The God of Preservation and Perishing

[0:00] That is such a great song. Beloved, so good to see all of you here this morning, eager, I hope, ready, prayed up to hear the word of the Lord and take it into our souls.

[0:17] Genesis chapter 7 is where we'll spend most of our time. This has been an interesting morning here at Grace Church. Now, I pray that behind the scenes you didn't see all that was going on and you have no idea about what I'm about to say.

[0:31] We walked in this morning and all kinds of things went topsy-turvy on us. And it happens like that sometimes. It wasn't enough that my sermon files were corrupted and we're trying to still figure that out.

[0:43] So I won't have text slides for you this morning. All of our work, Suzanne's work, is for naught. I will have a couple of pictures for you.

[0:54] All right? But we won't have any of the text. We will try to get that fixed and get it loaded with the sermon. Maybe we'll be able to put them up.

[1:07] So if you want to go back and listen to some of this and see some of the text that I've highlighted in the slides, that will be available to you. Just no text this morning for some of that.

[1:18] But I do have a couple of other things that survived all of it. And then we got up here and we're practicing and I spilled water all over the pulpit. And then I'm up here trying to do the call to worship and I can't hear myself because I had no juice.

[1:32] I didn't put this thing on. So I had to go, see? But you're going to hear me later in the sermon talk about that in a specific way. I'll try to remember to mention what I want you to know about it.

[1:42] God is in control. Right? God is in control. And so we're going to deliver this message and we're going to trust God to use it in your heart this morning.

[1:53] The title of the message is The God of Preservation and Perishing because those are the themes that we're seeing interplay throughout our text for this morning.

[2:06] So we're going to go ahead and read chapter 7 dealing specifically with the flood. We're finally there. We've kept Noah in anticipation all this time, all these many months after he had built the ark waiting for God to finally open the heavens and all of the deep and bring the flood.

[2:25] So verse 1 of chapter 7, Then the Lord said to Noah, so this is direct address. This is God Almighty speaking directly to a human being.

[2:37] Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before me in this time. You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female, and of the animals that are not clean, two, a male and his female, also of the birds of the sky by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of the earth.

[3:08] Now before we go any further, notice how many times male and female are used in those verses. So it's not real hard to figure out what God's emphasizing or what the Holy Spirit is emphasizing in those first four verses.

[3:20] Verse 4, For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made, that I have made.

[3:36] Noah did according to all that the Lord had commanded him. Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth.

[3:47] Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood. Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground, there went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.

[4:12] It came about after the seven days that the water of the flood came upon the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day, all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.

[4:36] The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. On the very same day, Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark.

[4:55] They and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, and all sorts of birds.

[5:08] So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh, in which was the breath of life. Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him, and the Lord closed it behind him.

[5:30] Then the flood came upon the earth. For forty days, the water increased, lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth.

[5:45] The water prevailed, and increased greatly upon the earth. And the ark floated on the surface of the water. The water prevailed, more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere, were under, under the heavens were covered.

[6:07] The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. All flesh that moved on the earth, perished, birds, cattle, beasts, and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind, of all that was on the dry land, all, in whose nostrils was the breath of the Spirit of life, died.

[6:35] Thus, he blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man, to animals, to creeping things, and to birds of the sky.

[6:51] And they were blotted out from the earth, and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark. And the water prevailed upon the earth, one hundred and fifty days.

[7:09] The God of preservation and perishing. We see that throughout this text. I want to run something for you this morning. I'm going to ask Josiah to cue it up.

[7:20] Just watch and take in just less than a minute. ... ... ... ... ... ...

[7:37] Today, these stats of these rocks measure thousands of feet quick, indicating a progressive flood event, just one thing undescribed in Genesis.

[8:07] To explain that our evidence exists where global flood is seen as more of the scientific evidence left behind. The flood left substantial signs that confirm Scripture. Truly, the evidence of the heart and stone.

[8:19] So, for those of you who would like to attend and do attend on Wednesday nights, Greg and I have planned to use this series after we finish this series that we're doing now in the book.

[8:35] There are five of these episodes, and we plan to show those on Wednesday night for all of you who want to attend. And then we'll try to have some discussion. Greg and I are not experts in all of this.

[8:48] There are people like that who have devoted their entire ministry as paleontologists, geologists, scientists, to talking about the science behind what we see evidenced in Scripture for us.

[9:03] And so I hope you'll make plans to do that. We'll keep you updated about when it's coming. But I wanted to show you that so that you could see that there are resources out there, out among different creation perspectives that would help you better understand some of what's going on as we look into the earth to see.

[9:24] Shouldn't there be, if something so catastrophic as a great flood happens, shouldn't there be some type of evidence? There is abundant evidence. But what does mankind do when scientists look at the same evidence that we would look at and then say that has nothing to do with a global flood?

[9:43] Yes, it was deposited by water, but we don't believe that's just myth in the Bible. What are they doing? They're suppressing the truth and unrighteousness because that's what man's heart does.

[9:53] Man doesn't want to give God the glory. He doesn't want to do that on his own. The fact that we give God glory this morning is a miracle of your rebirth in Christ Jesus.

[10:05] So God gets the glory in that rebirth, in that new nature that now wants to please Him and glorify Him. I know this. The global flood of Genesis 7 is the greatest, the single greatest physically, physically destructive event of all time.

[10:24] Up to our modern time. As it concerns historical events having the most impact on humanity, only the fall and the cross exerted more influence on mankind than God's global flood.

[10:41] Think about that. As bad as it would be for us to experience nuclear war on this planet, I don't believe that nuclear war could even have the impact on a global scale that the flood had because God did this.

