Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, do we believe what we just sang? We sang about the justice of God, about the judgment of God, about how if sinners did not repent, the Lord who is wrath with them every day will judge them eternally. that if we are outside of Christ ourselves, if we are not saved, the wrath of God abides on us according to the scriptures. Do we believe that? Boys and girls, what would it be like if I told you that this week God will destroy every person on the face of the earth apart from your family? your neighbors, your fellow citizens, the nations of this world would all be gone, would be destroyed by a worldwide calamity. And yet, boys and girls, your congregation, that is the message that Noah, the preacher of righteousness, received from God, that everyone everything would be deluged by a flood. With God's help this morning, we're going to consider this man of God as he was introduced to us briefly last Lord's Day. And let us not be disappointed if it seems like we focus on a man and not so specifically on Jesus Christ this morning. Because for very wise reasons, some of which we may not know, God set apart many verses in his word, focusing on this man to teach us important lessons, also about salvation in Christ. And so Noah himself, apart from the grace of God like all of us, was just a lost sinner. like Abraham before he was called by God's grace out of Ur of the Chaldees. But Noah was changed by the grace of God at some point in his life. And he stood a test that perhaps none of us will ever face, being an opposition because of his godliness to an entire world. So let us, again, with God's help, consider a rather large part of God's word, Genesis 6, beginning at verse 9 through Genesis 9, ending at verse 29. And I'm going to, because we didn't read all of those verses, let me just read certain verses from each chapter to sort of set the stage for what we are considering. Genesis 6, verse 9, the latter part reads, Noah, was a just man and perfect in his generations. And Noah walked with God. And then verse 18 in the same chapter, chapter six, God says to Noah, but with thee will I establish my covenant, and thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy sons and thy wife and thy sons' wives with thee. And then in chapter seven, verse one, And the Lord said unto Noah, come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Verse five of chapter seven, and Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. Chapter eight, verse one, the first part of that verse, and God remembered Noah and every living thing and all the cattle that was with him in the ark. Chapter 8, verses 20 to 22. And Noah built an altar unto the Lord, and took a very clean beast and a very clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savor. And the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake. For the imagination of man's heart is evil. from his youth. Neither will I again smite any more every living thing as I have done. While the earth remaineth, sea, time, and harvest, and cold, and heat, and summer, and winter, and day, and night, shall not cease." And then finally, chapter 9, verse 8. God spake unto Noah and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you and with your seed after you." Our theme this morning is simply Noah. In the first place, Noah's faithfulness. In the second place, Noah's patience. And then finally, Noah's deliverance. Boys and girls, we first met Noah last week being the son of a man named Lamech, not the wicked Lamech that we considered earlier, but what appears to be a godly man. The grandson Noah was of Methuselah, the oldest man who ever lived. And you might remember that his father named him Noah, which name means either rest or comfort. and his father went on to explain it was his hope that his son would somehow be used by the Lord to give some reprieve from the cursed ground that they had to farm. From Genesis 5.32, it seems that Noah was already 500 years of age before his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, were born. And we don't read that he had any more children than these three, according to Genesis 9-19. And God mentions these three sons of Noah, children, because from these three, the entire population of the world, including today, would come from. The sons and their offsprings. as history would reveal, turned out to be quite distinct, one from another, although not uniformly so as in every single person who ever descended from them. And so in the first place, we want to focus in these chapters on Noah's faithfulness. Now, first of all, young people, we look at our days in which we live, we look at the news, It's not encouraging. Things do not appear to be getting better, but getting worse. But Noah lived in an incredibly difficult time. The description that God gave us last time in Genesis 6 is as clear a picture as we could ever hope to have what he faced in his day. People from the church, it appears, were marrying people from the world, verses 1 and 2 of that chapter. Men became infamous because they were so wicked, verse 4. and that everyone, but perhaps the exception of Noah, their heart was like an assembly line, continually and incessantly pouring forth the most wicked thoughts, the most wicked words, and the most wicked deeds, the respite of that church. mankind of children, whom God had declared very good at creation, had now become very, very wicked. But then there was Noah. Just look with me at verse eight. