For our time then this morning, let us return to Genesis chapter 6. We shall choose verse 22 for our text. Genesis chapter 6 and verse 22 shall be our text. Thus did Noah, according to all that God commanded him, so did he. We seek the Lord's blessing as we continue to work our way through the early chapters of Genesis. And last Lord's Day, we focus mainly on the first part of this chapter. And our text last Lord's Day was verse eight, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And we focused about what it was like before the flood. But now, friends, we want to look at the remaining verses in the chapter from 9 to 22. And the title for our meditation this morning is Preparing for the Flood. Preparing for the Flood. Last Lord's Day, under the title Before the Flood, we noticed the population explosion in verse 1. We noticed the worldliness and the apostasy and the compromise in the church of that day in verse 2. We noticed the universal wickedness, not only that man himself was totally depraved, but every single man. and the whole world was depraved. Such was the terrible situation of the world in these days before the flood, a world dominated by violence and wickedness and sexual debauchery. And then we noticed also as a warning to ourselves that the Holy Spirit will not always strive with individuals. We find that in verse 3, my spirit shall not always strive with man. Here you are, you think you're going to come to the house of God, and you're going to hear a sermon, and you're thinking, well, I'll do the same next week, and I'll do the same the week after, and the Lord will speak to me. We have no such assurance, none whatsoever. The Spirit has been striving with you on occasions, and he may well say, I'm not going to strive any longer. What a thought! What a terrible thought to think that the Word of God is not going to speak to you. Well, that's the way it was way back in Noah's time when there was so much violence, so much debauchery, so much wickedness, just like today. So much compromise in the church today as it was then. And maybe the Spirit might be saying to ourselves this morning here as we're gathered under the means of grace, my spirit will not always strive with man. When you hear the word of God, you are to respond. It's not there for your perusal. It's not there for you to make a judgment upon it. We are to be like Noah. Thus did Noah, according to all that God commanded him, so did he. The Spirit didn't strive with Noah. No, Noah heard, Noah had faith, and Noah did what he was told. And this is what's required of us all. without exception, from the minister to the people in the pew. God speaks. God commands all men everywhere to repent. We call it a gospel invitation, and indeed it is, but it's also a gospel command, and it comes with the full force of heaven. And do you think that you can put off Almighty God? Who do you think you are, that you can put off Almighty God? My spirit will not always strive with man, Is it not a wonder? Is it not a marvel? Is it not a great act of mercy that the Spirit does strive? And indeed the Spirit did strive with the Christian. Very, very few Christians believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ when they first heard the gospel. Oh, we know there are exceptions, and we're glad for that. But very often, a Christian will hear the gospel and he will resist the gospel. And he will in some sense strive with the Spirit. But those who belong to the Lord cannot. cannot strive continually. They must submit in a day of his power. But there's a warning, there's a warning for us all. My spirit will not always strive. And we finish with Noah finds grace. Oh, what a wonderful verse. Oh, to find grace, to find the favor of God, to have the heart opened. Oh, to see your sin. It's a wonderful mark of grace to see your sin and to see your Savior who has died in the room and place of sinners. This is grace. This is grace, this is God revealing things to you that he has not revealed to others. Others who sit in the same congregation and hear the same sermons and read the same word of God. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Oh, if you have found grace, then you have something to rejoice. You can say hallelujah. to find grace, to find the favor of God. This is wonderful, glorious, and divine. Well, we want to look then at the other section from verses 9 to verse 22. What do we find? Well, terrible days. Terrible days. In one sense, they were normal days. The Lord Jesus Christ reminds us again when he talks about his coming in the Olivet Discourse found for us in Matthew chapter 24 and 25. He talks about the destruction of Jerusalem, and he also talks about that time when he shall come again, and when he shall bring to an end this world and time as we know it. And he's warning his disciples about that time. And he's giving them indications of what it will be like at that time. And he says, for instance, in Matthew chapter 24 and verse 38, for as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark. Now we've noticed all the terrible things that were happening, violence, wickedness, sexual immorality, all that was happening, but there was a sense of normality. And that's what it would have been like there. Because he says, for as in the days that were before the flood, They were eating and drinking. We all need to eat and drink. There's nothing wrong with eating and drinking. Marrying and giving in marriage, that's normal activity. And when he's talking about marriage here, he's talking about real biblical marriage, not the fake marriage that we might get today when two same-sex couples marry or say they have been married. It's not marriage at all. But when he says here, marrying and giving and marriage, he's talking about real marriage, marriage in the sight of God, and therefore, in some respects, life was good in the days of Noah. Yes, there was wickedness. Yes, there was debauchery. But there was a sense of normality. Things are just the way they're always going to be. And