[10:59] And I want you to think about that with me as we look into this this morning. To say that the flood ranks only behind the fall and the cross and its impact on humanity helps us put the flood into its proper biblical perspective as a world changing, world changing event.

[11:19] Your pastors believe in a global flood. We believe in a global impact. We take the word of God as it is written and we don't do fancy gymnastics with it.

[11:33] This is something that I want to impress on your minds this morning from this text. Now, given what I've just said, there's no wonder that the flood has come under so much attack from the forces of evil and in the name of science, liberal skeptics.

[11:50] Because the flood reveals so much to us about God. So it's no wonder that it's under attack. The flood shows us in paramount terms our God as judge against sin.

[12:07] But it also shows us God as Savior. God as Savior for sinners. Is the flood important? Oh, it's hugely important.

[12:17] Is it important for us to understand God is judge in the events of the flood? Yes, but I'm going to show you this morning what's woven in through this text that just screams at us to give glory to Almighty God as Savior.

[12:34] God is making a way in judgment for a certain people to escape it. God is making a way in judgment for a certain people.

[12:46] God is making a way in judgment for a certain people. God is making a way in judgment for a certain people escaping the judgment of God has been going on from the beginning of human history. It's not new to the New Testament. This is the same God of the cross bringing the flood.

[13:03] The cross was an ultimate judgment on sin, wasn't it? Jesus' sin? No. He'll say no. No. Our sin laid on our Savior.

[13:17] The ultimate judgment over sin and death as our Lord and Savior gave His life for us. And we're seeing that similar reality of God's judging sin in what we see in chapter 7 with the flood.

[13:35] And we need to think of this in those terms. We need to keep these things in balance, in perspective for us this morning. So this section of the Bible reveals aspects of the majesty of God's own character as seen in the extent and in the severity of the flood as God's judgment.

[13:57] Now, again, we've seen this about God already. You think about the creation account. The creation account also revealed to us God's awesome character.

[14:09] Just like His confrontation with Adam and Eve and Satan after the fall. So it's not like the flood introduces us to these new concepts of God's character.

[14:20] No. We're just seeing this continuing in our God and in our Savior. Those who would doubt the flood typically doubt a six-day creation as well.

[14:32] Well, if you doubt a six-day creation and you doubt a global flood and you pass these things off as myth, what happens when you get to the part where Moses stood at the Red Sea and parted it?

[14:44] Did that really happen? Did the cross really happen? Did Jesus really cause people to grow new limbs in front of everybody? Did He heal lepers? Did He calm the sea and tell the wind to hush?

[14:58] Or is all that myth? We get in a lot of trouble when we start messing around with these realities that teach us about the character of our God.

[15:09] These biblical accounts reveal the greatness of God's character both as judge and Savior. So God's flood also reveals some very important truths about you and about me.

[15:27] Us as human beings. Listen to this, please. Unchecked by the power of God, whether by His saving grace or His common grace, our sin nature will completely dominate, overtake, and define us.

[15:44] Yes? You've seen that in your life and I've seen it in mine. Mankind has absolutely no answer in himself for sin's power to define us, for sin's penalty to destroy us.

[16:03] We, as the Bible says, are helpless to help ourselves against personal sin. We see that in this chapter. Now look, folks, I believe that limiting the magnitude of the flood distorts our view of God, ourselves, of sin, and of the gospel of grace.

[16:27] There's a reason God has put this in here in the way that He has, emphasizing what He has. Misunderstanding the flood reduces and undermines our understanding of God's redemptive grace.

[16:43] If you minimize what God's doing in the flood, you minimize God's saving grace. That's not where we want to be. So getting God's truth right matters for godly living.

[16:58] Doctrine matters. We need to be very gracious, kind, and loving when it comes to teaching and imparting and instructing in righteousness, in sound doctrine.

[17:12] We're told to speak the truth in love to one another. But we cannot afford to step back and compromise the nature of what is God's truth, can we?

[17:27] When you think about what's at stake in us understanding who God is and how God works in the lives of human beings based on what God has told to us or revealed to us in the Bible, we cannot afford to step back from that and be compromised in it.

[17:46] We have to stand firm. But we have to stand firm in the love and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, right? Now listen, the various liberal views reducing the flood to a local event are even going so far as to relegate this to myth.

[18:07] Defy the plain statements of Scripture. They defy the clear and abundant facts even of geology and paleontology gathered from around the world.

[18:21] And this is where I start having some slides for you to see some quotes and all. And again, you can see those later as you maybe want to go back and listen to some of this or whatever, however you want to handle it.

[18:32] But just listen for now. One profound example of this worldwide evidence of a global flood. Now I'm making an issue of this this morning, a global flood, because I'm attacking all of the nonsense that's been written in volumes and volumes of books and letters and all kinds of articles.

[18:56] The global flood is a reality and it's important that we understand why. Why a global flood is critical to our understanding of redemptive grace. It's not just a matter of, well, we agree to disagree.

[19:10] We're landing and we're landing firm on the reality of what Scripture reveals. One profound example of a worldwide evidence of a global flood is known as the great unconformity.

[19:23] The great unconformity. Here's a quote. The great unconformity is the erosional surface found on every continent where pre-flood rock meets sandstone deposited by the flood.

[19:44] So unconformity simply refers to erosional surface. Now let me elaborate on that a little bit. In a newsletter outlining ICR's, the Institute for Creation Research, if you don't know about ICR, I highly recommend them to you.

[20:03] They're the parallel part to Answers in Genesis. Both of those, Answers in Genesis and the Institute for Creation Research, are awesome organizations.

