We're not going to be in Romans
this morning for the Bible study. Open up with me to Genesis chapter
6. The message in Genesis, we've
been going through Genesis on the Sunday morning message, it
just kept opening up, it just kept going. And it just kept
going and it just kept going. And I thought there is no way
that I can work all this into one message. So we're going to
divide it up. We're going to divide up this
glorious text. And this first service we're
going to look at what led up to the flood. And we're going
to see Noah as a type of Christ. Noah. That's what we're going
to focus on. Noah being the type of Christ. And then the Lord
willing, in the next service, we're going to look at Noah and
the animals that were put into God's ark. Noah and the animals in God's
ark. So here in Genesis chapter 6, let's begin by seeing why
God sent this flood and why he spared a remnant. Let's start
with verse 1. It says, And it came to pass, when men began
to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born
unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that
they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they
chose. And the Lord said, My spirit
shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh. Yet his days shall be a hundred
and twenty years. There were giants in the earth
in those days. And also after that, when the
sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare
children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old,
men of renown. 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. And it
repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, And it
grieved him at his heart. You know why God sent this flood? Sin started with Adam, the very
first man. Okay, 1,600 years later. You know why God finally sent
this flood? It's because it repented him
that he made man. And it grieved him at his heart. That's the reason. It says it
right there. It repented him that he made
man. And it grieved him at his heart. Now we know the word repent
to mean a change of mind. Right? That's how we know the
word repent to be defined. A change of mind. So does that
mean God changed his mind? Did God change his mind? Malachi
3.6 says, I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, you
sons of Jacob are not consumed. Hebrews 13.8 says, Jesus Christ,
the same yesterday, today, and forever. No, he did not change
his mind. Between the words, these words,
repent, repentance, repented, repentest, repenteth, repenting,
and repentings. Between all those words, they're
in this Bible 112 times. And in those 112 times, there
are five different definitions for the word repent. Some of
the words, same word, they have different definitions, okay?
Five different definitions. One of them is a change of mind. Repent, the kingdom of heaven
is at hand. Have a different way of thinking
about God, about man, about salvation. Okay, one of them is a change
of mind. That's not the definition of this one though. One of them
is irrevocable. The gifts and calling of God
are without repentance. They're irrevocable. Aren't you
glad? That's not the definition of this one. One of them is to
retreat. There were a lot of armies in
the Old Testament and they were losing the wars and there are
scriptures that say they retreat, they repented. They retreated,
and that's not the definition of this one. God didn't retreat.
One of them means to regret, to care afterwards. God has no
regret, none. God cannot do wrong. He cannot
do anything other than what's right and what's absolutely perfect. Nothing needs to be changed.
He has no regret. It's not the meaning of this
one. Here it is. It means to sigh, to breathe strongly, to
comfort self. It grieved him at his heart. Now, I have two daughters, and
if they grow up to live a life of absolute rebellion and wickedness,
and if they grow up to live a life that puts them in prison, and
somebody comes to me and says, have you changed your mind about
loving them? By God's grace, I'm going to
say no. If they say, do you regret having
them? By God's grace, I'm going to
say no. If they say, are you going to
retreat from being their father? Cut them off. By God's grace,
I'm going to say no. If they say, are you going to
revoke their being welcome in your home? By God's grace, I'm
going to say no. But if that happens, if that's
the outcome, I can promise you this, it will grieve me at my
heart. It will grieve me at my heart. The reason is because I am a
man. I'm a man. Our God is a man. I think that this thought is
so fearful. I think it's so wonderful. I think it's so comforting. But
it is so... Our God is a man. You know that? Our God is a man. Sometimes we
think of our God as the Lincoln Memorial sitting on his throne. That's not our God. Our God is
a man. We would never, ever, ever want
to deny that He is God Almighty, all power, all authority. He deserves all reverence, all
praise. But we would also never want
to deny that He is God manifest in the flesh. That's His glory. Moses said, show me your glory.
He said, okay, I'm going to be merciful. How? Manifest in the
flesh. That's his glory. That's our
comfort. That's our life. God is a man. When we get to glory and we walk
up to his throne, We are not going to approach a straight-faced
statue. I'm so thankful for that. We cannot have a relationship
with the Lincoln Memorial, a living, loving relationship. Our God is a man with a heart
full of emotions. He said all throughout the Old
Testament, I was going to give you one scripture, but there
were too many. He said all throughout the Old Testament, I'm a jealous
God, didn't he? Toward my people, don't you touch
my people. I'm a jealous God. You keep your
hands off. He walked into the temple one
time and he saw the money changers profaning his temple and he got
angry. He is angry with the wicked,
isn't he? Matthew 9 says that he saw the multitudes and he
was moved with compassion. Have you ever been moved? I was
talking to my brother-in-law, a dear, sweet, loving, precious
believer. He is now seated at the feet
of the Lord. He died last week. Charles Ross. And Sammy went to his funeral. It was actually last Sunday.
