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 an hundred and twenty years." There were
giants in the earth in those days, Also, after that, when
the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they
bare 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 things and the fowls of the air, for
it repenteth me that I have made them." Now watch verse 8 is our
text. But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. In the midst of all of that,
but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Now, this is a very
interesting and expressive passage of the Blessed Scripture. There
are several things here good for our learning and for our
admonition, because they are for the first time mentioned
here in this place in the Scripture. and which are woven into the
whole fabric of the scripture. Some things that are first mentioned
here, yet are carried over into other places as well. And one
of the most important that we have, and that we will consider
being, the doctrine of saving grace. Are you surprised? that so early in the history
of the family of man that there is a declaration of the saving
grace of God. Before we get to that, there
are a couple of things here that could prove a stumbling block,
and indeed they have for many years. Some have sought to glamorize. And some have sought to sensationalize
parts of this passage, such as the second verse, making some
sort of intermarriage that took place between such called the
sons of God and the daughters of men. Some hold that the sons
of God were angels who then cohabited with women on the earth, based
upon a text like Job chapter 2 and verse 1, and Job 1 and
verse 6, simply where the angels are called the sons of God. Most likely, the sons of God
were Sethites, That is, descendants and offspring of Seth who were
allured by the beauty, the physical beauty and attraction from those
of the line of Cain, marrying them therefore only for their
beauty. Now the other difficult part
of this passage would be, I guess, verse 6 and verse 7. that speaks
of God having repented of having made man. Charnot wrote, when
God speaks of this repenting that he made man, quote, it is
a word suited to our capacity that it might signify his detestation
of sin and his resolution to punish it He repents not as men
do, Numbers chapter 23 and verse 19. His repentance is not of
the same sort as man, and in 1 Samuel chapter 15 and verse
29, again we learn his repentance is not as ours. Now, to properly understand and
appreciate the text that we have taken, Noah found grace in the
eyes of the Lord. We must first consider the backdrop
against which this great text is spoken, especially since verse
8 opens with a but. But, having said all of that,
but, Noah, used here as a conjunction but, expresses a contrast. as if it were said, he once was
poor, but now is wealthy. So we have here, they were sinful,
the earth was covered, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the
Lord. John Newton wrote it, I once
was blind, but now I see. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. and the connection connect words
and phrases. The conjunction for makes the
connection and draws the conclusion. Now, in the case of Noah, we
see both the connection and the contrast in this passage of the
scripture. It is a contrast to what is said
in verses 1 through 7. Of all that is declared there,
verse 8, is a contrast, and especially is it a contrast from verses
5 through 7. Now, I want to go back. I want
you to look with me first at verse 5, and let's read it. God saw that the wickedness of
man was great in the earth, that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually. Again, verse 6. It repented the
Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him
at his heart." Verse 7, "'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 things and the fowls of the air, for
it repented me that I have made them." Now these we have described
by them the extent of the wickedness of that generation. The wickedness
of that generation was great. Great was the sin, the violence,
and rebellion against God in that generation. He said their
whole intent and purposes and desires were constantly evil,
every day, all the time, morning to evening, their evil imagination
sprung into action for some evil for that day. And their evil
intentions never failed them, for they went forth and committed
sin against God. There's a further description
of that generation that lies past the text that we've read.