[20:14] So in a newsletter outlining ICR's recent research efforts, the letter stated, quote, Geologist Dr. Timothy Clary and his research assistant continue to compile worldwide data from rock strata that show the progressive nature of a global flood, including how every continent has some of the same rock layers in the same relative order.

[20:47] The videos that we're going to show you on the Wednesday nights bear all this out. They give you the graphics and show you the detail. It is fascinating stuff to me.

[20:59] That on every continent of our planet, we find this same rock strata deposited at the same time on top of what was already there.

[21:10] How'd that get there? Where'd that come from? It's wonderful. It's wonderful.

[21:45] It's a myth. It's simply designed to teach a particular point. Maybe there was some type of flood. However, it wasn't a global flood.

[21:56] And the point of the flood is not the flood. It's to teach this particular story, some point in the story. No, that's not what we believe. We believe that it's both and. It was a global flood designed to teach about the character of God.

[22:10] Most importantly, those views do not reflect the plain teaching of the Bible. They are baseless lies that are dangerous to your faith and to my faith.

[22:24] Now look, if you allow yourself to believe these very clever sounding falsehoods, you risk being deceived about other teachings in the Bible.

[22:35] I mentioned that a moment ago. Why is that true? Because these misinterpretations encourage you to doubt and deny what the Bible means by what it clearly says.

[22:46] And that's all I'm doing up here now. I'm going to preach, hopefully, in a way that shows you that what I'm saying to you this morning is clearly, unmistakably, put into Scripture in the way that I'm going to unfold it for you.

[23:01] I'll reference it. I'll show you. We are concerned with understanding the Bible based on what it clearly says. So believing the Bible's account of a global flood is not about blind faith.

[23:18] I'm not asking you to have blind faith about anything. Our faith is anything but blind. It is made possible by the light, not the darkness.

[23:29] You and I have faith because God took the darkness out and opened us to the light so we can see. Jeff Jackson got a good glimpse at Jeff Jackson and ran to Jesus.

[23:40] That's what happened. My come to Jesus moment was because of me. God helping me to see me. But here's another thing about it. The Bible's account about a global flood is not only about not about blind faith.

[23:55] It's also not about bad science. It is not about bad science. We are ridiculed as being unsophisticated in our understanding of these events.

[24:08] It's just not good science for Christians to believe in a global flood. Nonsense. Don't you dare believe that. That is not hard to refute. There's nothing about believing in a global flood that's bad science.

[24:22] It is about the authority, veracity, and sufficiency of Scripture. What's being attacked when people deny things like this that's clearly written in the Scripture?

[24:35] What's being attacked is the truth of God's Word and God's character. Because if this stuff didn't really happen the way God says, then God's what? He's a liar at worst and an exaggerator at best.

[24:47] You want to serve a God like that? I don't either. So this is about honoring and upholding the character of Almighty God. Let's just keep it in perspective and understand that this isn't just a nice story.

[25:02] Or a hard story. Or an interesting story. This is a truth that reflects on our God and on how our God judges and saves. And it's showing us He's been doing this for a long time.

[25:16] He is faithful. The Genesis flood is obviously, I give you this, I grant you this, it's a huge topic. Hundreds of books and perhaps thousands of articles have been written about this.

[25:32] I have books at home. A couple of them sitting on the shelf right within reach of where I study. And each of those books are at least that thick and they're only on the flood. Both of them.

[25:43] And those are just two of probably 25 or 30 that I have on this subject. Answers in Genesis and the Institute for Creation Research devote much of their teaching to the first 11 chapters of Genesis.

[25:57] And a good bit of that material concerns the flood. For those of you who have visited Answers in Genesis where they've built the ark, you can go in and see a lot of what they talk about has to do with what happened during Noah's flood because it has such a great impact on the gospel itself.

[26:16] Now, my aim this morning is to preach the scripture. So that God speaks to us regarding what he wants us to know about these facts of the flood.

[26:27] How these facts teach us about God and his ever faithful heart to save. Oh, we don't want to miss the message, do we? We don't want to get so wrapped up in the flood and trying to prove the flood happened that we miss the heart of our God as a saving God.

[26:45] Because even as God judges these people in a way that boggles the mind, we see this little boat. I mean, think of it.

[26:56] The ark is so little compared to this giant world and it's just bobbing on this literally planet full of water. But in that ark is the future of mankind.

[27:15] Only God could come up with that. And it doesn't make him small. A big flood makes for a big God.

[27:29] A little bitty flood makes for a little bitty God. And I don't want to have anything to do with that. Here's something. Well, I'll tell you this.

[27:40] I want you to keep in mind, God did not lead Moses, the author of this, to record these facts to offer you and I scientific proof of a global flood.

[27:56] That's not what this was written for. So we echo at the same time, knowing that this wasn't written to be scientific proof of the flood. We will echo Francis Schaeffer, who said this, quote, There are no neutral facts, for facts are God's facts.

[28:18] That's good. There are no neutral facts. Facts are God's facts. That's another way of saying this is God's truth. If it's truth, then it reflects God.

[28:30] Because He is the God of truth. So here's what this means. We don't ask that scientific facts prove the Bible. That is not what we're after.

[28:42] The Bible is true and stands on its own. The Bible is its own testimony of it being what it says it is. So we don't need science to help prove the Bible.

[28:54] The facts of true science conform to what the Bible tells us. Amen? Now again, you know, you got to go look at these slides because I've got click, click, click, you know.

[29:07] All right. Now listen to this. I want you to hear this very carefully and what this means and why I'm making such a point of it. The point is here. You start. You start. You begin with what God says.