And he was in the military, so they gave him a military funeral.
Taps on the trumpet, gun salute. Two men walked up, and you've
seen them fold the flag that's hanging on the casket. And he
said it was just so formal, and it was so reverent. He said,
it just moved me. You ever been moved with compassion? He was. He feels pity. He feels pity. I was at Isabella's
school the other day for a Thanksgiving lunch. I met Hannah and the girls
over there. And one of the kids in Isabella's
class, his little sister came. Isabella's little sister came.
It was for the whole family. And this little girl was so cute. You could tell she was very short
for her age, underdeveloped, small little face, big thick
glasses. And I just, I just, my heart
latched on to her. I thought that's the cutest little
thing I've ever seen in my life. If I could, I would save your
soul. And then I'd give you all. Our
Lord feels pity. He gives thanks. He said, I thank
thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you hid these
things from the wise and prudent and revealed among the babes.
Thank you. Psalm 2 says, he laughs. I can't wait to see his face
when he laughs. He loves. He has a heart. He said, David
is a man after my own heart. He cried. When he went to Jerusalem,
he came, rode into Jerusalem. triumphantly. And as soon as
he saw Jerusalem, he knew in 30 years, Rome is coming in and
they're going to throw this city down. Not one stone is going
to be left on another. They're going to slaughter the
Jews. And he said, if only you knew.
And he cried. He was standing there with Martha
and Mary at Lazarus, Lazarus's tomb, and he cried. He's full of emotion. Aren't
you glad? He is a God of emotion. We worship the God-man. We worship the God-man. He said,
in the day that you sin against me, you're going to surely die.
But in Ezekiel 33, he said, I have no pleasure in the death of the
wicked. None. It grieved him at his heart. But because he's holy, because
he can do no other than the law of God, everything on this planet
had to die. Every single thing. Verse 8 says,
but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Now we just looked
at that last Sunday, so I'm going to go straight to the point,
okay? We looked at grace last Sunday. Our Lord said, search
the scriptures. These are they which testify
of me. Search these scriptures and find out how they point you
to me. Verse eight says, Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. Now when God destroyed this world,
He destroyed the whole world. I mean the whole world. Everything
that had breath in it. Millions of people. Millions
of people. At the time that He destroyed
the world, how many people does it say found grace in the eyes
of the Lord? One. But Noah won in the eyes
of God. If any mercy was had, it was
only because of one. That's it. Had it not been for
Noah, there would have been no mercy shown to this planet. One. One. Do you know who the only
one that can keep a sinner from suffering the judgment of God
is? Do you know who the only one
who can save a soul from God's wrath is? It's Christ. That's it. There is only one
way that a sinner is going to be spared eternal damnation. It's if that sinner is in Christ. There's only one way that any
sinner is going to find favor with God. It's in Christ. He's the only one who found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. You know that? I, God in mercy,
put me in the one who found grace. This is my beloved son in whom
I'm well pleased. If it were not for Christ, no
mercy would be shown to this earth. None. Now I just want
to go through a few scriptures and see Noah as a type of Christ.
Okay. And then we'll, we'll be done.
Verse nine here says, Genesis six, verse nine says, these are
the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man. That's Christ. Noah was not just. Noah was a
sinner, but in Christ, Noah was a just man. Christ is the just
one. All right? That's Christ. He
says, Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations. Can
that be said about anybody but Jesus Christ? Pilate said, I
can find no fault in him. None. And Noah walked with God. That's Christ. In the beginning
was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God. Verse
13 says, And God said unto Noah, He communed all of this specifically
to Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth
is filled with violence through them, and behold, I will destroy
them with the earth. Make thee an ark. You're going to have to do the
work. You've got to do the work. Make
thee an ark. Verse 14 says, rooms shalt thou
make. You're going to have to prepare
the place. Verse 14 says, you're going to
pitch it within and without with pitch. And we're going to see
what that is in just a minute. Verse 18 says Genesis 6 verse
18. It says, but with thee, will
I establish my covenant? Who is God's covenant with? We
talk about this covenant, right? You know, well, I'm going to
make a covenant with a dead, vile, wicked center. If I will,
I know if you will, I will. There's not one center on Earth
that can keep a covenant with God. You know who the covenant
is with? Christ. It's in Christ. Christ is going to keep the covenant. Verse 19 says, and of every living
thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the
ark to keep them alive with thee. You're going to bring them. Verse
21 and take thou unto thee. of all food that's eaten, and
thou shalt gather it to thee, and it shall be for food for
thee and for them." You're going to provide for them. Verse 22
says, Thus did Noah, according to all that God commanded him,
so did he. Now, I've always seen pictures,
kids, like children, Sunday school pictures of Noah's ark. And they
got the skeleton of the ark up. And you got Noah and Shem and
Ham, and maybe Japheth is with Noah and their two men are sawing
on a log together. And I cannot imagine Noah building
this ark without any help. I just can't imagine that. This
thing is huge. I mean, it was huge. But as a
type of Christ, nowhere in this book does it say anyone helped
Noah. Not one place. From all that we've been told
by God, Noah built this ark by himself. Hold your place right
here and go to Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 verse 7 says, By faith, Noah, being warned
of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared
an ark to the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the
world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."
