DEAF & DOOMED? |
The World, the Word & You!
Broadcast
Commentary by Dennis L. Finnan
“I LIVE IN A MOST UNIQUE AREA OF THE USA. IT
IS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS REGION WHERE THE COLORADO NATIONAL MONUMENT IS FOUND.
WHAT IS SO UNIQUE ABOUT IT? WELL, IT IS ITS TESTIMONY WRITTEN IN STONE.”
I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about the story these massive rocks, canyons, and plateaus tell…
… Many years ago and deeply etched in the heart of humanity, a
terrible catastrophe struck our planet.
All around us in the geological strata we see the scarred remains of
this terrible event. Now, some
scientists who call themselves evolutionists, believe these physical scars we
see burrowed into our planet, are but events that took place over a period of
millions of years. However, if one objectively searches historical records and
examines earth's past, they will easily see that these marks in the earth's
geology could only have occurred through a terrible time of universal
destruction of the entire surface of the earth. Amazingly, such an event is actually recorded in man's written
& oral history, as well as the reliable Word of God. Now, whatever may be your attitude toward
the Bible, it is evident, even from a geological standpoint, that a massive
worldwide, global deluge occurred on our planet in the distant past. Why, even in the oral traditions and written
histories of the many peoples of the world, we find more than 100 separate and
distinct stories of a catastrophic worldwide flood that inundated our world.
More amazing is the fact that these stories are surprisingly similar. They
extend from China, India Indonesia, Ceylon, Burma, Australia, Polynesia, to the
North American Eskimos and Indians, and way down in South-America, in Peru,
Chile and even farther south than that!
Yes, it’s a fact, some terrible doom fell on the human race many
years ago, and today after our second musical pause I want to tell you that not
only is there a written record of what happened, but a record of why it happen
too! In a moment, we'll talk about a world that Was DEAF & DOOMED!
…In the Bible, God's record Book of His revelation to man, there
is an account of a universal rebellion of all mankind to God's demand for His
Creation, to live according to His Word and ways. In Genesis chapters 1-6,
which most likely covers a period of almost 2000 years, we are told of the Fall
of Man and the Universal Judgment God sent, called the NOAHIC FLOOD. Now the
story is told in a remarkable economy of words, but it lacks no evidence
necessary to understand what happened.
Beginning in chapter four of Genesis, we are told that all humanity
which sprung from the special direct creation of two distinct people, a man
named Adam and a woman named Eve, two ancestral lines began to form. First
described is the line of Cain, Adam and Eve's first-born son. This line of
humanity, God describes by revelation to Moses, was the line that opted to live
without God, to establish life and living on the basis of their own reason and
will. Simply put, God calls these peoples "the ungodly". Kind of like the soft drink, Seven-up, which
was advertised years ago as the "Uncola". It simply means there
wasn't a drop of cola in it. So the ungodly, there isn't a drop of obedience
and desire to recognize God, or obey His divine law in them.
Well, along with the ungodly line of Cain and his descendants, God
also distinctly described the second stream of humanity, the line that came
forth from Adam and Eve's third son, a man named Seth. This line is described
as the "godly line;" That is, it consisted of those who desired to
recognize and know the Creator God, and to find His will and obey it to the
best of their ability.
In the listing of actual historical people who came forth from
these two streams of humanity, God pauses with the seventh from Adam, in both
lines. The ungodly line zeros in on a
man named LAMECH, and the godly line emphasizes a man named ENOCH. Lamech we are told was a godless, violent,
self-willed man, who lives in total rebellion to God's ethics for life. He rejected God, His Word and revelation,
and established his own reason and will to live by. The Bible tells us that
because of these men, and a whole civilization growing in their ways, the world
was fast ripening for a judgment. Well
in the Genesis story, this ungodliness climaxed in the days of another man
named Noah.
In Genesis 4: 16-17, the godless line of Cain is found
establishing the first false religion.
Cain the restless, rebellious man, brought forth children who grew
generation by generation, worse that he. What characterized these ungodly
peoples who in time brought judgment from God on their world?
