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[0:00] Well, for a short time today, let's read again the portal of scripture that we read, and focusing our attention particularly on chapter 6 and verse 5.

[0:19] Genesis 6, verse 5. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

[0:42] And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and he was grieved in his heart. So the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing, and birds of the air.

[0:57] For I am sorry that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

[1:07] The Lord saw the wickedness of man, and the Lord saw Noah, and Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

[1:26] As we read this portion of scripture, I want you to notice in particular the beginning of chapter 5.

[1:39] Chapter 5 and verse 1, this is the book of the genealogy of Adam. God in his unfolding of the creation and the post-creation world is opening the pages of a book to us.

[2:03] And the book is the book of the genealogy of Adam. I want you to notice too, in chapter 6, in chapter 6 at verse 9, there's another book.

[2:17] The pages of that book begin to open. This is the genealogy of Noah. We have the book of the genealogy of Adam, and we have the book of the genealogy of Noah.

[2:31] And when we open the pages of the book of the genealogy of Adam, what do we find? We find death. And he died.

[2:45] And he died. And you could write, of course, at the same time, alongside all of these names that are listed here for us, and he died and she died, and he died and she died.

[3:02] It reminds us that this world, this post-creation world, as we begin to unfold, and look at the book of the genealogy of Adam, we begin to see a world that is characterized by death.

[3:22] By death. What else is true of this world that we see? Well, this world that we see is wicked.

[3:34] The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. It's a world full of death.

[3:46] It's a world full of wickedness. It's a world full of evil. And if you lead on in chapter 6, you'll see at verse 11, it was a world that was corrupt and filled with violence.

[4:02] Verse 12. Indeed, it was corrupt. All flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And he goes on in verse 13. The earth is filled with violence.

[4:16] Violence. What you see in this world is a world where the ground, as it were, is soaked with blood.

[4:27] Blood. Human blood. Blood. Not the blood of sacrifice. Not the blood of sacrifice. Not the way God had intended man to come to him.

[4:39] and isn't it remarkable as we look at chapter 4 and you look at Cain and Abel and you look at their lives you see righteous Abel who was righteous in his heart who was a man of faith who was coming to God in the God ordained way of a blood sacrifice because God had taught them this is the way that you must come now there must be an atonement for sin because of your sin because of the rebellion of the Garden of Eden and we know of course that Cain didn't come with the God ordained way he came in his own way regardless of the fact that it was the best and it doesn't even say that it was the best of his crop he didn't come in the God ordained way and you see as you read down into chapter 4 and as you see chapter 5 and you see the book opening and God's narrative

[5:49] God's historical account of the world unfolding before us here and you see death you see sin you see sin because death is the consequences of sin the wages of sin is death death and how quickly how quickly how quickly the sin and death started to infect and to pervade the whole world the whole world world our reference point our reference point for the world in which we live is the same reference point for the world in which these people lived the same reference point for sin is man's rebellion in the garden of Eden man's rebellion in the garden of Eden the fall of mankind the fall that is the reference point the great reference point and it's the great reference point for us for us we could ask this question where is the godly line of Seth notice at the end of verse of chapter 4 notice at the end of chapter 4 at verse 25 and 26

[7:37] Adam knew his wife again and she bore a son and named him Seth for God has appointed another seat for me instead of Abel whom Cain killed here is the great promise now when Cain was born Adam and Eve must have thought yes you've blessed us Lord you've given us a son and this son is a blessing from you and you're going to make everything right that we made wrong but of course it didn't turn out that way for Cain did it and it certainly didn't turn out that way for righteous Abel who was slain by his brother but God blessed them why did God bless them God blessed them because of the promise that he gave in the garden of Eden that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent and so godly Seth was born and verse 26 and as for Seth to him also a son was born in the name of Enos then men began to call on the name of the Lord but as we read into chapter 5 and at the beginning of chapter 6 where is the godly line of Seth where is that ray of hope that we have at the end of chapter 4 that people are beginning to call on the name of the Lord yes there was evil everywhere continually but why does the godly line of Seth have they been killed for their faith were they persecuted for their faith is persecution what we see appearing before us here no not persecution but polishing polishing the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful and they took wives for themselves of all they chose even the godly line of Seth polluted the pollution of sin sin is the most dangerous thing in the world for any person and for any