[29:22] You accept what the Bible means by what it says. And then you respond to God's truth as you worship and obey the Lord according to what He has revealed to you in the Bible.

[29:38] Start with what He says. Accept what He says. Worship the Lord God in the truth that He's revealed to you about who He is and how He operates. Now as we look at Genesis 7 together, it's going to reveal two actions of God's character in one event.

[30:00] The event is the flood and the ark. That's what I wish I could do is put flood slash ark because they go together. They're very important.

[30:13] So two actions of God's character in one event, the flood. The first action concerns this. The unbelief and the resulting disobedience of mankind which brought God's judgment.

[30:26] But then there's another action that we see in the flood and it's the belief and resulting obedience of Noah. And that brings salvation. We've got to see both and.

[30:37] The Hebrews needed to see the people that Moses wrote to. These people needed to see and reflect on the truths about God as judge and Savior.

[30:51] Revealed in the global flood event. All right. Here's where I told you that I would mention to you all these little details that happened this morning. And, you know, we're tempted to say, boy, the devil's really working hard to keep this from coming off.

[31:05] Well, OK. I think he does do that in different ways, perhaps. But listen to this. You've heard the devil's in the details. Let me give you a better one.

[31:16] The greater truth is that God is in the details of life. We believe in a sovereign God. All of that stuff happened. And yet what's going on right now? We're worshiping.

[31:28] Right. The word's going out. And we're being instructed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. God is greater than our sin. And the greater truth is that God is in the details of life.

[31:42] And we look at him. And that is exactly what we see in Genesis 7. We're going to take it apart together. So the first point for those of you who are taking notes, I keep grabbing this clicker.

[31:52] I'm going to put this thing up. I'm so conditioned. The first point that we'll deal with this morning concerns the faithfulness of God. The faithfulness of God.

[32:05] Now, that is the big idea. That is the overarching, central, predominant idea. And I could start every sermon that I preach in every verse of the Bible with that point.

[32:18] Because the Bible is a declaration of God revealing his faithfulness to mankind. Every verse of Scripture in some way reveals the faithfulness of God.

[32:29] He is faithful. What do I mean by that? Well, the point here in chapter 7 is this. God proves his promise. He proves his promise. That's what we're seeing and that's what we're going to highlight first.

[32:42] We're highlighting the truthfulness and trustworthiness of God as seen in chapter 7 of Genesis. The flood event. We're highlighting the truthfulness and trustworthiness of God.

[32:55] And it is so interesting to me how God brings that truth and trustworthiness out in this particular story. Think of it this way now. God has always proven faithful to keep his word.

[33:08] Right? He has. He will fulfill all that he's promised and all that he's purposed. That's especially difficult for us when we face rough, tough circumstances in life.

[33:22] I can imagine that even though Noah and his family are entering the ark, what's going on outside? Remember, nobody's ever built a boat like this before.

[33:33] There's never been a need for anything like this. Noah's going to go in the boat. That's a lot of trust. That thing's going to float. He has no idea what's coming. God's told him. But there's nothing to put into perspective the catastrophe that's about to descend on the planet.

[33:49] So here's Noah in the boat. And I think this was tough. It wasn't just tough for the people outside. That goes without saying. But I think it was probably tough for Noah and his family to hear all of that going on out there.

[34:04] Very scary. Unbelief brings punishment. Belief brings salvation. We see that since the fall, right?

[34:17] The Hebrews have seen God act in judgment several times against unbelief and disobedience among them already. The Hebrews.

[34:28] So remember, Moses is writing to this to the Hebrew people. We think that most likely this is a time right before the people are going to cross over into the promised land, cross the Jordan into the promised land.

[34:39] After 40 years of wandering in the desert as part of God's punishment and discipline, that whole generation dies off. The next generation is coming up and now they're going to take the land under Joshua's leadership.

[34:51] Because Moses is going to fade off the scene. They've already seen God judge the people a number of times and a number of occasions. For example, when God opened the ground, remember that?

[35:04] And He swallowed up all the dissenters. Well, they saw that happen. By keeping His promise of judgment, He is demonstrating Israel's need to see that from the very beginning, God has acted to judge rebellion and unbelief.

[35:26] Now, can't you see as you read the Old Testament, you can see why this would be important for Moses to connect with the people about, right? You have a judging God here.

[35:37] You have a God who punishes sin. Do not play with the Lord. He doesn't play games with this, right? And then what do we see Israel do? What happens? Back and forth, man.

[35:52] Stubborn, stubborn people. This is why this is so important. God declared, God promised that He would act to bring judgment on the violent, corrupt, evil, wicked world.

[36:08] He told them. Look with me, if you will, and rehearse this back in chapter 6, verse 3. Then the Lord said, Let's do a running inventory here.

[36:20] Then the Lord said, My Spirit, the Holy Spirit, shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh. Nevertheless, his days shall be 120 years.

[36:33] So God set a time frame of 120 years before He would bring judgment on these people. I'm giving you 120 years to see the light and to repent.

[36:45] Then if you look at chapter 6, verse 7. The Lord said, I will, I will, it's coming. I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, for I'm sorry that I've made them.

[37:04] Verse 13 of chapter 6. Then God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence because of them, and behold, what does He say?

[37:16] I am about to destroy them with the earth. Wow! And then finally, if you look at verse 17, Behold, I, even I, am bringing the flood of water upon the earth to destroy all flesh, and which is the breath of life from under heaven.

[37:39] Everything that is on the earth shall perish. And then you might want to just add, chapter 7, verse 4.

[37:50] For after seven more days, now the time has finally arrived after 120 years, I will send rain on the earth 40 days and 40 nights.

