Genesis: The Flood

My name is Travis. I am uh one of the pastors here. And if you have your Bibles with you, open them up to the very first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis.

As you're turning, let me ask you, what comes to your mind when you think about the story of Noah and the flood?

It's uh even if you're not someone who hasn't really paid attention to the Bible at all and you're not a Christian, you probably know the story. It's been turned into a film at least eight times in different versions, four adult versions. There's at least four kids versions. So, what comes to your mind when you think about Noah and the flood? If you're like my wife who anytime I mention the story of Noah and the flood, the the name Noah and the ark comes up, she starts singing a little kid song. The Lord told Noah to build him an ary ary. You know that song probably. It's a terrible song. Uh,

and my wife sings about as well as I do. So, it's not great in that way either. Um, or maybe you think of the 2014 film entitled Noah. The simply entitled Noah had uh Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connley in it. Uh maybe you think of the the recent film adaptation of the story and if you haven't seen it, don't waste your money on it. It wasn't any good. Um just here to save you some a little bit of money. Uh that wasn't very good. Or maybe you think of bright pictures that you saw on flannel graphs. Uh bright little pictures with a with a a big boat full of cute animals and a big rainbow in the background. We've taken the story a lot of times and we've turned it into a kid story. And while that's good, of course, you want to be able to tell the Bible in kid appropriate, age appropriate ways. But if you really think about the story of Noah and the great flood, you'll come to see that this is not a warm and fuzzy picture. There's a French artist by the name of Gustaf Dory. Let me pull up his his work on it. This is probably a more accurate representation of what it would actually be like. Gustaf Dory did 250 engravings for the Bible. And there are several of his that presents this type of a image. One that is terrifying. It's horrifying. It's in a lot of ways gruesome. Husband and wife in the water pressing up uh onto the very last rock that's in sight. and their children and a and a tiger with her cub there. And you're already starting to see some of the children, their bodies are in the water. His mom and dad frantically try to get their children to dry land. There's a Russian artist, I'm not even going to try to pronounce his name, but he's it's from the 19th century um who who painted a a piece called Deluj. And again, it captures the scene so well as people are scrambling to find higher ground while the floodwaters rage and it washes people away and it ravages the earth. So, no doubt the story of Noah and the flood, what it is, it's one of the most sobering stories and honestly, it's one of the most terrifying stories in the Bible. It's a story of the judgment of God against the sin of humanity. It's a story of judgment. It's a story of the depth of human depravity and the lengths that God will go to purge it and to purify it and then to bring about a new creation. And it's this story that we're actually going to look at this morning. And you need to see the story within the context in which it was given. You have to understand the backstory. And we've been working our way through the book of Genesis. This is now our 11th week in the book of Genesis. And we'll probably be here at least another 40 weeks. Um, but the first part, what we saw when we look when we gathered last Sunday when we uh gathered and looked into Genesis chapter 6, we saw that the sin continued to spread. The sin of Adam and Eve gets passed down to the to one generation, to the next generation, to the next generation, and each generation it gets a little bit worse. It it's like a like I said last week, it's like a live virus that gets into your bloodstream and it just keeps spreading and it becomes almost universal in scope. And we're told in verse five of chapter 6 these words. The Lord saw that the wickedness wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. So you think about it and what Moses is saying is this is widpread moral failure and it grieved the Lord. It grieved him just like a parent is grieved when they see their child entrenched in sin. Some of you are parents or most of you are parents and you've seen your kids at their best like the moment they were born before they could talk back to you when they're at their absolute best. You've seen them at their best, healthy emotionally, healthy physically, healthy spiritually. And then if you've seen them become entrenched in some sort of devastating sin, it graves you. It tears you up on the inside. Now take that feeling and multiply it by a universal scope. And this is what the Lord's feeling just completely grievous to him. But there was one Noah who found favor in the eyes of the Lord. And we'll see in a moment. He stands apart from the rest of humanity as one who is walking with the Lord earnestly. Now, now catch that word, earnestly. not perfectly but earnestly and the Lord's favor found him. And the story again of Noah and the flood is essentially the L the story of God rebooting his creation after it it has gone terribly wrong. Um I have one solution for every computer problem I have. I reboot it if it freezes up on me and I don't know what to do, which is all the time. Um, I'm like a younger version of Dave Gibson. Like I don't understand technology. So when that sucker freezes up on me, I just hit the reboot button. And if it doesn't work, I hit it again. And this is essentially what the Lord's doing with the creation. He's going to reboot it. And what we'll see in in Genesis chapter 6 through 8 this morning is God's rebooting of the creation, the the purging and the purifying of creation through the flood. So here's what I want to do. I have 37 minutes and I want to work through two and a half chapters with you this morning. Uh 59 verses in all and I want to read all the way through it. And here's the reason why. Because the sermon is not inspired, but the word of God is. And the most important thing is for you to simply hear the word of God, even if it takes several minutes for us to read all the way through the account. And so what we're going to do is we'll read through it. I'll answer a couple things as we go. We'll put up some some of the objections to the stories. And then we're going to come back and we're going to see what the Lord's teaching us through this account. So, um, here's what we'll do. The text breaks down nicely into three parts. And let me just give you the outline. First, we're going to see the waves of judgment. The waves of judgment. And that's, uh, chapter 6:9 through all of chapter 7. And then we'll see in chapter 8:es 1-19. We'll see the winds of salvation. The winds of salvation. That's chapter 8:es 1-19. And then in verses 20- 22 of chapter 8, we'll see the word of promise. The word of promise. Okay, so here we go. Chapter 6, beginning in verse 9. Here's how Moses records it. These are the generations of Noah. Now, automatically, if you've been with us, that should clue you in that we're coming into a new section. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless

