Lord, with glowing hearts I praise
Thee For the bliss this love bestows For the pardon, grace
that saved me And the peace that from it flows This our song to earth to raise. Thou dost light the flame, for
never can a love be won to praise. Praise my soul, the God that
sought thee. Wretched one, wherefore? Soundly walked, and kindly brought
thee from your path of death away. There is nothing but a
feeling in his heart. And the light of hope revealing
May your blood-stained cross appear Praised by Savior God the Holy,
to the cross a new life to give. Held up high, still fighting
to be, may we look to Him and live. Whose treads remind me of the
love I daily need. Praise the grace whose promise
warms me. Praise the grace that blisters
teeth. The. The. I. Want. To. within the grave. And since words can never measure
whether I myself thought or I prayed. I want you to first open your
Bible to Matthew chapter twenty-four. Our text will be found in Genesis
chapter six, so you can find that as well. Before we go to Genesis 6, I
want to read something from Matthew 24 here. Our Lord is speaking
here in Matthew 24 about his return to this earth. He says in verse thirty-four,
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass till all these
things be fulfilled. Most scholars, Bible scholars,
and I'm careful to use that term. I know many say they are, but
most men who study diligently the genealogies and so forth
Say that there are 2,000-year generations, basically 2,000
years to the time of Noah, or just past Noah, to Abraham,
and then from there to the time of Christ, another 2,000 years,
and then 2,000 years—it's nearly 2,000 years now. This is that
generation that Christ lived in. All right? Verse thirty-five. Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but my words shall not pass away. Of that day and hour knoweth
no man, no. Not the angels of heaven, but
my Father only. Many men try to predict it today,
don't they? I should say many fools. It says here, no man knoweth. Doesn't it? Good day. And the hour. No man, only the
Father in heaven. Verse 37. But, and he, up there
earlier, he gave a parable. He says, when you see the fig
tree and it's bringing forth leaves, you know, summer is nigh.
He learned, he learned a parable of the fig tree. He said, when
you see these things happening, you know it's near anyway. But as in the days of Noah, as
in the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the
Son of Man be. For as in the days of Noah, the
days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking
and marrying and giving in marriage. until the day that Noah entered
into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them
all away. So shall also the coming of the
Son of Man be. As in the days of Noah, it says,
they were eating and drinking. Now, there's nothing wrong with
that. You could not live on this planet
if you did not eat and drink. Our Lord is not condemning that.
eating and drinking, nor is he condemning marrying and giving
in marriage. He's not saying there's anything
wrong with living in this life and enjoying this life, you young
people. One of our ladies said to me,
she remembered seeing these things as a child and being concerned
that the Lord might come back during her childhood, and she
thought to herself, well, I haven't even lived yet. I want to get
married. I want to have children. I want
to live. And the Lord blesses that. The
Lord said that's fine. Do it. He's not condemning that
here. You children don't give up life on this planet because
it says the Lord's coming. Enjoy life. Get married. The
scriptures in Ecclesiastes 5 deals with that. that there's nothing
better for a man or a woman on this earth to do on this earth
than to find a wife or husband and enjoy and live this life
to its fullest as a man or woman. Enjoy it. Don't give up. You
don't know when he's coming. You might be a middle-aged person. You might be old. There might
be now, but don't give up life here. But this I would say to
you. Seek him whom to know is to have
eternal life. And the reason we're put here
primarily is that we might know him. Seek him first. He promised this. He said if
you seek him first, he'll add these things to you. He'll give
you a husband, a good one, a good wife, and all these things that
you need. There's nothing wrong with these
things. So don't say, well, I'm just going to give up. The Lord
may come. Well, he may come, but don't give up. Seek him. Seek to know him. Enjoy your
childhood. Have a good time. The Lord's
not like some men would have us to think, that he doesn't
want us to enjoy ourselves. No, no. Well, what he's saying
here is that as in the days of Noah, so shall it be when he
comes, that they were doing all these things they didn't know.
It says, knew not. Knew not what? Knew not God. Now, there's the danger. It's
in getting caught up with this world and whatever that may be,
you know, whether it's pleasures and marriage and home and job
and family and all, and not ever knowing Christ or God. Now, there's
the danger. And knew not until the flood
came, till the day that Christ comes. Who's that? And when He comes, if you know
Him, you won't have to ask that. They knew not. And so shall it
be when Christ comes. All right? Just the same as it
was in Noah's day. All right, now look back at Genesis
chapter 6. All right? Genesis chapter 6. So shall it be when Christ comes. So our chief need is that we
might know him, know him, know Christ. Enjoy this life, but
you need to know him whom to know is to have eternal life.
