As It Was in the Days of Noah

October Teaching Letter from Rick Renner

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas and greetings in Jesus’ precious name! Christ came into this world “in the fullness of time” to redeem mankind from sin and to reconcile us to the Heavenly Father (Galatians 4:4,5). And what a great salvation it was and is that God wrought for us in Christ (see Hebrews 2:3-18)! Denise and I and our family wish you a warm and wonderful Christmas season and the best new year of your life in 2022.

Today I want to talk to you about opportunities and adversaries, but first I want to say thank you for being such a faithful partner with our ministry. As I told you in my letter last month, our ministry is bursting at the seams, and I am so humbled that God would use Denise and me, our family, and our team to minister to the many people who are reaching out to us every day.

Every soul is precious, and it is our heartfelt desire to convey that truth to every person God brings to us — that they are precious to Him and to us. And your gifts are so vital to our ability to touch every one of these treasured souls! So today I want to say a special thank you for all you do with us to take the trusted teaching of the Word of God to people in Russia and all over the world. From the depths of our hearts, Denise and I THANK YOU!

This month is the last month of the year — and I know you are probably preparing for Christmas and many different kinds of gatherings. But in addition to Christmas, it’s also almost 2022. As we come to the end of this year and to the beginning of a brand-new year, the Holy Spirit keeps telling me to “stay on track” with the assignments He has given us. I hear Him saying that even if we hit bumps along the way, everything will be all right if we’ll just stay on track and maintain our God-assigned territory — the many opportunities and assignments He has given us to inspire, strengthen, and equip believers with the sound teaching of the Bible.

But I’ve learned over the years that opportunities and adversaries usually go together — and today I want to encourage you to undergird yourself so that you can stay on track with what God has asked you to do this month and in the coming year.

Over the course of our ministry, we’ve had many great, effectual doors open to us to do the work of the Gospel. I’ll never forget when I received an opportunity to minister on television in the former Soviet Union. It was as if a great door had suddenly swung open to an entire vast territory — a door that had never before been opened for anyone else — and I knew I was experiencing something miraculous. By faith, Denise and I stepped through that door and began to preach the Word of God on television in this spiritually starved corner of the world.

Given the former socialist-communist campaigns against the Gospel in this particular region, this opportunity was as miraculous as the Jordan River dividing for Joshua and the children of Israel. But with this great open door also came a slew of adversaries, specifically dispatched by Satan to instill fear and doubt into my heart. The devil desperately wanted to prevent me from touching the lives of spiritually oppressed people, so he positioned evil people with insidious plans to try to block my view of what God had in store for our ministry.

I’m telling you that it was like the children of Israel looking at the Promised Land from the far side of the Jordan River. From that perspective, they saw only the fruitful land of blessing that lay before them. But once they entered the Promised Land, they had to fight giants of every kind before they could possess that land and enjoy the blessing. In much the same way, if Denise and I had taken our eyes off the Lord during that tumultuous period — or if we had focused only on the problems and forgotten about the fruit we were pursuing for God’s Kingdom — I’m sure we would have backpedaled to get out of the situation!

But we knew this was a God-given opportunity and worth the fight, so we fixed our gaze squarely on the Lord. Girded with the armor of God and the power of the Spirit, we pushed through every obstacle and possessed the ground that God called us to take. As a result, millions of souls began to hear the Gospel for the first time. We knew that only God could have opened this door!

In First Corinthians 16:9, the apostle Paul wrote about the strategic doors of opportunity that open for the Gospel and the adversaries that usually accompany them. He said, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.” Notice that Paul used the words “great,” “door,” “effectual,” and “is opened” to describe the opportunity that had been set before him.

The word “great” in this verse is translated from the Greek word megale, which means gigantic. The word “door” is the Greek word thura, which typically refers to a door, but in this context, denotes a rare opportunity. The word “effectual” is the Greek word energes, and it depicts something that is powerful and ready to be set into motion. Finally, the phrase “is opened” is the Greek word anoigo, which describes something standing wide open. In other words, the door in question couldn’t be any more open! Thus, an alternate translation of Paul’s words in First Corinthians 16:9 could be rendered, “A gigantic, powerful opportunity is already set in motion and standing wide open….”

Paul continued by saying, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me….” You see, Paul knew that the particular door he was referring to had never been opened to anyone else, and he stood in awe of the unprecedented opportunity. Walking through these kinds of doors is impossible without divine assistance, and Paul was fully aware of God’s role in the matter. That is why he specified that this door had been opened “unto me.”

