At our time then this morning, we would like to look at these verses that we have read from Genesis chapter 5, verse 28, and going on to Genesis chapter 6 and verse 8. If we're looking for a text, it would really be where I want to end up. With our meditation, it will be verse 8 of chapter 6, where we read, The title for our meditation this morning is Before the Flood. before the flood. Now the flood is one notable event in the Old Testament, and we'll look at it at more detail on another occasion. But to help us understand something more of what happened, and why it happened, we want to look at a number of things that we find, particularly from chapter 6, the opening 6 or 7 verses of that chapter, that describe the situation before the flood. God does nothing haphazardly. There's always a reason. And we would find reasons in these opening verses why the flood came upon the old world. And as time permits, I want to draw one or two reasons, or one or two observations of society at that time. Because, I'm not quoting verbatim here, but we know from the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ that we find in the New Testament, as it was in the day of Noah, so it shall be in the day when the Son of Man comes. And therefore, we can learn a lot about what it will be like the days before Jesus Christ returns if we look at the days before the flood came, because they're going to be similar. And this would tell us and encourage us and inform us that in one real sense, there's no change. With all our technology, with all our so-called knowledge and education and civilization, really there's no change. No change because of sin. Man is still sinful. What do we find here in verse 5, for instance, in chapter 6? And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. We could put that everywhere today because it describes everyone. There are no exceptions. As it was in the days of Noah, so it is today. Well, one or two things I wish to highlight before we look at the flood on another occasion in greater detail. I put it to you. Read it again. We might read them as we go through, but verses 1 to 5 really describe population growth. That's really what they describe, and the effects of it. Verse 1, for instance, of chapter 6, and it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth. This was a promise that God gave to our first parents. In Genesis 1, verse 28, God blessed them and God said unto them, that's Adam and Eve, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it. Now we know what happened. The fall came and a curse was upon the earth and Adam and Eve received. due punishment for their misdemeanor, their sin, which we know as the fall. But God still maintained this blessing. Yes, we know the earth was cursed. We know that work was now laborious. It wasn't a What it once was before the fall, things had changed, but nevertheless God still favored and God still blessed mankind. God is that kind of God. Yes, he will punish, but also he will maintain what he has said to them. God blessed them, that's Adam and Eve, and God said unto them, be fruitful and multiply. This is what we find here when men began to multiply on the face of the earth. even after the fall, even after sin, even after all that had happened, God still blessed them. And the earth was populated. The old men, the antediluvians, they lived for a long time. And during that long time, they brought forth plentifully men and women, boys and girls. The earth was indeed populated. It was a time of a population explosion. And what comes with population explosion? Sin. It explodes. Now, I know this is a generalization, and there are exceptions, but generally speaking, where you have the big cities, you'll have the most sin. When you go to your small villages, you won't. You won't have the same kind of depravity. It won't be so manifest. Yes, there are exceptions. No one's going to deny it. But generally speaking, where you have these large populations like what we have here in and around Glasgow, And in our cities, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, such like, you'll find great sins being committed. This is what happens. This is one of the downsides of population growth. Now it so happens, friends, I haven't got figures to back this up, but you can look at it yourself. This is a matter that's been brought to our attention in the past week. We're being told that the population of Britain is going to grow exceedingly. And it's not, as it were, through natural growth. It's because of people that are going to come into this country. Our country is going to grow. And many people are talking about, how can we possibly maintain this? How can we provide services for these people that are coming in? Now, I don't wish to get involved in any kind of argument like that. That's for the politicians to deal with. And indeed, some Christians are quite happy to see multitudes being brought into this country. And as far as we can see, many of the people are coming in are young men, and they're coming in and bringing their own religion with them. Now, you might be against it, or you might be for it. Again, I'm not going to get involved in this argument, because people might say, well, here's a wonderful opportunity to evangelize. And in some sense, that may well be the case. And if Christians can take that opportunity of bringing the gospel to foreigners who are coming into our land, instead of going to the land where they came from with the gospel, maybe that's a good idea. I cannot say. But population growth will bring its own difficulties. And one of the difficulties that it brings, friends, is sin. And we need to be aware of that. This is what we find here. Population growth, it