what happens? What happens? Then amongst all this normality, the flood comes. The rain descends. The fountains of the deep open up. Something that never happened before is happening. And that's the way it will be when the Lord Jesus Christ returns. Life will be normal in many ways. Yes, we know there are going to be signs, but very few people will be looking at the signs. They'll all be concerned with eating and drinking, buying and selling. marrying and giving and marriage, they will be looking to their own ends, their own temporal ends. They won't be thinking about the time that Jesus will return, because we're told in the Word of God that the scoffers will come. The scoffers. Where is his coming? You talk about the coming of the Lord Jesus, Where is it? It's now over 2,000 years since the time of Christ, if they even believe in the time of Christ. And they say, where is this coming? He's not coming. This is nonsense. It's not nonsense, friends. Do you believe it? Do you believe it? The Bible tells us about it. The preacher believes it. And that day will come. And what a terrible day it will be for those who are outside of Christ. But we rejoice, this is the day of grace. As it was in the days of Noah. What was it like in the days of Noah? They laughed. Oh, we'll look at that later on, but they laughed at Noah. Rain? We've never seen rain. Flood? Impossible. That man's lost his marbles. He's gone off the head. The local conversation would have been about Methuselah. See that guy? Well, he died. Yes, 969 years, but he died. Would have spoken about Enoch. What happened to Enoch? He was taken. He was there one moment, he was gone the next. He walked with God and God took him away. And you can imagine the conversation. What happened to him? And all friends, God was moving and God was working. Because when the time when Methuselah would die, that was the time when the flood was going to come. We can't be certain. about Methuselah? Did he die in the flood? Or did he die in the year of the flood? We can be certain of that. He died in the year of the flood. What am I trying to say? What I'm trying to say is, God was moving and working in that time before the flood came, and the people were taken up with secondary issues. not concerned at all. Well, let us look then at Noah. What do we find here from these verses about Noah? Noah, we're told in verse 9, Noah was a just man. Now, just is just another word for righteous. And when the Bible describes someone as being just or righteous, let it be certain among us that this person stood before God as a just individual. And to be a just individual that could stood before God He would need to be righteous. He would need to be one who was ultimately looking to God to save him. He was going to look to what the provision God had made for mankind. He was ultimately looking forward to that Messiah, that one that was promised, as we look to in Genesis chapter 33 and verse 15. about this one who would come and ultimately crush the devil. And this is what Noah was hanging on to. This is where his faith was placed upon. Upon this one that was going to come. He didn't have the light that you and I have. He didn't have the knowledge. He didn't have a canon of scripture. No, no. But he had the word of God. And it would have been told to him by Maybe Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, his father, it was passed on to him, and his faith was in this one that was to come. And because of that, he was declared to be a righteous individual. Well, it's exactly the same for everyone today. The Old Testament saints who were saints, they all looked forward to the coming of the Savior. The New Testament saints, we look back. We look back to what Christ did. We look back to his life, his death, his resurrection, his ascension, his glorification. and that day when he shall return in power and in glory." In other words, our faith, our hope is built upon the Son of God and what he has done, what God has done in Christ for mankind. And that's why Noah was regarded here as a just man. That's how he found grace. That's how he escaped the judgment that was going to come upon the world. It was because he was just in the sight of God. There's no difference. We know one day this world will not be destroyed by water, but by fire. What a terrible day that will be. And the only way that we can be saved is to have faith in Jesus Christ. That's the only way we are described as being righteous in the sight of God. By nature, we're all self-righteous. We look to ourself. We put our hopes upon ourself, upon our religious efforts, upon our religious doings, upon our morality, upon our civilization, upon all kinds of things other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, all of these things will never save us, never. Only Christ can save. He was delivered for our offenses and raised to life for our justification. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. And in the troubleless times that Noah lived in, and they were troubleless times, he had peace with God. Oh, that wonderful peace. Peace with God and the peace of God. that passes all understanding was Noah's, what can we say? It was Noah's portion in that wicked and corrupt world. He believed God and it was credited to him for righteousness. What about ourselves? Oh, look at ourselves. Oh, examine ourselves. Don't examine someone else. Examine yourself. Have you faith in what God has said? Are you doing what God has said? Do you not look to the cross? Do you not see there what God has done in Christ? Do you not see the love of God? Is it not clear, crystal clear to you? That God would not spare His only begotten Son? That He would punish Him in the room and place of sinners? Does this not reveal to you the wonderful, divine love of God that passes all understanding? And does it not also reveal to you the determination upon God that He will deal with sin? And He has dealt with it in His Son, the Lord Jesus. Well, Noah was just. And if you're one who believes upon the