in his generation. Now, righteous and blameless again, it doesn't mean sinless. It means one who trusted the Lord and who sought to walk earnestly with him, sought to live with integrity before the Lord. Some people will read that and they'll think God saved Noah because he was righteous. But that's not the case. Noah was righteous because God saved him by faith. And then he demonstrated godly character amidst corruption. Noah demonstrated godly character amidst corruption. We're told in a in a second in verse 12 that God saw the earth and behold it was corrupt. For all uh for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. But again, Noah, Noah was seeking to walk earnestly with the Lord. So he was able to live with godly character amidst corruption. Well, how was he able to do that? Better question is, how are you able to do that? Because you and I are called to exhibit godly character amidst a world that is becoming increasingly hostile towards God and his way. So how are you able to do that? same way by taking God at his word and walking by faith, which is exactly what Noah did. He took God at his word. We'll see it in a second. When God calls to him, he responds in obedience, in faith, and then he just starts walking with the Lord. This is what we're told in Hebrews chap uh 11:7. By by faith, look at what it says. By faith, Noah being warned by God concerning the events as yet unseen in reverent fear, constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. So in other words, his faith in God led him to take God at his word and to move forward in obedience even when he was being ridiculed by it. This is the obedience that stems from faith. And what it says in essence is I'm trusting God. I'm taking God at his word and I'm moving forward in obedience even if I get ridiculed for it. Even if those around me don't understand it. And that's what Noah does. And again, his character, it stands in sharp contrast to the rest of the world. Now look at the second part of verse n. Noah walked with God. And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japth. Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. Again, the the author is painting the world as pitch black violence and corruption of all kinds because of the sin nature of humanity. And God said to Noah, I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Some of your translations, if you're in the NIV, it'll say cypress wood. Either way, it can go either way. Make yourself an an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you're to make it. The length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. Make a roof for the ark and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh, in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you and your sons, and your wife and your sons wives with you. and of every living and of every living thing of all flesh. You shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female, of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, and of every creeping thing on the ground according to its kind. Two of every sort shall come into you to keep them alive. Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten and stored up. It shall serve as food for you and for them. Okay, let's stop right there. Now, let's talk about a little bit of the objections to the story of Noah. The first objection that everybody will lob at this is Noah couldn't have possibly built a ship that large. That's one of the objections you'll hear anytime you read this account. Um, there's no way he could have built a a ship this large. You see in verse 15 the little note there about the cubits. A cubit as best as we can tell is about 18 in. And so a foot and a half uh half a yard. So as Victor Hamilton puts out uh points out this is a vessel that's 440 ft long. That's longer than Lumen Field where the Seahawks beat the 49ers last night. It's larger than that.