[38:04] I will blot out from the face of the land everything that I have made. Look, God is a God of His Word. Did He not say He was going to do this?

[38:16] And so what would we see in the Lord if He didn't do it? He's going to do it. He acts on His promises. If you look at chapter 7, verses 10 through 12, it came about, after the seven days that the water of the flood came upon the earth, in the 600th year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the 17th day of the month.

[38:42] Now let me ask you, does that sound like myth to you? Why would God give these kinds of specifics? Because this is historical fact. On the 17th day of the month, on the same day, all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened, and the rain fell upon the earth for 40 days.

[39:05] And 40, we're going to see this over and over again. Look, the fountains of the great deep, what does it say they did? Burst open. Burst open. So you don't need to read that in a calm way.

[39:20] This is cataclysmic. This describes incredibly powerful hydrothermal eruptions or explosions for my engineer guys out here.

[39:35] These are powerful, powerful hydrothermal explosions. And this hydrothermal activity along with erupting volcanoes at the time are opening huge fissures or splits in earth's crust.

[39:51] Hot water and magma are combining as powerfully destructive forces. And this is happening around the world at the same time.

[40:03] It's not just happening where Noah is. The entire earth is erupting like this at the same time. We just can't even...

[40:13] You see what I'm saying? We don't have a nuclear bomb that powerful. To reach around the globe and cause this kind of upheaval? No.

[40:24] We don't have anything close to that. It's a mind-boggling reality. This is what the text is giving to us if we'll just take time to deal with it in a way where we're allowing it to mean what it says.

[40:42] Notice the next phrase. And the floodgates. Floodgates, folks, of the sky were opened. So we've got something going on on the earth's surface that's cataclysmic.

[40:56] And now we've got this flood. No one's ever seen rain come out of the sky like this before. From below and above, massive, massive amounts of water are devastating the entire earth.

[41:11] And here's the point. This is not a naturally caused event. God is using the processes of nature that He made to do this.

[41:26] But this isn't naturally occurring. God's making it happen. He's the force behind this happening. This is a God-caused cataclysm.

[41:39] And it's happening, as I said, simultaneously around the globe. Unbelievable. Notice in chapter 6, verse 17.

[41:52] Behold, I, even I, am bringing the flood of water upon the earth. Why do you suppose He said it like that?

[42:04] How about chapter 7, verse 4? I will send rain on the earth 40 days and 40 nights. Look, the awful, terrible, terrifying moment has now come.

[42:18] It's here. There's no more warning. No more preaching. No more pleading. It's here. God is commanding His creation to bring about the fulfillment of His promise of judgment against sin.

[42:37] Here's the way He says it. I am. I love that. I am about to destroy them with the earth. Everything that is on the earth shall perish.

[42:52] Everything. That's a definitive statement, folks. The second point that I want to bring to you in the way of these truths that reveal God's character in this event, remember, let's look behind the event to see the activity and the heart of our God.

[43:08] What does this teach us about our God? What does it say about redemption? The cross. The grace of God. The judgment of God.

[43:20] So the second point that I want to make for you here is the future of mankind. We've seen the faithfulness of God. He keeps His Word. He keeps His Word as judge.

[43:31] I will do it. I'm going to do what I said. What did He say? One day, my Son will return in glory. The trump will sound. The sky will split. The dead will meet Him in the air.

[43:43] The others will be taken. That's coming. He is a God of His Word. And then, the tribulation. And everything about what He says is going to happen.

[43:55] And it's going to be a terrible, terrible... You will not want to be alive in that time. And Greg and I believe that the church will be raptured before that event. To spare us from that suffering.

[44:06] Why should we be here to be punished in what will be judgment on the earth during the tribulation? We're the redeemed of God who suffer no condemnation because Jesus took it for us.

[44:19] So that's what we believe. But it's coming, nonetheless, is the point. Now, what about the future of mankind? Because we've got to deal with these eight people in this little boat.

[44:30] And I say little in perspective, right? To this big world and cataclysm that's going on. Now, here's the point in the future of mankind. God preserves mankind.

[44:43] We've got to see that. God's faith in the future of mankind. God's faith in the future of mankind. This highlights the salvation of God. God isn't just some judge up there taking all great delight and seeing people suffer and die.

[44:56] For heaven's sake. But He is keeping His promise of judgment. That shows His faithfulness to His Word because He said He'd do it.

[45:06] But we also see God's faithfulness in the opposite side of judgment, folks. We see it by keeping His promise of salvation.

[45:18] Remember, this is the theme of promise that we've been tracing through Genesis since the fall. Now, what I'm doing here is just trying to help you keep the flow of the context of biblical teaching in mind so that we don't lift a story out of its context.

[45:33] We don't take the flood out of its context and read into it. We allow the Scriptures that it's part of to inform our understanding of what's happening.

[45:45] So if you've got the flood event here, we're letting what's come before inform. We're letting what's coming after, immediately after, inform. And that's giving us perspective on what this is.

[45:56] And it keeps it balanced. That's what we're doing. So now I want to take you on just a little tour of what I've just said. The theme of promise that we've been tracing through Genesis since the fall.

[46:12] Just in the few chapters since the fall. If you look at Genesis 3.15 and just be reminded what this is all about. What is this event tied to?

[46:25] It's tied to a promise. God said in verse 15, as He spoke to the enemy of our souls, I will put war, warfare, enmity between you and Eve.

[46:41] And between Satan, your seed, and Eve's seed. That's his progeny. And Eve's progeny. The people who are going to come after. That would relate to the people who are in unbelief, who are children of Satan.