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Now, it's interesting, beloved, we don't read that about Noah's wife. We don't read that about Noah's sons. We simply don't know what their spiritual condition was at this stage of history. And yet we have to say, on the basis of God's own testimony, Noah stood out from the rest of mankind. A man, we could say, marked by the grace of God. And what a mercy of God's sovereignty this is. We recently considered the sovereignty of God also in salvation. And yet, beloved, it's amazing to think that Noah by nature was actually no different than the rest of the wicked world. But he was certainly different now. He was incredibly different now by the grace and mercy of God. And that verse, verse nine in chapter six, tells us three important things about him. First of all, Noah, it says, was a just man. The word translated just means literally according to rule. Now, I don't know how many of you children draw things. I imagine you all have drawn things or do draw pictures and maybe houses and things. If you ever try to draw a straight line, without a straight edge, without a ruler or something, then sometimes you'll notice your line kind of goes up here and it goes down there. And if you'd ever put a ruler on what you thought was your straight line, you're going to see that your pencil or pen or whatever you used to paint or to color wasn't exactly straight after all. You get to see how crooked your line is by something straight. And the word just meant that Noah lived his life by the grace of God according to God's ruler, according to God's law, according to God's measuring stick. Now, that doesn't mean he was sinless. That doesn't mean he never sinned, but his life was a just life. even in the midst of a very wicked world. So what does that look like? Noah didn't go off to this side of God's law and then at another time kind of go off to that side of God's law. No, he aimed to keep the law of God, to live right on God's narrow way. And there must have been at least in the essence of God's law, even though the Ten Commandments wouldn't formally be given until much later. We already see in chapter nine, clean beasts and unclean, a differentiation made there before the ceremonial laws of Israel. And so the law of God, to some extent, was written on the heart of man. And the word just, it is regarding how he lived. In fact, we know how God viewed the godliness of Noah. In the book of Ezekiel, chapter 14, God mentions three people from the Old Testament that he mentions as exemplary in godliness. Job, Daniel, and Noah. The second word used to describe Noah is perfect. Now, the word perfect here doesn't mean absolutely sinless. It does mean the man was complete or whole. It means that he wasn't lacking in one or another part of the life of grace. We can meet people today who are perhaps very generous, maybe very hard-working. But if you get to know them, maybe they have this awful tendency to become angry when they don't get their way. That's a person who's not complete. They're not whole. You could meet a man who's very patient perhaps, very kind, but maybe he's lazy. He's not complete. He's not whole. Noah, we could say children, was a balanced man. seeking to keep the law of God in a uniform manner. He didn't play favorites with God's commandments, what part of God's will he would obey, and maybe other parts not so much. And we should examine ourselves by these descriptions. Do we aim to live our life according to the word of God entirely? No hidden pockets of sins harbored, no deviations that we excuse away, No, well, it's my lack of sleep that contributed to me being angry. No, it's my parents that contributed to me being the way I am. Are there sins, God forbid, that we are not anxious to overcome? Are there areas of our life that we are not seriously addressing? By the grace of God, with the help of others, perhaps. Because to live if I could call it this way, an imbalanced life of holiness. It's like a sacrifice on the Old Testament that has a blemish. It's not acceptable to God. Now, we can never be saved by our works. I'm not saying that if you live a perfect life, then you'll be saved because of that. No, we will never be that perfect. But what does our heart aim for? And then you'll also notice that God says he lived this way in his generations, meaning in those years preceding the flood, as things went from bad to worse, as the whole world devolved into violence and chaos, Noah, by the grace of God, persisted, continued to live that balanced godly life. And then the third expression in 6 verse 9, Noah walked with God. Only one other person had this description. You remember who it was, right? Enoch, seventh generation of Adam. Noah walked with God. And now think about it, if Enoch in his day, his walking with God seemed so amazing and really, quite honestly, something to be jealous of, imagine what it took for Noah in this completely debauched world to continue to walk with God, to be sequestered in his mind, in his heart, to be with God. Just think