Does that make sense? Sure it does. Genesis 6 is a
description of the days of Noah and the people in Noah's day,
and it's not unlike today. Very similar in every way. We'll
see that. Verse 1, Genesis 6, verse 1,
It came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the
earth, daughters were born unto them. As I said, this was between
the year of 1600 and 2000 years. Scholars estimate that there
were up to eleven billion people on the earth at this time. Eleven billion on the earth at this time. There
are five billion on the earth now. By the year 2000, estimates
are there will be around seven There are 11 billion people on
the planet at this time, up to that. Some say many, many more.
They begin to multiply. Men and women lived hundreds
of years and had hundreds of children. You can imagine how
quickly they would multiply, right, Nancy? They'd multiply rapidly. Verse
2, it says that the sons of God saw the daughters of men. that
they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they
chose. The sons of God married the fair
daughters of men." Now, these sons of God seem to imply Seth. Seth, back in chapter 4, verse
26. Seth is the generation that the
Lord gives that even Christ himself came from. through Mary's death. Sons of God. They took of them
wives, and I believe that these are the sons of men. I believe
that has to do with sons of Cain. They intermingled and mixed with
sons of Cain. Sons of God married sons of Cain. The scriptures are married daughters
of Cain. The scriptures are very plain
about believers. being not unequally yoked together
with unbelief. And I would say that to our young
people, you born and raised and brought up under the sound of
the gospel. And I say it time and time again, you seek to know
Christ. And by God's grace, if he reveals
Christ to you, then you seek a husband who knows Christ or
you're going to have misery the rest of your days. You don't
know that now, but you are. You're going to have a trial
and trouble as you've never known before. like being married to
someone who does not know Christ nor care about the gospel. Well,
the sons of God did that back then. They married the daughters
of men, it says, they were very fair. Of all they chose, do you
see that? They took them wives of all which
they chose. That seems to indicate more than
one, doesn't it, Steve? Multiple wives. This is where This practice took place as Cain's
sons started it, and here it was carried on—multiple wives,
verse 3. Now, get the picture here, this
building. Billions of people on the planet, multiplying, marrying,
giving in marriage, eating, drinking, partying, carousing, marrying
multiple wives, and so forth. Verse 3, the Lord said, My spirit
shall not always strive with man. My spirit, my restraining hand,
my mercy, and the mercy of God is upon all his creation to some
extent. Yes, it is. God causes the rain
to fall upon the just as well as the unjust. A man who doesn't give God a
thought, he has his garden watered, just like the man who believes
God. God said, he won't always be
that way. I won't always strive with man. I won't always put
up with him. That's what he's saying. I won't always put up
with man. I'm going to have enough of him.
Conscience. He said, I'll not always leave
a conscience in man and be seared with a hot iron. Verse three,
he also is flesh, yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty
years. Now what that's saying is he's got a hundred and twenty
more. Not that men would bend or live
up to 120 years. What he's saying is that from
the time he said that, there'd be 120 more years. That's how
long Noah was in building the ark. I turn to, if you want to, you
can, 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3. You see, Noah
was 120 years in building this ark. And I'm not going to stop and
try to prove the existence of the flood. There are many, many,
many proofs, many scholarly proofs, many, many, many scholarly papers
and books and so forth written on to prove the flood, such as
the cave drawings of a boat and animals and so forth that were
found. The Andes and the caves of South
America and China and all over this world, every civilization,
every generation, every civilization, every tribe and kindred has some
kind of story passed down through their people of some kind of
worldwide deluge of water. They don't give the man the name
Noah, but they give him some other name. I'm not going to
stop and prove all of that. It's not written to those. It's
not written to those who need proof. You see, we read that
in 2 Peter, didn't we? They're willingly ignorant. They're
flooded. I'm not trying to prove anything to scoffers. If there's
anyone in here like that this morning, I'm not trying to prove
anything to you. God doesn't have to prove himself to anybody,
nor will he. No, he hides these things from
the wise and the prudent and reveals them unto babes. If you
come wanting and willing to learn, he'll teach you, but not if you
You're going to have to prove it to me." He won't do it. He
doesn't have to. But there was a flood in 1 Peter
