in
a day when he looks not for him
and in an hour that he is not
aware of and shall cut him asunder and
appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.
And there shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth.
Now in verse 36, remember in that chapter
Jesus is saying, verse 37, but as the
days of Noah were.
So he's still talking about the days of
Noah.
Now verse 1, chapter 25, he's still talking
about these days.
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened
unto ten virgins which took their lamps and
went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were wise and five were
foolish.
They that were foolish took their lamps and
took no oil with them.
But the wise took oil in their vessels
with their lamps.
And while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered
and slept.
And at midnight there was a cry made,
Behold, the bridegroom cometh.
Go ye out to meet him.
Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their
lamps.
And the foolish said unto the wise, Give
us of your oil, for our lamps are
gone out.
But the wise answered, saying, Not so, lest
there be not enough for us and for
you.
But go ye rather to them that sell
and buy it for yourselves.
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom
came.
And they that were ready went in with
him to the marriage.
And the door was shut.
The door was shut.
Afterwards came also the other virgins, saying, Lord,
Lord, just like in the days of Noah,
open to us.
But he answered and said, Verily I say
unto you, I know you not.
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day
nor the hour where the Son of Man
cometh.
An incredible truth.
Jesus is likening the second return.
When he returns again for his church, he's
likening it exactly to the days of Noah.
Just like we read in the book of
Genesis, chapter 7.
People coming out of all these places, having
heard the truth, but having rejected in their
hearts, and coming to that ark, and not
able to get in because the door is
shut.
There's a season and a day when people
are going to come and try to get
their lives right with God.
And they're not able to get in.
Jesus said, It's just like ten virgins which
took their lamps and went forth.
And five were wise and five were foolish.
The foolish came to the wise.
And the foolish said to the wise, Give
us of your oil, for our lamps are
gone out.
And the wise said, We can't give it
to you.
It's not a quick fix.
I see all of the quick fix Christians
now, panicking in the coming days ahead.
Panicking.
Christians that are not used to the pathway
that you have to walk to get oil
from God.
They're used to the quick fix.
They run from convention to convention, and meeting
to meeting, and tape to tape, to have
somebody somewhere lay hands on them, to have
some kind of a manifestation come upon their
body.
Quick fix.
Not wanting to walk God's prescribed route.
Not wanting to take the pathway of Jesus.
An instant society.
We have instant on television, instant radio, instant
coffee.
They want instant sanctification, instant holiness, instant everything
without walking the path.
But I tell you the dangerousness of that.
That's like building your life on sand.
And all of a sudden, I don't know
what happens, but there appears to be an
indication in Matthew 25 that there's going to
be something happen which causes the wise to
just shine forth.
There's something.
There's a glory.
A bursting of glory perhaps on the church
in the last moments of time.
I really don't know what it is.
But whatever it is, it causes the foolish
to come to the understanding that they have
no oil within their vessels.
That they have not been standing on a
solid foundation.
It is possible the collapse almost overnight of
everything that we've known, our whole way of
life just literally falling into runes virtually overnight.
Then all of a sudden, all of the
laughing stops and all of the gaiety stops.
All of the running into the city, seeking
and buying and selling stops.
And all of a sudden, those who have
been prepared, those who have been walking with
God, those that have been going into that
arc of safety, those that have acknowledged Him
as a high tower.
As Pastor David said this morning, those who
have appropriated and began to understand and hold
to His promises in the bad times as
well as in the good times.
They got to know Him in a personal
way.
Their lives are not built on their circumstance,
but their lives are built upon the rock.
The prophet Isaiah said, a day of fire
is coming upon the whole earth, but in
the midst of that fire, there's going to
be a bride arise.
They're going to be not looking peripherally around
them at everything that's crumbling, but they're going
to be looking heavenward and says, this is
our God.
This is our Lord.
We have waited for Him.
A glory and a joy arising upon the
church of Jesus Christ that leaves those that
have been playing in the city, feeling bankrupt,
understanding that they don't have anything solid.
A deep inner terror comes upon those who
are not walking right with God.
They come running to those who are.
And you can see their whole mentality.
Give us of your oil.
Give us.
Everything has been just a quick fix.
Lay hands on me.
Zap me.
Do something.
Let there be some experience.
Whatever you have, give it to me.
The true bride has not been looking to
this world, but the untrue bride, the adulterous
bride has been looking to this world.
And that's why a calamity comes upon her.
She's not prepared for it.