First of all, they were…
(1) INDIFFERENT to God, particularly His PERSON. They had no place in their lives to
revere and be thankful to the Creator who made them. The Bible shows that Cain
became the first APOSTATE. His children exemplify a truth often seen in life
today, which says, "What we excuse in moderation, our children excuse
in excess", such came true in Cain's children. They were not content with just
“indifference to God's Person,” they digressed further, and become rebellious
and were..
(2) INDIFFERENT TO God's promised PARADISE. Since man was ejected from God's perfect environment described
in the Genesis Chapters One and Two, Cain's line decided to make their own
paradise here on earth. The ungodly
line of Cain wanted the good things here and now, not in some promise of heaven
to come. If they could not have the Garden of Paradise anymore, they would make
their own. So the ungodly line of Cain
went about seeking and establishing every luxury, every amenity their
imaginative minds could achieve. So too
today, those who are a part of the godless line of humanity, still manifest
this attitude in their lives. They are
indifferent to God's Person. In their hearts they say, “Who cares if God
created me, I will not allow this God, or His Word to rule my life. I don't
want God's garden paradise, I'll make my own here and now.” Thus the unsaved human being thinks
in his heart, the prime function of his life will be to glorify and please
himself. Of course, the same religion
Cain established to honor that still flourishes today. It has many names, but
it can be best described as the religion of Humanism, which simply put, means
“a belief that all things exist for the pleasure of man alone.”
Well in Noah's day, Cain's line of humanity went even further than
just indifference toward God's Person and His promise of Paradise to come
again. The world at large in Noah's day moved, to…
(3) a universal INDEPENDENCE of God. Yes, life was now to be lived without any regard to God's laws
and commands. In Noah's day this quickly moved them to an age of moral
disaster. A great apostasy swept humanity, and there actually came a time when
only one man and his family which were left on the earth, who still desired to
make God the center of their lives. This head of this family was a man named
Noah.
Gen 6:9-10 (NNAS) “These are the records of the generations of
Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God. 10
Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”
How sad that all the world rejected its Creator and crowned itself
as King. In so doing, they threw off God's mantle of protection and goodness,
and exposed themselves to the inner corruption of their fallen depraved
hearts. You see my friend; none of us
really knows the depravity of our hearts, for we are born without God’s
righteousness.
Jer 17:9 (NNAS)
“”The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can
understand it?”
Some theologians foolishly teach that within us is the "spark
of God", that some innate goodness is lying dormant in the human race,
only to be brought to the surface. But God tells differently. He says we as a
race of beings, fallen from the purity and goodness of God’s original Creation.
Moreover, the story of the Flood and life's history constantly tells us this is
true. In fact, Mankind left to itself
will always degenerate, and soon outwardly show forth the depravity of a
hearts, devoid of God. We read in,
Gen 6:5 (NNAS)
“Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that
every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
This is God's evaluation of the depth to which humanity sunk in
the days of Noah, when universally, society rejected God as the basis of life
and living. As a result, the time came
when God's holiness and justice demanded man's account. In Noah's day, mankind had reached the point
where the law of God had to act to bring rebellious man to justice. Yes the human race had chosen to live
totally outside God's written laws. It became the norm of all society. In time
this downward trek saw humanity openly and brazenly spurn God's directives for
the right and privilege to continue living in God’s Creation and universe. And the Bible says, the time came for God to
dispense His holy justice.
However, unlike our law courts today, God's justice system had
another factor included. It is called “grace.”
God, not wanting any of His creation to perish, looked down on the world
now in moral chaos, and chose out one man, named Noah. From an early age God
revealed Himself to him, and Noah yielded Himself to the one true God and
submitted himself to His rules for life and living. As Noah grew to adulthood,
God called him to bring His message of forgiveness and acquittal to his world.
God said to Noah, I'm going to give humanity another hundred years to repent,
to turn from their rebellion to my Lordship of lives. So Noah, we are told in the NEW TESTAMENT, became a "preacher of
righteousness"(2 Peter 2:5)
2 Pet 2:5 (NNAS)
“[God] did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of
righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the
ungodly;”
Yes friends, Noah was sent to warn the world that God's
longsuffering bearing of man's rebellion to Him would assuredly come to an
end. What a job!
