A Flood Of Judgment

We're continuing our series in Genesis this morning and we have come to Genesis chapter 6 verse 9 and we are going to read all the way through the end of chapter 7.

Genesis 6:9

So some of you all were worried that we'd never make any progress in Genesis. Well, here we are. We're going to read a larger section of Genesis this morning.

If you're physically able, when you found that in God's Word, would you stand in order of the reading of God's Word? Genesis 6 verse 9 through the end of chapter 7.

Genesis 6:9

These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

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.

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. Make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are 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, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.

And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sword 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 sword shall come into you to keep them alive.

Also, take with you every sort of food that is eaten and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.

Noah did this. He did all that God commanded him.

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 clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate,

and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth.

For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty 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.

Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth,

and Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood.

Of clean animals 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 had commanded Noah.

And after seven days the waters 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 that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth,

and the windows of the heaven were opened,

and rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth,

and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them,

entered the ark,

They and every beast according to his 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 had commanded him,

and the Lord shut him in.

The flood continued forty days on the earth.

The waters increased and bore up the ark,

and it rose high above the earth.

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 fifteen 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 the dry land,

and 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

one hundred fifty days.

Grass withers, flower fades,

but the word of the Lord endures forever.

Father, we thank you for this word.

We pray that by it we would be both warned of judgment to come

and driven to our knees in faith in the Messiah

that you've provided for salvation.

We love you.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Several years ago,

I was asked to give devotions

at a local preschool in Myrtle Beach

where we used to live,

and so I asked the leadership,

well, what text or what topic

would you like me to talk about?

And they said,

we want you to talk to the children

about Noah and the ark.

And I said, okay, that'd be perfect.

I'd be glad to do that,

but I could already tell

just in those initial conversations

that we had different versions

of that story in our mind.

Somehow, as you probably are aware,

Noah and the ark

has become sort of a light

and fun and colorful children's story.

There's animals,

there's rainbows,

there's a boat,

there's water,

it's all nice and fun,

but as we just read,

I hope you heard the language

from Scripture.

This actual story of Noah and the ark

is not quite so lighthearted,

is it?

Before I got up to talk,

first about the bad news of sin

and God's judgment against sin,

and then ultimately the good news

of God's grace,

and God's grace provided in Christ,

well, they sang a song

that confirmed all my suspicions.

He might know it.

The Lord said to Noah,

there's going to be a flood,

floody.

The Lord said to Noah,

there's going to be a flood,

floody.

Get those children out of the muddy,

muddy children of the Lord.

I don't know what that means.

I didn't read about any children

getting in the boat here.

The animals,

the animals,

they came in by twosies,

twosies,

animals,

animals,

animals,

came in by twosies,

twosies,

elephants,

and kangaroosies,

roosies,

children of the Lord.

You get the idea.

For whatever reason,

and forgive my pun,

there is a tendency

to water down

the story of the flood.

We aren't comfortable

talking about it

as it really is.

We have a hard time

wrapping our minds

around the truth

of what's happening here,

but we have to try

and understand it

as it is

and not as we want it to be.

This is a story

of God's wrath

against sin.

It is not a pretty picture.

This is a story

of God's judgment

on the wicked,

but also,

also,

it's a story

of God's preservation

of the faithful.

Yes,

on one side,

it's a terrifying picture

of God's wrath

against sin,

but it's also

at the very same time

a glorious story

of God's grace

and mercy

towards sinners like us.

So let's look

at the text this morning

and we'll see it

in two parts this morning.

First,

this is our outline

if you're taking notes.

First,

we'll see God judges

the wicked,

but second,

the Lord preserves

the faithful.

God judges

the wicked,

but preserves

the faithful.

That's the big idea here.

And if that's true,

then the question

that needs to be

on all of our mind

this morning is,

how do I make certain

that I'm counted

among the faithful?

How do I make

absolutely certain

that I get

on the boat?

So let's look at it

this morning.

First,

the Lord judges

the wicked.