She's not ready for it.
But the true bride says, we can't give
it to you.
It's not ours to give to you.
It comes through reading of His Word.
It comes through prayer.
It comes by learning to believe His promises
more than your circumstance.
It comes by walking with Him through trial
and through fire and through high waters, through
good times, through bad times.
It comes by learning about Him and learning
who He is.
It comes with a heartfelt proving of His
Word, allowing God's Holy Spirit to touch your
life, allowing His Word to become an x
-ray machine passing right through you, bringing the
rod of correction over if necessary, so that
the glory of Christ may be revealed in
your life.
That's how you get it.
That's why in this last hour, this foolish
didn't have time to get it.
You can't get this relationship in a place
of panic, in a place of absolute panic.
It comes through relationship.
That's how the oil comes.
Hallelujah.
Thank God we're not living...
Hopefully this church is not a church packed
with people who like quick fixes, but like
a nice, slow, steady, heartfelt walk with Almighty
God.
Hallelujah.
Oh Lord, it's got to be our cry
in this hour.
Produce Christ-likeness in me.
My covenant God shine through my life.
My covenant God lead me on the pathway
of surrender of everything that's displeasing to you,
oh God.
Form your nature in my life.
Form your heart in me.
Form your character in me, oh God.
Oh, listen to what the Lord says in
Proverbs chapter 1.
Turn there please.
Proverbs chapter 1.
Hallelujah.
I don't know the exact scenarios of these
last days, but I do know there's an
indication in Scripture that there are people who
are going to want to get right with
God and can't for some reason.
If that doesn't cause you and I to
turn our feet to the path of righteousness
today, then nothing will.
Then we'll be just like those in the
days of Noah.
Buying and selling and getting gain, nonchalant, hearing
and yet even agreeing, but not turning in
the ways of righteousness.
Listen to Proverbs chapter 1 verse 23.
He says, Turn you at my reproof.
Behold, I will pour out My Spirit unto
you, and I will make known My words
unto you.
Now this is the oil that God wants
to give us.
Because I have called and you refused, I
stretched out My hand.
Isn't that what God did through Noah?
And no man regarded.
But you have said it not on My
counsel, and would have none of My reproof.
I will also laugh at your calamity, and
I will mock when your fear comes.
When your fear comes as desolation, and your
destruction as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish
cometh upon you, I want you to think
about the days of Noah.
Then shall they call upon Me, but I
will not answer.
They shall seek Me early, but they shall
not find Me.
For that they hated knowledge, and did not
choose the fear of the Lord.
They would have none of My counsel.
They despised all My reproof.
Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of
their own way, and be filled with their
own devices.
For the turning away of the simple shall
slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall
destroy them.
But whoever hearken not unto Me shall dwell
safely, and shall be quiet from fear of
evil.
Hallelujah.
That's our promise tonight.
Whoever will listen, and not just listen, but
turn and get into that ark.
Turn and prepare an ark to the saving
of your house.
That's what we've been hearing all day.
Turn and believe God to take you through
the difficult trial that you're in today.
Turn and don't settle for anything less than
the manifested glory of Christ upon your life
and upon your home.
Even if it's hard, believe God.
He's able to take you through.
Turn, turn, turn when you hear the Word
of God.
Turn at My reproof.
Turn.
I can hear the cry of God through
Noah.
I can hear the cry of God through
preachers all throughout the world.
God's not willing that any should perish, but
that all should come through the knowledge of
Christ.
That all should repent and turn from their
sin.
I hear the cry of the Spirit.
Turn, turn to this generation.
Multiple millions going into New York City to
buy and sell and get gain, thinking they
can get right at the last moment.
But God knows something is coming at the
last moment that is not going to allow
them to get right.
Turn, turn, turn.
Turn is the voice of God saying to
this generation.
Hallelujah.
Our hearts go out to these precious brethren
in Oklahoma City where this bombing has taken
place.
It's a horrible, atrocious thing that people would
have to resort to that kind of evil.
But there was a suddenness.
People came to work that morning and others
dropped the children off.
It was just a day like any other
day.
And they went up to work, some to
the 7th, 8th, 9th floor, whatever floor they
were on and were greeting everybody and having
a morning coffee and sitting at the desk
and talking about the night before.
Some may have even been sitting there saying,
well, it was such a wonderful message I
heard in church last night.
I'm really considering.
And then suddenly, suddenly everything is falling.
Suddenly the floor is gone.
