chapter of the book of Genesis,
Genesis chapter 9. If you've got a pen, well, you
write this down. I've got it someplace else, so
it's not anything original with me. And maybe it's something
that you know. You may know it, but maybe you
haven't learned it yet. There's a difference between
knowing something learning it by experience. Maybe you haven't
learned it by experience yet. Maybe you will. I hope that you
don't. But this is it. Neither age nor character is
any security in the hour of temptation. Can you remember that? Neither
age nor character is any security in the hour of temptation. Can
you remember that? Try to remember it every day.
Try to keep it before you constantly. In the ninth chapter of the book
of Genesis, it said, God bless Noah. God bless Noah and his
sons, that he said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and
refinish the earth. He's talking to the fathers of
the new world. Noah and his three sons, Ham,
Ham, and Japheth. They're the fathers of the new
world. Now, just a little background on old Noah here. I think that
the scriptures say that Noah was the grandson of Methuselah. Methuselah lived to be 969 years. That was his age, and Noah was
his grandson. And Noah was 500 years old when
he fathered children. He was 500 years old when Ham
and Shem and Japheth were born. Well, about that time, God looked
upon the children of the earth and He said that He regretted
that He even made man. that he'd come down and destroy
it. The Bible says in the 8th verse of the 6th chapter, it
said that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah found
grace. That is, he was the recipient
of the grace of God. Noah, the recipient of the grace
of God. Then the 9th verse says, these
are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect
in his generation, and Noah walked with God. That's not said of very many
men in the Bible. It's said of Enoch. Enoch was
350 or 359 years old, and God took him. But it says prior to
that that Enoch walked with God. Enoch walked with God, and he
was not, for God took him. Now it tells us that Noah was
a just man and perfect in his generation, and he walked with
God, probably walked with God for 500 years. In all probability,
that's what it means, that he walked with God for 500 years. What it says in the 11th verse
is that the earth also was corrupt before God and the earth was
filled with fire. God looked upon the earth, and
behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted his way upon
the earth. God said unto Noah, The end of
all flesh is come before me, and the earth is filled with
violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with
the earth." And he goes on now in about eight or nine verses
here, and he tells him what he wants him to do, to make an ark
of gopher wood and so forth, and pitch it within and pitch
it without, make it 300 cubits, or the length of the ark is 300
cubits, and the breadth of it is 50 cubits, and the height
of it is 30 cubits, and various other things that he told him
to do in regard to the building of this ark. Now, Noah being
a just man, perfect in his generation, one that walked with God, could
do nothing less than obey God. That's what the 22nd verse says.
It says, Thus did Noah. Boy, I like that, don't you?
Thus did Noah. Noah did. He did what God told
him. It's a good testimony, isn't it? Wouldn't that be fine to
put on your tombstone? Thus did Bob. Thus did so-and-so. He did what God told him to do. All that God told him to do,
according to all that God commanded him, so did he. He did it. He did it. Godly man! Boy, this
is something, isn't it? This man walking with God all
these years, perfect in his generation, just man, and all the earth filled
with violence and corruption and self-pleasing flesh. One man! One man! God bestowed mercy and grace
upon him. One man that was in One man that
was able to withstand. Now, think of this. All of these
years of the building of the Ark, all of these years, this
man proved faithful unto God. God tried him. Don't you forget
that God tries the righteous. He does. God set his hands on
him. He tries the righteous. I preached
the other night, I believe it was, and one statement I made
was this. If I remember right, I said that, and I believe it's
in accordance with the Bible. I said that if a man enters in
the narrow way, the narrow way, he can expect to find his progress,
the progress that he makes, very difficult because of the individuals
that comprise this world, comprise society, the people that he has
to do with, they're going to taunt him and sneer at him and
make fun of him, and they're going to hinder him in his walk
with God. They're going to hinder him.
Any way they can, they're going to laugh and sneer and hope that
he falls, hope that he sins, hope that he makes mistakes,
hope that he reproaches God, and they'll laugh about it and
say, I told you so. So if you enter in, you see,
there's difficulty that's going to lie ahead that's in store
for you. You enter in the narrow way, the straight gate, and so
forth, because of the world. Well, this fella, all of this
time, in the narrow way, the straight gate, and so forth,
withstood all the temptations of the whole world. They sneered
at him and laughed at him, but he withstood them. He remained
faithful. That's what it says. He remained faithful. He did
all that God commanded him to do. Finally, God put him on the
ark. Let's see, 5th verse. It says
in 5th verse 8 or the 7th chapter, it says, And Noah did according
to all that the Lord commanded him. And Noah was 600 years old. when the flood of waters was
upon the earth. Noah went in his sons, his wife
and his sons with him into the ark because of the waters of
the flood. They went in, all the animals,
two and two, unto Noah and to the ark. male and the female,
as God had commanded Noah. It rained 40 days. The rain was
upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights. It went 50 feet, I read
one time. Historians said that the water
went at least 50 feet above the highest mountain. Going down
here to the 16th verse of that 8th chapter. It says, "...and
they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh." Now,
notice this, "...as God had commanded him, and the Lord shut him in."