brings with it, on the other side, if you like, sin, a greater concentration of sin. Second thing I want us to notice, friends, here is spiritual decline. And to this I'm highlighting verses 2 and 4. We find in verse 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose. And verse 4, there were giants in the earth in those days. And also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bared children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. Well, we have one or two things here that we would like to highlight from these verses, and we want to ask one or two questions to help us understand. For instance, who were the sons of God? Who were the sons of God? Now, in the Bible, we are told on some occasions that the angels are described as the sons of God. I don't believe this is talking about angels here. I don't even believe it's talking about fallen angels, as some would have us to believe. The sons of God here, friends, I do believe are those descendants of the family of Seth. In other words, from the visible church. They are regarded as the sons of God. And it does seem here that the sons of God were intermarried with what we find here. taking wives from the daughters of men. Who were the daughters of men? They were the descendants of the apostate Cain. And what we have here is mixed marriages. This is what we have, and this is what brought about a tremendous spiritual decline. It's when the professing church, when the men of the professing church had their eyes upon the daughters of men. They were having relationships and marriages because of what they saw with their eyes. Instead of looking to the heart, they were taken up with the outward form and the beauty of the daughters of men. It says here in verse 4, for instance, there were giants in the earth. The giants, that word translated giants, is nephilim. Nephilim. And they were the descendants of the apostate Cain. And this is what brought about the tremendous spiritual decline. And friends, we are to be ones who realize that if we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, if we are part of the professing Christian church, we are to be separated from the world The sons of God on this occasion were not separated from the world. They indulged the world. But the Christian is to walk outside of the world. He is not to fall in love with the world. He is not to be worldly. He is to be one to recognize that it's a wonderful privilege to be a professing Christian, to be to belong to the kingdom of God, to have Jesus Christ as your Lord and as your Savior. It comes with responsibility. It comes with this sense that we cannot compromise with the world. We are to be separate. We are to be like a city that's set upon a hill. We are to remind ourselves of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, be ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. That's the ideal. That's what's before the professing Christian. And this is where they failed. The sons of God, they intermingled and they compromised and brought sin and shame upon the ancient world. Another thing we want to notice thirdly, before the fall, we have the withdrawal of the spirit. Verse 3, and the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh, yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. Now this verse is not that easy to interpret. Some maintain that what we have here is God limiting the lifespan of man. We noticed before that man was living much longer. 600, 700, 800, 900 years was very common. But now God was saying that mankind, their lifespan is not going to be as long as it once was. He's going to limit it to 120 years. That may well be true. There's another interpretation, and the interpretation is that when it says, my spirit shall not always strive with man, it's a reference to Noah. And Noah was a preacher of righteousness, we are told, in 2 Peter 2, verse 5, where it says, spared not the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness. And some commentators link these two verses together, because when Noah was preaching, He was preaching for 120 years before the flood would come. And during that 120 years, the Spirit was striving with sinful mankind through the preaching of Noah. Noah was telling them that there's a flood coming. They'd never seen rain before. But Noah was telling them that this is what God is going to do. And as he was building the ark for 120 years in preparation, the Holy Spirit, through his preaching, was striving with men and women and boys and girls that they might indeed amend their ways and repent. My spirit shall not always strive with man. Whatever interpretation you accept, that's the point we want to drive home to you this morning. My spirit shall not always strive. It's a blessing to be under the means of grace. It's a blessing even to have God's Word read publicly before you. It is another blessing to have a preacher seeking to proclaim that Word, to explain it, and to apply it. And it's by the normal means of grace that the Holy Spirit speaks to individuals. We know it's beneficial to read the Word of God privately, and all of us should do that. But our catechism would tell us there is a special blessing in the preaching of God's Word. It is through the preaching that faith comes. