Okay, turn back to Genesis 6
now. Genesis chapter 6, we've been
going through Genesis and it's been interesting to me studying
some of these facts. By this point right here, Genesis
6 is Noah and the Ark. And by this point, men and women
have been on the planet for roughly 1,600 years by Genesis 6. Now the Old Testament was 4,000
years. So we're almost halfway through
the time of the Old Testament in Genesis 6. Isn't that something? There were a lot of people on
the earth at this time. A lot of people. 1600 years and
men were living 900 years old. And all of the people who were
on this earth, they fell into one of two categories. Adam had Cain and Abel and Seth. And Cain killed Abel. And Abel
didn't have any children. Cain disobeyed God and he brought
his own works for a sacrifice to God for sin. He brought his
own, the fruit of his own works for a sacrifice. He didn't bring
a lamb. And God cursed him. And the children of Cain lived
in open rebellion against God's word. Lamech, one of his sons, started
polygamy. That's one of the reasons why
there were so many people on the earth. They had multiple families. But it says in the days of Seth,
Adam's other son, Seth, then began men to call upon the name
of the Lord. There were two types of people
on the earth. Believers and unbelievers. That's it. All of religion can
be summed up in two ways, grace and works, right? Those who call upon the name
of the Lord, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord,
those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, those who plead
his blood alone and not their own works. John wrote to all of those people,
beloved, now are we the sons of God. That's what John wrote
to those people. Now are we the sons of God, men
and women, children of the father, All right, but look at this,
look at Genesis chapter six, verse one. 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. Probably more than one. Just like they saw the rest of
the world doing. More than likely, the world influenced them. And they started to grow calloused
to certain things, you know. They all ended up walking according
to the course of this world. All of them. their conscience being seared.
That's what happened. You know, everybody's doing it.
Times have changed. You know? I mean, I know that's how it
was back then, but things are different now. I guess gay marriage isn't so
bad. I mean, at first it was really
offensive, but now, I don't know, I'm just kind of getting used
to it. I guess living together outside
of marriage, that isn't so bad. Try each other out, see if you
like each other. I guess defiling our bodies isn't
so bad. It's just the thing people do
now, you know. This flesh is weak. We have God's
word. But this flesh is weak. It's
just weak. This conscience is so weak. This heart is weak and sin is
strong. It is strong. The strength of
sin is the law. And sin says I will break it. I will break it. What this verse of scripture
right here tells us is this. The Lord God looked down from
heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that
did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside. They are all together become
filthy. There is none that doeth good.
No, not one. All have sinned and come short.
of the glory of God, every soul, every generation, including me
and including you all. All. So what does that mean for
man? What's the result of that for
man? Verse one right here 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 120 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. And the Lord said, I will destroy
man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man
and beast and the creeping thing and the fowls of the air, for
it repenteth me that I have made them. Did he do it? Yes, he did. Yes, he did. He destroyed millions. He destroyed millions. And Noah
told the world that God was going to do it. He was a preacher of
righteousness. And because I have been called
to this position, I must tell everybody I can. that this world is in the same
boat today it was in back then. We are in the same boat. Go with
me to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. 2 Thessalonians 1, look at verse
7. And to you who are troubled,
rest with us. When the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, and he will be
revealed, he shall come. Just like he said he was going
to send a flood, and he did. He shall come. Verse 8 says,
In flaming fire. Hebrews 12.29 says, Our God is
a consuming fire. 2 Peter 3 says, The heavens and
the earth which are now are being reserved unto fire because of
ungodly men. It says right here in verse 8,
In flaming fire. taking vengeance on them that
know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. Our God is a holy God. He is a holy God. And he must
and he will punish sin. And all have sinned. Now, if I closed this Bible right
now. And we all walked out of that door right there. We would all leave this place
having heard the truth. You know that. That's the truth. Everything I just told you is
the truth. Every bit of it. Not one lie in that. The truth is painful. It is painful. It hurts. We know that it's true. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned. I acknowledge my transgressions.