That's Jesus Christ. That's who that is. That's Jesus
Christ. Christ did this work alone. Christ secured salvation alone. Now go back over to Genesis with
me. Chapter 7, verse 1 says, And the Lord said unto Noah,
Come thou and all thy house into the ark. For thee have I seen
righteous before me in this generation. Can we not hear the Father talking
to the Son? Come thou and all thy house because
I've seen you righteous. You can just listen to this.
We know this. This is Isaiah 6 verse 1 says, In the year that
King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne,
high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. You know what
his train is? That's every soul that's riding
his coattails. Every sinner that's wrapped up
in his garment. covered in his own robe. God the Father says, welcome
in my son and all those who are with him and all those who are
in him are welcome too. Come on in. Genesis 7 verse 13,
we're almost finished. Verse 13 says, in the self same
day entered Noah, Shem and Ham and Japheth the sons of Noah
and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them into
the ark They and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle
after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the
earth after his kind, every fowl after his kind, every bird of
every sort, and they went in unto Noah, they went in unto Noah, into
the ark two and two of all flesh wherein is the breath of life.
If a sinner is going to enter in, he must come to Christ. He must come to Christ. Verse
23 says, chapter 7, 23, every living substance was destroyed,
which was upon the face of the ground, both man and cattle and
creeping things and the fowl of heaven. And they were destroyed
from the earth and Noah only remained alive. and they that
were with him in the ark. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. What is a sinner's hope? We talk
about our hope. What is our hope? Chapter 8 verse
1 says, God remembered Noah. Noah, Gabe is not the word, Gabe's
not right there. Noah. God remembered Christ,
that's my only hope is that God remembers Christ. When God sees me, my hope is
that God see Christ in me. He sees what Christ has done
for me. As soon as he looks on me, my
only hope is going to be to start crying, Christ, that's my only
hope, is that God remembers Christ. Chapter 8 verse 6, And it came
to pass at the end of forty days that Noah opened the window of
the ark which he had made. Let there be light. The day star
has risen with healing in his wings. Verse 13, And it came
to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month,
the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off
the earth, and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked,
and behold, the face of the ground was dry. The veil was rent. Remove the covering. See him
as he is. Verse 20, And Noah builded an
altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast, and of
every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
And the Lord smelled a sweet savor. And the Lord said in his
heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's
sake. For the imagination of man's heart is evil from his
youth, neither will I again smite any more everything living as
I have done. The sweet smelling sacrifice
of Christ. And he said, that's it. No more
wrath. Soon as he smelled that, that's
it. No more. Chapter 9 verse 1 says, God blessed
Noah and his sons. And his sons. He made a covenant
with him and his sons. Now let me close with this. Look
at verse 12. God said, This is the token of
the covenant which I make between me and you, and every living
creature that is with you for perpetual generations. I do set
my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant
between me and the earth. He said, I'm going to put a rainbow
as a token of a covenant. No more wrath. Do you know where
we can see that rainbow? Well, we can see it when it rains,
yeah. But do you know where we're going to see it for all eternity?
Go over to Revelation 4. Revelation 4 verse 1 says, And immediately I was in the
Spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat
on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon
like a jasper and a sardine stone, and there was a rainbow round
about the throne in the sight like unto an emerald." Every
time we approach that throne, we want to walk up to a rainbow.
And it's a token that this throne is a throne of grace, is the
throne to no more wrath. Come on up. You cannot be condemned. It's Christ that died. That's
our token. Good news, isn't it? All right,
you're dismissed.