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And it's through the preaching of God's word that the Spirit speaks, or the Spirit strives. And indeed, everyone who is a Christian will know something about this. When you were under the means of grace, you came and nothing bothered you, nothing moved you. But one day, oh yes, one day something happened. What happened? The Spirit spoke to you. You felt as if the minister was speaking directly to you. Well, it's not the minister. The minister cannot do that. But the Holy Spirit can, and that's what happened. And maybe for a time you strove with it. Maybe for a time you wrestled. Maybe for a time you said, I'm not having this. I don't want this. Well, here's something to you, friend. My spirit will not always strive with man. And maybe you have been here before. and you've heard myself, or you've heard others, or you've been in other congregations, and you've heard other ministers, and what has happened? The Spirit has striven with you on that occasion. But now you come to the house of God, and what happens? Nothing. Nothing whatsoever. You come in dead, you go out dead. Oh, friends, if that be the case, then you need to cry out to God. Oh, if that is your position, if that is your experience at this moment, oh, you need to cry out to God that He would awaken you. Oh, that the Holy Spirit might come upon you, and that you might hear the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ through the Scriptures, because that's a warning, friends, to us all. My spirit shall not always strive with man. You know, our God has an everlasting love for his people, an everlasting love, a love that never begins, a love that can never end. No, God's love is eternal, but his patience is not. It's not. Oh, his patience is long. He is long-suffering. No one's going to deny it. In fact, it's one of his attributes, and we delight in it because it describes to us the great God of heaven, that he is long-suffering, that he is patient, that he put up with much, but my spirit shall not always strive with man. Is this what's happening today in this congregation and in other congregations and in the professing Christian church? Is this a forerunner to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ? The Spirit in its power has been in some sense silenced and removed from us. Is it not true that we have gospel preaching, yet we don't see signs following it? Is that not a sign? In some sense, my spirit shall not always strive with mine. Were the preachers of 40 years ago, or 140 years ago, or 400 years ago, were they better preachers? and the preachers of today? Well, in my case, yes, they most certainly would be. But that cannot be said for all the other ministers. We have many ministers who are faithful. And are they seeing any gospel blessing, any gospel success? My spirit shall not always strive with man, And that's what happened in the days of Noah. They intermarried. The Spirit didn't strive with them. You want sin? You can have it. Is that not what's happening in our nation today, in the Western world today? Open your eyes, friends. See it for yourself. You want your homosexuality? You want your perversion? You want your fornication? You want your adultery? You want all the things that sin gives you? You can have it! My spirit shall not always strive with man, as it was in the days of Noah. So it shall be at the coming of the Son of Man. Fourthly, time's moving on. Fourthly, verse five, what do we find? Well, the verse I've already quoted, God saw the wickedness of man. And this would remind us again that when God does something, he has reasons. He doesn't act arbitrary. There is a reason for what he does. And he was going to do something notable, something awesome, something that would change the earth, something that would change the environment or the topography, if you like. He was going to send a flood. Why was he going to send a flood? Because of the wickedness of man. And this would remind us if we ever need it to be reminded again. Whatever he does, it's just. The God of the Bible is good. Oh, you might hate him. Well, you do hate him. If you're a natural individual, you do hate God. But you have no reason to because he's good, and everything he does is good. It's righteous. It's holy. He does what he does because of evidence. And he said, just God. And when Abraham was interceding for Sodom and Gomorrah, this was one of the things that he used in his supplication and his intercession. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Well the answer from this pulpit today is yes. Everything he does is right. He can do no wrong. And this was God's assessment upon society. He looks at society today and there can be no difference. This is bang up to date. You know, many people tell us the Bible's old. Oh yes, it's old, that's true. But in one sense, it is contemporary. In one sense, friends, it's speaking loud and clear about society today. Here's a description of Glasgow today. God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. Oh, a great wickedness, great problem. What's the problem? The problem is man. The problem is man. It's in his heart. And that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. God saw it. The sons of God, they didn't see it. The daughters of men, they didn't see it. Society didn't see it. Society saw the population growth and all the blessings that would come with it, trade and commerce and all kinds of things would come with it. And therefore society was eating and drinking, buying and selling, giving and marriage and having good times. But God saw to the heart and God sees to your heart today. And friends, this describes your heart today. Even the heart of the Christian. God saw. God sees. Well, you're in God's house today. But even if you weren't, if you were lying in your bed, God sees your heart. You're listening online. We don't know you. We might never know you. God knows you. God knows your heart. And we bless God that he has provided a solution. It's a new heart. It's a new life. It's a new nature. Jesus said, I have come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly. Christ has come to