If you look down in verse 11 and verse 12 of Genesis chapter
6, while I read, the earth also was corrupt before God, and the
earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth,
and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted his way
upon the earth. The earth now is corrupt before
God. It is filled with all manner
of violence." Now, not the material earth itself, not the ground
itself, but the people that inhabited the earth that God had created,
the ones that are described back in verse 4 of this chapter. They were distinguished sinners. They were above and beyond the
measure of ordinary sinners. They were noted for their sins. And the word giant there in verse
4 is by some rendered nephilim, and can be understood to mean
the fallen ones. There were fallen ones in the
earth in that day. Look at verse 12, all flesh had
corrupted his way upon the earth. The apostle Peter referred to
that generation as, quote, the world of the ungodly, over in
2 Peter 2 and verse 5. And the Lord himself made reference
to what he called the coming of the Son of Man, and when he
illustrated by that generation upon which the flood had come. You'll see it in Matthew 24 and
verses 37 through verse 39. The Lord spoke to them of an
event that would come upon them very suddenly and very unexpectedly. Now Noah was a preacher of righteousness,
2 Peter 2 and verse 5. According to God's command, he
was building an ark in preparation for the great flood that God
would send upon the earth. But his fallen fellow citizens,
to quote the Lord in Matthew 24, verse 37 and verse 38, says to the generation in which
our Lord appeared, as the days of Noah. Before the flood they
were eating and drinking 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." Our Lord reminds His hearers
of that, feeding themselves, eating and drinking, their own
selfish affairs of life, and yet suddenly Did there come a
flood upon the world and destroy them all? All except Noah and
his family who were in the ark. all because Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. But going back to Genesis chapter
6 and our text, God's judgment was to be poured out in the form
of a flood on that sinful generation. All life upon the face of the
earth was to be destroyed, all in whom was the breath of life
would be destroyed," Genesis 6 and verse 17. And we read,
but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. All the world was
corrupt and under the condemnation. but Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. God repented of making man, but
Noah, a man, found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Man had come
to know good and evil, as we learned in Genesis 3, but Noah
found grace in the eyes of the Lord. I agree with Calvin, who
said on chapter 6, and verse 8, that it is wrong to think
if one finds grace in God's sight it is because they have sought
it or by their own industry or merit have gained it." It is
not that Noah went in search of grace, looking here and there,
and at last found it. Grace by its very nature is free
Sovereign and unmerited. By that rule of being sovereign,
it is never bestowed upon a sinner by God as a result of anything
that the sinner is or can do. Nothing meritorious does God
see in a sinner in bestowing grace upon them. God does not
trade favors with sinners. You give me this and I'll give
you grace. You give this to God and He'll
give you grace in return. Grace is never given on the grounds
of work or of merit. It is never given to repay some
service or some obedience or some work. Never. For then it
would not be grace. For as Paul says in Romans 11
and verse 6, Grace is no longer grace when it is mixed in that
way. Now, the text that we have is
in several ways profitable for our learning. First, upon the
principle of first mention, and that's important when we are
studying theology, that this is the first time in Genesis
6 and verse 8 that the word grace is used in the Bible in the Scripture. And it is not in the New Testament,
but it is in the sixth chapter of the first book of our Bible. And the old-time preachers were
fond of saying that in the first mention of some great truth in
the Scripture, there are the seeds of how the doctrine will
unfold and how it will be applied and used later on in the scripture. So many doctrines of Christianity
have their roots in the Old Testament, such as grace in Noah, justification
in Abraham, righteousness, the doctrine of suretyship in Genesis
43 and 9, as well as those firstborn and firstfruits that are spiritually
brought over into the New Testament. Now, from our text this morning,
we learned that grace is an Old Testament doctrine. How many
people do not grasp that this morning that are sitting in churches? saved sinners before the law,
during the law, and after the law. True, it is more manifest
in the appearing of Christ wearing the likeness of our flesh and
the preaching of the gospel, but the very careful reader will
notice that the Old Testament more often emphasizes it from
the standpoint of mercy than from grace. till grace is an