3, and Noah was 120 years in building this ark, this boat. 120 years, God gave man, so to
speak, space to repent. 120 years, the ark was being
prepared, and Noah was a preacher. With every stroke of that hammer
of Noah, he was preaching. Scripture says he was a preacher
of righteousness, doesn't it? Preacher of righteousness. With
every stroke of that hammer, he was preaching judgments coming,
repent, get in the ark. That's the gospel, isn't it? God's holy. He's going to, we're
by no means clear of the guilty. He's going to judge sin, put
away sin. Call upon him for mercy, get
in the ark, which he is. Christ is the ark. We need to
be in it by faith. And you know what? Preach this
for 120 years. Same message, Stan. That's the
only message you have. He was a preacher. All right,
look at 1 Peter 3. It says in verse 19, verse 16,
Christ suffered once. I'm sorry, verse 18. Christ suffered
once for sin. the just and the unjust, that
he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit, Holy Spirit, by which, by the Spirit
also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which
sometime, or at one time, were disobedient. When? When were
these spirits? When did he preach? When were
these spirits? What is this talking about? Verse
20 tells us. When, once, the long-suffering
of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a-preparing? You see that? Is this verse ever
causing you a problem? It should and should it. Isn't
that very clear to you, Rick, William? When did he preach this
gospel? Some say Christ went to hell
when he was killed on the cross and preached for three days.
That's absolutely ridiculous. Why would he do that? They're
there. They weren't there to stay. Why would he preach the
gospel to them? No, here it says that he went by the Spirit and
preached to the spirits that are now in prison, which sometime,
at one time, were disobedient. When? Once, the longsuffering
of God waited in the days of Noah while the archers were preparing,
wherein, or in that time, few, that is, eight souls were saved
by water. But he was preaching. The Spirit of God through Noah
was preaching the gospel. Didn't he, Art? Judgment's coming. God's holy. He hates sin. Get in the ark. The only safety
is in the ark. Get in the ark. 120 years. All right, back to
Genesis 6. And Peter, remember Peter said,
well, you need to account that the longsuffering of the Lord
is salvation still. It's still salvation. You see,
the door is still open. The door of the ark, the door
to Christ, the way to Christ is still open. He says, come,
come. Today is the day of salvation.
Maybe not tomorrow. The door might be shut tomorrow.
He says, once and once the master of the house has risen up and
shut up the door. He says, then they were saying
to him, let us in, let us in. That's exactly what happened,
and that was done. I guarantee you, when the door shut and the
flood started coming up, they were beating on that door. Please let us see him. He had ample opportunity, a hundred
and twenty years. A hundred and twenty years. They scoffed and
mocked by his foolishness. And they knew not until the day.
It came, the Lord started raining cats and dogs. The only difference
is the cats and dogs were saved. All right, look at verse 4. It
says, In those days there were giants in the earth. There were
giants in the earth in those days also. After that, when the
sons of God came into the daughters of men, they had bare children
to them. The same became mighty men of old, men of renown, giants
in the earth. It said in verse 2, beautiful
women, verse 4, big men, mighty men, giant men, seven feet tall,
eight feet tall, shacks attack men, big men, seven, five, three
hundred pounds, Goliath, Not that they were wise and just
and good and godly and decent men, like some men of little
stature, but they were great and powerful men known for their
wickedness and their wealth and their corruption. They weren't
famous in the sense that they were good men, they were infamous
for their iniquity. Infamous men were highly esteemed
by their generation for their physical prowess and their wicked
acts. The more wicked, the more lewd
they were, the more famous or infamous they were. The heroes of this generation are those gigantic athletes,
impudent, insolent, rebellious, contemptible, despicable. The
most despicable people on the earth are these multi-million
dollar athletes. who are held in high esteem by
our generation simply because they are seven feet high. And
God's eyes are at that being. Despicable rebels. They are the role models of our
youth, aren't they? Isn't that so? Politicians, despicable—name
me a hero on our planet today. Find me one man that can be held
up in high esteem as a role model for our youth, as a hero of our
society, a good man, a just man, a holy man, a righteous man,
a kind man, a benevolent man, a Christ-like man. Show me one.
You'll not find them out there. The world doesn't esteem them.
The world says they're nothings, nobodies. You'll find them in
little places like this. You'll find them up in the coal
fields of West Virginia. Scott Richardson, Maurice Montgomery.
