Being Saved from this Crooked and Perverted Generation by Building up the Church as the Ark

God needs to end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom; in the church life today we are the family of Noah building the ark, the reality of the Body of Christ, so that we may be saved from this crooked and perverted generation.

When the Lord Jesus spoke concerning His return, He said that the days of His coming will be like the days of Noah – people are eating, drinking, marrying, giving in marriage, and the earth was filled with violence and evil.

This is what we see around us today. And God’s need is to end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom.

Our God is omnipotent and almighty, but He has limited Himself by some principles which He has set; one of these principles is that He would not act unless man cooperates with Him.

The first of God’s needs is that He wants man to subdue Satan, His enemy, and recover the earth.

God created the earth in a perfect way, and all that He has created is amazing and wonderful, but Satan came in and rebelled against God, and he usurped both man and the earth.

The earth is under illegal occupation and unlawful usurpation by God’s enemy. If we look in society today we see all kinds of fights, tensions, problems, and issues.

There are racial problems, social problems, injustice, and all kinds of evil things happening; those who are supposed to lead the people are corrupted to the core, and the politicians seem to care only for their own benefit and not for the benefit of the people.

It would be crazy for us to think that a Christian politician will solve the problems we have in society today; even though we have the Bible which teaches us things related to ethics and morality, the principles in the Bible cannot help the society today.

The only thing that can help solve all the problems in society we face today is the coming in of the kingdom of God; it is only in the kingdom of God that we will have righteousness and justice, peace and joy, and there will not be any tensions, problems, and issues among peoples, races, nations, and groups of people.

So we need to give ourselves to the Lord to meet His need today; on one hand, we meet man’s need when we preach the gospel so that man would be saved, and on the other hand, we meet God’s need when we live an overcoming life to be part of His overcoming bride.

What the Lord wants to gain is a group of overcomers who would bring Him back and end this age.

Instead of limiting God by our lack of cooperation, may we exercise to be one with Him in spirit and release His will on earth, recover the earth for God, subdue God’s enemy by standing in Christ’s victory, and end this age to bring in the age of the kingdom.

Being Saved from this Crooked and Perverted Generation by Building the Church Life as Today’s Ark

God’s need is to end this age, and He has prophesied that, at the time of His coming, it will be as in the days of Noah.

If we look at today’s situation we will see that the earth is filled with violence and corruption, and everything that comes up in man’s heart is toward evil.

But God is calling some to be like Noah today, those who build the ark to save them and their family from God’s judgment and from this crooked and perverted generation.

In Acts 2:40 Peter tells the Jewish people, Be saved from this crooked generation. What is the “ark” that we build today to be saved from God’s judgment and this evil generation?

It is the Body of Christ, the reality of the Body of Christ.

In Noah’s time, there must have been more than eight people who sought after God and walked with God, but it was only Noah and his family that entered into the ark.

In those days people lived for hundreds of years, and for sure there must have been more than eight people who worshipped God, but only eight of them were saved by the ark.

These eight represent the overcomers; Noah and his family represent the overcomers, and the ark they built and were saved by represents the reality of the Body of Christ into which we need to enter today.

However, we need to realize that it is possible for us to be around the ark and even to help build the ark but not be saved from this crooked and perverted generation.

It is possible to be in the realm of the church life, be involved in the meetings and reading the Bible, but not be rescued from this age.

Not everyone who enters into the meeting hall of the church is built into the church in reality. Not everyone who is in the meetings of the church is living in the reality of the Body of Christ. Oh, Lord!

May we be saved from just being around the church life, meeting with the saints, but not being in the reality of the Body of Christ!

Noah lived in a crooked and perverse age (Gen. 6:1-22); in Matt. 24:37-39 and Luke 17:26-27 the Lord Jesus likened our age to the days of Noah.

The conditions of evil living that stupefied the generation of Noah before the flood portray the perilous condition of man’s living before the great tribulation and the Lord’s return, His parousia (Matt. 24:21, 3, 27, 37, 39).

What do people live for today? People today believe in money, technology, material things, pleasures, fame, glory, career, and all kinds of things; people are stupefied, drugged by these things, not understanding that there’s judgment coming.

But we, if we would participate in the overcomers’ rapture at the Lord’s imminent return and escape the great tribulation, we must overcome the stupefying effect of man’s living today (Luke 21:34-36).

We must be saved from this crooked and perverted generation and be perfected and matured to be the Lord’s overcomers who end this age and bring the Lord back.

Especially those of us who are young working saints, those who still pursue certain dreams, desiring to get a bigger house, a better job, a bright career, and a good material situation; we need to be rescued from this crooked and perverted generation.

How do we do this? It is by building today’s ark, which is the church life, the reality of the Body of Christ.

The Lord desires to gain those who are “the family of Noah” to build the ark and testify against the trend of the age so that He can use us to terminate this age and bring in the age of the kingdom.

May we give Him our cooperation today and pray,

Lord, rescue and save us from this crooked and perverted generation. We want to be the family of Noah today those who live in the reality of the Body of Christ and testify against the trend of the age so that we may be used by You to terminate this age and bring in the kingdom of God! Amen, Lord, make us Your overcomers in this age today. Make us those who overcome the stupefying effect of man’s living today. We don’t want to be drugged with the trend of today’s age, the flood of dissoluteness that all men enjoy today. Oh Lord, we desire to participate in the overcomers’ rapture to enjoy Your imminent return and escape the great tribulation! Make us Your overcoming ones, the family of Noah who build up the church life as the reality of the Body of Christ to be saved from this crooked and perverted generation!