Lord Jesus, you are just. You will not be under condemnation. You might find that difficult to absorb and to comprehend and to take in and to live in the light of it. But you're not to live according to your feelings. You are to live by faith. You are to believe in the Word of God. And you are to see that God is a righteous God. And if Jesus Christ has died in your room and place, if he truly has paid the price of your sin, Then God being just cannot demand payment twice. Surely you believe in a just God. Surely you do. You might not believe other things, but you do believe that God is just. Well, if Christ has died as our substitute, our surety, God will not demand payment twice. You're just in the sight of God. Oh, live up to the spiritual blessings that Christ has secured for his people. Oh, delight in him, gloat in him and what he has done. That's what you are to do. Noah, seeing all the corruption all around him, and amongst the church of that day, He stood out. He was just because he was fixed and focused upon what God was going to do for them, ultimately. Secondly, we would notice briefly, we're told here in verse nine, Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations. Now is this just an amplification? When it says just and perfect, is it just a further description? I'm inclined to think it's not. Just is referring to his relationship, I do believe, with God. And perfect, in his generations, I do believe it's talking about his relationship with his fellow men. Now we know he would have had a hard time with his fellow men. We might look upon that later on if we have time, but whatever they thought of Noah, they could see that this man was a believer. they could see something different about Noah. He didn't engage in violence. He didn't engage in sexual debauchery. He didn't engage in compromise. He wasn't a worldly individual. He wasn't someone who filled his days with the things of this world. He walked with God, we're told. He was a consistent, upright believer. As he dealt with people, he dealt with them according to the word of God. He was full of truth and integrity. His word was his bond. If he said something like, I will pray for you, then he did pray for him or her. If he said he would help an individual, he would do it. He was a man that you could trust. It's very likely that the people of the world didn't like him, because we know he was a preacher. He was a preacher of righteousness, and no preacher of righteousness is loved by the world. But they couldn't in any sense condemn his character. He was forthright. He stood up. There's a man of God. I don't like him. But there's a man of God. Christian, can they say that about you? Minister, can they say that about you? Are you just someone who fills a pulpit and preaches a sermon and then lives a life of debauchery afterwards? It's a very sobering question, is it, to ask ourselves. Is there any evidence that when we go home and we take off our Sunday clothes, that we also take off our Sunday religion or our Sunday faith? Is that the way it is with us? That's not the way of the true believer. The true believer, when he goes out into the world on the Monday and the Tuesday and the Wednesday, he's a man of God. He's a Christian. What about when you go away on holiday? What do you do on the Sabbath day when you're on holiday? Do you flow with the world? Do you avoid the house of God? Do you have worship at all? Noah was perfect. He couldn't find a fault with his life. Honest. He didn't gossip about people. Very often you would think maybe in his preaching he might be filled with tears when he preached about this flood that no one had ever seen that was about to come upon the world and they were all going to be destroyed, all rushed headlong into eternity, utterly unprepared. And he would preach about righteousness. He would tell them to amend their ways. And very often, there would be tears. And if there wasn't physical tears, his heart might well be broken as he lifted up his voice and told them to flee from the wrath to come. And that was his message consistently. And that's why it says there, and perfect in his generations, he preached We can't be certain, but at least for a hundred years, at least for a hundred years, he didn't change his message. He didn't make it more contemporary. He didn't make it more user-friendly. No, no. It was repent. It was believe. You must have faith. You must turn over. Turn or burn, he was saying, in effect. That's what he was saying. Turn or perish. That's it, friends. The minister has nothing else to say in many ways. And Noah wasn't going to adapt his message to suit the mood of the people as they continually compromised. No, no. He was a man who was perfect. He knew God. He knew the Word of God. He knew his mission. He knew what he had to say. And he was going to be faithful. Thirdly, notice here too also, and Noah walked with God. Did Enoch have some influence upon him? We notice Enoch was one who walked with God. That's the way it is for our Christian lives. It's to walk with God. It's a day-by-day experience. How many people are living upon past grace? They're looking at some kind of Christian conversion they've had 10 years ago, or 20 years ago, or 30 years ago. That's not the way with Noah. He walked with God. He had daily communion with God, day after day. And this is what the Bible would teach us. Christian, that's what it's like. It's a walk with God. Every day you need the grace of God. Every day. All grace will not do. We need it. Ephesians chapter five, verse two. And walk in love as Christ also hath loved us. Walk in love. Walk in love towards the Savior. Walk in love with your brethren. The Bible speaks a lot, actually, about walking. Again, Ephesians, for ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. Once you were involved in the world, once you were involved in pubs and clubs and bingos and all kinds of things. Friends, when you become a Christian, you turn these things away. You turn from them. You have new life. You have