Little men with a big God. This is a description of our
society. Big men, beautiful women. Verse 5, God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth. Every...is great in the earth. Every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart. Only evil. Only evil. Continually. All the time. Every
day. Day in, day out. From sunup to
sundown. Evil continually. The wickedness
of man was great in the earth. There are literally people, literally
millions of murders and rapes and violent acts committed each
year. Right now as I speak, someone
is being brutally murdered and raped and slaughtered like a
beast by man. All over the planet. In the county
of Franklin, little old rural America, there were over twenty-three
hundred arrests by the Sheriff's Department alone last year. Little old Will got there in
Franklin County. It says that wickedness of man
is great in the earth, all through the earth. Every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart is only evil continually. Every
imaginable wickedness, every wicked thing imaginable, every
act, all manner of lewdness and vileness and corruption and filthy
acts that you could even Think of it. Think of something just
horrible that is being done to the extreme. Every corner of
this globe is filled with wickedness, from the benign disease-ridden
Far East to the violent and war-torn Mid-East. and all that, to the abominations
of Europe, sexual perversions of Sweden and England and all
that, to the crime-ridden streets of New York City, down to this
little farming community here. We can't just filthy buy our
planet that we live on. The Acts and Thoughts, it says,
Imaginations, the heart of man, is only evil continually. That's
where all these things come from. It's the heart. Jeremiah 17 and
9 says the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked. Desperately wicked. And you don't
have to go any further than your own heart to see that. In our own minds and hearts,
there's enough hell to start another one. Isn't it? There's
enough hate and venom and filthiness in our own hearts and minds to
start another hell. Is that right? Verse 6. It says, It repented
the Lord that he had made man on the earth, that grieved him
at his heart. Now, he's just speaking as a man here. The Lord
doesn't repent of anything. That means change your mind.
The Lord doesn't change his mind about anything. He's talking
in a way that we'll understand. It grieved him at his heart. He repented the Lord. To show
us what God thinks of sin grieves him at his heart, repents the
Lord. Speaking like a man, I wish I'd never met him, what he said. Do you know how some violent
acts that you read about in the paper make you just cringe? Things that are done to children
and women and despicable acts that grieve you that just actually
make your heart sink. You think, oh, it grieved you
at your heart. You think what the holy and righteous
God thinks about it all. The reason Christ sweat blood
thinking about being made sin. He's going to have all this dumped
on him. His holy nature recoiled at the thought of being made
sin. God grieves him at his heart, the holy and righteous God who
loves righteousness and hates iniquity. Actually, he despises
it. Verse 7, the Lord said, I will
destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth. I
will destroy man, and the Old Testament and the New Testament
and the whole of Scripture Time and time and time again, countless
times, speaks of this second worldwide deluge or destruction. 2 Thessalonians—I'll just read
it to you, okay? You just jot it down if you want.
2 Thessalonians 1, verses 7 and 8, it says that to you who are
troubled—are you troubled by this? Are you troubled by sin,
your own sin? Troubled by the world you live
in? We're going to see in a minute
where rest is found with a fellow in an ark, a fellow whose name
means rest. Rest with us when the Lord Jesus
shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming
fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we read it there
in 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter 3 says that verse 10 through 12, the
day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, when the
heavens shall pass away with a great noise, the elements shall
melt with a fervent heat, the earth, everything shall be burned
up. Revelation 21, all the way through,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Revelation 21 says this, Behold, I make
all things new, write this, write this. I make all things new,
a new heaven and a new earth. Mercedes says the fearful and
unbelieving, abominable, murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters,
liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with
fire and brimstone, which is the second death." So the Scriptures
are clear. The Scriptures are full in telling
us about the destruction of this planet once and for all. No different than the day of
Noah. Verse 7, I will destroy him.
I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the
earth, man and beast, every creeping thing. The fowls of the air,
it repenteth me that I have made him. And as it was then, so shall
it be when Christ comes. This planet is wicked, filthy,
vile, sinful, and about to be destroyed. But God. Look at verse 8. But Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. But Terry Kinsley found grace in
the eyes of the Lord. Although he was just like the
rest of the planet, living in it, He didn't sing it just like
that, but he found grace. But, Ed Berry found grace in
the eyes of the Lord. One man, Noah, it says, but Noah,
one man found grace in the eyes of the Lord. One man and his
household found grace. One man was chosen out from among
the people for God to be gracious to. One man is made to differ from
all the rest by the grace of God. One man is found in Christ not
having his own righteousness or having his own sin. but having
the righteousness which is by faith in Christ." One man is
saved by grace through faith, and that was not of himself.