I had to do it. I just couldn't leave it laying there. 75 70 uh 73 feet wide, 44 feet high, and a yielding a displacement of 43 tons, not to mention a deck space of over 95,000 ft. That's a large ship. And a lot of people look at that said, there's no way. There's no possible way they could have built a ship that large. Listen, you got to know the area in which uh Noah was living, it was an area that was known for building ships. Mesopotamia was an area that was known for building ships. And it doesn't say that Noah had to do it by himself. There were ship makers all around that area. And he could have, by the way, he had sons as well. And he also could have employed some of the ship builders to come and help him build the ship. So, by modern standards, this is the size of a small cargo ship. It's still big, but it's not of unheard of. Uh, even in that culture, there were ships that were were bigger. Um, so it was a large ship, but it wasn't a unbelievable. No one could have ever done this type of a thing. That's simply not true. Second objection people will have is it couldn't possibly hold all of these animals. That again, you'll hear this. there's no possible way it could have hold all of these animals that Noah says or that the Lord tells Noah to take in. That's another major objection. We tend to think there's no way it'll it'll sink with all of those animals. Um and that's interesting because in 2014 there were four graduate level students, physics students from the University of Lancaster in England and they set out to figure this out. They weren't they weren't Christians, but they had heard the story and they wanted to see if it could actually hold true. And so the team did the math and they found out that an ark full of animals in these dimensions could theoretically float. And what they did is they published their research in a peer-reviewed uh studentran publication called the journal of physics under special topics. And one of them, Thomas Morris, again not a Christian, he says these words. He says, "You don't think of the Bible necessarily as a scientifically accurate source of information." So I guess we were quite surprised when we discovered it could work. We're now listen to what they're saying. We're not proving that it's true, but the concept would definitely work. Now listen to what he says here. They're saying even people who are not Christians are saying no that actually it theoretically could work. So the Lord tells Noah he's going to bring judgment upon the creation. He's been watching as humanity destroys each other. Brutal violence. The strong take from the weak. Women being brutalized all over the place. Child sacrifices taking place. He's been watching as humanity has destroyed itself and the creation. And he determines that he's going to stop it. And he was going to do so by sending a flood that would punish the creation, purge it, and purify it. And here's the third objection. That doesn't sound very loving.