You remember last week,

the reason for the flood.

You remember what we saw

last week?

All the earth

has become corrupted

by this dreadful disease

called sin.

And you can look back up

to the verse,

verse 5 of chapter 6

and see that the Lord

saw the wickedness

of man was great

in the earth.

Every intention

of every thought

of every heart

of every man

was only evil

all the time.

That was last week.

Now this is not

a pretty picture,

is it?

Verse 11,

chapter 6,

says the earth

was corrupt

in God's sight

and the earth

was filled

with violence.

Verse 12 says,

all flesh

has corrupted

their way

on the earth.

This isn't just

an isolated,

small,

minor issue,

is it?

This corruption

of sin

has spread

and spread

and spread.

It has gotten worse

and worse

and worse

and so now

God has determined

that He is going

to undo

His work

of creation.

Whereas in the beginning

God created

all things

and He saw

and He declared

that it was good

and now what happens?

He sees

and He declares

that it is wicked.

Whereas in the beginning

God brought order

out of chaos

through the power

of His word,

now temporarily

He's bringing

all things back

into a state

of chaos

by the power

of His word.

He is undoing

His work

of creation.

He's scrubbing

it absolutely clean.

You know,

when we first moved

to the area

a few years ago

we had temporary housing

for a few months

and we didn't want

to pay for storage.

That's just kind

of how we roll

and so we threw

everything in the basement,

in the garage

of this house

that we were staying in

and we didn't think

anything of it

until a few months

went by

and it was time

to load up

and move into our home

and we started noticing

these little black spots.

Black spots

on the couch.

Black spots

on the beds.

Black spots

on the picture frames.

There was mold

absolutely everywhere

and the more you saw it

the more you saw

how much it had spread

all over everything

and what do you think

we did when we saw

that mold all over

the stuff that we

wanted to preserve?

What do you think we did?

We began

to scrub it

clean.

The more we scrubbed

the more we saw

that it needed scrubbing.

It was everywhere.

God

here

is seeing

the widespread

black mold

of sin

that has come

and completely

corrupted all

of his creation

and so what does he do?

He is preparing

to scrub it

completely

clean.

Look there

to chapter 6

verse 13.

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

and how will he do it?

Verse 17

he says

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.

This isn't just

a slap on the wrist

is it?

This isn't just

a minor punishment

he says in chapter 7

verse 4

he says

I'm sending rain

on the earth

and every living

thing that I have made

I will blot

out

from the face

of the ground.

And we see

the impact

of the storm

in chapter 7

verse 21

it says

all flesh

died

that moved

on the earth.

Birds

livestock

beasts

all swarming

creatures

that swarm

on the earth

all mankind

everything

that is on

the dry land

and whose nostrils

was the breath

of life

died.

Just think

about that image

for a minute.

And don't

water it

down.

This is

complete

and total

destruction

of the wicked.

It's the death

penalty

for every

living thing.

We can hardly

imagine that.

And the closest

comparison that

we have

is probably

some of the

natural disasters

that we've seen

in our lifetime.

You can think

of some of the

hurricanes that

we've lived

through and seen

and just to be

clear I'm not

saying any of

these are

necessarily

God's judgment.

We can't

say that.

But just

consider the

power of

what we've

seen.

I remember

Hurricane Katrina

coming through

New Orleans.

Just ravaging

the devastation

that that

hurricane brought.

1,833

people died

from that

storm.

It brought

about $108

billion in

damages to

the area.

It's just

terrible.

Or you might

think of many

of you were

here during

Hurricane Hugo.

Came and

made landfall

right here

in Allendor.

Hugo would

just devastate.

You saw

firsthand the

destruction that

Hugo brought.

Or more

recently you

could think

of the

waters that

ravaged through

the upstate

in the mountains

just less than

a year ago.

Hurricane Helene

came through

and nobody

was ready

and some

areas up there

got over

30 inches

of water

in just

three days

time.