a new motives, new intentions, new desires, new life. That's what it's all about. Walk as children of light. That's what you're to do. This is what Noah did. Walked with God. Galatians, verse 16 of chapter 5, this I say then, walk in the Spirit. Walk in the Spirit. It's the Spirit that has brought you into the kingdom of God. You cannot earn, you cannot just jump into it. It's the Spirit by the new birth that takes you into the kingdom of God and we bless God. It's the Holy Spirit who keeps you in that kingdom and he energizes you, he sanctifies you, he illuminates things for you. You are to walk with the Spirit. This is what Noah was. Noah walked with God. Again, Ephesians 5, verse 15. See then that you walk circumspectly, carefully. Why? It's a dangerous thing to be a Christian. We have enemies. We have that evil one who walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. He doesn't like you. Christian, you better be aware that there's someone there, there's this malignant spirit who's out to destroy you. He doesn't want you following the Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't want you coming to the house of God. He doesn't want you to read the word of God. He doesn't want you to call upon God in prayer through the Lord Jesus. He doesn't want you to be like Noah and to walk with him in this generation, and he'll be out to pull you down. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise." Oh, we need to be wise. The children of the world are wiser than the children of light, we are told in Luke's gospel. And we need to stand ourselves up. We need to see that there are many, many pitfalls in this world. The devil, our own wicked sinful flesh, and the world, they all combine against us. But we have the victory, for we're more than conquerors through him who's loved us. That's your great hope, and that's why you must walk with him circumspectly, fighting the good fight of faith. Yes, there's a good fight. There's a fight that you must fight. It's a good fight. And you don't fight in your own power. Well, time's gone on briefly. We've finally arrived at our text. Thus did Noah. Because all of these things are telling us what we've looked at. Noah was obedient. Noah didn't debate. Noah didn't say, this has never happened before, Lord. Have you got it right? Are you sure this is what you must do? It seems a bit drastic. Destroy the whole world? Here God revealed to his servant what he was going to do. He was going to send a flood. And also because of that flood, Noah, you have work to do. You have a gigantic task before you. You are to build an ark out of gopher wood. We're not sure exactly what that kind of wood was, but it doesn't really matter. An ark approximately 450 feet by 75 feet by 45 feet. A huge construction. Noah would have to secure the timber. He would have to build this. We don't believe that he did it all by himself. He would have got some people to help him, we believe. But it took over a hundred years to do this. A gigantic task, living in corrupt days, when the people would have laughed at him. You see that guy there preaching? You see him there with his open ear preaching? He's telling us that there's going to be a flood. The rain's going to come and destroy us all. He's mad. He's lost the plot. Here he is making a big ark that will float. It wasn't designed to sail. It was designed to float. You can imagine he was the butt of all the jokes. The drunkards would love to make songs about Noah. And no doubt, maybe they'd cause some kind of opposition. Noah would build some and maybe they would tear it down for a period, we don't know. But they wouldn't just sit idly by and let this thing be assembled before them. It would have been the talk of the town, the talk of the cities. This man has lost the plot. But Noah had faith, and that faith revealed itself in obedience. We go to Hebrews 11, that chapter on faith, and verse 7, we find Noah. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. Three very brief things here. The faith of Noah, it was characterized by fear. Fear. He believed God was going to do what he said he would do. Friends, do you believe that Jesus Christ will return in power and glory and end this world and bring in the eternal state and those who are not in Christ will go to the lake of fire? Do you believe it? Well, Noah did. And there's always that element in faith. It is this fear that God indeed will exactly carry out what he has said he will do. And those who will not repent shall perish, and they shall perish forever and forever and forever. Do you believe it? And Noah's faith not only had fear, but obedience. He acted upon that fear. Well, this flood's going to come. I've been asked to make an ark. I am going to make an ark. I'm going to go into that ark. I'm going to be saved. Where is the New Testament ark? It's Christ, Jesus, the Lord. If we're in Christ, we're saved, no matter what might come upon the world. If we're in Christ, we're saved. In the ark, they were safe. In Christ, saved. And he had this confidence. There's a confident element in his faith. He condemned the world and became the heir of the righteousness which is by faith. He believed. He had confidence. He was prepared to stand upon the word of God. Other members of the church, they didn't listen. The worldling, they didn't listen. No confidence in God's word. Noah, he didn't know everything, but he knew this was going to happen, and he knew he would be saved. He had confidence. What about ourselves? We need to have the faith of Noah. Our faith is in the ark of Christ, the Lord, the one who will deliver us from all sin, from the wrath of God, because he has taken the wrath of God on our behalf. Oh friend, Noah prepared for the flood. You must prepare for that day when you'll pass into eternity and you'll stand before King Jesus. Now's the day. Now's the time. Come. Come unto him. All you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, says the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Let us pray together.