[10:02] Christian because sin kills and it can pollute us to the point that where God turns his back on us in his wrath oh yes oh yes I understand that nobody can fall from grace we know that because the bible teaches us that but it also teaches us this that our duty is to live as righteously as we possibly can we know we all sin and we all fall into sin but if it continues to be habitual sin it will pollute and it will kill it will kill the words of the apostle remind us of this great fact because he says this

[11:04] I'm living this Christian life the apostle says I'm paraphrasing and he says and I'm living this way not as if I have apprehended but I am pressing forward towards the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus these are remarkable words not as if I have apprehended he knew he knew what Christ had done for him but his life was a life marked out of living every day the Christian life living every day in a sense on the edge of a razor living every day knowing that you are surrounded by sin within and without ready to pulse on you and pollute you and tip you over the edge sin can kill and sin can pollute and we see here the remarkable fall of the sons of

[12:20] God through pollution the pollution of sin and the remarkable narrative before us the whole narrative just speaks so loudly of how sinful sin is and how it can just get into every cord and any nook and cranny of our lives of our hearts and God's response to this was my spirit will not always thrive with man sin seems to be rampant and God in his mercy of course has called a preacher of righteousness to preach to them he calls Noah who was a preacher of righteousness and Noah was warning them Noah was God striving with them 1 Peter 3 tells us that in 19 and 20 that Noah was a preacher and he was preaching the gospel but it was falling on deaf ears all around all mankind was concerned with was was doing great things and doing as they pleased there were giants on the earth in those days and also afterward when the sons of

[13:40] God came into the daughters of men and there lies a lot of the reason for the potion and they bore children to them those were the mighty men who were of old men of renown and they may have been men of renown in the eyes of the world around them but they were not men of renown in the Lord's eyes because immediately God says and God saw that the wickedness of man that the wickedness of man in verse 5 was great in the earth even these men are known they were wicked men they were wicked men and the knowledge of God seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth let's look then more closely at this marriage of verse 5 it because very often in

[15:30] You see, then God saw everything that he had made. Chapter 1, verse 31. And God saw everything that he had made.

[15:43] And indeed, it was very good. And we have the same. And the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth.

[15:56] And that any intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it was all very bad. Very bad. This narrative in verse 5 reminds us of one of the great doctrines of the scripture.

[16:17] And that is the doctrine of total departing. The doctrine of total departing. What does it mean?

[16:28] It means that the fall. That old rebellion against God. Caused such a state to enter into man's experience.

[16:42] That his whole person. His thoughts. His words. His deeds. His imagination. His will.

[16:54] His affections. His love. Every faculty. Of every single person in the world. Is in a state of sin.

[17:06] And misery. Every faculty. Every faculty. Fallen. Only evil continually. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth.

[17:19] And that every intent of the thoughts of his heart. Was only evil continually. Continually. And the words. Present us.

[17:30] A reality that. That this. Sin. And this state of sin and misery. Is a state of sin and misery. That continues. In its own sin and misery.

[17:42] And it begets more sin. And misery. And not only that. But sin is never a dormant thing. It's an active thing. And it has to act.

[17:53] Actively against God. Against God. What is the sinfulness of that estate. When into man fell.

[18:04] The sinfulness of that estate. When into man fell. Consists in the guilt of Adam's. First sin. The want of that righteousness. When in he was created. And the corruption of his nature.

[18:16] Whereby he is utterly. Indisposed. Disabled. And made opposite. And to all. That is spiritually good.

[18:28] And wholly inclined. To all evil. And that continually. Which is commonly called. Original sin. And from which do proceed.

[18:40] All actual transgressions. The reality of this scripture. And this particular verse. Demolishes.