That is, that God shut the door. God shut the door and He shut
some in and He shut some out. You notice that? God shut some
in and in shutting some in, He shut some out. These folks that
want to argue with God about his prerogative to do as he pleases,
I mean, they're flying in the face of numerous scriptures in
the Bible, aren't they? God shut the door. He shut Noah
in, and he shut the world out. He shut the world out, and they
all died. Noah only remained alive, and
they that were with him in the ark. The waters prevailed upon
the earth a hundred and fifty days. Now, the ninth verse, it
says, And God blessed Noah. God remembered Noah in that 8th
chapter in the 1st verse. God remembered him. Chapter number 9, verse 1, God
blessed Noah. He said, Be fruitful and multiply
and replenish the earth. Fathers of the new world, God
had told Adam and Eve, multiply and replenish the earth. And
he said, In the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon
every beast of the earth. Something about man that the
beasts of the field are afraid of, they run. God has instilled
that fear there, he said here. Well, God's making a covenant,
an agreement with Noah here. He said, Every moving thing that
liveth shall be meat for you, even as the green herb have I
given unto you all things. All this is good for food. There
was a lot of things that wasn't good for food prior to the fall,
or prior to the flood. But flesh with the life thereof
which is the blood thereof shall ye not eat. You can't eat no
blood. You can't eat no blood. Of course, that same thing was
discussed in the New Testament at that council there. Anything
strangled or polluted, you couldn't eat any blood. Life's in the
blood. And he goes on and tells me, he said, In this sixth verse,
Whosoever shedeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God made
he man. That's capital punishment there.
Just to write her down. That's capital punishment, isn't
it, Neil? That's what he means right there. If you take a man's
life, then his life will be taken. That's an eye for an eye and
a tooth for a tooth. Right there. Blood for blood. God made a covenant
here with Noah. The new fathers are the new fathers
of the new world. God makes a covenant here with
them. Be fruitful and multiply and bring forth abundantly in
the earth and multiply therein. And God spake unto Noah and to
his sons with him, saying, Ninth verse, And behold, I establish
my covenant with you, and with your seed after you. Now, this
covenant, as far as I know, hasn't been nullified because we still
have a rainbow. Every time you see a rainbow
in the sky, Boy, that's important. I've known these things for years
and years and years, and a lot of times I look at a rainbow
and never think of the covenant of God. But God said, when I
bring a rainbow into existence, He said, I want you to know right
then, that's proof that I'm remembering my covenant that I made with
you. You don't see rainbows much anymore, do you? You ever notice
that? I've seen one here not too long
ago. You know, you used to see rainbows all the time. But right
after a rain, wasn't it? Right after a rain, it started
to clear up, a rainbow came in the sky. You don't see many of
them anymore. Anyhow, he tells us about that. And he goes on
and he says in the 11th verse, "...and I will establish my covenant
with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters
of a flood, neither shall there be neither shall there any more
be a flood to destroy the earth." And God said, this is the token
of the covenant which I have made between me and you and every
living creature that is with you for perpetual generations. You notice that? I do set my
bow in the cloud and it shall be a token or a sign of a covenant
between me and the earth and it shall come to pass when I
bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in
the cloud. And I will remember my covenant,
which is between me and you and every living creature of all
flesh, and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy
all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud,
and I will look upon it. And I shall remember the everlasting
covenant between God and every creature of all flesh that is
upon the earth. God said unto Noah, This is the token of the
covenant which I have established between me and all flesh. The
sons of Noah that went forth in the earth were Shem, Ham,
and Japheth. Ham is the father of Cain. These
are the three sons of Noah. And of them was the whole earth
overspread. That is, this is where the new
world came from, from these new fathers, from Noah and his three
sons. Now, you remember what I said.
I said, neither age nor character is any security in the hour of
temptation. Now, here's a fellow that hath
withstood the frowns of this evil world who walked with God
for five hundred years. He was God's favorite. And when this thing was all over
with, it says that Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted
a vineyard. He planted a vineyard. It's good
to be active, isn't it? It's good to be active. A man
doesn't want to quit. He doesn't want to sit down and just sit
on the porch. He says, I'm not going to do anything. I'm just
going to wait till I die. But to be lawfully active, lawfully
active, he was active and he planted a vineyard. Nothing matters
with a vineyard. A vineyard's good. I planted me one. I hope
I don't wind up like Noah. I planted me a vineyard here
a couple of years ago. Three grapevines. And this year
they were just loaded with grapes. Just loaded with grapes, but
they started to turn, started to get rotten. So I don't know
that I'm going to have any grapes. I wasn't going to plant this
vineyard with a specific purpose. I just like to eat some grapes.