about it practically, to whom could he turn for comfort, for encouragement, to be godly? He had the Lord. So then we have no excuse. When you think of all of the fullness of God's revelation, the whole Word of God, when you think of the effusion of the Spirit that he has given in the New Testament era, we have no reason not to walk this way. Noah just had types and shadows of the Messiah to come. We have a crystal clear picture in the Word of God. Noah lived in the very earliest years of God's church. We live in the time of what should be the time of the church's maturity. Boys and girls, Noah, we can say certainly was a God-fearing man, but then also a faithful man. Just think of the word faithful. Break it into two pieces. Faith-filled. It's because Noah believed in God, believed what God said, even though practically everyone else around him did not believe God, he did. Hebrews 11 verse 7 says, by faith, Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of this house, by the rich, he condemned the world. became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." So in other words, Noah didn't just believe God, he lived according to that belief. So much so that when God told him about the impending flood and there seemed to be no sign whatsoever that could be seen that would indicate a flood was coming, Noah continued on despite the disbelief In other words, he lived his faith. Can that be seen in our life? Can people watch the things we do, hear the things we say, consider the lives we lead and say, now that person reflects a God-centered, God-fearing, law-abiding man? You can hear it in the way he talks. You can see it in the way he lives. A man of God, a true family man, a man of all seasons, for the eternal good of those around him. Well, that can be found only by being one with Christ Jesus by faith, by abiding in Christ Jesus by faith. But not only was Noah by grace faithful toward God and man, In the second place, also patient, but known as patience. Children, I don't know if we're honest, we're usually not so very good at waiting for things. Maybe you are waiting for a certain something to receive it from your parents, and we get a little impatient. We like things to happen right away, Being told, well, tomorrow or next week or next month or maybe sometime in the future, that doesn't always sit well with us, we need patience. We need to persevere, to continue on doing what's right, even if it doesn't appear that there's any reward, any encouragement in doing so. In Genesis 6.13, God speaks to Noah about the condition of mankind. He says to Noah what he sees, And he also talks about his intentions to destroy mankind and everything else on earth. Again, then God proceeds to tell this, by this time, 500-year-old Noah just how to build the ark, and he lets in on how he intends to destroy the world by a flood, and how this ark will rescue Noah and his family and whoever enters. And then we read these wonderful words in chapter 6, 18. But with thee will I establish my covenant. Children, this is the first time in the Bible we actually read the word covenant. Now it's true, God established a covenant with Adam, we call it the covenant of works, which Adam broke. Covenant, boys and girls, think of it as a bond. When two people get married, they form a bond, a union, a pledge to be faithful to each other. So this bond is either between two people or two groups of people. In the Bible, God always makes his covenant His bond with his people in blood, usually the blood of a sacrificed animal, but ultimately in the blood to which the animal, the sacrificed animal points, the blood of Jesus Christ. And because of that foundation, the blood of Jesus, the precious blood of Christ, that shows you how incredibly serious God's covenant with his people is. Noah, in other words, was more than just a friend of God. God established a covenant with him, a bond with him. Noah and his family would be spared the flood. The rest of mankind would not be deluged by a flood again. And the Messiah, Savior, which was promised so much earlier in Genesis 3.15, he would be born from the descendants of Noah. Later in chapter 9, verse 9, God would show that this covenant was with Noah and with his seed. He says there, and I, God says, behold, I establish my covenant with you and with your seed after you. Now, there are, in the Christian world, people who speak about all the different covenants in Scripture. They mention the Adamic covenant and the Noetic covenant with Noah, and the covenant made with Abraham, the Abrahamic covenant with David, with Israel, and so on. And certainly, there's all these manifestations of covenant in Scripture. And yet, if we're going to take those different covenants, or those different manifestations of the covenant, and start to make implications like, well, God saved people differently at this time in history, and his requirements were different at that time in history, well, that's what we call dispensationalism. where there are different dispensations. God deals with different people in different ways, and yet we've already seen Adam, Noah, and all the saints of Scripture were saved by faith in the Messiah. They were linked to God by one essential covenant. And so, yes, there was a covenant of works with