Have you heard that one? That doesn't sound very loving. People will say that. Um, well, let's ask this question. If your child has cancer and it's ravaging their body, it's destroying them, it's spreading quickly, will you not take whatever measure it takes to cleanse it? If it's chemotherapy, whether it's cutting the cancer out, won't you take radical measures to cleanse them of the cancer, to cleanse them of the disease? Of course you would. If you see your child in this type of a situation, I have a a good friend of mine, their grandson, 8 years old, cancer spreading throughout his body, started in his leg. Just last week, he had to go in for a 10-hour surgery to cut the cancer out of his leg. Um, you'll do whatever measure it takes. And and that's exactly what God's doing here with the flood. Remember chapter 6 verse 5, every intention of the thought of their hearts was towards evil all the time. And so the Lord says in love, I'm going to bring judgment against this in the form of a flood which will purge humanity and purify the creation. And he tells Noah to build this ark. And we read, look at the last verse of chapter 6. Noah did this. He did all that God commanded him to do. This is the obedience of faith. Bonhaofer in his book, The Cost of Disciplehip, says, "Only those who believe obey, and only those who obey truly believe." And that's exactly what uh Noah does here. And by the way, you want to leave a legacy to your kids, want to leave a legacy to your grandkids, simply do whatever the Lord is calling you to do. Whether that's in big things like this in this case for Noah or it's in the small things. But whatever it is, whatever the Lord is calling you specifically to do, you walk into obedience with that and you build a legacy with for your family. And that's exactly what Noah does here. So the Lord calls him to build this ark, telling him the process that he's going to what he's going to do, uh how he's going to judge humanity because of their rebellion. And then the Lord tells Noah, look at verse one. Then the Lord said to Noah, verse 1, chapter 7, then the Lord said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. Take with you seven pairs of all the clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of animals that that are not clean, the male and its mate, and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of the earth. For in seven days I will send rain on the earth 40 days and 40 nights. And every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground. And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him. Um verse six. Noah was 600 years old when the flood of water 600 years old. Oh, baby. As a reminder, there's no expiration date for your service to the Lord. Uh Noah was 600 years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons wives uh with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood of clean animals and and of animals that are not clean and of birds and of everything that creeps on the ground. Two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God commanded Noah. And after seven days, 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, on that day, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. Now, note that this is history. He's giving you specific dates, timelines. Moses wants us to see that this is not a fable. This is not a a near an uh an ancient neareastern mythic account of a flood. He's giving you the exact date. It happened on this and this and this day. And we'll see in a couple of chapters. Um there's a number of times where it marks events according to to Noah's uh life. Marks several events in accordance with Noah's life. And he wants us to see again, this is not a myth. This is not a fable. This is history. It happened in time and space. Verse 12. And rain fell upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights. That is a lot of rain real quickly. On the seventh or on the very same day, Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japth and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with him, they entered the ark. They and every beast according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, every winged creature. They went into the ark with Noah, two and two, of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. And those that entered, male and female, of all flesh, went in as God commanded him. And the Lord shut him in. I love that last line. The Lord shut him in. He doesn't say, "Noah, go and get your sons. Go and get your sons and help you have them help you close the door and then throw the lock." The reason he doesn't is because the Lord does not place our salvation.

He doesn't place the salvation of his people in their own hands or in the hands of others. He himself will shut the door. And though the rains will come, though the floods will rage, his people, the one who have responded, who have heeded his warning and responded to his word, they are perfectly secure. Perfectly secure. By the way, did you know that if you're in Christ, though the storm may rage, though the waters may rise, you're completely secure. You're completely secure in Christ. That's true. That's one of those promises that you can bank on. You're completely secure in Christ. Verse 17,

the flood continued 40 days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark and arose high above the earth. The waters prevailed. If you're somebody who uh has the liberty to underline things in your Bible, underline the word prevailed. The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them 15 cubits deep. And all flesh died that moved on the earth. Birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth and all mankind. Everything on dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground. Man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left and those who were with him in the ark. And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days. Now notice how many times the word prevailed is used. verse 18, verse 19, verse 20, verse 24. And you have to remember here uh is that waters, especially for a Hebrew mind, they were symbolic of chaos. They were symbolic of forces of evil or judgment or the wrath of God. So for example, you take the the darkest psalm in the entire psalter, Psalm 88, and you have this statement that says, "Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all of your waves." The Psalms will oftenimes talk about how about the waves and the billows of God, the waves of judgment. And they see God as the Lord of the storm. And the storm comes with fury against people as an act of judgment. And so when they you see this prevailing, prevailing, prevailing, prevailing, what it's saying is the Lord is prevailing against sin. Humanity has completely rebelled against him and the Lord in his judgment is prevailing against it. These are the waves of judgment against sinful humanity. So the Lord is prevailing and bringing judgment which again both purges humanity and purifies the creation. So that's chapter 7. It's terrifying. But then you get into chapter 8 and you see the winds of salvation. Look at verse one of chapter 8. How much time I got? Oh, I got plenty of time.