[46:55] And then people whom God will save and raise up to serve Him. Eve's progeny. He shall bruise you on the head. This one who will come to deliver.

[47:08] The one that I will bring from this godly line who will be the Savior. He shall bruise you, Satan, on the head. He'll deal you a death blow.

[47:20] But you, you will bruise him on the heel. It'll look like you succeed. But you won't. It won't be a mortal wound in the sense of spiritual evil.

[47:32] It will be a blessing and a triumph. That's the promise that has everything to do with what we're seeing in the flood. If you go over to chapter 5, verse 29.

[47:43] We'll just trace this right through. Now He called His name, that is Lamech, Lamech, the father of Noah. He called His name Noah, saying, this one, Noah, will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord has cursed.

[48:04] And so what He's saying here is prophecy. It's prophetic. He's talking about what God will do in the life of Noah to carry on this promise from Genesis 3.15.

[48:17] There will be a certain rest here. It will be both physical rest and more importantly, spiritual rest. That's the way we need to see it. Then in chapter 6, verse 8.

[48:30] But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. We're not told that anybody else found favor. Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

[48:43] And that's what's borne out as we see the ark happen. And then finally, in chapter 6, verse 14. Make for yourself an ark.

[48:56] Stop right there. Make for yourself an ark. You see, He's not making it for lots of people, is He? Make for yourself an ark.

[49:08] Because I have plans for you as the one I'm favoring. I'm going to do something for you to save your life. Because I have plans for you.

[49:20] And not even this great, great destructive force will thwart the plan that I have for you. Now church, did you hear that? Do we need to hear that?

[49:34] Do we have a God big enough to save us and keep us saved? Amen. And in your darkest moment, whether it's a health crisis as we age and wear out, whether it's some tragedy that you're facing in your extended family or among your friends, or whether it's just the daily grind of life that's just making things hard, you have a God who saves.

[50:00] And you have a God who sustains. And you have a God who's promised to deliver you. And that deliverance may come ultimately. Look, I believe that our God took Bob to deliver him.

[50:15] And that is the wisdom of Almighty God. Greg and I and a couple of folks from our church were at the graveside service for Bob on Friday out in Suffolk.

[50:26] Right? Suffolk. And as I addressed the family just for a brief couple of minutes, I reminded them that Bob is with Christ now. And I said to them, he doesn't want to come back.

[50:42] If he gave, if he was given the choice, he would say, no way. And that's not a reflection on Bob's love for his family, is it? What does it suggest to our hearts?

[50:53] That it was a greater issue of Bob's love for the Savior. He's with him now. That's our hope, folks. That's the greater foundation of who we are as a people, or this is all just window dressing.

[51:10] No, no. These issues call our hearts to faith in a saving God. The cross is all over Genesis chapter 7.

[51:23] Because we see a saving God doing a wonderful thing in this antitype. This ark. It won't be the ark down the road.

[51:35] It will be the cross. And it won't be Noah. It will be Jesus. And that's what we're looking at. Make for yourself an ark. Now, I want you to also notice with me, please, because this is where it gets all weavy in this chapter.

[51:50] Notice that there are three repeated commands descriptions of the process of Noah and the animals entering the ark.

[52:00] Let me give it to you this way before I show you it in Scripture. If you and I were writing this, I have a suspicion that what we would do in good compositional form is that we would say in chronological order that the Lord said in seven more days it's coming.

[52:24] So the clock was ticking for 120 years and now we're down to a week. And so God said you got seven more days and I'll tell you what I think that is in just a minute. We'd probably write it like that.

[52:36] And then we'd probably say this and then seven days ended and God sent the rain. It burst up from within the earth and it came down from the heavens and for 40 days and 40 nights the rain pummeled the earth and the deluge came up from the earth and it covered the entire globe and Noah's ark bobbed on the water.

[53:03] Didn't that kind of cover it? And yet here's what we're going to see in this account in chapter 7. And we can't accuse God of being wordy.

[53:15] I'm not going to do that. I hope you don't. Listen to because all of the scripture is important. Three repeated commands and descriptions. Look at verses 1 through 4 of the chapter.

[53:28] Then the Lord said to Noah enter the ark. There it is. That's the instruction. Enter the ark. You and all your household for you alone I've seen to be righteous before me in this time.

[53:39] Now he gives us some description. That was the command. Here's the description. You'll take with you of every clean animal by sevens a male and female. Animals that are not clean too.

[53:50] A male and it's female. You got birds. You got by sevens. You got male and female. And you keep all that alive on the face of all the earth. Now after seven more days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights and will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I've made.

[54:09] Now fast forward. They're in the ark. Everything's fine. The animals were done. No we're not. We're not done. Now look at chapter seven verse six.

[54:21] Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth. Okay. Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his wives with him.

[54:31] What did they do? What does it say they did? Entered the ark because of the water of the flood. Now he just told us that up in the first part of chapter seven.

[54:42] We just saw all that. Now he's repeating it. Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground there went into there it is again they went into the ark to Noah by twos male and female.

[54:57] Now you jump over and you see in verse 10 it came about after the seven days there it is again that the water of the flood came upon the earth.

[55:08] Well wait a minute now you told us twice already that that happened. In the 600th year of Noah's life the second month 17th day on the same day all the fountains of the deep burst open the flood gates were open the rain fell upon the earth for 40 days and 40 nights.