It was the gift of God. One man, Noah, one sinner, Noah,
found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Now, that's mercy and that's
grace. One man found grace. That means that
God bestowed his grace upon him. It doesn't mean that Noah was
out looking for him. It doesn't mean that Noah did anything to
deserve it. He was a sinner. Noah was a sinner, all right?
You say, where do you get that, Preacher? Noah was a sinner no
different by nature than any of the rest of these people. The Scripture says all have sinned,
doesn't it? Scripture says, is none righteous?
No, not one. Doesn't it say that? There's
none that doeth good. It doesn't say there's none except
Moses. It doesn't say there's no one. It doesn't say that,
does it? It says, there which is flesh is fresh. And in the
flesh, no man can please God. It says all flesh, in Psalm 14,
in Psalm 19, all flesh is corrupted before God. The whole earth is
full of battles. But Noah fell on grace in the
eyes of the Lord. Noah was a sinner. Look back
at chapter 8. Look, I'll show you. I'll show
you. Noah wasn't Anybody and anybody
else? Noah found grace. Look at chapter
8, you got it? Look at verse 21. Now this is
after the flood, isn't it? You got it? This is after the
flood. Verse 20, Noah built an altar
unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast, and every clean
fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. That's all a picture
of Christ. 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. And my margin says, even though.
Though the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth.
Who's he talking about? He's already killed all of those
wicked, foul, wretched sinners. No one found grace. One old sinner,
who was a sinner, who's still a sinner, found grace. Noah was
still a sinner. He says, I still don't believe
it. All right. Look at chapter 9, verse 20. Noah, right after
he got off that ark, he planted him a garden. Had him a little
garden. It began to be a husband first
one and he planted a vineyard and he drank of the wine and
got drunk and laid naked in his tent and his son came in to him
and we just don't know what happened. Something about it. Yes. Yes. This man a sinner. Oh he's a
sinner. But, Noah found grace in the
eyes of the Lord. Do you see that? Do you see that? Look back at the text again,
just to see. Look back at the text. Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. Do you see that? It says that
first, doesn't it? You see, growth comes first, and then regeneration. of when
to change. Noah did become a good man in
Christ. Noah did become a righteous man.
Look at verse 9. Here's Noah the saint. See, Noah
is a sinner, yet Noah is a saint. I hear preachers say, Noah, that
all you saints out there, and then he addresses himself, now
you sinners. There ain't no difference. Every saint's a sinner, except
the ones in heaven now. Paul said, this is a faithful
sinner who will give all exultation. This is worth hearing if you're
a sinner. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, not
the righteous. He's going to leave them alone. The good, religious,
moral, upright, righteous folk, leave them alone. He couldn't
come save sinners. Oh, boy, that's worth hearing
in the John. Paul is an old man, apostle, about to die. He said, "...of whom I am..."
That was not back years ago when I used to live. "...am the chief." See, it's still the hope of every
saint is that this is a faithful saint. He saves sinners. When He called you, you were
sinner. When He chose you, you were sinner. Didn't see anything
in you good to recommend you to Him. He just chose you of
His own free will according to the good pleasure of His own
will. Chose you. Chose to love you. Gave you to
Christ. Sent Christ to save you. He did
that. Now you're still a sinner, aren't
you? You're not living above sin. You're a little better than
what you used to, per se, on the outside, but that ain't saying
much. Still got these wicked, vile thoughts within him, don't
you? Still a sinner. What's your hope now, Stan? Have
you begun in the Spirit or by His grace? Are you going to take
the law now? Oh, you're still a sinner. You've
still got a good hope through grace. You see, there's a hope
for sinners through grace. Because grace is free. You don't
merit it. You don't earn it. It's free.
Who to? Good people need not apply. It's
not for everyone. Everybody can have it. Good people
can have it. Sinners don't, Kenny. Sinners
can have it. Come! Oh, he's a laborer, a heavy
laden with sin. I'll give you rest." Noah, that's
what his name means. Look at it. Noah was a sinner,
saved, justified, sanctified. Verse 9 says, these are the generations
of Noah. Noah was a just man. Say, you
see that picture? Yeah, I see it. After he found
grace. Huh? That's no coincidence that verse
9 followed verse 8. No, I found grace, and so therefore
God justified him. There ain't no end of flesh.