Verse one, chapter 8. But God remembered Noah.

and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth. And the water subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed. The rain from the heavens were restain were restrained and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days, the waters had abaded. And in the seventh month, on the 17th day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Now, this is actually the centerpiece of the whole text. God remembered Noah. Now, it doesn't mean that at one point that God had forgotten about Noah. It means he begins to act up uh he begins to act for Noah and his family's behalf. And you see the word wind there in verse one. It says God made a wind blow over the earth and the waters subsided. He made a wind blow over the earth and the waters subsided. That's the same word. It's the same word that's used in Genesis 1 verse 2. and the spirit of the Lord moved over the face of the waters. It's the same word, wind and spirit in Hebrew and and in Greek. Um it's the same word. And the wind here, what it begins to do is it begins to reverse the destruction and to bring forth a new creation, which means this wind, it's bringing forth rescue and it's bringing forth new life for those in the ark. It's a picture of salvation through judgment. Judgment against the sin of humanity takes place through the waves of judgment. But now what you have here is the reversal and the winds of salvation blows. And though now listen only those who have listened and responded to the Lord and are safe within the boat are being rescued and they're given new life upon a renewed creation. Look at verse five. And the waters continued to abate until the 10th month. And the 10th month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen. Can you imagine the shrieks of joy at that moment when you're finally beginning to see something other than water? You're starting to see some mountains. This int anticipation with seeing the tops of the mountains for the very first time. The hope and the joy that must have flooded their hearts would have been overwhelming. Look at verse six. At the end of 40 days, Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent forth a dove from him to see if the waters had had subsided from the face of the ground. But the dove found no place to set her foot. And she returned, she returned to him, to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again sent forth the dove out of the ark, and the dove came back to him in the evening. And behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth and then he waited another seven days and sent forth to dove and she did not return to him anymore. So you just he first sends out the raven because it's it can remain longer in flight and then he sends out the dove and the dove comes back with an olive leaf in its beak. You want to talk about the ultimate show and tell experience that would have been it right there. Look, look what we got. This would have been so exciting. And he waits another week. He sends the dove out a second time and she doesn't return. And the anticipation just builds within the ark. Look at verse 13. In the 6001st year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark. and looked and and behold the face of the ground was dry. Now the coverings probably refers to some sort of a some sort of a window and he looks out of it and he sees the land was dry but then he waits on direction from the Lord. Now think about that almost a a year after being on a ship with your family. How hard would it be to wait on direction from the Lord? Would you not immediately say, "Get off the boat. I am so sick of hanging out." You ever been in a car ride with your kids across country or moving from Oregon to Idaho and they're saying to you, "Are we there yet?" And you're thinking after 30 minutes, "Why did I take this kid with me?" Um, imagine having them on a boat with you for a year and you've got dry land. You see the dry land and you're thinking to yourself, "Kids, we're not moving. We're not doing anything until we get direction from the Lord." Talk about patience. He's waiting for direction from the Lord. Look at verse 14.