It is

absolutely

devastating

to that

area.

These storms

were terrible.

We've seen

the power of

what these

waters can

do,

haven't we?

But none

of these

storms was

even a

fraction

of the

devastation

of this

flood.

This isn't

just 30

inches of

water.

We're told

in chapter

7,

the fountains

of the

great deep

burst forth,

the windows

of the

heavens

were open,

the rain

fell,

the ark

is floating

up above

the highest

mountains,

all of it

is just

covered up

with water,

not just

for two

or three

days,

but 40

days and

40 nights.

It's not

just one

little area

of the

world,

just a

couple

states,

a couple

countries

on the

coast.

This is

the whole

world undone

by the

waters.

And it's

not just

1,800

people dead,

as awful

as that

is.

It says

he blotted

out every

living thing

that was on

the face

of the

ground,

everything

that is

except

for eight.

we cannot

begin to

fathom the

destruction

of this

flood,

can we?

It is

absolutely

horrible to

imagine,

but listen

to this,

we need

to understand

this,

just like

these hurricanes

that we've

seen are

just a

fraction of

the power

and the

devastation

of the

flood,

so this

destructive

global flood

is just

a small

image of

the greater

judgment

to come

at the

return of

Christ.

the

New

Testament

looks

back on

this

flood

and

sees

it

as

a

warning.

We took

us to

2 Peter

last week,

I want to

read this

again this

morning,

2 Peter

tells us

this,

it says

the earth

was formed

out of

water and

through

water by

the word

of God

and by

means of

these the

world that

then existed

was deluged

with water

and perished,

that's the

flood,

listen to

this,

but by

the same

word,

the heavens

and earth

that now

exist are

stored up

for fire,

being kept

until the

day of

judgment

and the

destruction

of the

ungodly.

You can't

read this

familiar story

and miss

the message.

This passage

is a warning

to the

wicked,

not just

the wicked

of yesterday

but the

wicked

of right

now.

There is

even

greater

destruction

and judgment

yet to

come on

the wicked,

greater even

than this

global

destructive

flood that

wrecked

everything but

eight people

out of all

the world.

You know,

as we think

about this

judgment

and the flood

and then we

think about the

coming judgment

and the return

of Christ,

this devastation,

you might

ask at this

point,

what kind

of God

would do

something like

this?

Have you ever

asked something

like that?

That's about

the most natural

question that you

could ask at

this point.

Atheists and

non-believers,

if you get into

conversation with

them, they might

ask you something

like this,

you actually

believe in a

God, you

trust in a

God, you

worship a

God that

just completely

destroyed the

world that he

made?

what kind

of God

would do

that?

What kind

of good

God would

completely wipe

out all

humanity?

What we need

to see is

that at the

root of that

objection is

a minimization

of the

seriousness of

sin.

One of the

worst effects

of sin is

that it

blinds us

to the

severity of

sin.

And it

blinds us

to just how

sinful we

are.

we're

deceived into

thinking that

we're mostly

good, good

natured people.

Sin isn't

that bad,

it's not that

bad, God

doesn't need to

react that

way.

We're just

trying our

best, we're

wounded by

sin but we're

not dead in

sin, we're

all just good

people, right?

That's not how

God sees it.

Sin, even

the slightest

drop of

sin poisons

the whole

well.

And if

we're shocked

by the

judgment of

God against

sin, that

God would

judge a

sinful world

is probably

because we

have too

small a

vision of

our sin.

But not

only that,

it's probably

because we

also have

too small a

vision of

God.

Think about

it like

this, a

small sin,

if there even

was such a

thing, a

small sin

against an

infinitely

glorious God

is of

eternal

consequence.

even the

smallest sin

against the

highest being

carries with

it eternal

consequence.

Think about

it, if you

whack your

brother on

the head,

and that

doesn't happen

in our

house, okay,

this is just

hypothetically

speaking,

all right,

out of

nowhere,

making this

up, if

you whack

your brother

on the

head, you

deserve time

out, right?