[18:51] It demolishes. Every human system. Every logic. Every teaching. That mankind.

[19:02] Ties. To use. To explain. The world in which we live. And the things that happen in the world. In which we live. All of these things.

[19:13] Are still going over the world. And you feel in a sense. That the world. Is almost progressing. In its. In its wickedness. And its evil. Almost.

[19:26] Not almost. But inventing. New ways. To be wicked. To be evil. Some of it open. Some of it so subtle. Some of it. Now. In the world.

[19:37] In which we live. In this. Cyber world. When everything is online. And invisible. Nobody can really see it. Nobody can really see it.

[19:47] But it's there. It's there. And God saw. Then the Lord saw. He saw this wickedness.

[19:59] And he saw this evil. But what was God's reaction? And God saw. God saw. And he had to do something. And what did God do?

[20:11] He pronounced a judgment. He pronounced a judgment. On the earth. And just in case anybody thinks that.

[20:28] This scripture. Is talking about mankind. Before the flood. It doesn't take you very long. To realize.

[20:38] As you read. The scriptures. After the flood. That God actually says. The very same thing. In chapter 8. He says exactly.

[20:50] The same thing. In chapter 8. In verse 21. Then the Lord said. In his heart. I will never again. Curse the ground. For man's sake. Although the imagination.

[21:02] Of man's heart. Is evil. From his youth. But he gives us a great. And precious. Promise. That he will never again destroy.

[21:14] He will never again destroy. The world. In that way. Through a flood. With water. Although we know. That God will come again. In judgment.

[21:25] He's going to come again. In judgment. But he's not coming. With water. This time. He's coming with fire. With fire. With cleansing. And God saw.

[21:40] That the wickedness of man. Was great. In all the earth. And of course. The scriptures teach us. That. The heart.

[21:52] Is deceitful. Above all things. And desperately wicked. Who can know it? Who can know it? Jesus himself.

[22:04] Jesus himself. Presents it in. Remarkable way. He presents the reality. Of what. Our hearts. Are really like. He presents to us.

[22:16] The teaching. Of total depravity. He presents to us. The reality. Of the sinfulness. Of sin. Matthew chapter 15. At verse 10.

[22:28] And we read. These words. He called the multitude. To themselves. To himself. He said to them. Hear and understand. Not what goes into the mouth. Defiles a man.

[22:39] But what comes out of the mouth. This. Defiles. A man. And he goes on. At verse 90. For out of the heart. Proceed evil thoughts.

[22:52] Murders. Adoptions. Fornications. Thefts. False witness. Blasties. These are the things.

[23:04] Which defile a man. But to eat with unwashed hands. Does not defile. A man. Out of the heart. Out of the heart.

[23:17] Do people do good things? Of course they do good things. By what standard. Do we judge? By what standard.

[23:28] Do we judge a good thing? We sang in that great psalm. Did we not? Upon men's sons. The Lord from heaven. Did cast his eyes abroad.

[23:39] To see if any understood. And did seek after God. You could almost write. You could almost use this harm. As a commentary.

[23:50] On this portion of scripture. And what did God see? He saw this. They all together filthy are. They all aside are gone. And he says this.

[24:00] And there is none. That doeth good. Yea should. There is not one. Not one. But we have to learn.

[24:13] We have to learn. One of the great lessons. That while people do good things. And we acknowledge. That people do good things. In God's eyes.

[24:26] In God's eyes. Every single person. Who is outside of Christ. Is under his wrath.

[24:38] And under his curse. And still. In the very heart of hearts. Wicked. Every intent. Of the thoughts of their heart. Only evil continually.

[24:51] They may not realize it. And of course they don't realize it. Who has realized it? Did you realize. What the Bible said about you. I'm sure you heard it for years.

[25:01] But it didn't really affect you. But you were a sinner. A rotten. Filthy sinner to the core. Until God opened your eyes. And of course the Bible tells us that.