[55:28] Okay then verse 13 so they what did they do went into the ark to Noah by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life notice verse 16 what did they do those that entered male and female of all flesh entered you see that do you see what's happening here here's the kicker in every one of those instances we have a specific thing that is told to us at the end look back with me at verse 5 after the first instance of this

[56:44] Noah did according to all that the Lord had commanded him now notice verse 9 there went into the ark to Noah by twos male and female as God had commanded Noah and then verse 16 those that entered male and female of all flesh entered as God had commanded him do you see what's happening here in verses 1 through 4 it seems that God had Noah begin loading the ark and it took about seven days to complete this final process of getting everything into the ark in order so amid the chaos of violence and wickedness going on all around Noah Noah had dutifully toiled to complete the ark all those decades and now

[57:46] God tells him judgment is here and the emphasis of the text is on them entering the ark entering the ark entering the ark five times and each time in those phases we're told at the end that all of this is being done as God had commanded!

[58:15] God God is that clear to God you're either living by what God has given us in the way of his truth or you're not that is the line for God now if God left the line there in such starkness who could stand who could stand we'd all be in the flood wouldn't we we'd be swept up in the flood of sin and it would carry us along and we would die but that's not what God did God provided the ark of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ to save us from our sins and in doing that he called us to live a cross life a life of joyful thankful obedience what did he tell us deny yourself take up your cross and follow means obey obey so we don't put obedience as something that is this duty removed from what it means to know love and be thankful to

[59:29] Jesus we obey because we love him because he has first loved us do you see how that works that's the Christian life that's the God's taught this from the beginning he'll go on reminding Israel obey and live and you would think well if they love him they would obey they'd want to obey they'd knock themselves out trying to obey and yet what do we see what do we see no judgment is here please notice in the text that in several places like down in I think it's verse nine where it says the animals went into the ark to Noah don't overlook that the animals went into the ark to Noah and then the same thing is told to us in verse what is it 15 16 so they went into the ark to

[60:35] Noah do you see that after it listed all the critters in verse 14 verse 15 so they all went into the ark to Noah that's the same thing he said over in verse nine into the ark to Noah what a picture here if we'll read carefully we'll see what's being described for us because every bit of this reflects on Noah being faithful but God doing this wonderful work to make Noah successful in it God laying the ground work for Noah to succeed in what he's doing this is the way God works in the lives of his people notice the animals arrive and come to Noah nobody's out there with a stick and a whip donkey get in there donkey no I used to work on a farm I know how to do that you don't do that we had emu at the height of our farm and we had 300 and something junior they grow a foot a month after they hatch a foot a month at three months they're three feet high you ever tried to herd emu you don't they all came to

[61:50] Noah like like homing device beep beep beep beep and they got in line and they went in the ark and when they went in the ark they went to their place nobody's no cows are kicking nobody's showing out they they came to Noah he didn't have to go get them God is in control now this marks the final seven days of mercy which God announced in verse four so this is the market now this is the end of an era because this is the end of mankind as we would have known him in that time the 40 days of judgment and death have arrived and I don't say that lightly the flood then is a God commanded instrument of judgment the ark is a

[62:55] God commanded! instrument of salvation once again church family God is in control both of judgment and salvation the third point that I want to give to you in the way of this reflecting the character of God in the way of his truth is the frailty of mankind we see the faithfulness of God we see that God is preserving the future of mankind as he enters the ark with these people and these animals enter the ark that's salvation enter now the frailty of mankind if you look with me at verse 17 then the flood came upon the earth for forty days the water increased notice what it says about the water here the description of the water the water increased and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth the water prevailed and increased greatly do you see the progression in 17 it increased and lifted up the ark in 18 now the water prevailed and it increased greatly what are we seeing we're seeing a progression aren't we the water is rising and the ark floated on the surface of the water the water then in verse 19 prevailed more and more upon the earth so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered now folks this is important because it is giving us this impression this clear impression if we allow it to mean what it says it's simply telling us that this is happening over 40 days and 40 nights and the water is rising steadily it's encroaching on the land it's taking over everything it's increasing and then it's greatly increasing and then it's increasing more and more moving up in the land taking over the higher recesses of the land this is what's happening and the issue in all of this as we move through this text is what

[65:15] God is doing in judgment it covers the high mountains everywhere verse 20 the water prevailed 15 cubits higher and the mountains were covered all flesh that moved on the earth perished birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms on the earth and all mankind of all that was on the dry land all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life died the point in all of this is that God prevails over mankind this highlights the helplessness and the futility of mankind against sin and judgment prevail is a strong vivid descriptor the Lord makes it clear to his readers the meaning of prevailed he makes it very clear again reference what's repeated ask yourself this question as you read the scripture and try to get into more of the context of what is being taught ask yourself this question what is the

[66:33] Holy Spirit emphasizing in this text and there are different ways that you can apply good principles of study to help lift out what is the Holy Spirit emphasizing in this text in this passage what's being emphasized by the Spirit well repetition helps you that's one way you can understand that what's being repeated that's that's that's obviously emphasis well that's all we're doing look how many times the word prevailed is used in this passage and then notice the result of the water prevailing there was enough water in terms of prevailed there was enough water across the surface of the globe to cover all the mountains of that day so that the ark wasn't in any danger of being impeded or running aground which would have been disastrous while all of this was going on I don't have time to spell all that out right now it's just a fascinating read so much study has been done on this now listen to this our mountains were likely much lower or even non existent in

[67:48] Noah's day so there was no Mount Everest in Noah's day the mountains likely came about by the cataclysmic upheavals of the flood era also by glacial activity in the ice age following the flood those events probably were what created the mountains of our time let me give you an example of this and I think will my clicker work yeah okay let me just tell you and then I'll show you for example on now listen to this you know our highest mountain at least in terms of visible mountain the highest mountain is somewhere in Hawaii I think if you go to the base of the mountain which is under the sea and measure highest mountain on earth but the highest visible mountain for us is Mount Everest on the summit of

