“AND THE LORD SHUT HIM IN”….THEN SOON CAME THE END!

Mark Owen

Genesis 7: 1, 4, 10, 16

“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 …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 it came to pass AFTER SEVEN DAYS, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth … And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: AND THE LORD SHUT HIM IN”.

SEVEN DAYS BEFORE the long promised, yet long-delayed WRATH OF GOD was poured out upon the earth, the Lord called Noah INTO THE ARK, along with the clean and unclean animals and birds and beasts which God had assembled.

GOD WAS INSIDE THE ARK, when calling Noah INTO IT! He did NOT say GO into the ark, but “COME”!

They WAITED there in the ark for ONE WEEK, no doubt to allow any other people from the “WORLD” to escape.

The door REMAINED OPEN for one final week. Whosoever would but HEED the call of Noah, could yet be SAVED, but by the time of the last week the people were UTTERLY OBLIVIOUS!

There were TOO MANY OTHER AMUSEMENTS, DISTRACTIONS and ENTERTAINMENTS going on for them, to THINK TOO DEEPLY about the eccentric family with its menagerie of animals, clambering ABOARD the pitch covered ARK!

AFTER SEVEN DAYS of settling and WAITING WITHIN THE ARK, THE DOOR WAS SHUT and the raindrops began to fall.

Jesus said of them that it was BUSINESS AS USUAL for them, “…until the day Noah entered into the Ark, they KNEW NOT UNTIL THE FLOOD CAME AND TOOK THEM ALL AWAY …” (Mat. 24:39).

After seven days, GOD HIMSELF CLOSED THE DOOR!

As long as the DOOR IS OPEN, there remains a CHANCE for men to be SAVED from the COMING WRATH … But there does come a time when GOD CLOSES THE DOOR!

When JUDGMENT came, it came QUICKLY, and WITHOUT WARNING!

THERE WAS NO TIME FOR NOAH TO GIVE THEM ONE FINAL WARNING, AS THE LORD SHUT HIM IN!

THERE IS A TIME FOR EVERYONE PREACHING THE WORD OF GOD … TO STOP WARNING … AND TO BOARD THE ARK, LIKE NOAH!

“BUT AS THE DAYS OF NOAH WERE, SO SHALL ALSO THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN BE. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And KNEW NOT until the flood came, and took them all away; SO SHALL ALSO THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN BE” (Mat. 24:37-39).

The SAME will be true in the last days! There will be NO DRAMATIC INDICATIONS that “THE DAY” or “THE HOUR” (of judgment) has come!

TWO MEN will be in the field, going about their NORMAL DAILY ROUTINE; one will be TAKEN, the other will be LEFT! TWO WOMEN will be grinding grain, just as they NORMALLY WOULD; one will be TAKEN, the other will be LEFT (Mat. 24:40-41).

The APPLICATION is now spelled out in verses 42-44.

Since NO ONE CAN KNOW the day or the hour that the LORD WILL COME, we must be CONSTANTLY in a state of ALERTNESS, READY AT ANY MOMENT!

Have you ever wondered WHY it is that the WISE VIRGINS REFUSE to assist the FOOLISH virgins by SHARING A LITTLE OIL from their own lamps?

It WASN’T that the five wise virgins DIDN’T CARE; it was because there would NOT BE ENOUGH OIL FOR ALL TEN LAMPS!

IF SPENDING TIME, TEACHING OTHERS, IS DRAINING YOUR OIL … IT’S TIME TO STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING … AND TAKE TIME TO FILL UP YOUR OWN OIL LEVELS AT THE MASTER’S FEET, … INSIDE THE ARK, … IN ORDER TO BE RAPTURE READY!

“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. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, OPEN to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I KNOW YOU NOT” (Mat. 25:10-12).

In our text, the FIVE FOOLISH VIRGINS are NOT given the time to REVERSE their folly, once the GROOM has come!

They had their OPPORTUNITY, and they LOST it. Now it is TOO LATE!

I believe that the five FOOLISH virgins had NO OIL, for the very same reasons people continue to RUN OUT OF GAS, even when the FLASHING MESSAGE on their INSTRUMENT PANEL tells them they are!

First, MEN DON’T BELIEVE THE WARNING SIGNS!

They DON’T think things are as BAD as they are reported to be!

“I must have MORE GAS than that!” Or, “I’ve gotten THIS SAME MESSAGE BEFORE, and I’ve ALWAYS been able to get to the gas station, BEFORE RUNNING OUT”!

Those who RUN OUT OF GAS (or refuse to buy oil), are the people who REFUSE TO HEED THE WARNINGS of God’s Word!

Those who DON’T PURCHASE FUEL are those who DON’T THINK THEY NEED IT, at least at the moment!

Those who RUN OUT OF FUEL, are those who WRONGLY SUPPOSE that they still have PLENTY OF TIME TO GET IT LATER!