Old Testament doctrine beyond question. We might notice, especially
in the Old Testament, that scriptures speak of a double finding of
grace. There are two ways in which men
may find grace. Number one, one may find, like
Noah, grace in the eyes of the Lord. It may be the Lord's eyes
in which grace is found. Secondly, one man may find grace
in the eyes of another person, usually a superior. And I'll give you some examples. In both cases, such as fine grace,
whether it be in the eyes of the Lord or in the eyes of some
superior, are then treated differently. They are treated differently
upon the fact that they have found grace. They are greatly
blessed. They are especially cared for
and looked after. They are given special treatment. They are highly favored. They
are exalted. They are blessed. They are protected,
they are put in a most blessed place, who find favor either
in the eye of God or in the eye of a superior. Let's consider
the last case first, when one finds grace or favor in the eye
of another person. One of the best examples of one
finding grace in the eyes of a superior is that of the case
of Joseph. Joseph, after being sold into
slavery, bought by Potiphar down in the land of Egypt. And in
Genesis 39 and verse 4, sold into slavery, Joseph found grace
in his sight, and he, that is, Potiphar, made him overseer over
his house, and Joseph became the steward of the house of Potiphar. Again, when Joseph was cast into
prison. or the false accusation of Potiphar's
wife. Then again, in Genesis chapter
39 and verse 21 we read, the Lord was with Joseph, showed
him mercy, gave him favor in all the sight of the keeper of
the prison, and made all that he did to prosper. Joseph was
made to prosper and found favor even in the keeper of the prison. Then in Exodus 33, 12 through
17, there is the case of Moses, who found grace in the sight
of God to deliver the people and to be helped and blessed
by God, to go with him and to give him rest. You have found
grace in my sight. I will go with you, and I will
provide you rest." Another one. There is Ruth, the Gentile widow
and stranger, who came back to Bethlehem in harvest and found
grace in the sight of Boaz. You have that in Ruth 2 and verses
2 and verse 10. And finding grace in the eyes
of Boaz, the rich owner of much property, she became his wife
and entered into the lineage of Christ that put her in the
lineage of our Lord and Savior. There are others of whom we cannot
speak now at this time except to make the point. In the Old
Testament, the word favor and the word grace are interchangeable
and are synonymous in so many places, being the same word exactly
in the Hebrew. For to show grace is to show
favor. and to show favor is to extend
grace, is to be treated graciously by God or by another, to bestow
some honor and some blessing upon the head of that one finding
grace. Now in the case of Noah, he found
grace and was saved from the destruction of the flood by grace. God distinguished him, made a
difference, separated between him and the rest of the other
sinners in that generation. And giving him grace, he shielded
Noah from God's wrath upon that apostate generation that God
determined to pour out. He gave him grace. He extended
him favor in revealing to him a means of escaping the wrath
of the flood, the ark which was a type of Christ, carried Noah
safely, which shielded him from the great death, lifted him above
the destroying waters of that great flood. Let us, like Moses
then, turn aside here temporarily to behold this great and terrible
sight, the flood. which the Bible teaches was both
literal and worldwide. To deny the flood is to deny
the word of our God. God said the world was flooded
and it was. The flood is acknowledged both
in the Old Testament and by the New Testament writers who mention
it. It's mentioned as being a literal
actual flood. It is not mystical, it is not
spiritual, it is a literal flood. But the flood did not come until
Noah was saved in the ark and sealed in. And then the fountains
of the deep were broken up. The windows of heaven were opened,
Genesis 7, and 11. And whether you believe it or
not, it rained continuously 40 days and 49. Now, it was not
the result of global warming or of carbon emissions or carbon
footprint. It was the means that God took
to judge and destroy that exceeding generation of sinners. He was an expression of his wrath
against man's sin. Genesis 6 and verse 7, I will
destroy man. Genesis 6 and 13, the end of
all flesh has come up before me. Genesis 6 and 17, behold,
I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy
all flesh wherein is the breath of life. But Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. All outside of the ark died. All outside in whom was the breath
of life were destroyed by the flood. All that were inside of
the ark lived and were preserved from the death of the flood. Noah owed it all to the grace
of God. He was spared simply and only
because God extended his grace upon Noah. Because of grace Noah
did not die the death of the wicked. By grace, Noah was spared
the judgment of the flood. Then there's another point that