[25:13] This is the very delusion of sin. It's the delusion of sin. It deludes us. And of course it tells us that. Satan.

[25:23] The God of this world. Blinds the eyes. Of the people who are under his control. He blinds their eyes. So that they won't see. And can't see. Until God comes in his power.

[25:34] With his light. To make them. Children of the day. And not children of the night. The standard.

[25:48] The standard of what is good. Is God's standard. It is God's law. The great standard is God's law. The great goal is God's glory.

[25:58] And the great motive must be God's love. God's love. There's a wonderful. For those of you who are interested. There's a wonderful narrative of it.

[26:09] In the Westminster Confession of Faith. It is presented beautifully. Beautifully. All our righteousnesses.

[26:22] The scripture tells us. All our righteousnesses. Are what? Are as filthy wise. John Calvin.

[26:35] The great reformer said this. If all our righteousnesses. Are as filthy wise. What?

[26:45] Of our unrighteousnesses. I'll say it again. If all our righteousnesses. Are filthy. What? What about unrighteousnesses?

[27:00] Oh, that's a thought. That's a thought. Is it not? Who among us could be it to have.

[27:11] All his thoughts and her thoughts. Inspected and disclosed. What would you say to that? What would you say if. We were to start writing on the walls of this building.

[27:24] All. You would end up with thoughts. But you wouldn't be there pleased. You would probably blush. You would be absolutely embarrassed.

[27:38] You would even be confounded. If your heart was exposed to public view. To public view. And God beholds.

[27:52] Everything. There's a remarkable. Verse in Ezekiel 11. Verse 5. One amongst many. And God says this.

[28:04] I know. The things that come into your mind. Every one. See that's remarkable. I know. Every.

[28:15] Thing. That comes into your mind. And the one. The reality is. That God knows.

[28:28] And sin. God has a perfect. Knowledge. Of every thought. Word. And action. Everything that has passed.

[28:39] Through our minds. God. Knows. God knows. God. And God. And God. In his. Righteousness. His purpose. Presents to.

[28:52] To them. A judgment. The remarkable thing. About the judgment. About this judgment. Of the flood. Is that he.

[29:03] He was striving with them. To the end. To the very end. Isn't it amazing. How. Noah was preaching. For these hundred and twenty years. While he booked the earth. The preaching.

[29:14] Was the warning. The preaching. Of gospel. Was the warning. Why aren't you heeding. The warning. Of the preaching. Of the gospel. God.

[29:26] Oh God. Wasn't very. Fair. In bringing this flood. How were they to know. Oh they were to know. They knew. They knew. They were indignant. And ignorance. Is never.

[29:39] Never ever. An excuse. For anyone. He gave them a preacher. To preach. The gospel. For them. And the Lord. Was sorry. That he had made man on the earth. And he was grieved. In his heart.

[29:50] Sin. Grieves. God. Sin. Grieves. God. To his very being. To his very being. The language.

[30:01] Of God. Being sorry. Of course. Is just language. That. That we. The scriptures. Use. To present to us. The reality. Of how much.

[30:11] Sin. Grieves. God. God. Of course. Can't be sorry. For anything. That he had made. But it's. There. For us. To understand.

[30:22] It's a human emotion. And in the scripture. Human emotions. Are presented. As attributed. To God. But it's only language. For us.

[30:32] To understand. What God. Really. Is like. That he was. Grieved. Grieved. In his.

[30:43] Heart. Over. The sin. Of. Man. And the Lord. Was sorry. That he had made. Man. On the earth. And he was grieved. In his heart. I will destroy. Man.

[30:55] Who I have created. On the face of the earth. Both man. And beast. Creeping. Thing. And birds. Of the earth. And I am sorry. That I have faith. He presents his. Judgment. His.

[31:06] Judgment. And if the Bible. Was to stop. At verse. Seven. Wouldn't it be tragic. But of course.

[31:18] God. Had provided. A promise. That the seed. Of the woman. Would bruise. The head. Of the serpent. The great.