Poor Noah was commissioned to go to his world that was in sinful
rebellion now and fully operating without God.
The fallen human race knew it all and needed nothing of God. In own
wisdom they established schools where God was not allowed, or even to even be
mentioned. God became “politically incorrect.” Mankind further established laws
to honor homosexuals, lesbians, perverts and the vilest forms of immorality,
and were considered alternate lifestyles to be protected under law. Further, they saw nothing wrong with obscene
literature and filthy communications were filling the book shelves of Noah's
day. Movie houses competed to show the
most degraded and disgusting pornography, violence and depravity. High government offices were now openly
approving sexual perverts, and blasphemous men and women as world leaders. Yes the world of Noah’s day rejoiced to see
how society would be with man as his own God.
It was no wonder that God finally said, “ENOUGH!” So the Bible says God sent forth His wrath
upon all of them and destroyed the entire world that inhabited the surface of
the earth.
Ah, but God in mercy told Noah to warn the world to repent, to
turn back to God, to the flee their wicked ways, to cast off the false gods,
and turn to the One and only true God revealed in the revelation of
Himself. Sad to say the Bible shows
that the world of Noah’s day was DEAF to Noah's preaching. In fact not one soul
outside his own immediate family believed the Word of God and repented.
Yes, salvation's plan was extended to all the world for a century
of preaching. To reinforce Noah’s words, God gave Noah’s life and the building
of the huge ARK. Noah was told to build
an ark for the saving of His house. This was a boat large enough to take on it
a representative sample of all life that walked the surface of the earth. So,
when God's judgment came life could again populate the earth. Now, the people of Noah's day laughed when
on the worship day, Noah didn't work. When Noah and his family separated from
the godless ones and chose to fellowship with those who still alive and of like
faith. The world scoffed at the
preaching of judgment coming, of need for the holiness of God and the
sovereignty of God in one’s life. It is
recorded what they said in their hearts…
2 Pet 3:4-6 (NNAS)
“Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep,
all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” 5 For when they
maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens
existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, 6 through
which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.”
You're mad Noah, get away from us. Our world will soon be rid of you religious fanatics, always
going around creating guilt complexes in us!" Yes, the world was DEAF, but
that did not cancel the DOOM that was to come. Jesus said later in describing
His judgment on His Creation,
Mat 24:37-39
(NNAS) “”For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of
Noah. 38 “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39
and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so
will the coming of the Son of Man be.”
Yes, the world of Noah’s day was DEAF & DOOMED, which
describes man's foolish rejection of hearing God's preaching to the world of
its day. Yet, friends, the very same thing is occurring again right now. Our
world, in its own rebellious conceit, has moved to reject God from every area
of life. Christianity in America in its
fundamental historic form is now considered an annoying remnant of the past,
which needs to be jettisoned. If we
must have religion, it will be a humanistic one, which glorifies man or at the
least makes God a subject slave of the will of man. Yes, today much religion is called Christianity, and in our
communities there are many houses of worship that pretend to pay homage to the
true God, but in reality worship a god made of human hands. However the God of the Bible is still
eternal, sovereign, omnipotent and He is not dead. Indeed, He may be silent
today, but that is because like in Noah’s day, He is only waiting for mankind
to repent, to turn from its vile wickedness and rebellion.
But let us move head to our time period. Again God's grace is here, and like Noah, the real Christians are
commissioned by God to preach to the sinning world for them to turn from
glorifying self on the throne of life, and rightly restore the God of Creation
now fully revealed to us in the Person and work of Jesus Christ. However the question is, “Will our world
listen?” Well, you judge! Our
evolutionary scientists, educators elite media dn world of entertainers cry out
“There is no Creator God! We have evolved and are evolving higher and
higher!” To propagate this lie,
we produce movies and films of man conquering outer space. Star Trek, and Star
Wars are perhaps the best example of this desperate attempt to create the
illusion and fantasy that man is god!
