Turn with me to Genesis chapter
6. Genesis chapter 6. I want to
read the whole chapter before I begin. Genesis chapter 6. 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 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 to the daughters of men, that they bear children to them, the
same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. 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, and let me just say that because I'm not gonna deal
with it. It doesn't mean that God changed. but it's talking
about God being grieved. 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 creeping thing and fowls of the air, for it
repenteth me that I have made them. But, oh, how we ought to
give glory to God for that small conjunction. But Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of
Noah. Noah was a just man, and perfect in all his generations. And Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Sham,
Ham, and Japheth. 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. And God said unto Noah, the end,
now think about it, think about it. And God said unto Noah, the
end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with
violence through them, and behold, I will destroy them with the
earth. This was a promise from God. It was not merely a threat. Make thee an ark of gopher wood. Rooms shalt thou make in the
ark, and shalt pitch it within, and without with pitch. And this
is the fashion which thou shalt make of it. The length of the
ark shall be 300 cubits, the breadth of it 50 cubits, and
the height of it 30 cubits. It was a box, a rectangular-shaped
box, a large box. A window shalt thou make to the
ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above, and the door
of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof, with lower,
second, and third stories shalt thou make it. And behold, I,
even I do bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all
flesh wherein is the breath of life from under heaven and everything
that is in the earth shall die. Remember, Noah is told this before
he even begins building. But, here we go again. But, oh thank God, but with thee,
you see it? But with thee will I establish
my covenant and thou shalt, not you ought to, you shall. This
is the way it's going to be. and thou shalt come into the
ark thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with
thee. And every living thing of all
flesh, two of every sort, shalt thou bring into the ark to keep
them alive with thee. They shall be male and female. of fowls after their kind, and
of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth
after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee to
keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all
food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee, and
it shall be for food for thee and for them. Thus did Noah And
let us not be afraid of that word did or do. Some people think we're afraid
of that word. No, we're not afraid of that word. Thus did Noah,
according to all that God commanded him, so did he. My title for this morning's message
and the main thrust of my message is this. pre-flood nevers. Six pre-flood nevers. That is six things that I want
us to consider. And they'll be used with the
word never. Now I don't intend on dealing with the ark and the
types and the symbols. And do not misunderstand me,
I am not belittling those things, those types and those symbols.
But when it says, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord,
that's not a type or a symbol. That's the real thing. When it
said Noah was a just man in his generations and walked with God,
that's not a type and a symbol. That's the real thing. What I
want to try to do this morning is deal with the actual historical
account which speaks of God Almighty saving, not just physically.
He saved the human race. physically he saved the human
race in eight people and he saved all of the Animals that had breath
in its nostrils that breathe breath into its lungs He saved
all of them too in those tubes And that's the only purpose God
had for that and Most people think about it, and I'm not gonna
deal with this a lot, but most people think that when Noah preached
for 120 years, and it says he was a preacher of righteousness,
they think that Noah was preaching to men and women trying to get
them to repent so they'd get on the boat too. That's not what
was going on. Noah preached God's righteousness
for 120 years, and the righteousness of God for them, for the world,
was he's gonna damn you. He's going to fill your lungs
with water and destroy you from off the face of the earth. Joe,
that's the righteousness of God. Most people think God's judgment
is just what God's hand is forced to do. No, it says what if God
willing, willing, what if God willing to show his wrath? So, Here begins, I says begins,
the inspired account of Noah and the flood. But note the connection
with the pre-flood names. In our minds, we know this, but
our minds are prone to get to a chapter and we think it's starting
over a whole new subject. But it says, and, do you see
it? And. So he is clearly connecting
what he's about to give an account of here, Moses is, he's clearly
connecting it to all of those pre-flood names. Consider this,
just a couple preliminary thoughts. Adam and Seth both died before
Noah's birth. That's the first preliminary
thought. Adam and Seth both died before Noah's birth. However,
they were the only two in this list of names that died before
Noah's birth. Here's the second preliminary
thought. Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, even Enoch, who lived
less years than any of them, and he didn't really, we can't
say he just lived, he lived and was caught up. He didn't die. But even, think of it, Enos,
Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, and Lamech all lived
anywhere from 84 to 600 years after Noah's birth. That's amazing. Think of it, all of them did.
Even Enos was alive when Noah was born. So here's the third
thought. It very well may have been that
Methuselah, go back and look at the figure sometime if you
want. It may very well have been that Methuselah and Lamech may
have bounced little Sham, Ham, and Japheth on their knee. Now
Sham, Ham, and Japheth seemed to have been triplets because
they were all born in the same year. Either had to be a set
of twins and then one singular or all three triplets. That's
not the point. The point is here was Methuselah and Lamech very
possibly bouncing little Sham, Ham, and Japheth on their knee.