But anyhow, I'm not making light of Noah either. Noah began to
be a husband and he planned to be And after he planned the vineyard,
why, he made him some wine. And I don't know whether because
of Noah's old age that he just drank more of that wine than
what he thought he could handle, or maybe the wine was more potent
than he thought. I don't know. I don't know. But
I know that he got drunk. He made that wine, planned the
vineyard, and he made the wine, and he drank it, and he got drunk.
Now, we're not to think lightly. We're not to think lightly of
the sin of drunkenness, nor any other sin. But in this particular
case, we're not to think lightly of the sin of drunkenness. The
scripture says, Who hath woe? Who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine. They're the ones that have woe.
They're the ones that have redness of eyes. They'd carry along with
the wine. Well, I said now, he withstood
all the temptations of the world and finally fell alone. He was
like a ship that sailed around the world and then got back into
harbor and sunk. That's just a good description
to tell you. Walked with God for 500 years.
I'll tell you, one heedless hour, It may stain the fairest life. It may undo much of the good
that a man has done in a whole lifetime, just one heedless,
careless hour. That's all. And don't think for a minute
that character or age will secure you in a time of temptation.
We're all subject to it. We're all subject to it. It's
only by the grace of God that we know. So, in light of what
happened to Noah, in light of what happened to Noah, walking
with God for 500 years, a favorite of God, withstanding the frowns
of that evil world, and then fall like he did, it ought to
make us consider how weak we are. how weak and how we need
to be mindful of our own weakness. And if there's any way that we
can receive any strength from God Almighty by the reading of
the Scriptures, by praying, and by fellowshipping one with another,
and by serving Him, we ought to do it joyfully. We ought to
do it joyfully. Well, here's what happened. He got drunk. He drank the wine
and was drunken and he went into the tent and he laid down there
and he was naked. He was naked. And old Ham made
him off the scene. Ham, one of his sons, and Ham,
the father of, or one of his grandsons, and Ham, the father of Canaan,
not his grandson, either Canaan's his grandson, and Ham, the father
of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father. And he told his
two brothers, Shem and Japheth. And Shem and Japheth took a garment
and laid it upon both their shoulders and went backwards and covered
the nakedness of their father. They weren't willing to expose
their father and his sin. Boy, that's the grace of God. And that's godly children. They're
not willing to expose their parents. Children don't care nowadays. They wouldn't protect a parent
nowadays. They'd expose the parent just as quick as they'd expose
their arch enemy. That's right. But not these fellas. They didn't want nobody to find
out about it. They was embarrassed and they was ashamed. But they
had some respect for their father. They said, we won't even look
on him. We won't even look at him when he's laying there in
that drunken stupor. We won't look at him. We'll put
this blanket on our shoulders and we'll back in there and we'll
front right back on him. We won't even look at him. But Ham made a mawk of sin. He exposed. Well, it takes a thoroughly depraved
heart to do that. Well, when Noah came to himself,
the scripture says, Noah woke up from his wine. When he came
to himself and when he knew that his son had done him in, he got
mad. He said, Cursed be Canaan, a
servant of servants shall he be. Now, I hope that the curse
brought about on Canaan was not necessarily because of the anger
of Noah towards the boy. I hope there's more to it than
that. Now, here's something that I've
seen. Cainan's sin, but it doesn't
say anything about his own. Did you notice that? He shows
no grief for his own sin, the sin of drunkenness. He's not
to be excused. Noah's not to be excused. I'm
not trying to excuse Noah. God doesn't excuse him. God forgives
him. That's right. Boy, that's a blessing,
isn't it? God forgives us. A man falls, and God forgives. But there was no grief here.
As I can see, there was no grief in Noah for his own sin. But he was grieved about his
grandson. He said, Cursed be Canaan, a
servant of servants, shall he be unto his brethren. And he
said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be
his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, he shall dwell in the
tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant. And Noah lived
after the flood three hundred and fifty years, and all the
days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died." The lesson of this revelation
is neither character or age, there
will be any security in the hour of temptation. It will make a
difference what your character is, how old you are, how far
down the road you've been, or I've been, or how well acquainted
I am with the Bible and the Scriptures, or whether I'm a preacher and
you are this and you are that. That's no security. No security. Take heed how you stand. Blessed y'all so far. They keep
Noah. 500 years. 500 years. Walked with God. Withstood the world and then
fell alone by himself in a tent in a drunken stupor. Got drunk. Got drunk. Son exposed. You don't hear any more about Noah. That was all of Noah. Remember
we talked there before church, I mentioned that I wouldn't want
to preach to others and become a castaway myself. Paul said
we ought to consider that scripture. He said you ought to consider
that. He said you might preach to others and be raised up and
used by God and become a castaway yourself. I'm not saying that man's going
to lose his salvation or anything like that. I don't know exactly
what's involved in that word castaway. But I know that God
used Noah. God used Noah, and he died. The 350 years that he lived after
the flood, there's nothing significant recorded about Noah's life in
those 350 years. Nothing significant there. God
just laid him aside. He said, I've raised you up,
and I've used you. I don't think he punished him
for that, but he said, I raised you up, and I used you, and the
job's done. All right, you remember.