Adam, which he broke, and then the covenant of grace, a bond that God forges with his people in the blood of his beloved son. And Jesus says so much. In the first administration of the Lord's Supper, he says, this cup, this cup, as it were, symbolizes the covenant that I make with you in my blood. And so that means any of us who, as it were, lie under the valuable blood of Christ, covered by the precious blood of Christ, are saved. And nothing but that blood could ever forge a saving bond between God and man, nothing but the blood of Jesus. So we could say rightly, blessed Noah, but we ought to say even more so, blessed be God, that he, in his infinite wisdom and grace and mercy, would, as it were, stoop to forge an unbreakable covenant with his people. Now, there are certainly outward aspects to the covenant. But we are now speaking about the essence of the covenant. But as every relationship, boys and girls, the relationship of God with Noah would be tried, it would be tested. First, tested in the making of the ark. I don't want to have you raise your hands, but I almost feel like asking how many of you have been to the Ark Museum in Kentucky, or I guess it's maybe outside of Cincinnati. Well, have you ever been there, or you've seen pictures of it? That's an Ark made by modern tools. That's an Ark made with modern architecture. That's an Ark made with modern sculpturing, and with modern computer models, and all of that. built an ark with the tools they had then, with the trees they had then, with the wood they had then. It took a long time. Some say 120 years, citing 6 verse 3, assuming God spoke those to Noah. Others comparing 5.32, 6.18, and 7.6 say 100 years, but whatever it was, It was a lengthy period of time. It was a long and difficult work. And don't forget that part of Hebrews 11 verse 7 that says, a flood that was not seen as yet. Some say it hadn't even rained, that still the earth was watered by the mist of the earth, as mentioned in the early part of Genesis. But either way, no one in Noah's day saw any sign in the atmosphere in the earth of a worldwide flood. Isn't it sad that today we face the same thing? There are very few people, comparatively, who believe in a final judgment of God, in the return of Christ in glory to judge the living and the dead. So the first trial, we would say, the long years it took to build an ark in the midst of an unbelieving world. And today, beloved, how attractive is the gospel to this unbelieving society. When you tell them what the implications, what the results of not trusting in God, not following God, not believing in Jesus. They look at you with a blank stare. Well, they might know something about the history, they might know something about the Bible, they might have been brought up in church, but when it comes down to it, does their lives evidence, do our lives evidence a belief in the coming deluge of God's wrath? Secondly, there was a test of Noah's patience in the ark. At first, things seemed to go along just fine. In one week's time, imagine this, children, in one week's time, all of the animals, all of the birds, all of the creeping things that were going to be preserved, they literally came to Noah's Ark. You can almost picture it in your mind, seeing these animals just coming from here and there into the Ark, one of every kind, or seven of the, one pair of every kind, seven of the clean beasts. They came just as they needed to. And then preparations were complete, everything was ready. God himself closes the door of the ark, but then it began. Now I don't know if you ever thought about this, children, what went through the mind of this God-fearing man when he realized that every single person on the face of the earth, except those in the ark, were dying. What was it to see the water coming up out of the earth, coming down from the sky, plunging an entire world into death? described it this way, until the flood came and took them all away. And yet, boys and girls, do you believe that every one of you, myself included, one day, is going to stand in a place and see every single human being that ever lived judged by God? The righteous, seen in Christ, will be on Jesus' right hand, the hand in favor. The entire rest of mankind that ever lived will be in his disfavor, on his left hand. His patience in the ark. And part of that patience was the long wait. Boys and girls, again, I want you to use your imagination. Let's just say that you were not allowed to leave your house for one year and 10 days. You're not allowed to go out to play. You're not allowed to go out to church. You're not allowed to go out to shop. That you were in your house. God told you stay in your home. The shades closed because We know that the window was closed until the very end of the period of the flood. You couldn't leave your home for one year and 10 days, 375 days straight. You can't visit anyone, you can't talk to anyone except your family in the ark. That's a long time. And that's exactly how I, Noah, and his family were in the ark. You can imagine, there must have been moments you don't know for sure, that Noah's wondering, has God forgotten me? Where I am, floating in this world of water? The psalmist wrote of a similar experience, has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he, in