is to be made in relation to the grace of God that is given
unto Noah. That is that God preserved unto
himself by grace a remnant. even in the days of the flood,
God kept a remnant under himself. Not since Adam and Eve were a
single pair, and the race had multiplied, and the number of
the inhabitants had been so increased had it become so few as in the
flood. Eight souls were saved by water,
just eight, four men and four women, as well as a pair of each
species of animal and critters that God commanded Noah to bring
into the ark. God kept a remnant in two senses
here if we look at it. Number one, he kept a remnant,
a people, four couples, four men, four women, as, can I call
it, a seed of humanity. He kept them as a seed of humanity
to re-people the earth, for Genesis 9 and verse 1, be fruitful and
multiply, the command to Noah and his house. And since God
would no more again ever destroy all mankind by a flood for their
wickedness, then in Genesis 9 and verse 11 he instituted capital
punishment to be exercised for men slayers. because he'd never
again destroy the whole world as he had done. And in Genesis
chapter 9, verse 4 through verse 6, you'll see that it was instituted. A form of civil government is
set up to control the wickedness of men upon the face of the earth. even when they built the Tower
of Babel. God did not destroy them, but
he dispersed them out upon the face of the earth. So he kept
a seed, as it were, of the human race. Secondly, however, there
was also an election of grace that was involved in this. to
keep alive Noah by grace and by him the worship of God and
the saving grace of God towards sinners was manifested. Noah came off of the ark and
he did build an altar and he sacrificed the clean beast upon
that altar. And he offered sacrifices that
were well-pleasing unto God, as God smelled that sacrificial
offering. The other day, a man said to
me, why, what does that mean, that God smelled this and smelled
that? I said, well, it was pleasing
to him. It was a good aroma, it was a
sacrifice for sin that God was pleased with and accepted. Grace was not destroyed by the
flood. but a remnant was preserved. For since the beginning, God
has kept a remnant, never letting his worship and his knowledge
die out completely. Even in the times of the greatest
apostasy among the human family, there were those that God had
reserved unto himself. He has never left himself. without a witness, never left
himself without a remnant of grace. There have always been,
though few in number, vessels of mercy and of grace, and we
think always will be. Speaking of the remnants, let's
consider some examples from the Scripture, such as, number one,
the prophet Elijah. Remember him? He fled from Jezebel
who threatened to kill him. There he was at Horeb dwelling
yonder in a cave. 1 Kings 19. He was complaining
there to the Lord how all Israel had forsaken God They had torn
down the altars, and he said, I, only I, am left alone. That is, I'm the only one that
serves you. And God said unto him, listen,
I have reserved unto myself seven thousand men that have not bowed
the knee unto Baal. They have not kissed Baal at
all. You probably remember how Paul
makes reference to this very incident in Romans chapter 11. Then again, concerning remnants,
there is a passage in Isaiah 1 and verse 9 where the prophet
said this, Except the Lord of hosts had left us a remnant,
we should have been as Sodom and as Gomorrah. Yes, God had
judged the Jews, so great was their apostasy, except God left
a remnant. They had suffered the feet of
those cities. Thirdly, there is Paul's passage
concerning the Jews in his time. In Romans 11 and verse 5, he
said, even so, at this present time, there is a remnant according
to the election of grace. A remnant is a small portion. A remnant is a small part of
the overall or of the whole. Returning to Noah and our text
and the question, what put the difference between Noah and the
rest of that generation and world? Why is the whole world destroyed
and Noah is spared the stroke of God's judgment. Why does he
live and all others die? What about this man, that he
is blessed to live and to be spared and all others die, and
live in a most unique way in a wooden ark that floated upon
the flood? The answer, of course, is declared
in our text. He found grace in the eyes of
the Lord. But even here, with such a clear
statement, we have to take the club of divine truth and beat
back the merit mongers and lest they turn grace into merit. For even here would they do that,
even when they read, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. We read in 6 and 9, Noah was
a just man, perfect. The margin has upright in his
generation, and Noah walked with God. Again, we read in chapter
7 and verse 1, the Lord said unto Noah, you have I seen righteous
before me in this generation. No question about it, Noah was
a man that walked uprightly. in the things of God. So the
question is this, and it is very important. Was his doing so,
walking uprightly, being righteous and so forth, was his doing so