In the second month, on the 27th day of the month, the earth had dried out. Then God said to Noah, "Go out from the ark, you and your wife and your sons uh and your uh your and your sons and your sons wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing, every living thing that is uh is with you of all flesh, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth that they may swarm on the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth. Now, what does that sound like? All the way back to Genesis chapter 1. This is a new creation. He's saying it's a new creation. Be fruitful and multiply. the the uh creation mandate is given again. Be fruitful and multiply on the earth. So Noah went out and his sons and his wife and his sons wives with him. Every beast, every creeping thing, every bird, everything that moves on the earth went out by families from the earth uh from the ark. So chapter six and seven, you have the waves of judgment. Then in chapter eight through uh verse one- 19, you have the winds of salvation. Now, what you'll see in verses 20- 22 is you have the word of promise. Look at verse 20. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. Now, notice that it's significant, and you'll see this in your your study questions. It's significant that Noah's first act after emerging from the ark is to lead his family in worship of God. Let me say something here to dads. Um don't underestimate the importance of leading your family in in regular worship of the Lord. Now, it doesn't have to be devotionals around the table every night. It doesn't even have to be real formal. Um, when our kids were little, I used to just take I would I would have verses and I would tape them on the refrigerator because I don't know if you guys notice this with kids, but they're constantly going to the refrigerator. And so I would tape them on the refrigerator and I said, "Every time before you open the refrigerator, you need to read the verse and recite it." And that's it. That's that's all we would do. And then we at the end of the week, we would recite the verse together. Very simple. Very simple. Doesn't have to be real formal. doesn't have to be pro programmatic, but what you it does need is dads need to set the tone and they need to instill the regular value of worshiping the Lord. And that's what Noah does here. And by the way, Michael Seals is teaching a class at second hour of every Sunday um for the next what eight weeks, six, six weeks, second uh second service on on dads leading their families. Well, if you're a young dad or maybe you're an old dad, um your job is to instill regular worship in your home. And so, I would encourage you to head over to Michael's class after second service or after this service and and plug into that class because that's exactly what Noah does here. And here comes verse 21, the word of promise. Look at what it says. And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, I will never again curse the ground because of man. For the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. So the sin nature is still there. Neither will I take neither will I ever strike ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease. So, it's a promise of God's faithfulness that he's not going to destroy the earth in this way again. Now, be clear. He's not saying no final judgment. He's not saying that, but rather no judgment like this as long as the earth remains. You can count on days and nights. You can count on seasons, winter and summer, cold and heat, until the Lord's return. Okay? And the passage ends right there. You guys still with me? Okay. I know that's a big section, but here's what I want to do. I want to close by focusing our attention on three things that the Lord's teaching us through this account, through the account of the flood. Three things that we should think. And the first one is what I mentioned last week, but I know on any given week 33% of you are not here, which is job security for me. So I'm going to repeat it this week. The the main thing this passage is teaching us. One of the main things is that the warning of judgment is real and you do have to take it seriously. The warning of judgment is real and you need to take it seriously. One of the things last week's passage, this week's passage, it stresses, and you must not miss in this account, is that God will deal with sin. All sin, he will judge. He will not put up with it indefinitely. And it's the text is urging us to heed the warning of God's judgment and to take it seriously. And again, this is exactly how Jesus used the story of Noah. Jesus in uh Matthew chapter 24, he's he's teaching and what he does is he uses the story of Noah, which means Jesus takes it as historical, not a myth. He takes it as factual. He's teaching and he uses the story of Noah and he says just as there was judgment in the past for sin for the sin of unbelieving humanity there will be again in the future upon the return of Christ. He says these words. He says but concerning that day and hour no one knows not even the angels of heaven nor the son but the father only. For as were the days of Noah so will be the coming of the son of man. For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them away. swept them all away. So it will be at the coming of the son of man. Now, don't miss what he's saying here. Jesus is saying that there's a day of judgment coming against sin. There's a day of judgment coming against unbelieving humanity for their sin. And like the day of the flood, many people in our day will not heed the warning. They won't take the warning seriously. And they'll be going about their life. They'll just be going about their lives. And because they're uninterested now, they won't listen to it now. They'll be unprepared then. and the judgment will come and the door will be shut. And what he's saying is he's warning them of a future righteous judgment against sin. And he's calling them and us to take it seriously because again, the Lord will not put up with evil indefinitely. So the warning is real and you need to take it seriously. Which then leads to my second point which is the Lord's patience is vast but you shouldn't presume on it which is what often happens when people hear the message that God will deal with sin. He will judge evil. The Lord's patience is vast but you shouldn't presume on it. Um this is exactly what Peter says in first and second Peter. He uses Peter uses the story of Moses in 1 Peter chapter 3. Peter says this. He says um God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people ate in all were saved through the water. Peter uses the story of Noah to warn you not to delay in repenting in coming to the Lord, confessing your sins to him, and surrendering to him as your savior and lord. And think about it, because everybody in Noah's day thought that Noah was crazy. For 120 years, he's building this ark. And everybody thought he was Noah. They were ridiculing him probably. Hey Noah, where's the rain? Hey, Noah, you're you you're building this gigantic ship. Are you going to build an F350 next to tow it to the nearest lake? I mean, they just would have ridiculed this guy for 120 years. They thought that he was out of his mind. He was a crazy old loon.