And yet again we read, and it came to pass. You see it? And it came to pass when men
began to multiply on the face of the earth. And what does he
say during these names? Such and such is born to so and
so. And then they begat sons and daughters. You know what
it says? So we're still reading the same thing here. Remember,
all of them are still alive at this point of time other than
Adam and Seth. 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, and who are the sons
of God in the context? It's at least these men whose
names are given that's been begatten and begatten and begatten. Maybe
you've read or heard some of the things, there were people
out there that say this was the angels. You ever heard that nonsense? Our Lord lets us know that's
not so. These sons of God in the context are Adam, Seth, Edith,
Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, and Lamech, and Noah. That the sons of God saw the
daughters of men, and they were fair, that they were fair, and
they chose them wives, or I'm sorry, and they took them wives
of all which they chose. Now are we ready for? Genesis
chapter six now. Now are we ready to see what
God says in Genesis chapter six? Two more preliminary things before
we get to the six nevers. First of all, the first preliminary
thing, and it came to pass. And when I thought about that
phrase, I thought this, and it always does, when man chooses. When man is given his choice,
Look what comes to pass. The sons of God did not marry
the daughters of God. The sons of God married the daughters
of men. Unbelievers! And they took all that they what?
Chose. Men, oh, hold on now, hold on. And they took them wives of all
which they chose. Let me tell you something, folks.
Listen to me. We don't want God to give us our choice. Because our choice will ruin
us and may well ruin others around us. And it came to pass. And it always does. Look, downward
spiral. Now, man's already totally depraved,
but he now begins to manifest it in unprecedented violence
and self-choice. Now, here's the other preliminary
thing. Here are the six nevers shown
in this chapter. That's what my title again is,
six pre-flood nevers. Here's the first one, never. Never think that a believer's
conduct does not matter, good or evil. The sons of God seen
the daughters of men and they took them wives of all which
they chose. We talk about depravity We preach
total depravity and men and women hear us preach total depravity
and they think we're talking about everybody else but ourselves.
We're talking about ourselves as well. Even born again believers
are full of corruption and deceit. And if God gives us our choice,
we will start in a downward spiral from which we cannot recover
ourselves, save God Almighty move in and stop us. Look at
David the king. That's all I need to mention. Look at Lot. Lot is you. Lot is me. Lot is not a type
or symbol, he's me. He's you by nature. Never think that the believer's
conduct doesn't matter. Paul put it this way, 1 Corinthians
15, verse 33. And I've always known this verse,
but it was three words that slipped my mind. You've heard the phrase,
evil communications corrupt good manners. But that's just not
sound advice. The first three words of that
verse are this, be not deceived. Improper associations, I will
give you what he's actually saying there. Improper associations
corrupts, not may, corrupts. not could, not might, evil, improper
associations corrupts good behavior, good conduct. It is a set law
by God, like we call the law of gravity. This is a set law. You associate with the wrong
things and the wrong people, it will corrupt you. It will
corrupt me. And that's from marriage all
the way down to the message you hear preached by men. Be not deceived. Well, I listen
to this preacher. I don't know that he really knows
the truth, but he says some good things. So did Satan. Be careful what and who you associate
with. God destroyed a whole world one
time, because the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that
they were fair, they were beautiful, and they said, I want that one,
and I want that one. And with no regard for what?
The whole earth had corrupted God's what? Way. Way. Think of this, there was no law
even then, given from Sinai. And yet God says, I have a way. And when men corrupt that way,
oh, here's the second never. Joe's done giving it to you.
I give him permission to do this. Never underestimate all men's
depravity, saved or lost. Do you hear what I said? Never
underestimate your depravity. Listen to what, and you don't
have to turn there, but if you want you can, but Isaiah chapter
one, and you know the passage. Verse nine, except the Lord of
hosts had left us a very small remnant, we, we should have been
as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. You are no better than those
vile homosexuals that God destroyed in Sodom and Gomorrah. Oh, never underestimate all men's
depravity. Well, that was back then. Oh,
you look, read some of, there were men of renown born during
some of this time. They established whole cities.
One of them learned to use brass or whatever it was. These were
wise men and women. Many of them lived hundreds of
years. Joe, they had time to figure
things out. They had civilizations. But the whole worth was filled
with violence. And it began with the sons of
God. Is that not the context here?
