“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man… Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,”            Luke 17:26,28

My daughter asked me the other day, why do I think that the world has become so evil. My response was it has always been this evil. But she noted correctly, just a few years ago most people thought gay marriage was wrong. A recent Pew study stated that in 2004, Americans opposed same-sex marriage by a margin of 60% to 31%. Based on polling in 2019, a majority of Americans  61%  support same-sex marriage, while 31% oppose it. This has led to the majority, 69% in a recent poll, of respondents believe that transgenders should be allowed to undergo surgery so their body matches their identity.  I explained to my daughter this is nothing new.  Nero, a depraved first-century emperor of Rome, married at least two men. He wed Pythagoras in a formal same-sex wedding by putting on a bridal veil that made Nero the “bride” and Pythagoras the “groom.” Then later he married a man, whom he had castrated, that looked like one of his former wives. We could go on and on with examples from history to see that man’s depravity has always been with us since the fall in the Garden. So, what happened? Besides the restraining power of the Holy Spirit we can thank the Reformers for keeping evil at bay for so long. With the Five Sola’s they emphasized, Scripture alone (sola Scriptura), Faith alone (sola fide), Grace alone (sola gratia), Christ alone (solus Christus), and God’s glory alone (soli Deo gloria). For almost 500 years the influence of Christians helped keep evil in the dark. It was there and will always be there until Christ returns but the influence of the Church helped restrain its influence.

In the past 50 years we can see how the Christianity has lost its influence on our culture. Just in the past five years we have seen the acceptance of same sex marriages (made legal in 2015) and courts ruling that transgender people can use any bathroom they choose. There was a case just recently when a federal court ruled that the state of Idaho must provide sex change surgery for an inmate.

John MacArthur writes the following about Luke 17:26-30: “The days of Noah and the days of Lot were marked first of all by indifference. People were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage … they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, and they were building right up to the moment that judgment fell; until the day that Noah    entered the ark and the day that Lot went out from    Sodom. The days of Noah and Lot were also two of the most wretched, vile, evil periods in human history. Wickedness was rampant. In Noah’s day “the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and … every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). It was a time of widespread demonic activity, as demon-possessed men ravaged women (v. 2).

Sodom in Lot’s day was also marked by sexual perversion, so much so that the city’s name came to refer to homosexual sin. So vile were its inhabitants that they attempted to rape the two angels sent to rescue Lot and his family from Sodom’s imminent judgment (Gen. 19:4–11).”

 We can see that in our world today we are in the days just like that of Noah and Lot. I do not know when the Lord will return but I do know that He can return at any time. So, where does that leave us, the Christians in this evil world? The same as it did for those first century believers. We put our faith and hope in Jesus Christ alone. For we know that this is not our home. We are strangers here. We belong to the Kingdom of God. Live your lives as ambassadors to the King you serve. Share the hope of the Gospel, that same Gospel that saved you. Love those who are outside of the faith and remember the words of Paul, “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:3-7).

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark Wells