[31:29] Mother. Promise. And the reason. It's called. The mother promise. Of course. Is because. All the other promises. The promises of God. Flow out. From that. Mother promise. That's why.

[31:41] It's called. That man. Nigelion. The old writers. Used to call it. Man. Nigelion. Every other promise. Flows out.

[31:52] From that promise. And God. In his sovereignty. His sovereignty. Finds. Nobody. Finds. A righteous man.

[32:08] We could say this of course. That God in his sovereignty. Makes a righteous man. And of course. It's God who has to make. Someone. Righteous. Because we know. What's through with us.

[32:19] We can't save ourselves. In any shape. Or foreign. God. God saw. God saw. Noah. God saw Noah. But Noah found grace.

[32:30] In the eyes. Of the Lord. God. Saw. Noah. Noah. Found. Grace. Grace. In the eyes of the Lord.

[32:43] What is this grace? Do you mean to say. That this grace. Saved Noah. And his family. Yes. That's exactly what happened.

[32:56] Noah believed God. Noah. Wasn't polluted. By the pollution of sin. He was a righteous man. A righteous man. Who lived righteously.

[33:07] And brought his family up. Righteously. Rather than being polluted. With the pollution of the sin. And the world. And the infection. And the disease.

[33:18] That had spread. So remarkably. Throughout the whole world. And here was this. Righteous man. This preacher. Of. Righteousness. Grace.

[33:32] And he found. Faith. In the eyes. Of the Lord. Noah found. Grace. Grace. Isn't it remarkable. That in the. In the. In the outworking.

[33:43] Of the Bible. We should have that word. But it is. Grace. It's one of the most. Beautiful words. In the whole. Of scripture. God's unmerited.

[33:53] Faith. And. And. God. And. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God.

[34:09] God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God.

[34:19] God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. God. as it will be when Christ comes a second time. And the judgment here is a picture, fellas, of the judgment that is to come.

[34:40] Except when God revisits this world, it will not be with water, but with fire.

[34:51] But with fire. Fire that is going to cleanse. And from that cleansing will emerge a new heaven and a new earth.

[35:03] A new heaven and a new earth. I will destroy man whom I have created, verse 7, from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing of words of the air.

[35:19] I will blot out, is the word used. Blot out. And when you begin to see what these words mean, you begin to see just exactly what God was saying.

[35:34] I'm going to blot out sin. Blotting out is always referred to blotting out of sin. David cried in the midst of his repentance, blot out all my iniquity. Cleanse it, Lord. Clear it away.

[35:51] Cleanse me. Make me righteous. Just give me a righteous heart. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

[36:05] And as we begin to open the book of Noah, as we begin to open the book of Noah and the genealogy of Noah, we don't. We see judgment, but we see cleansing, and we see hope, and we see life, and we see grace, grace, and we see God in his sovereignty saying to Noah, Noah, Noah, I haven't forgotten my covenant.

[36:37] I'm going to make a covenant with you. At verse 18 of chapter 6, I will establish my covenant with you. You shall go into the ark. You shall go into the ark.

[36:51] And look at chapter 7 and verse 1. Then the Lord said to Noah, come into the ark.

[37:02] Come into the ark. Isn't that beautiful? How am I going to escape the judgment and the day of judgment? For the same gospel that Noah preached.

[37:19] The same gospel. That's the only thing that can save you. And that same gospel is speaking to you today. Come into the ark.

[37:31] Come into the ark. God is a God of grace and favor. He's not willing that any should perish. It grieves him.

[37:42] Sin grieves him. But He's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. And He says to you today and to me, come into the ark.

[37:55] Come to Jesus. Come to the blood that cleanses from all sin. Come to the blood that cleanses that cleanses from the deepest and the die of sin is so deep of course, so deep and so so much in every corner and vested but the blood of Jesus Christ the Bible tells us cleanses from all sin.

[38:29] Will you not come into the ark? Will you not look to the Lord? Or will you not accept the free offer of the gospel and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ?

[38:44]  Amen.