By the works of the Lord, no flesh will be justified. Did
I say that? No. Nobody's going to be justified.
Nor was it just because he lived a good life. No, he was justified
because God justified him and gave him to Christ. And Christ
shed his blood for him and imputed his righteousness to him. There's
no other way. He was justified by faith, John.
Faith in who? Faith in God? No man comes unto
the Father but by Christ. He believed Christ. You remember
our story about Enoch walking with God? You remember that?
Who did Enoch walk with? How did Enoch know God? No man
has seen the Father at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared it. No man cometh
unto the Father but by me. One Lord, one face, said, I'm
the way. I'm the way to God. Nobody, Adam, to the last minute,
nobody gets to God but through Jesus Christ. You've got to know
Jesus Christ. Job, one of the oldest men in
the Bible, he didn't know his name was Jesus, but he said,
I know my Redeemer lives. I know God's Christ. Adam, he
didn't know his name was Jesus of Nazareth, but he knew that
woman's seed God's Messiah was going to come and was going to
do for him what he couldn't do for himself. He had faith in
that. So he shed blood, blood, blood, blood. Noah was a just
man because Noah had faith in God's Christ. The Spirit shall discern all
things. That's right. Just man. Justified by faith.
Faith in who? There's one Lord, one faith.
One faith. One baptism. Now, Charles Ross
is not leaving because he disagrees with what I'm saying. Are you,
Charles? No, you believe. He believes firmly what I'm preaching
here. He's got, his wife's got to do
the work, and he's got to take it. A just man, instead of a
perfect man, an upright man, why was he considered perfect?
It means a whole, complete man, because he was accepted in a
beloved. He was perfect in Christ, because
God impeded the righteousness of Jesus Christ to Noah's account. To say Christ hadn't been born
yet, oh, he's called the Lamb slain before the foundation of
the world. Because God saw Noah as under the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ, his sins were forgiven. Because God saw Noah as perfect,
as justified by the righteousness of Jesus Christ, Noah was considered
a just and a perfect man. Is that right, Rick Williams?
You study the Bible some, don't you? That's right, isn't it?
There's no other way to be justified. No other way to be considered
perfect. And Noah walked with God. Can two walk together except
they be agreed? Well, Hebrews 11, 6 says, He
that cometh to God must believe that he is. That who is? That
Christ is. Our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
redemption, all and in all. Noah wouldn't save one way, and
we're saved another. No. One way. Christ said, I have
the way. When Noah walked with God, he
walks by faith in Jesus Christ, is what he did. All right? Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Why did Noah know this? Why did
Noah know Christ? Why did Noah believe in the coming
Messiah? Why? Because Noah found grace. Noah
found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He found grace. Lastly,
let me just tell you something about this grace that he found.
All right? It says, Noah found grace in
the eyes of the Lord. What kind of grace was it? It
was saving grace. It was saving grace. Noah was
saved. He had what? He was saved from that flood. It didn't come near him. He was
in the ark. Not a drop fell on his head. I don't mean that root
didn't leave a drop. And there is therefore now no
condemnation, the Scripture says, to them that are in Christ. I
give unto them eternal life, and they will not perish." Well, if an old wooden boat could
save a man, what about the hand of the Lord of glory? He said,
no man will pluck him out of my hand. Christ the Almighty.
It was saving grace. It was sovereign grace. It says
Noah had grace. Why not one of these other people
over here, one of these sons of Cain, like Zimba, or Tubal
Cain, or Jabal Jubal, Jabal Jubal Jubal? Why not Mahuba Shaba? Why Noah? Because God's sovereign,
he shows mercy on whom he will, and he'll show grace to whom
he will. And he said, Noah's going to find grace. He doesn't
deserve any more than the rest of them. But Noah found grace.
God said, I'm going to be gracious to Noah. Thank God. I know one
man who was thankful for sovereign grace. Noah. He didn't argue,
why don't you choose my brother, Lord? That's not fair, Lord.