Suddenly.
Nobody expected it to happen.
It just happened.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, you need
to understand something.
There's no guarantee that New York City will
not be dissolved this night.
We're living in the brink of a world
that is in absolute chaos.
There are nuclear missiles in other parts of
the world and people in high levels don't
even know now who's in control of some
of them.
There are no guarantees of tomorrow in a
physical sense.
But there is a guarantee if you will
turn into that arc of safety that God
has prepared for you in Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is God's arc of safety for
this generation.
Come unto me, he said, all ye who
labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, learn of me,
I'm meek and lowly of heart.
You shall find rest for your souls.
For God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes
in him should not perish but have everlasting
life.
Jesus said, I am the way, the truth
and the life.
No man comes to the Father except through
me.
Turn.
Turn from wherever you are.
From whatever's holding you back from God.
Is it worth losing your soul?
Don't live the illusion.
Don't live the lie that I can be
hit by a truck and then just whisper,
Jesus save me on the pavement.
Some may be given that opportunity but the
majority will never get it.
Because you hear a testimony like that sometimes.
Don't walk away thinking, well that's going to
be me.
I'm going to continue on.
I'll sin and I'll live in the city
and I'll just forsake the things of God
and then when the first bomb hits then
I'll be running right back to the church
and getting right with God.
You think that's foolish but there are people
who live that way in this generation.
There are people who think that way.
Someday.
Talk to them on the street.
Someday I'll get right with God.
Yeah, I know what it is to be
saved.
Someday.
You hear that so much in New York
City.
Someday.
I'm not ready for that now.
Invite them, when you come back to church
when you get right with God.
No, someday.
Someday.
Well, someday is never going to come for
many, many people in this city and around
the world.
This is the day of salvation.
Now is the hour when the ark is
on the hill.
Hallelujah.
The good news is that the door is
wide open right now.
You can leave that place that you're in
if it's not a good place.
I'm not saying that you don't have to
have a job.
You need to work to provide for your
family.
But I'm talking about places that captivate the
heart and take your heart away from God.
You can turn away from those places now.
You can walk out of those places.
You can do that right here in this
service.
The ark is still in a very high
place.
Jesus said, If I be lifted up, I
will draw all men unto Me.
Hallelujah.
That's why God crucified His Son on a
hill called Calvary, in a high place that
everybody could see it.
Jesus Christ is not hidden from this generation.
The door is wide open for all who
want to come.
Anybody who wants to come can come into
that ark of safety.
Look at Psalm 46, please.
My last scripture.
There's safety in that ark.
Hallelujah.
There's provision.
God had told Noah to take two of
every kind of animal and plus a few
extras into the ark.
There's a roof over your head.
There's a dry bed in that ark.
Didn't God promise that?
There's bacon and eggs in the morning.
Hallelujah.
There's food.
There was provision there.
In that ark, just as there's provision in
Jesus Christ.
If you're inside that place of safety, you
don't have to worry about what's coming on
society.
We're not wishing for any hard times to
come on society, but we do believe that
as the scripture says, that it's going to
continually get worse and worse throughout the world.
Psalm 46, listen to what David says.
God is our refuge and strength.
A very present help in trouble.
God.
Can you say that tonight?
God is my refuge and my strength.
Is it true tonight?
Is it really true?
Have you really turned to that ark?
Or are you one of those that is
hearing tonight?
And you're agreeing in your heart.
That's the most tragic of it all.
I believe there were people who agreed, but
never got on the ark.
They said, yes, it's true.
But they walked away and carried on in
their lifestyle with some kind of a delusion
that someday I can get it right.
God is our refuge and strength.
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore, will not we fear.
Though the earth be removed.
Though the mountains be carried into the midst
of the sea.
Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled.
Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.
There is a river.
The streams whereof shall make glad the city
of God.
The holy place of the tabernacles of the
Most High.
God is in the midst of her.
And she shall not be moved.
God shall help her in that right early.
Listen to the condition of the world as
described by the psalmist.
The heathens, the heathen raged.
The kingdoms were moved.
He uttered his voice.
The earth melted.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
Come behold the works of the Lord.
What desolations he has made in the earth.
He makes wars to cease under the end
of the earth.
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear
in sunder.
And he burns the chariot in the fire.
Be still and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the heathen.
I will be exalted in the earth.
The testimony now of the children of God
in the last hour of time.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
Stand please.
This is the conclusion of the tape.