We like to think, well, here's old Methuselah, and Lamech, and
Enos, and all these folks, and boy, they're just serving the
Lord. Here's these great, great believers of old, and everybody
else around them was bad. No, they were just as bad by
nature. Just as bad by nature. And when
God Almighty gives us our choice, our depravity will show forth
itself in unprecedented manner. Here's the third never. Never
think that God is under obligation to show mercy. You hear what
I said? Never think that God is under
obligation to show mercy. God says, God is never obliged
to umpire. That's the word for strife. to
umpire. God is never obliged to umpire. Look at it. 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. God turned men over to themselves
for 120 years, and look what happened. The whole earth was
filled with violence. To umpire means this, to enforce
the rules. And God for 120 years stopped
enforcing the rules, gave man his sway, and look where man
took himself to. What does that mean? It means
that God stopped restraining men's actions. He stopped restraining
men's actions. And when God Almighty don't restrain
you, I don't care whether you're lost or saved, you will start
in a downward spiral. You will start in a downward
spiral. Third thing here about never
think God is under obligation to show mercy. Remember, he's
not obliged to umpire. He can let you go. In Paul's
day, Paul said God gave some people over to a reprobate mind.
And folks, I think we see a lot of that in our day too. Look
at the TV and you see some of the horrid things that we do
to one another now. God's turning men over to a reprobate mind.
He stopped umpiring. He stopped enforcing the rules.
He stopped restraint. Here's where we take ourselves.
Always. Always. It never fails. But here's
the third thing. God removes his restraint and
men will boom. in rebellion. Verse 11, and God
looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt. For all flesh
had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah,
the end of all flesh is come before me. Not it might be, if
you can't get some of them on this boat. I'm gonna kill them. And I'm gonna save eight of you.
and I'm gonna save the animals, but that's it. People think Noah
was out there trying to get people saved. No! He says it condemned
the world with an overflow. He was preaching to men their
damnation, and he was letting them know God's gonna save his
people. That's what he was preaching. It would have been a farce for
Noah to offer all these men and women a place on the ark. It
wasn't made for every man, woman, boy, and girl. It was made to
a specified size. Fit for the task at hand. Huh? I mean, Joe, it had room
enough for all the people and all the animals and all their
food. What else does you need? And
that's what the ark was designed for. Here's the fourth never. Never
despair. Now remember, God is under no
obligation to show mercy. Now is he? He said, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. And whom I will, I'll harden. And God doesn't have to put something
in a man to harden him. All God's gotta do is what? Quit
umpiring. Quit striving. Quit enforcing the rules. Withdraw
his restraint. Never though, never, here's the
fourth never, never despair of God's covenant mercy. God's gonna
save some people. Now whether it's me or you, we
could argue about that all day long. God's going to save some
folk. Is that not what we see in this? Is that not what we
see? He promised it. I'm gonna damn
everybody else. I'm gonna fill their lungs with
water and kill them. But I'm gonna save you and your
wife and your three sons and their three wives. To everybody
else. Now folks, that is a holy God. That is a holy God. Look at it,
but Noah. found grace, that don't mean
grace was just laying out there in the weeds and he walked by
and there it was. Okay, you look at the Hebrew word, you say he
didn't deserve it, he didn't earn it, he didn't merit it,
he found grace. Noah was just like everybody
else before. Do you hear what I'm saying?
Just like you and I, we found grace in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of
Noah. Noah was a just man, and it's
only after he found grace in the lie eyes of the Lord that
he's declared to be a just man. And we know this is true. These
are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect
in all generations. Is that what it said? No, in
his generations. Once God saved him, he walked
with God. Now we know Noah was no perfect
man, no sinless man, because no sooner had he got off the
ark and had time to plant some grapes, evidently he took some
grapes on that ship, on that boat, on that ark, and he had
some of those seeds, and he planted them, Jades, and after however
long it takes for grapes to come up and a little bit of fermentation,
he got dog drunk and passed out. Yes or no? This is the same man
that says Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And he
was a just man and perfect in all his generations. And Noah
walked with God. You see, when you walk with God,
you still are what you are by nature from the get-go. That
hasn't changed. God don't smell it up a little. He don't put a little holy perfume
on it. My flesh is what? Flesh. And that which is born
of the flesh can never be anything else but flesh. Oh, but thank
God that which is born of the Spirit can never be anything
else other than what? Spirit. Spirit. I want to be
one of those kind of people. I do. Now, am I saying I'm not
talking about, oh, I want to enjoy the Adamic side. That's not what I'm talking about.
Don't misunderstand me. But I want to be one of those
kind. I heard a pastor say one time, I think it may have been
Todd Nyberg, he said it's only the new man, that new creation,
it's only the new man that acknowledges the sins of the old. The old
man never acknowledges his own sins. He loves them, drinks it
up like water. Drinks up iniquity like a thirsty
man drinks up water. Man by nature is one-natured. Man by new birth becomes two-natured. And that's just the way it is.