[68:51] Mount Everest folks that's over 29,000 feet in the air 29,000 feet is about the cruising altitude of most airliners are right at it 29,000 feet on the summit of Mount Everest there is fossil evidence of marine limestone embedded with invertebrates they're called crinoids in other words they don't have backbones these creatures lived on the sea floor the sea floor the marine limestone on the summit of Everest shows evidence that it was first laid down in flat terrain and later pushed up at sharp angles and scientists agree on this they just don't agree how it happened let me show you this that's what they found on Everest now to you and me looking at that that's like okay looks like rocks with indentions in it right

[69:51] I know so now I'm going to show you something else I'm going to show you why when they saw this they recognized it for what it was because they're experts at this stuff here's what they are those live on the sea floor and they found them on Mount Everest here's another picture of them is that better how'd they get up there well they didn't get up there they got on there when the land was smoother and lower and then the cataclysm of everything that happened during the flood and all the upheaval pushed it up at huge angles they called it plate tectonics or something like that if the earth get this if the earth was primarily smooth which many creation scientists believe the evidence suggests it was the water could have been more than catch this two miles deep over the surface of the land in fact they've done studies now that say if you took all the water in the oceans and in the different areas of water around the earth and just flattened all the mountains out so that the earth was smooth there's enough water on the earth right now to cover the entire planet a mile and a half deep without any further water being added all you'd have to do is smooth everything out so the water would just cover it up it would be a mile and a half deep right now the second clear meaning of prevailed is this there was enough water across the entire globe to overwhelm all of mankind and the animals and so

[71:51] God accomplished his purpose in verses 21 and 22 everything perished everything died and God's point is clear the water prevailed and mankind perished that's the point the mockers of God and the scoffers and skeptics couldn't save themselves even though God gave them 120 years to repent they refused they chose sin they chose self and they reaped what they sowed sin and self are deceiving destructing death producing masters listen to what the Bible says friends why should the nation say where now is their God but our God is in the heavens he does whatever he pleases!

[72:46] Psalm 115 for the Lord is our judge the Lord is our lawgiver the Lord is our king he will save us Isaiah 33 verse 22 verse 22 of chapter 7 in Genesis is a terse chilling epitaph for all the rebellious people of Noah's day it's both a warning and an invitation to the rebellious of our day that's the way they should see it you ignore the Lord and sin will prevail and you'll face God's judgment follow Noah's example and you'll live I'll do this point very quickly to sum it up for you the finality of the flood is the final point the finality of the flood verse 23 thus God blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land from man to animals to creeping things and birds of the sky they were blotted out from the earth and only

[73:59] Noah was left together with those that were with him in the ark and our chapter 7 ends this way the water prevailed upon the earth 150 days not mankind the water prevailed and this is God's permanent penalty it reflects God's hatred of sin now it's important to note and I'm concluding so bear with me it's important to note fossils are not a record of successive long ages hundreds of thousands of years or millions of years no that cannot be supported in scripture if we start with the bible we cannot go there the fossil record is not a record of successive long ages the fossil record is a record instead now listen of the sequence of rapid burials in other words the fossil record is a record of a graveyard a rapid fast moving sudden cataclysm that killed everything not millions of years of stacked stuff we understand the progression of the flood as it's explained in this chapter that as the water rose and the mud swirled and the debris swirled in this terrible terrible thing mixing churning that as the water moved out of the rivers and the seas and moved up onto the land successive burials took place as the water encroached and overwhelmed everything and so we would expect to find that in the fossil record that it's this successive layer upon layer right that's exactly what we do find at the bottom of it all are the things that I put up there like the crinoids in the record then you move up a little bit and you start getting fish then you move up a little bit and you see the amphibians the frogs and stuff you see that in the fossil record then you move up into the higher levels and what do you find the mammals the dinosaurs and all whatever that's exactly what

[76:25] God just described to us as the water increased and greatly increased and then increased more and more and that is what's borne out verse 24 is God's exclamation point of final judgment this is where verse 24 leaves it nothing God made prevailed against him nothing and so we're left with a sea of water for all those days that's it but now listen please listen as soul stirringly sad as verse 24 is to my soul my heart the most haunting image plaguing my mind when I think about the finality of God's flood judgment is actually found at the end of another verse and with this I'll close it's at the end of another verse I'll read it to you those that entered male and female of all flesh entered as God had commanded him and then this and the

[77:34] Lord closed it behind him now think about that that's it when God shut the door on the ark that was it no more mercy no more grace nothing today's the day of salvation friends grab it live it and love the Lord because you don't know what an hour from now holds do you but God does let's pray together father God a long chapter with much happening all of it reflecting the wonder of wonders in your judgment and salvation of mankind none of us deserve to live through that event none of us here today would be here if it weren't for your faithfulness to Noah and so we give you the glory in it now I pray that you would stir our hearts with this incredible truth of this magnificent mind blowing reality that you brought upon the earth the fact that we have an earth today is nothing short of the miracle of your wonderful creative power to restore the earth after the flood thank you almighty

[79:06] God for your faithfulness to preserve Noah we all come from him thank you almighty God that we can look to the Lord Jesus Christ to be our ark of salvation and we are told in scripture enter into him and so father help us today to believe and help us to walk faithfully with you anticipating the wonder of wonders as we go through this book if you give me breath for life to keep preaching that we will anticipate more and more of this incredible truth being shown to us in your word we pray all of this for your honor and glory in Jesus precious name amen