Paul’s prayer request in First Corinthians 16:9 was not for a door to open because it had already opened. His prayer request was to receive God’s wisdom to deal with the numerous adversaries who were trying to come against him. Paul used the Greek word antikeimenoi to describe the vast number of “adversaries” that were sent to attack him. This Greek word describes something that was piled high and lying all around him. In other words, he was dealing with more than a few minor opponents. On the contrary, it felt like opposition was stacked high on every side!

I’ve learned that the enemy will try his best to keep you from stepping through the gigantic doors of opportunity God desires to open for you. Satan is afraid of what will happen when “his” territory is invaded by someone fully equipped with a full arsenal of spiritual weapons. So know this: God will open doors for you — but He needs you to make a determined decision that you will walk through them, no matter the opposition, with the help of His Spirit.

By opening the door, God has already done His part, which would have been impossible without His assistance. Now He beckons you to come, dressed in the whole armor of God and in the power of His Word — and proceed through that effectual door into new territory. It may look like enemies are everywhere, but it is simply a fact that the devil and his forces flee and collapse when they are subjected to a show of strong faith!

As I mentioned earlier, many great and effectual doors have been opened to us over the years to do the work of the Gospel. In each case, we knew these doors were unique to us and had never before been opened for anyone else. And just as Paul experienced opposition, there were plenty of enemies that came against us with each opportunity. But because we obeyed God, the devil was forced to move out of the way, and we walked right into the virgin territory that God had opened for our ministry.

Even if you think your situation looks threatening right now, I want to tell you that God is with you. He wants to supernaturally open new doors for you — doors that have never before been opened for you. He is not beckoning you to walk through these doors so you can fail. He is with you every step of the way, and He will empower you to defeat every foe and bring Him glory in that new territory that is yours to possess in Jesus’ name!

Your open door may be an opportunity to shine the light of God’s Word and God’s love to your family or friends during this holiday season. It may be a door that will open to you in the new year. Regardless of when it is or what it is, the same God who opens doors will empower you to walk through them — and then He’ll be right with you to give you the wisdom and strength needed to overcome any giant that tries to meet you on the other side.

I know this is not a typical December, “Christmas-style” letter, but this is what was on my heart to share with you today. I want you to always know that if we can join you in prayer, we would be delighted to do so. To be honest, we are praying for you anyway, but when we are alerted to know exactly “how” to pray, it increases our effectiveness as we pray for you. So if you have a special need, please either call or write to let us know how we can get in agreement with you for God to show Himself mighty to you according to Jeremiah 33:3, which says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

And please pray for us as we continue marching forward by faith to push back darkness, to shine the light of God’s Word, and to take territory for the Kingdom of God. Together — as partners — we can make a difference in the lives of throngs of people who are crying out to God for help. They are waiting for God to respond to their prayers, and God wants to use us — you and us together — to bring them the answers they desperately need.

But before I close, I want to say we are specifically asking God to do something special for you this month and before the end of the year. I don’t know what it is, but that is what we are praying. We are asking God to do something special that will bless your life! And please, please pray for us as we continue pushing ahead to build our studio in Moscow, to finalize the purchase of our new headquarters in Tulsa, and to continue to minister effectually to every precious soul Jesus brings to us!

Merry Christmas!

We love you and thank God for you!

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
along with Paul, Philip, and Joel and their families|Dear Friends,

It is such a joy to greet you in Jesus’ precious name!

For three weeks in October on my TV programs, I am focusing on the events that occurred before the Flood and how Jesus prophesied that many of those same events will be replicated again just before His coming at the end of the age. The introductions to these programs were filmed on-site at the ruins of Noah’s Ark in the lower mountains of Ararat in eastern Turkey. Please do all you can to watch these in-depth programs, as I believe you’ll really learn something new from the Word of God. If you would like to purchase the entire 15-part series, just call us or go to renner.org after October 1 to order.

Before I get into what I want to share with you this month, I first want to say thank you for being a faithful partner in helping us do this amazing work of God. You know that many all over the world are crying out for answers to difficult dilemmas. The world is more confused than ever, and people desperately need solid answers from God’s Word to strengthen them, heal them, and give them the direction they need for their lives. Because of what you do as our partner, we can get the Word of God to people all over the world!