If you

whack your

mother on

the head,

oh, that

punishment just

got turned up

a little bit,

didn't it?

Why?

Because you

have just

sinned against

an authority.

You have

sinned against

somebody who's

deserving and

who expects and

demands your

utmost love and

respect and

honor and

care.

If you think

you're going to

go whack the

president of the

United States on

the head with no

consequence, guess

what?

You're a dead

man.

Why?

Why?

Because our

punishment

increases in

direct proportion

with our

sinfulness as

well as who

we have sinned

against.

What we've

seen, our

sinfulness is

total.

We are totally

corrupt.

All the earth

is totally

corrupt and

we have sinned

against a

good and

glorious,

eternally

worthy God

who is worthy

of all honor

and praise

and glory and

we have spat

in his face.

This is what

sin is.

So I ask you

again, what

kind of God

would do

something like

this?

And the

answer, if we

understand it,

is a holy

God.

One who's

grieved by

our sin.

And a just

God.

One who will

allow no sin

to go unpunished.

And a glorious

God.

One who's

worthy of all

honor and

praise and

glory forever

and ever.

Amen.

Those who

see their

sin rightly

don't look at

this flood and

say, why would

God do that?

They look at

God's patience.

120 years of

delay and they

say, why in the

world would God

do that?

They look at

God's preservation

of Noah and

his family and

say, why would

God do something

like that?

See, when you

see your sin

rightly and you

see God's

glory rightly,

you will be

more amazed by

God's grace

than God's

wrath.

You will be

more amazed by

his patience

than with his

judgment.

Now you won't

wonder why would

God ever be

against me.

You would

wonder why in

the world

would ever God

be for me.

You won't

wonder why God

judges anybody.

You'll be

wondering why

God might

preserve anybody.

God's

That's exactly

what he

does.

Yes, the

Lord judges

the wicked,

but look here,

God preserves

the faithful.

So let's look

second and we

see this amazing

truth.

The Lord

preserves the

faithful.

That was the

bad news.

But the good

news, there's

good news here.

Noah is

preserved.

God shows mercy here to Noah and to his family.

So I want to just look back and see.

I want you to notice a few things about Noah here.

Because Noah we're told is a model of faithfulness.

What does it look like to be faithful to the Lord?

What does it look like to be preserved from the wrath that we deserve?

Noah shows us here.

For one thing we're told that Noah out of all the people on the earth.

Noah was uniquely righteous.

Blameless it says.

Chapter 6 verse 9 it tells us Noah was a righteous man.

He's blameless in his generation.

Of course that doesn't mean that he's sinless.

We can look ahead a couple weeks in chapter 9.

And we see very clearly that Noah is not perfect.

He's not sinless.

He's sinful just like you and I are sinful.

But he is uniquely righteous.

In a way that's distinct.

It's unusual in a world of wickedness.

Where wickedness is the defining characteristic of the world.

Noah he says is blameless.

Not only is he blameless.

But verse 9 tells us Noah walked with God.

Noah walked with the Lord.

That's echoes of Enoch isn't it?

And we saw the story of Enoch last week.

Enoch walked with God.

And he was not.

He walked with God.

And he escaped the curse of death.

That's echoes of Enoch.

It's echoes of the Garden of Eden isn't it?

Adam and Eve walking with the Lord.

And this close fellowship with God.

This close personal intimate communion with the Lord.

Where they walk with Him.

And they speak with Him.

And familial relationship with God.

He is set apart here.

Because he knows God.

And we have to stop and ask don't we?

Do you know the Lord?

Do you walk with Him?

And do you speak with Him?

Do you have a close relationship with the Lord?

Noah did.

And not only this.

But think about this.

Noah, out of all the people of the world.

Noah received the word of the Lord.

God spoke to Noah.

Noah.

Chapter 6 verse 13.

It says God said to Noah.

He spoke to Noah.

I have determined to make an end of all flesh.

He warned him by His word.

