But not only was there apostasy and anarchy in the time of Noah, but there was apathy. Jesus there, in the scripture that we referred to in Matthew chapter 24, verse 38, said that just before the flood—I mean, to the very day that the flood came—they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, and knew not until the flood came. (Matthew 24:38)

—2 Peter chapter 3—and begin reading in verse 3. Peter’s talking about the end days, and he says, “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts …”—and every time you find a person that scoffs at God’s Word, you’re going to find a person who’s walking after his own lusts. You find a man who mocks God’s Word; I’ll show you a man with the devil’s initials carved on his heart.

—2 Peter chapter 3—and begin reading in verse 3. Peter’s talking about the end days, and he says, “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts …”—and every time you find a person that scoffs at God’s Word, you’re going to find a person who’s walking after his own lusts. You find a man who mocks God’s Word; I’ll show you a man with the devil’s initials carved on his heart.

And Jesus was human, and the wood of this ship speaks of the humanity of Jesus. Isaiah says He’ll be like a shoot out of a dry ground. (Isaiah 53:2) A tree represents a righteous man. And God said, concerning a righteous man, “He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.” (Psalms 1:3) And Jesus, God’s righteous tree, was cut down in His youth.

11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life

Now that would be ridiculous, but that’s the kind of faith some people have. They think that they are kept by their holding on to God. It’s not so. I can see Noah holding that slimy peg, saying in the midst of that storm to his wife, “Sweetheart, pray for me I’ll hold out faithful to the end.” Well, I will promise you he never would have made it.

God put him in the ark. God shut the door. God shut the storm out. God shut Noah in with Himself

Did you know why Methuselah lived to be 969 years old? Because God said, “When Methuselah dies, the flood will come.” I can show you from the Word of God that the flood came exactly the day that Methuselah died. And the reason that Methuselah died old was not that he had good genes, but that God had great mercy. God kept letting him live—God kept letting him live—because God did not want anybody to die and perish in that flood. So God kept giving one more opportunity and one more chance.

What’s all of this saying? Listen, folks. Listen to me. God wants you saved today. And God says, “Don’t yawn in the face of God and say, ‘Well, it’s been two thousand years; the judgment is not coming.’ ” As sure as I’m standing here, the judgment is coming. The earth is going to melt with fever heat, and you’d better be in the ark of safety, whose name is the Lord Jesus Christ. And you’d better know the grace of Almighty God—God’s amazing, wonderful grace.

I can imagine a little boy back in Noah’s time coming home to his dad and saying, “Daddy, listen. You know where I’ve been? I’ve been over there to Mr. Noah’s place, and Daddy, Mr. Noah is building a boat. You won’t believe how big that thing is. And, Dad, Mr. Noah has been preaching. Every now and then, he’ll put the hammer down, and he’ll turn around and preach to those people who are watching. And Mr. Noah says that he has it from God that God is sick and tired of the way that people are living, and God’s going to judge this world, and God’s going to send a flood. And, Daddy, Mr. Noah says that everybody’s got to get on board that ship, because if they don’t get on board that ship, they are going to drown.”

“Ha, ha,” this father, he begins to laugh, “ha, ha, ha.” And the little boy has a tear in the corner of his eye, and the daddy sees it. “Oh,” he says, “I’m sorry, Son. I wasn’t laughing at you, Son. If I was laughing at anything, I was laughing at myself. You see, Son, let me tell you something. Noah has been building that boat for a long time. When I was a little boy, I went out to see Noah building that boat. Son, he told me the same story. It scared the wits out of me. He told me that same old story about a flood, when I was your age, Son. That’s why I was laughing. I was really laughing at me. And, Son, here’s the funny part. I went home and I told my daddy, just like you told me. You know what my dad said? My dad said, when he was a little boy—ha, ha—he went out there, and that crazy old man told him the same story. When your granddaddy was a little boy! Son, don’t let that old religious fanatic scare you. Go in the house, Son, and eat your supper.

“As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be.” (Matthew 24:37) “There shall come in the last days scoffers … saying, Where is the promise of his coming?” (2 Peter 3:3–4) You say, “Well, I don’t want to give my heart to Jesus; I want to save my life. You’re the one that’s going to lose it. I believe, when Noah put that last nail in the ark, it was probably the last thing he ever had. He went into the ark a pauper, but when he came out of the ark, he owned the whole world. “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)