Proverbs 10:21 says, “The lips of the righteous feed many….” I love this verse because it describes so well the heart of our ministry, which is to feed the wonderful Word of God to as many people as possible. Denise and I, my family, and my team, are enabled to do this ministry because of: 1) the call of God and anointing of the Holy Spirit and 2) the faithful partners who give financially and pray for us to enable us to do it. I realize the Lord is the Source for everything, but the fact is, He uses partners. So I want to say THANK YOU for being a partner that God is using to make a difference in the lives of so many people!

But today I want to share with you some fascinating truths about the Flood and its significance to us in our day. In Matthew 24:37, Jesus says, “But as the days of Noe [Noah] were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

According to our Lord Jesus, we can expect much of what happened in the time frame just before the Flood to be replicated before the end of this age. In fact, the words “but as” in this verse mean just exactly as or precisely as, and the words “so shall also” mean it accordingly will be, thus it will be, or it will be keeping in line with. This means that just exactly as it was before the Flood, it accordingly will be just before the Lord comes again!

In this pivotal verse, Jesus declares that He will be “coming” again. In Greek, this word “coming” is a technical expression to describe the visit of a king or emperor who alone can deal with a situation. This means when Jesus finally comes again, He will show up with the authority needed to right every wrong in the world. That’s good news! By the time the Rapture occurs, there will be a lot of wrongs that will need to be corrected. Jesus emphatically said that the conditions in the world at the end of the age  — just before His coming — will indeed be very similar to the conditions that existed in the world before the Flood.

But what exactly were the conditions that existed in the world before the Flood?

I dive deep into detail about these conditions in the 15-part series I will be teaching on TV from October 2-20, but I would summarize them as follows:

• Genesis 6:1 — A Time of an Exploding Population
  Today there is a population boom like never before — just as it occurred in the days before the Flood.

• Genesis 6:2 — A Time of Sexual Perversion
  Today there is widespread sexual perversion on a scale beyond anything we have known — very much like what occurred in the days before the Flood.

• Genesis 6:2 — A Time of Dark Spiritual Activity
  Today there is enormously dark spiritual activity occurring, especially in Western civilization — very similar to what occurred in the days before the Flood.
• Genesis 6:4 — A Time When Transhumanism Occurred
  Today scientists are tampering with “gender and genetics,” and it’s creating monstrous things — very much like what happened when monsters appeared in the world before the Flood.
• Genesis 6:5 — A Time When Evil Was Continually in the Heart of Man
  Today we are seeing inventions of evil unlike anything our generation has ever witnessed — and it is absolutely similar to what was happening in the days before the Flood.

• Genesis 6:11 — A Time of Widespread Violence
  Today we are seeing anarchy, rebellion, and violence spreading its tentacles across the earth — a replication of events that occurred in the earth in the days before the Flood.

Oh, how I wish I had time to really delve deep into each of these points in this letter, but it would take an entire book to document it all (which I might eventually write). Nevertheless, Jesus said all of these things would be duplicated again in the last of the last days.

Then in Matthew 24:38, Jesus continues, “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 [Noah] entered into the ark.”

In Greek, the words “for as” at the beginning of that verse, mean accordingly and in the same identical manner, and it unmistakably pictures a duplicate event. The phrase “in the days that were” literally means as they were in the very exact days, and the word “before” is a translation of a Greek word that means right before or directly preceding. By using this combination of words, Jesus let us know that He was describing regular life in the very exact days directly before the unleashing of the Flood.

The word “flood” in this verse is a form of the Greek word kataklusmos, which means to inundate, to flood, to overwhelm, to submerge with water, or to completely deluge, and it is where we get the word “cataclysm” or “cataclysmic.” The use of this word tells us that the Flood was truly a cataclysmic event that turned the entire world upside down. Some researchers try to say it was a localized flood, but the Bible clearly teaches in Genesis that it was a worldwide cataclysmic event that affected the entire planet.

Noah is called a “preacher of righteousness” in Second Peter 2:5. He preached and warned people that judgment was coming. He called them to repent, but they didn’t take him seriously and even ignored his prophetic warnings. Jesus tells us in Matthew 24:38 that right up to the last moment preceding this cataclysmic event, the pre-Flood world was “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.”

In Greek, all these words — “eating,” “drinking,” “marrying,” and “giving in marriage” — are in a continuous form, meaning they were eating and eating, which implies overeating and a lack of moderation; and they were drinking and drinking, which implies continuous drinking of alcohol and a lack of moderation; and they were marrying and marrying and were “given in marriage,” which paints a picture of a casual attitude toward marriage and remarriage, and a lack of sanctity in marriage.