God spoke to Noah by His word.

That same word that gave life to the universe.

And that same word.

That law giving word that gave instruction to Adam and Eve.

On what they must do in order to live.

That same word comes and instructs Noah.

On what he must do in order to live.

He didn't leave anything up to guesswork either, did he?

You see there in chapter 6 verses 14 through 21.

He lists out every measurement for the ark.

Every instruction.

Every little detail.

All the animals that come in by twosies and twosies.

All the necessary requirements for food.

And sacrifice.

All the things needed for repopulation of the new earth.

Even down to the type of wood that Noah is supposed to use.

Every little thing.

Every detail is laid out here in God's word.

You know, we don't have time to chase this trail.

I wish we did.

There's clear parallels here in this chapter.

With the construction of the tabernacle later on.

And you think about just how specific those instructions are.

God by his word communicates to us everything that's needed for life and godliness.

It's always been the case.

Everything is laid out here clearly.

No guesswork.

Everything's given to Noah by the word of the Lord.

Everything needed to escape the judgment of God.

It's found here in the word of the Lord.

What a unique gift of God's grace.

That his word was given to Noah.

And we might think, well, if only we had something like that.

If only God would just speak to me and communicate to me exactly what I need to avoid judgment.

If only God would lay out clearly instructions for how to be preserved from this wicked generation.

If only God would give me his word.

Then I would be fine, wouldn't I?

If only.

Church, we have it in our laps.

The Lord has spoken to each and every one of us by his word.

What a privilege of God's grace it is to have this day in and day out.

To open it in the morning.

To open it and read it with our families.

To come into here in this place and have the word preached.

We have heard the word of the Lord.

And with it its warnings.

With it its provisions for salvation.

We have each heard the word of the Lord.

Are we listening?

You may not love what you hear from the word.

You may not love what you've heard this morning about sin and judgment.

Those aren't popular terms.

This is heavy.

I realize that.

But church, consider yourself privileged to be warned.

And then consider yourself sent and commissioned to go and warn others by the word of the Lord.

The word came to Noah.

But he didn't just hear it.

He didn't just receive it.

What did he do?

Noah doesn't just hear it and continue on life as usual.

What does Noah do?

Noah obeys the word of the Lord.

We see it in chapter 6 verse 22.

And again in chapter 7 verse 5.

It says Noah did all that God commanded him to do.

All of it.

Total obedience to the word of the Lord.

We just studied in James in the Grow Class Hour.

We just wrapped up a study in James.

What does James say?

Faith without what?

Works is what?

Any good?

It's dead.

The reformers had a little phrase that they would say.

They'd say, yes we're saved by faith alone.

But the faith that saves is never alone.

In other words, saving faith, genuine faith is always accompanied by good works.

True, genuine faith is always partnered with obedience to the word of the Lord.

Noah here obeys all that God commanded.

And not just for one minute.

Look here.

We see here that Noah persists in obedience.

Now you've got to do a little bit of math here.

And fill in some of the white space just a little bit.

But based on the ages that were given for Noah.

And when he had his three sons.

And then when the flood waters eventually began.

And the length of time.

The warning that God gives before the floods began.

We can assume that Noah took something like 100 to 120 years to build the ark.

There is something like 100 to 120 years between the end of chapter 6 and the beginning of chapter 7.

That is a century of persistent obedience to the word of the Lord.

That is a century of looking foolish in the eyes of the world.

That is a century of trusting and obeying the word of the Lord.

That's a lifetime for most people now, isn't it?

What in the world can sustain that sort of long term obedience to the word of God?

The author of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 7.

Hebrews 11:7

By faith.

Noah being warned by God.

Concerning 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.

Noah was faithful to obey the word of the Lord because he had faith in the Lord.

Faith in the Lord is the root of all faithfulness to the Lord.

This is faith that persisted in faithfulness.

Church, if you want to know what it looks like to be faithful in the midst of this wicked generation.

Evidence that you are on the boat.