And this day, in our day, um, as it was in that day, Peter says, "God's patience is vast, but you shouldn't presume on it. He will judge. He's giving men and women another day to repent and come to him in faith. This is what Peter says in in second Peter chapter 3 about the coming judgment. He says, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you." If you're an unbeliever right now, he's patient with you. Insert your name in there. not wanting anyone to perish, but for everyone to come to repentance. Now listen, listen, listen, please. The reason the Lord takes so long to return is because he wants you to repent and to come to Christ in faith. But don't presume on the Lord's patience. Don't confuse what the Lord intends to be space for you to repent with the Lord's absence because he's not absence. He's giving you space to heed the warning of judgment and to come to him in repentance, to pass over from death to life. So what's the Lord teaching us in this passage? The warning of judgment is real and you need to take it seriously. The Lord's patience is vast, but you shouldn't presume on it. Third, the way of salvation is secure, but you must enter it. Well, how is the way of salvation secured? Here's how. At the cross, Jesus Christ is submerged into the waves and the billows of God's wrath, of God's judgment, and he bears it all in your place. He bears it all in your place. God takes sin so seriously, he sends his son to bear it in your place. And then, like Noah, he emerges from the storms of God's judgment, and he begins a new creation. But like the people of Noah's day, you must enter. Well, how do you do that? How do you enter into God's grace? How do you enter into repentance faith? Here's what you do. You respond to him in faith, just like Noah did. You respond to him. You hear the you heed the warning. You listen to God's word and you respond in faith. You repent of your sins. And then you're baptized in his name. And again, you pass from death to life. In uh 1 Peter chapter 3, he uses this story. Listen to what he says. He says, "God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it, only a few people, eight and all, were saved through water." And this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also. Not the removal of dirt from the body, but a pledge of a clear conscience towards God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand with angels, authorities, and powers in submission to him. Now, listen, don't misunderstand me here. Um, it's not the act of baptism that saves you, but what it symbolizes. And what it symbolizes is a genuine inward faith in the person of Jesus Christ, an appeal to God for the forgiveness of one's sins and coming up out of the waters as a new creation in Christ. And we have a baptism coming up the last weekend in February. And the Lord, like he did in the days of Noah, he's provided you through Christ a way of salvation through judgment. But you must respond and you must enter into the life of Christ through genuine faith in him. Amen. Why don't you stand and I'll pray and then we'll worship the Lord together.

Father, we thank you for this incredible story, this long section of scripture that shows us oh so clearly of the judgment of how seriously you take sin. And it warns us of a future judgment against unbelieving humanity for all of our sin. And yet it also tells us that those who respond to you in faith as Noah did will be secure in your love forever. We will escape your judgment, Lord. And so we thank you that in Christ Jesus, you've made a way. That he has taken our place. He has borne the judgment of God. All of the sin uh of humanity was placed upon him. He bore it and he came up out of it as a resurrected human and offers new life, the forgiveness of sins and new life in his name to anyone who responds to him in faith. We thank you for the message of the gospel. We thank you that this message when it came to us, maybe not the first time, but at a certain point, our hearts responded and we were grasped by the gospel and we latched on to you as our savior and lord. Please enable us as your people to communicate this message far and wide because we know we live in a world like the days of Noah that is hostile towards you and your word and they desperately need to know Christ. So help us communicate that well in Jesus name. Amen.