Thus, we find that even though Noah warned them that judgment was coming, people shrugged it off and continued on as usual right up to the very end when judgment finally came. Matthew 24:38 says this uninhibited lifestyle continued “…until the day that Noe [Noah] entered into the ark.” Amazingly, the word “until” means right up until, picturing a time right up until the final moment before the Flood began.

Matthew 24:39 says, “And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” The words “knew not” in Greek mean they did not realize, or they did not have a clue. It wasn’t that they hadn’t been informed, because Noah had warned them. But they shrugged it off and lived like they were clueless that they were living on the precipice of judgment. Noah had told them of the impending cataclysmic “flood” — kataklusmos — a word that well depicts the total destruction that came on the earth in those days.

Jesus goes on in Matthew 24:39 to say the Flood “took them all away.” The words “took…away” are translated from several words that when put together mean to remove or to prune. Thus, we discover the purpose of the Flood was not to destroy, but to be a pruning operation to remove all the evil and wickedness from the earth. Matthew 24:39 then says, “…So shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Those words “so shall also” mean it accordingly will be also, or thus it will also be.

Jesus’ words of warning continue in Matthew 24:40 and 41. He says, “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”

The word “taken” in both instances means to personally snatch or to take to one’s side. In context, it means that when the Rapture of the Church occurs at the end of the age — just before the Great Tribulation begins — Jesus will personally snatch and take to His side those who are ready. But those who ignored what they heard and were unprepared will be “left.” The word “left” in both instances means to be left behind, and it pictures a sense of loss. Thus, those who are “left” will suffer great loss and experience the judgment of that terrible time.

Of course, the example that Jesus is using is of Noah compared to the lost world that lived all around him. Because Noah and his family were listening and were prepared, they were “snatched” from the waters of the Flood, but those who shrugged off Noah’s prophetic warnings were regrettably “left behind” and suffered the consequences of judgment.

In Matthew 24:42, Jesus concluded with wise instruction saying, “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”

Here Jesus pleads with us to be attentive and watchful — unlike the people before the Flood who disregarded the warnings and suffered as a result. In fact, the word “watch” means to be attentive, on your guard, and watchful. It denotes one who is on the lookout and on high alert. It pictures one who is determined not to be taken off guard.

And in this same verse, Jesus clearly states why we need to be watchful: “…For ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”

This means no one is able to predict the exact day and exact time when Jesus will come for His Church before the judgment of the Great Tribulation is unleashed. However, this doesn’t mean we can’t have a prophetic sense of timing, for if we pay attention to the signs that Jesus gave us in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 — and to the list of signs the apostle Paul gave us in Second Timothy 3 — we can gauge how close we are even if we cannot predict the exact day or moment of His coming. (I urge you to get my books Signs You’ll See Just Before Jesus Comes and Last-Days Survival Guide to help you know these signs of the end times!)

Then the Lord urgently said in Matthew 24:44, “Therefore be ye also ready….”

The words “be ye… ready” mean to be constantly prepared and ready for action. It means we need to be paying attention to what the Word of God says — to the signs that are given to us in Scripture — and to the voice of the Holy Spirit. And it means we must live every day as if it is THE DAY that Jesus is coming. If we live like this, we’ll be constantly prepared for the coming of the Lord!

Oh, there is so much more I wish I could share, but I am out of space for this month’s letter. But let’s take the words of Jesus to heart and do the following:

• Live like He could come at any moment!
• Take every opportunity to warn those we love of the need to repent!
• To invest as much as possible for the Gospel to reach the ends of the earth!

We are living in a very serious hour. The events that occurred before the Flood are happening again — right now — just as Jesus said they would before His coming. The signs are everywhere to alert us to the fact that we are approaching the very end of this present age when some will be “taken” and others will be “left” behind. We must do all we can — just as Noah did in his time before the Flood — to love people enough to warn them!

If you have friends or relatives who are unsaved and not walking with God, we would love to pray with you about them. Please call 1.800.742.5593 or email us, and we’ll get into prayerful agreement with you for God to reach out and touch them! It would be our honor to pray with you concerning your loved ones, or any other prayer request you may have. And, as always, we promise that whatever you tell us will be held in the strictest confidence!

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter today. And thank you for being such a precious partner to what we are doing as we obey the call of Jesus to take the Word of God to the ends of the earth. If we had to do it alone, it would be so much harder, but together, we can do much more and make a huge difference in the lives of people all over the world!

And never forget — JESUS IS COMING SOON!

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
Along with Paul, Philip, and Joel Renner and our ministry team

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