Somebody says, why did God leave us like that? Because he wanted
to. You ever tell your kids that when they ask you? You say, okay,
here's the rule. Here's the way it is. Why? Because I said so.
That's a good answer. You're the child. This is the
way it is. I'm the parent. I say this is
the way it is. That's the way it is. Somebody
says, I don't like that kind of parent. You don't like God
either. You hate God for who he is. Never despair of God's
covenant mercy. Look at it. And God said to Noah,
the end of all flesh, but make you an ark of gopher wood. You
see it? Make you an ark of gopher wood.
And he said, Noah, it's gonna be for you. It's gonna be for
your wife. It's gonna be for your three sons, Sham, Ham, and
Japheth. It's gonna be for their three
wives. And that's it. Yes or no? Is that not what this account
has? And yet you read these little Bible story books and have Noah
out there just preaching to men, you know. They actually think
Noah was trying to get people to get on the ark. The ark's
for a specific people. And Joe, you done preached it
this morning, good message. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Everybody else believes not.
And Christ said if you believe not that I am he, you'll die
in your sins. Here's the fifth never. Never
despair God's covenant provision in his covenant mercy. You gonna
have enough food to get you through this trip. Right, you know what
he said? For you have enough food for
you and that will get you all the way to the end. Is that not
what God promises his people who are in Christ? I'll give
you, not necessarily your lustful desires. He ain't gonna give
us that. He may turn us over to him, but
he ain't gonna give you that. But Jack Metas, he gives me everything
I need in this life to get me through to the end. And if I
don't have it right now, it's because I don't need it right
now. If I never get it, it's because it was not for my good. And if I get it and I corrupt
it, it's my fault. It's my fault, not God's. Here's the sixth never. Never
belittle obedience to the means God ordained in covenant mercy. Chapter six of verse 22. Thus
did Noah. Right? Thus did Noah. Don't be afraid of did. Don't
be afraid of do. But remember this, you have no
credit for any doing. If you ever do anything, God
commands you. Oh, I have turned to Hebrews
chapter 13. Listen to what Hebrews says. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse
20. But before I read it, let me
give you this. If a flood is promised, a flood
that will drown men's souls in condemnation before God, Well,
I argue before God of what I do, should do, or should not do.
Not if God's giving you any spiritual wisdom at all. Now think about
it. Noah's doing was faith in action. Okay? It says, by faith, Noah
being warned of God, moved with fear, and built an ark to the
saving of his house. Mack, his doing was the doing
of faith. And the only faith that is of
any value is a doing, active, living faith. A faith that says,
God says this, I believe him. And if there's anything connected
with me doing something, I'm going to engage in it. Right? And look, here's why I say, there's
never any boast in this. Let me give it to you. If a flood is promised, that
will drown men's souls in condemnation before God. Will I argue before
God of what I should do or should not do? No, not if God's given
you faith you won't. If you have a God-given faith,
you won't worry about do, you worry about the, here's what
faith, it obeys. Now a lot of people are doing
a lot of things that God didn't tell them to do. You understand
what I'm saying? And some of them may be great
moral things. They think by that doing, they're
going to gain God's favor. He'd already had God's favor.
He found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He already had that. But he believed God. God said,
I'm gonna drown them all. Now, your only hope is on a boat.
An ark, right? So, here's the wood. What's Noah
say? Boys, get out the axes and the
saws. Get out the pitch. Start gathering
up the provisions. Get us some straw and some berries. We'll do whatever it takes. Let's
get to work. Now if work scares you, you don't
know God. Here we go now, Hebrews chapter
13, verse 20. Now the God of peace. that brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of
the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant.
That's the same covenant God was talking about when he said,
I will make a covenant with you. When he talked to Noah. There
is but one covenant that shows mercy and peace. It's the blood
of the everlasting covenant. Look, make you perfect in every
good work to Do His will, working in you. Do you see it? So therefore, he gets the credit
for it, Joe. Because he's the one making me do what I ought
to do. And he said, make you perfect
in every good work to do his will, working in you that which
is well pleasing in his sight. How? Through Jesus Christ. So who gets the credit? Christ
does because he's the one making it happen. To whom? Be glory forever and ever, and
that's the only glory. We'll get no glory. This thing
of, well, I'll have a crown. You don't get it. You don't get
it. To whom be glory forever and
ever, and then what's he write? Amen. Mac, all the glory goes to him.
For everything from start to finish. It all goes to Him. Oh God, teach us these things.
Teach us that truth as it is in Christ Jesus. Oh God, bow
us to Christ. In His name I pray, amen.