He didn't argue. He said, thank God for choosing
me. No earthly ungrace. Sovereign
grace. Electing grace. Electing grace. Effectual grace. Scripture says you were just
and a perfect man. That's effectual. The blood of
Jesus Christ cleanses us from all our sin. Eternal grace. Hebrews 11, 7 says this. Listen. Hebrews 11, 7 says this. By faith,
Noah became heir of righteousness. Noah's there now. It's eternal. Noah got drunk as a sinner. I
guarantee you he repented of it, too. He felt sorry, but Noah
found grace. And when you find that grace
from God, it's eternal. Eternal grace. Noah became an
heir. Noah was a sinner, but Noah became
an heir of righteousness. It was restraining grace. I said
after he found grace, Noah was a changed man. He was a good
man as far as men go, and he was a good man. He wasn't living
in open sin like he used to. He was a just man. He was a righteous
man. He was like Christ as a reason. Not in loving self, was it? Faith and grace. Restraining
grace. Restraining grace. He was being
conformed to the image of Christ, walking with God. How? By grace. God had determined before him
he should walk and did work. Know him. Be a good man. And
he was faithful, by grace. So many people mistake They respect
the restraining grace of God for His own personal holiness.
Because you don't do something doesn't mean you're a better
person. It means God restrained you. Because you do do something,
because you're sitting here this morning, does not mean that you're
a better person than somebody else. It means God constrained
you by grace. It's all grace. All of grace.
If you're not a masterminder, it's my grace. If you're a son
of God, it's my grace. It's all a grace, constraining
grace. Verse 18 says that, verse 18
says, "...with thee will I establish my covenant, and thou shalt come
into the ark." God didn't say, Noah, if you're
willing, if you'll take the first step. Noah, if you will please,
please come, Noah. God, I want to, and I can't save
you unless you let me, unless you come in this ark. Please,
Noah, come. God said, you will come. I don't have any problem with
that. I love that. I just like it. I wouldn't come
had he not said, you should come. Noah was made willing. in the
day of God's power. Chapter 7, verse 1, "'Good noble,
come!' The Lord said unto him, Come, come thou in all thy house,
for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation."
How's that? None righteous, none unrighteous. In Christ, by faith. Verse 16, "'Did he come?' Yeah,
he did, as God commanded him, and the Lord Oh boy, shut him
in. He was shut up to grace, wasn't
he? Shut up by grace, shut him in
by grace. He was once in that ark, no one
was going to stay in that ark. Once in grace, always in grace. Eternal. That means forever,
doesn't it? I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish. He said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come unto me. And he that comes, I'll shut
him in. That he ain't going out. Like
that. I like that. Well, they went
in. Verse 23 says, look at this. Verse 23, I'll quit. Chapter
7. Verse 23. The last cut line or so says,
Noah only remained alive and they that were with him in the
ark. Noah lived, and all were with
him in the ark. I hope I've whet your appetite.
Tonight, we're going to talk—we're going to see Noah as a type of
the Lord Jesus Christ, as a type of Christ who alone is alive,
and only those that are going to live are going to be with
him in the ark. In the covenant. Crucified, buried, and risen
with him. Noah. Rest. His name means rest. Noah means rest. Christ said,
come unto me, I'll give you rest. Our Noah. Our captain. All right,
stand with me. Stand with me. Brother Henry,
would you come up here, please, and dismiss us in prayer. Come
up here, Brother Henry. Thank you, Father. Oh, Father, we thank
you for our great Redeemer. Thank you
for our Lord, which is Christ Jesus. Thank you that we can
be found in him through thy grace, thy grace alone. Thank you for each one that has
come this morning. Lord, may you speak to each heart. Our hearts are so dark. Lightness
that we might know Christ and who he is. We might know this
great God that provided salvation for his people. There's one here
that's pointing it. Lord, it's never seen their need for
thee or never seen their self. of the law are condemned. May
this be the day that they see the condemned outside of Christ.
Your might draw unto thee. Save your sheep. Bring us back
tonight, and may we receive from thy word another blessing. In
Christ Jesus we pray, in his name, amen. It's just a question of who you
are and what you want to do with your life. It's just a question
of who you are and what you want to do with your life. It's just
a question of who you are and what you want to do with your
life. Thank you. I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, they love it. So I'm going to go ahead and
do that. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. She didn't get it from no one,
so we don't want to talk about it with everybody. Yeah, we got it. Yeah, we got
it. We don't want to speak with you
at all. Yeah, I know. She doesn't want
to speak with anybody at all. I don't want to do it. I don't want to do it. I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing
at you. So I think that, and I just want
to thank Dr. Sheehan for having this panel.
Thank you, Mr. Sheehan, for that. She's doing
a raveling amount of interviews and working with some more of
our students in the field. Thank you.