Being today’s Family of Noah Living in the Reality of the Body of Christ to be Delivered from this Evil Age and bring the Lord back!

It is quite shocking to see that, out of the thousands and even hundreds of thousands of people who lived in Noah’s age, only eight were saved from the judgement of God through the ark.

Many have heard Noah speak of the coming judgment, and many have helped them build the ark, but only eight entered into the ark; then, Jehovah shut the door behind them.

Today the Lord wants to gain the family of Noah, those who build the ark as an anti-testimony to the present evil age, those who not only help with the building up of the church but are living in the reality of the Body of Christ.

We need to be those praying to be delivered and saved from this evil age and be the Lord’s overcomers to bring Him back.

What we see on earth today is only two things: the crooked and perverted generation and the church as the corporate expression of Christ (Acts 2:40; Phil. 2:15; 1 Cor. 1:2; 12:12, 27); there is no third thing to be in.

We are either following the trend of today’s age, doing what the people today are doing, seeking the modern aspect of today’s age and being fashioned according to the age today, or we are building up the church as the ark to be rescued from this present evil age.

The way for us to be delivered from this crooked and perverted generation is not by “standing strong” and “surviving” in this evil age but by actively being involved in the building up of the church.

If we would be the corporate expression of Christ in the church life, we need to be today’s family of Noah, the saints who build up the corporate Christ as the ark that will deliver us from the crooked and perverted generation and usher us into the coming age of the kingdom (Gen. 6:8 — 8:3; 1 Cor. 12:12; Phil. 2:12-13; 1 Pet. 3:20-21).

There is a difference between being saved from the eternal perdition by believing into the Lord and being saved from this crooked and perverted generation.

There are millions of believers in Christ on earth today who have God’s life and nature, for they called on the name of the Lord and received Him as their Savior.

However, most of these believers do not live Christ, nor do they seek the Lord to be rescued out of the present evil age.

Not everyone who has truly been saved is also rescued from this evil age.

All genuine believers in Christ will be spared of eternal perdition, but only those who live in the reality of the Body of Christ today to be delivered from this evil age will partake of the coming kingdom age as the Lord’s overcomers.

We need to be warned concerning our daily living and work, for we may do what the rest do, watching movies, following the latest entertainment issues, dressing up in the latest fashion, being up-to-date with what the streaming platforms have to offer, and being just like the rest of the people in the world in our constitution.

As believers in Christ, we are saved from eternal perdition, but are we saved from the present evil age, the crooked and perverted generation?

If the Lord comes tomorrow, are we assured that He will usher us into His kingdom, or will we be left behind to continue enjoying what the world has to offer? Oh, Lord Jesus!

May we be saved from the coming judgment upon this crooked and perverted generation by living in the reality of the Body of Christ today so that we may be the Lord’s overcomers who bring Him back and usher in the age of the kingdom!

Lord Jesus, save us from being stupefied and drugged with what the world has to offer today. Save us from being part of the crooked and perverted generation today. Rescue us, Lord, from the present evil age. We give ourselves to You to be today’s family of Noah building the church life as the ark that will deliver us from the crooked and perverted generation and usher us into the coming age of the kingdom! Oh, Lord Jesus, we want to overcome the stupefying effect of man’s living today and be rescued from the trend in this age. Deliver us from this evil age and build us up into the ark, the anti-testimony to this evil age! We give ourselves to You to build up the church and live in the reality of the Body of Christ so that we may be Your overcomers who end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a message by bro. Mark Raabe on this topic, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1975-1976, vol. 1, “The Testimony of Jesus” (chs. 1, 3-4, 6-8), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Meeting God’s Need and Present needs in the Lord’s Recovery, week 1, God’s Need in the Present Age.
• Recommended further reading: see the outline on, Being Saved from the Crooked and Perverted Generation to Be the Corporate Christ as Today’s Ark, via Church in NYC; listen to the message 3 on Being Saved from the Crooked and Perverted Generation to Be the Corporate Christ… via Heavenly Foods;
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Let us stand up in Jesus / In His full human life, / Human virtues prevailing / ’Gainst corruption so rife; / In this wickedness concerted, / In this age perverse, perverted, / The humanity of Jesus / Must the church now display. (Hymns #1172)
  – When Noah worked upon the ark as God to him decreed. / So many others watched, yet to his words they gave no heed. / But Noah heard the voice of God and did His word obey; / His business was to build the ark; he couldn’t waste a day. / Now Jesus’ testimony, we in the churches see / The ark of testimony built in each locality. (Hymns #1268)
  – Dearest Lord, You’ve called us here, / And opened up Your heart. / O the joy to hear Your call / And enter in the Ark. / Saving us from day to day / O Lord, this is Your way. / In Yourself we stay afloat, / Above this wicked age today. / Thank You Lord, in Your eyes we find grace, / And with open hearts we come to You. / Regardless what our friends might say to us or do, / O Lord Jesus, we love You. (Song on, Dearest Lord, You’ve called us here)