Let us, now, ere we proceed further with Noah's history, glance for a little at the condition of those to whom he had so long preached righteousness. We have been looking at the _saved_,--let us now look at the _lost_: we have been thinking of those _within_ the ark,--let us now think of those _without_. No doubt, many an anxious look would be cast after the vessel of mercy, as it rose with the water; but, alas! "the door was shut," the day of grace was over, the time of testimony closed, and that forever, so far as they were concerned. The same hand which had shut Noah _in_, had shut them _out_; and it was as impossible for those without to get in as it was for those within to get out. The former were irrecoverably lost; the latter, effectually saved. The long-suffering of God, and the testimony of his servant, had both been slighted. Present things had engrossed them. "They did eat, they drank, they married wives, and were given in marriage, _until_ the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all." (Luke xvii. 26, 27.) There was nothing wrong in any of these things, abstractedly looked at. The wrong was not in the things done, but in the doers of them. Every one of them might be done in the fear of the Lord, and to the glory of his holy name, were they only done in faith. But, alas! they were not so done. The word of God was rejected. He told of judgment; but they did not believe. He spoke of sin and ruin; but they were not convinced. He spoke of a remedy; but they would not give heed. They went on with their own plans and speculations, and had no room for God. They acted as if the earth belonged to them, by a lease, forever. They forgot that there was a clause of surrender. They thought not of that solemn "_until_." God was shut out. "Every imagination of the thoughts of their heart was only evil continually;" and hence, they could do nothing right. They thought, spake, and acted for themselves. They did their own pleasure, and forgot God.
And, my reader, remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, how he said, "_as it was_ in the days of Noah, _so shall it be_ in the days of the Son of man." Some would have us to believe that ere the Son of man appears in the clouds of heaven, this earth shall be covered, from pole to pole, with a fair mantle of righteousness. They would teach us to look for a reign of righteousness and peace, as the result of agencies now in operation; but the brief passage just quoted cuts up by the roots, in a moment, all such vain and delusive expectations. How was it in the days of Noah? Did righteousness cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea? Was God's truth dominant? Was the earth filled with the knowledge of the Lord? Scripture replies, "the earth was filled with violence." "All flesh had corrupted his way on the earth." "The earth also was corrupt before God." Well, then, "_so_ shall it be in the days of the Son of man." This is plain enough. "Righteousness" and "violence" are not very like each other. Neither is there any similarity between universal wickedness and universal peace. It only needs a heart subject to the Word, and freed from the influence of preconceived opinions, in order to understand the true character of the days immediately preceding "the coming of the Son of man." Let not my reader be led astray. Let him reverently bow to Scripture. Let him look at the condition of the world, "in the days before the flood;" and let him bear in mind, that "_as_" it was then, "_so_" shall it be at the close of this present period. This is most simple,--most conclusive. There was nothing like a state of universal righteousness and peace then, neither shall there be any thing like it by-and-by.