cleanse us from our sin and to give us that relationship that was broken when Adam and Eve sinned. It's all in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. God sees, and God has done something wonderful. He sent his son in the fullness of time. Fifthly, God's reaction, verse six, and it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth and it grieved him at his heart. This verse would indicate initially that God had a change of mind. If we would interpret it like that, friends, we would be not interpreting it correctly in the light of what we find in God's Word. God cannot change. God is a most blessed, holy, pure, perfect spirit. And for him to change would imply imperfection. Because when you change, you can only change for the better or for the worse. And therefore, what we have here is God speaking to mankind using human language in order to convey to us that we might understand. He is accommodating our finite minds in order that we might know that he finds the behavior of mankind abhorrent. And because mankind has changed, God therefore must deal with them according to that change. If Adam and Eve had maintained their holiness and their righteousness, He would never have said this. But because all mankind fell in Adam and Eve, therefore their relationship with God changed. And therefore God had to deal with them differently. God is always holy and can only be holy. But it's man that has changed, not God. And therefore, because of this change, God has to change the way that he deals with mankind. And he's telling us here that he regrets that he had made man on the earth. Not that he has changed, but man has changed. A wonderful quote here from Matthew Henry. He says, God repented that he made man, but never repented that he redeemed man. Oh, he's got a way with words. Wonderful. God says, the Bible tells us, God repented that he made man, but never repented that he redeemed man. Does this not reveal to us again the wonderful love, mercy, the grace of God? You never hear God repenting or regretting that he sent his son in the fullness of time to undertake what we could never undertake. He never, ever uttered a word that he regrets redeeming mankind and the great cost of salvation, what it took, what it cost the Son of God to go to the cross, to suffer and die, and to do what was required to provide a perfect righteousness and salvation for his people. God never repented of that. He delighted in that. This reveals to us, therefore, the wonderful love and the grace and the mercy of God, his wonderful compassion. He looked upon us, saw us dead, saw us dead in sins, saw us on a lost road towards eternity, and he did something about it. And he has no regrets. Well, Sixly, God's action. Verse seven, and the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast and the creeping thing and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them. What are we to draw from this? Well, surely, friends, again, if we need to be reminded about this, it is God's absolute, total hatred of sin and his determination to deal with it. He will not overlook it. He will not wink at it. He will not excuse it. He must confront it. Why? Because he's a holy God and sin is offensive to him. And of course, we know what happened. And we go to the cross and we see it there again. We know exactly what happened. God is telling us clearly. He hates sin. Can we derive something from it for ourselves? Yes, we can. The believer must have the same mindset. The believer must be one who hates and abhors sin, and who seeks to crucify sin, and who will not in any sense side with it. There's no such thing as a little sin. Every sin is a sin against God, a God who hates sin. And this should be the mindset and the behavior of the believer. Hate it. Don't dally with it. Run from temptation. Don't think you can stand up against it. It's the most powerful thing in the world next to God himself. Hate it. Well, lastly, seventhly, we have Noah spared. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. grace. And amongst all that debauchery, all that evil, all that wickedness, all that rebellion, all that chaos, Noah found grace. Noah was righteous. Noah wasn't perfect. We'll notice that. Far from it. But he was one who, using the light that he had, he had his eye upon that wonderful deliverer that was going to come in the fullness of time. This was his hope. He saw society. He saw it for what it was, and he clung on to that hope, that wonderful hope that our first parents had given to us in Genesis 3, verse 15, about this one who would come and crush the evil one. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Oh, have you found grace? Oh, have you? Is this your experience? Can you say that truly today, that you've found grace, that you've made peace with God through believing upon the Lord Jesus Christ, just as Noah did? He was looking forward to that day when the Son of God would come. Whatever light he had, he didn't have the light that you and I enjoy. But he had some, and there's where his faith was. And now, friends, the Christian, we look back at what Christ has done, and we look forward to that day when he will come and fulfill all the promises and the prophecies found in the Word of God. Well, in that wicked and corrupt generation before the flood, there was one. As we will notice later on, he walked with God. Is that your experience today in this wicked and corrupt generation? Can it be said of you that you walk with God? Have you found grace? The only way to find grace is to go to the God of grace, is to call upon Christ Jesus the Lord, to have him as Lord and Savior, to follow him. That's the grace of God. Before the flood. Amen. And may God bless his word to us.