We know it's true. But do you know why we come here? You know why we come here? I was working with Brother Jared
yesterday. And we both were talking about how glad we were that tomorrow
is Sunday. You know why we sinners run back
to this place? It's to hear the gospel. It's so we can hear the gospel
one more time. Now, listen to this. Everything
that I've told you about man, about his sin, about his judgment
is true. Everything that Genesis 6 verses
1 through 7 said is true. Verse 8 says, But Noah found grace. Amazing grace. How sweet the
sound. Marvelous, infinite, matchless
grace. In loving kindness, Jesus came. My soul in mercy to reclaim. And from the depths of sin and
shame through grace, he lifted me. Years I spent in vanity and pride,
caring not my Lord was crucified. All that time, knowing not it
was for me, he died on Calvary. Mercy there was great, grace
was free. Pardon there was multiplied to
me. There my burdened soul found
liberty, Calvary. Naught have I gotten, it's what
I received. Grace hath bestowed it, and I've
believed. Boasting excluded, pride I abase,
I am only a sinner saved by grace. That's it. Thank God for grace. Thank God for grace. Grace is
our message. Grace is our gospel. Turn with me to Acts chapter
20. Acts chapter 20, look at verse
22. And now behold, I go bound in
the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall
befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every
city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things
move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might
finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received
of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. That's the gospel. That's our
gospel. That is our hope. You know what
our hope is? Grace. That's our joy. Grace. That's our peace. Our sign out there says Kingsport
Sovereign Grace. You may want to know what we
preach here. We preach grace. Christ alone, scriptures alone,
grace alone. But Noah found grace and it saved
his soul. We can know everything that we
need to know about salvation through this one word, grace. Grace. Now I want to ask four
quick questions, four questions about grace, and
then we'll be done. Here's the first one. What is
it? What is grace? The second one
is whose grace is it? The third one is, how much does
it cost? And the fourth one is, where
can I find it? What is grace? Turn with me over
to Luke chapter one. You know, you cannot enter into
grace until you've entered into sin. You know that? You can't
enter into grace until you've entered into sin. Once you've entered into sin,
grace is amazing. It's amazing. Luke 1, look at
verse 26. And in the sixth month, the angel
Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth
to a virgin, espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the
house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel
came in unto her and said, Hail thou that art highly favored. Do you have a margin in your
Bible? Mine says graciously accepted, much graced. Highly favored. Grace is favor
from God. That's what it is. Favor from
God. The definition of grace is getting
what we don't deserve. Favor from God. In spite of the way we are, favor
from God. Noah found favor with God. That's what he found. Why? Why did he find that? Grace means
gift. What does a recipient of grace
receive? Look right here at verse 28.
Hail thou that are highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Noah found Christ. You know that?
Christ came to him. Christ himself is God's grace. Thanks be to God for his unspeakable
gift. Go over to Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1 verse 3 says, Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love. having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace. Every bit of that was because
of grace. To the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Now, my second question was whose
grace is it? Whose grace is it? Verse six
right there said to the praise of the glory of his grace. It's his grace, grace, grace,
God's grace. Let me show you what that means. Go to first Corinthians 15. First Corinthians 15, look at
verse 10. But by the grace of God, I am
what I am and his grace, which was bestowed upon me was not
in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all yet. Not I, but
the grace of God, which was with me. He said it's God's grace
and he bestowed it on me. Who gets the glory for grace?
God does. What that means is it's sovereign. That's what it means. It's his
grace and he bestowed it on me. He gives it to whoever he wants
to give it to. It's sovereign grace. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourself? It's a gift of God. It's bestowed
on whomever He wants to give it to. So thank God for grace. What did I do to deserve it?
Absolutely nothing. What in me was worthy of it?
Absolutely nothing. Why did He choose to give it
to me? I don't know. Thank God for grace. Thank God for grace. For God
so loved, he gave. It's sovereign grace. The amazing
thing about God's grace is that he bestows it on poor, begging
sinners. You know that? Of all the people
he could give it to, if you really stop and think about that. Poor begging centers. That's
me. That's me. I'm a poor begging
center. I am poor. I am so poor. So here's my next question. How
much does it cost? I'm poor. How much does it cost? Turn over to Romans three. Romans 3 verse 24 says, being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. It's free. It's free. It saves souls from
destruction. It's given to whomever he will.
And to whoever He gives it to, it's free. It is free. Our Lord said, Ho, everyone that
thirsteth, come ye to the waters. He that has no money, come buy
and eat. It's free. It's free. Thank God for grace. To the sinner that receives it,
it's absolutely free grace. But that doesn't mean it didn't
cost anything. It's free to you and me. But
that does not mean it didn't cost anything. Go to 2 Corinthians
8. Second Corinthians eight verse
nine says, for, you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though he was rich yet for your sakes, he became poor that
ye through his poverty might be rich. I'd be rich at Calvary. Mercy there was great. He paid it all. He gave it all. How much did he give? It's a
gift. How much did he give? All of
it. All of it. Mercy there was great. Grace was free. Free. Freely given to us, but it cost
him everything. His life. Now if grace is free, if I'm
a poor and needy sinner, and if grace is absolutely free,
where can I find it? I want it. I want it. Where can
I find it? Go with me to 2 Timothy chapter
2. Second Timothy chapter two verse
one says. Thou therefore my son be strong
in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Grace gave the son graces
in the sun. If you want grace run to Christ. If you want grace, run to Christ. It's all in Him. It's in the
one who sits on the throne. This is what Hebrews 4 says.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace. The whole throne is just covered
in grace. That we may obtain mercy and
find grace. to help in the time of need.
Look right here in 2nd Timothy chapter 1 verse 9. It says, Who
hath saved us, he did it, and called us, he did it, with a
holy calling, not according to our works. It was free. It didn't cost anything. Not
according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace. That means it's sovereign. Which
was given us in Christ Jesus. That's where it's found before
the world began. What that means is it is eternal.
It's eternal. Eternal grace. It's sovereign
grace, it's free grace, and it's eternal grace. Thank God for
grace. Thank God for grace. We will
be singing that at the top of our lungs for all eternity. Thank
God for grace. Grace, grace. God's grace.