Yet unlike Noah, the true Church today is mostly silent in opposition. True believers worship each Lord's day, but
rarely is their a voice in the secular fields crying out God's mercy and grace
and coming judgment. However, you my friend,
are without excuse. Today I have declared God's Word to you. The Bible says,
Acts 4:12 (NNAS)
“”And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under
heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.””
Acts 17:30-31
(NNAS) “”Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now
declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has
fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man
whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from
the dead.””
I wonder right now, which line of humanity are you in? Is it the
“ungodly line,” simply living life without God as the center of your being,
without Christ as the Lord of your life? Oh, you may go to some religious
meeting on Sundays or Saturdays, but honestly, for whom are you living? Is it
the triune God revealed in the Bible, or for the man-made god residing in your
heart? There was a time years ago, when I heard a message much like this, on
the radio. I was a religious man, a young man, a businessman, simply living out
life for myself. But on that day, I
heard of a God who loved me enough to die for my sins, I heard of a God who
wanted me to be His close friend, I heard of a God who created me and all
things around, I heard of a God who was powerful enough and proved it historically,
that a time was coming when only those who loved and served Him would
remain! Well, it was there and then, I
chose to respond to God's message of Grace and receive Jesus Christ into my
heart and life. I made the decision simply in my heart, with a definite act of
my will, that henceforth I would make Jesus Christ, the center of my life, my
home and family. And upon that
decision, the Bible promised me God granted His gift of life eternal and full
forever forgiveness of my sins. I could
now live for God's Paradise, one day coming, and like Noah, God has called me
as one of His preachers to tell people like you.
How will you respond, will you be DEAF like the world that in the
past was destroyed? Will DEAF & DOOM, be written over your tombstone? Or
will it be said that you heard the words of life, and transferred to the good
ship hope and faith in Jesus Christ! Today, dear friend, join me in the family
of God, in the family re-created in and through Jesus Christ. I tell you it's
the greatest thing life can bring, and even greater in what is promised in the
world to come. Today God's wrath is silent, and thus mankind still has time to
consider. Today dear one, you still have a choice - what's your decision?
…As I look around the beautiful mountains of the Rocky Mountains
and the Colorado National Monument. Everywhere I look I see the “scars” of that
judgment long ago. The rocks cry out displaying the massive uplifted mountains
and deep valleys, the rough cut canyons and ravines ¾ all show God one day in earth’s past, inundated this world with
destruction. That alone should call all
who see it to seek God afresh. Indeed, Scripture says the CREATION speaks and
for that reason we are without excuse (Rom 1:20). Indeed, it's a fact, God did
judge an entire world of humanity years ago, and it is also written in God's
Revelation, the Word of God so that each generation would know, God means
business! Today if our prophetic time
clocks are accurate, a time likened to Noah's day is coming where an entire
world will be plunged into a time of God's judgment. A Judgment, culminating in
devastating destruction of the world, as we know it. That time is described in
the Bible as the Tribulation Period. But as Noah was lifted above the judgment in
the Ark of safety, so the church too, will be born above the judgments to come,
in what the Bible calls the Rapture of the saints. Will you be aboard the good ship, the historic Christian faith? I
trust you will, for the only ticket for entrance, is faith in Jesus Christ
alone for salvation and life eternal.
· Radio talk #2501
· Broadcast date: June 24, 2001
· Speaker: Dennis L. Finnan, Commentator
· Program: The World, the Word & You! Radio Broadcast
· Address: P.O. Box 40133 Grand Junction, CO 81504
The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures. A copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request. These weekly radio commentaries are not exhaustive studies of any particular subject due to the time limit of broadcasting. Actual broadcasts can be heard in selected areas around the nation, as funding provides. Dennis Finnan has been the speaker for over 21 years, and serves as General Director.
These transcripts are available free of charge to all who desire them. Also available are actual radio cassette tapes and printed booklets of each message. A free listing of recent messages is available upon request also.
For further information, reprints, or a listing of all topics, please write to our speaker, Dennis L. Finnan(dennis@wwy.org),or visit our webpage at http://www.wwy.org/