WE KNOW when our gas gauge is LOW!

THEY..WE CAN SEE THE FLASHING LIGHTS on the dash, but we LULL OURSELVES into thinking that there is still PLENTY OF TIME TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM!

This FALSE CONFIDENCE has gotten many people into TROUBLE!

The COMING OF OUR LORD will be SUDDEN and UNEXPECTED, and when He comes, all chances of CHANGING our course, have been FORFEITED!

JESUS CONCLUDED ALL HIS MESSAGES to the 7 CHURCHES in the book of Revelation, by saying: “He that hath an ear, LET HIM HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT SAITH UNTO THE CHURCHES” .

GOD’S VOICE is heard only by those SHUT UP WITH HIM IN SECRET PRAYER!

God is VERY CAREFUL to whom He speaks. It is only to those who VALUE His voice so much, THEY SHUT OUT THE WHOLE WORLD TO GET ALONE AND WAIT FOR HIM:

• God’s voice came to MOSES, when he was shut up ALONE with HIM.
• The word came to JOHN THE BAPTIST, ALONE in the WILDERNESS.
• The voice of God came to JACOB, in the DESERT of Haran.
• God spoke to JOSHUA, when he went OUT of the camp, ALONE, before Jericho.
• The voice of God came to PAUL, ALONE in the DESERT.
• The voice of the Father came to JESUS, ALONE on the MOUNTAIN in PRAYER.

God says to us, “If you WANT TO HEAR My voice, SHUT yourself up in the SECRET CLOSET of PRAYER”!

BUSYNESS, LUSTS, COVETOUSNESS, and the CARES of life, CHOKE OUT THE VOICE OF GOD!

Jesus gave us a DREADFUL WARNING against becoming TOO BUSY, TO STOP AND HEAR HIS VOICE! In the PARABLE of the SOWER, the WORD is HIS VOICE:

“These are they which are sown among THORNS; such as HEAR THE WORD, and the CARES of this world, and the DECEITFULNESS of riches, and the LUSTS of other things entering in, CHOKE THE WORD, and it becometh UNFRUITFUL” (Mark 4:18-19).

I fear there are SOME READING THIS RIGHT NOW, who have been CHOKING the voice of God!

Choke here, means “TO CROWD” or to DROWN OUT His voice!

God ONCE spoke so CLEARLY to you! It was such a JOY to you. You still LOVE Him, but you have LESS and LESS TIME FOR HIM!

Your BUSYNESS now calls you – your RICHES, your CARES, your PROBLEMS, your FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK, and all the other things CONSUMING YOUR TIME!

The voice of God now GROWS DIM! He is CALLING you, WOOING you; WARNING you:

“KEEP THIS UP, AND YOU WILL TOTALLY CHOKE AND DROWN OUT MY VOICE IN YOU”!!!

It is NOT OF GOD and it is NOT HOLY GHOST DISCERNMENT – unless it was born in the SECRET CLOSET, out of a DEEP COMMUNION, a BROKEN SPIRIT, and MUCH TIME SPENT ALONE IN HIS PRESENCE!

I am convinced that ALL God’s people would be able to HEAR HIS STILL, SMALL VOICE, if they simply would lay down SIN and IDOLS and would get SHUT IN WITH HIM ALONE – and not leave until He speaks!

God is speaking a fresh word every day, TO ALL WHO WILL HEAR; but many CANNOT HEAR IT, because their HEARTS ARE GROWING HARD!

In Hebrews we read, “… TODAY, if ye will hear His voice, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS …” (Hebrews 3:7-8).

God’s voice is a “TODAY” voice!

“He that hath the BRIDE is the BRIDEGROOM: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and HEARETH HIM, REJOICETH GREATLY because of the BRIDEGROOM’S VOICE: this my JOY therefore is fulfilled” (John 3:29).

OUR GREATEST JOY SHOULD BE: “I HEARD HIS VOICE! I stood alone, waiting, and I heard Him speak to me!”

The Holy Spirit will STRIVE FOR A WHILE, then it CEASED, when GOD SHUT THE DOOR!

The ARK brought Noah from the OLD WORLD to the NEW – from the valley of SORROW to the mountain of REST!

You must ENTER IN, for TODAY the door is OPEN! Soon God shall SHUT THE DOOR!

DON’T WAIT FOR THE TRUMPET TO SOUND!

On that day, it will be TOO LATE for the ones who NEGLECTED TO TAKE TIME TO HEAR WHAT GOD HAS TO SAY, and it will also be TOO LATE for the ones who WERE PREPARED THEMSELVES, to prepare ANYONE ELSE!

“WATCH YE THEREFORE, AND PRAY ALWAYS, that ye may be accounted WORTHY TO ESCAPE ALL these things that shall come to pass, and to STAND before the Son of man” (Luke 21:36).

Written by a whole lot of inspiration and insight, from the Holy Ghost!

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