Here's what it might look like.

Ask yourself this.

Are you walking in persistent, obedient, grace empowered, word centered faithfulness to the Lord?

Are you blameless?

Are you distinct in righteousness?

Not perfect.

But striving for holiness?

Are you seeking to honor him with your life?

Does your heart genuinely desire to live for him?

Are you trusting and obeying the word of the Lord?

Are you living by it?

Are you clinging to it?

Are you believing it?

Are you holding on to it as your only hope?

Are you persisting in faith?

Genuine faith is often battle tested.

It's proven.

Are we prepared to persist by faith in the word of the Lord?

I'll ask it again.

Are you walking in persistent, obedient, grace empowered, word centered faithfulness to the Lord?

These are good questions for us to ask.

Good evaluating questions for us, aren't they?

But listen to me here because I want to be clear.

If we base our assurance only on our answers to these questions, we will never know where we stand.

You want to know why?

Because not a single one of us does any of those things perfectly.

Our performance, our effort, our obedience.

We will never sleep easy knowing that judgment is coming upon the wicked if we look inward at ourselves, at our performance.

Which is why we must ultimately look to Christ Jesus in faith.

Jesus Christ is the only one who can answer all of these questions with 100% yes.

Only Christ Jesus is totally, truly righteous.

Only Christ Jesus is totally blameless.

Only Christ Jesus fully obeyed the word of the Lord.

Only Christ himself is the very word of God.

Christ himself is the object of our faith.

Here the world is judged for their wickedness and God brings Noah by his grace into the ark and he's saved.

And now we're warned again.

Judgment is coming against the wicked.

But now, church, the invitation is cast out to all who will listen.

Come to Christ and live.

Come to Christ and be saved from the wrath to come.

The only way you can be certain that you're counted among the faithful is not by looking at yourself and what you've done.

It's only by coming to Christ in faith.

Don't miss the lesson here.

Remember, this isn't just a fun, colorful children's story.

There is life and death held out for us this morning.

Jesus himself, as we read earlier, tells us that just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.

They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all.

This is the warning.

But the gospel invitation is cast wide.

Whoever believes in Christ shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Will you come to Christ?

Will you come to Christ and escape the judgment that we're owed for our sin?

Will you come to Christ in faith and cling to him as our only hope?

The unbelievable good news of the gospel is that in Christ, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

Which means there's no more wrath of God against the sin of those who are in Christ.

There is no judgment against those who are in Christ.

There is no hell for those who are in Christ.

There is no guilt in life, no fear in death.

For those who are in Christ.

How wise was Noah to get in the boat?

Would you make certain that you're in Christ?

Are you in him by faith?

If not, I know any member of this church would love to talk to you more about what that means.

To be in Christ by faith.

And if you are in him by faith in church, praise God for the grace he's shown sinners like us.

If you're in Christ by faith, we can read this account and rejoice in this flood of God's wrath against sin.

Because we see here, Jesus Christ has washed away all of our sin.

God is serious about ridding sin.

God will wash away every stain of sin.

He will preserve us by his grace.

He will bring us safely home.

We can be assured of our salvation now and the future.

If we are in Christ, the day of his return, we no longer fear.

We rejoice.

Because by his grace for you, it's no longer a day of wrath, but of deliverance.

Marvel at this truth, church.

What kind of God would destroy the world with a flood?

The same God who would crush his own son in the place of sinners.

What kind of God would pour out his wrath on an innocent substitute in our place?

What kind of God would step down into our mess, into our brokenness to seek and to save the lost?

What kind of God would go down into the pit of death and rise up triumphant in order to save the wicked?

Our God.

Our God.

A good God.

A holy God.

A gracious, loving, glorious God.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you, Lord, for the gospel.

The bad news that all of us are deserving of judgment, but the good news that Christ has come to save sinners like us.

We pray that we would rejoice in that provision of salvation, simply to be received by grace through faith.

We love you.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.

Thank you.