the cause of him finding grace or the result of Noah finding
grace? This integrity, is it the result
of grace? It is, I believe, it is that
God's grace works in Noah an integrity and a righteousness. Grace is a teacher and an influence
for righteousness, Paul tells us in Titus chapter 2 verse 11
and verse 12. Now there's something interesting
about Noah if we drop back into chapter 5 and look at verse 28
and 29. We're told there that Noah was
the son of Lamech and that he was the grandson of the oldest
living man in that day, Methuselah. From the line of Seth, Noah, had descended. So let's hear
Genesis 5 and verse 29, something interesting here. And he, that
is his father Lamech, called his name Noah, saying, This shall
comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because
of the ground which the Lord hath cursed. Now that's interesting,
isn't it? How often in those times did
the name contain a prophecy? You see it in Jacob's sons and
you see it even in Eve, in her firstborn. But how often did
their name seem to contain a prophecy? Notice. The margin notes, the
name Noah is taken to mean rest or comfort or consolation, seems
to be the meaning. What is said of Noah may have
been intended by his father as a prophecy or at least a fond
and cherished hope, that he would be an instrument, Noah would,
of relief as to the earth that the Lord had cursed for man's
sin. Matthew Henry wrote, quote, his
parents gave him that name with a prospect of him being more
than an ordinary blessing to his generation, unquote. Did they expect by Noah deliverance
from the curse upon the earth that had come because of Adam's
sin, or did they perhaps expect some mitigation of that curse
and the harshness and the hardness of it? This shall comfort us,
his father said. The expected or the desired comfort
pertained to their toil and their labor, because the earth being
cursed cause them to have a hard labor from it. We wonder, was
Lamech somewhat of the mind of Eve? Eve may have wondered when
her firstborn son was born. She may have thought or wondered,
is this the one to bruise the serpent's head? In Genesis chapter
4 and verse 1, Could Lamech have cherished some hope in regard
to his son Noah and that curse that had been put upon the earth? And by the way, the earth is
not as it were before Adam's sin. Some changes have occurred,
and Scripture clearly expresses the earth to be under a curse
for man's faith. once destroyed by water, now
reserved under fire and judgment," 2 Peter 3 and 7. See the facts
of the curse in Genesis 3, 17 through 19. Genesis 4, verse
11. Chapter 5 and verse 29. Isaiah chapter 24 verse 5 and
6, Genesis chapter 8 and verse 1, Romans chapter 8 verse 20
through 23. In view of the doctrine of the
sin of man, the Bible teaches us that God has placed a curse
upon the earth, and in view of the doctrine of global warming,
it is necessary for the Christian to have a biblical view of these
things settled in their mind, be that as it may. There is eternal
profit from having the grace of God in finding grace in the
eyes of the Lord, for on account of having grace Noah was saved
from the destruction of the flood. As 2 Peter 2-5 says, God spared
not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth, a preacher of
righteousness. Now the question of Abraham comes
to mind. When hearing that Sodom, the
residence of his nephew Lot, was to be destroyed, by fire
and brimstone for the perverse sin of the, quote, gay community,
unquote. Abraham asked God this, will
you destroy the righteous with the wicked? He pleads with God
on that behalf. Will the same judgment befall
the righteous as befalls the sinner, the wicked and the ungodly? By grace God put a difference
between the two sorts of persons, and again I say it flooded not. It flooded not till no one was
sealed in that ark, and fire and brimstone did not fall until
lot was snatched out of Sodom and Gomorrah. We read that the
Lord put a difference between the Israelites and the Egyptians,
Exodus 11 and verse 7, as to the judgment and as to the plague. The same between Noah and that
exceeding evil generation. God made a difference. He killed them, he spared Noah
by his grace. Grace is more precious, brother
and sister, than all of the riches of the world. Grace will do you
more good than all of the treasures of life. For by grace are you
saved. This grace is given in Christ. He came full of grace and of
truth. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Noah was given grace, and I quote
Calvin on that matter in closing, quote, the commencement of this
favor was gratuitous mercy. Afterward, the Lord, having embraced
Noah, retained him under his own hand lest he should perish
with the rest of the world." Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord, and God preserved him through the flood. And grace, and grace alone will
keep a sinner out of hell and from falling into the judging
hands of God. So she gives grace. are greatly
blessed. He gives grace to whom he will.
It is sovereign, and it is the most important work that God
can do towards us. Noah found grace and was saved
from the flood.