My dear readers,

Indifference – The Deadly Response in the Last Days! – (Luke 17:26-30)

When the gospel is shared with a sinner there are commonly three responses. The first is he believes and is saved. The second is he openly rejects and gets angry and argues for why he will not believe. The third is indifference. He does not react at all to the message and politely says “no thanks” as if he has just turned down an appeal to buy a pack of tissues for a dollar. He is actually rejecting an offer from God to be saved from his sins, for the gospel he calmly rejects is the love of God for him in Christ. Compared with the second and third responses, the third is the worst. How can a sinner be indifferent about death and hell? How can he be indifferent to spending eternity in hell and suffer pain and great torment forever? Yet that is what the Bible reveals to us before the day of the Lord comes. 

Jesus says that there will be no fear or even the slightest trepidation of the heart when the last days fall upon this sin-filled world! This emotionless response to the gravest danger the world will ever see in her entire existence for the past six thousand plus years will be the final nail on the coffin of global unbelief. The destruction of the world is at hand and the response of the people in the last days is “I do not care” or “I am too busy with my own life” or “I have no time.” The Lord Jesus cited two past divine judgements to parallel what will happen to that final generation at the second coming of Christ.

I.  Noah’s time of global judgment by water – “26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” – The indifference of that sinful last generation was described by Christ as people who minded day to day activities like eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. These are daily cares of the world that everyone is caught up in today too (could it be that we are that last generation?). The people went about their activities till the flood came and the entire world was destroyed except for Noah and his family of seven and all the land animals and birds that entered the ark. What was the world of Noah like that caused them to be blinded to the truth that Noah preached for one hundred years? He warned them as he built the ark for the global flood. They did not believe because they were busy with earthly pleasures. It is important to note that rain had not fallen onto the earth before. The Lord watered the earth with a mist that came forth from the ground. [Genesis 2:6 “But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.”]

God’s evaluation of Noah’s world in Genesis 6:5 was “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” The wickedness of man was great and the thoughts of sinful man were evil continually. The minds and hearts of that generation were obsessed with how to sin more and more. The truth of the coming death and judgement by God preached by Noah fell on deaf ears and hardened hearts. It was a spiritually dead environment that caused that generation to be indifferent to the gigantic ark that Noah built. Interest in spiritual truths was non-existent. When the flood started they all perished in their indifference! This is the sad biblical record of what happened to those who were indifferent to the truth of impending global judgement. Genesis 7:21-24 “And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. 23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.” 

II.  Lot’s time of fiery judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah – “28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.” – This second divine judgment was not a global event. The nuance of the warning from this judgment is a little different. In the judgment of Sodom, the manner of judgment is the same as the final judgment of the world to come. (Note 2 Peter 3:7 “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”) The climate of the world will also be the same in terms of billions of people being lulled into spiritual apathy and spiritual blindness. The days of Lot were days of fornication and homosexuality (described in Jude 7 as “going after strange flesh”). These two horrendous and despicable sins were common amongst the rich and poor including people of all ages young and old. 

Genesis 19:4-5 “But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: 5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.” Jude 7 “Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” [Emphasis added] 

This means that the world will accept fornication and homosexuality as normal behaviour in the global society. (Note: Is this not what we are seeing in our world today?). 

The indifference of the people in Lot’s time coupled with their sins are described as people immersed in eating, drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. They were caught up with daily activities and making money and increasing their wealth. Their carnality consumed their entire being and soul. They were people who worked in the day and sinned in the night! Does this not characterize our present generation? While they were immersed in their debaucherous lives, fire and brimstone fell from heaven and consumed them all. 

Conclusion – “30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” – The indifferent lifestyle of Noah’s and Lot’s time mirrors that of these last days before the second coming of Christ. The world has been warned by God. But no matter how stark and stern the warning, the response from the last generation of mankind will be INDIFFERENCE! This is tragic and most frightful because indifference does not seem to be such a serious sin. An indifferent person does not attack the Christian or the Bible or Christ! He just does not care for all things spiritual. 

Dear reader, do you care for all things spiritual such as the love of God for you in Christ, God’s desire that you do not die in your sin and end up in hell, the need to keep reading and obeying the Bible, to pray without ceasing, to live always in holiness and godliness according to Holy Scriptures? These are some of the spiritual things in life that are ignored and that many professing believers pay lip service to. 

Is indifference to God and Christ really a simple and harmless sin? From God's perspective, an indifferent person is one who turns his back on God and spurns God’s love and insults God when he rejects Christ. It is as if he is telling God that he doesn’t need Christ to die for his sins and that God has wasted Christ’s blood on him! When we see it from God's perspective, we will realize that indifference is really not a trivial sin after all! May God deliver us and the unbelievers who have heard the gospel of Christ from the wicked and tragic sin of indifference! Amen.

Yours faithfully in the Saviour’s Service

Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew, Pastor