anger, shut up his tender mercies? And some of us maybe have experienced that. where a trial goes on so long, where difficult circumstances continue on and on, or pain, or suffering, or loss, or grief, and it just feels like a cloud that never exits our life, a trial that never seems to end, no light at the end of the tunnel. Has God forgotten to be gracious? But God, boys and girls, did not forget Noah. What a beautiful verse, chapter eight, verse one is, and God remembered Noah and every living thing. And he didn't just think about Noah, he began to deliver Noah. And that's in itself an important lesson to us. God had stopped the pouring out of the water at day 150, at the end of roughly five months. Do you realize that was already the beginning of Noah's deliverance? God didn't add any more, we would say, to Noah's plate. But Noah would not step out of the ark for another seven months. So what's the point for us? We may be praying for something for a very long time, maybe earnestly. we might not have a lot of encouragement that that prayer is being answered. But without us realizing it, God may well have begun the process of answering that prayer without us seeing it. And that answer, the full completed answer, might be months, maybe years away. I'm not exactly sure. The scripture doesn't say why. God had no wait so long in the flood, but there's plenty of reasons we could conjecture. The fossil fuels we use today, they were formed by massive amounts of water exerting massive amounts of pressure on buried organic materials. That's where our gas and our oil and other products come from. The Grand Canyon, other beautiful formations in the earth carved by the waters of the flood. God has many reasons, and in itself, God can bring such beautiful things out of difficult trials. God can carve grand canyons of glory in our times of deepest need. He can bring good out of things that we don't see any good in. All Noah could see was water. But God had his wise purposes. But then there's another remarkable lesson to be learned. Boys and girls, what killed the people that were outside the ark? It was the water. But then read what we read in 1 Peter 3 verse 20. Peter wrote, eight souls were saved by water. Saved by water. That means the very means that God used to destroy the wicked saved Noah, the lesson for us. We might think what's happening to us is crushing us, but it might be that trial, that difficulty, that test of our patience and perseverance might be the very thing that's saving us, that's sanctifying us, that's helping us. The very calamities God might use to punish the wicked, when sanctified by him, are used for our good, his people's good. Too often, isn't it true, that our focus is on the pain and the suffering and the trial, rather than trusting God that somehow, some way, he who appointed that trial did so for our good. We are in the business too often of asking the Lord or even taking it into our own hands to be done with trials as soon as possible, to end suffering right away. But it might be that God's not done using those trials and suffering for our good. Peter went on in that passage to say, saved by water, the like figure where unto even baptism doth also now save us. not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's a fascinating connection. Peter compares the floodwaters to baptism. They, he says, the floodwaters, were the salvation of Noah, this baptism of which he speaks, this salvation of which he speaks, This resurrection of Christ, of which he speaks, is seen. Just as the floodwaters carry the ark up toward heaven, so the resurrection of Christ lifts the whole church, all believers, out of our graves, our watery graves of spiritual deadness and death, and lifts us up into a new life of spiritual life. And we see that resurrection of sorts, that baptism of sorts, with the very first act that Noah did when he left the ark. Did Noah say, well, now we can plant a garden. Now we can have our home. Now we can do this or that. No, the very first thing he did was to offer sacrifices to God, and not just one, one of every clean beast. So rather than complaining, about his confinement for such a very long time, Noah rejoiced with thanksgiving that God's promises were fulfilled. And what was God's response to this, the sacrifices that pointed ahead to Messiah, his son? We read in 821, and the Lord smelled a sweet savor, and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground anymore for man's sake. The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I against my every, anymore, every living thing as I have done. In the very same statement, God is saying, I know that man is going to continue to be a sinner, but I am going to continue being a liar. merciful and gracious, slow to anger, toward the wicked, that they may turn and live. And in fact, a few drops of Christ's blood are far more powerful than a worldwide flood. And if we shelter under the precious blood of Christ by faith, nothing can harm us. We who cling to the sacrifice of Christ as the only ground, the only foundation of righteousness and salvation, we are just as safe in Christ spiritually as Noah was in the ark. And that faith pleases God just as much as Noah's sacrifice did. And are we not still seeing the fulfillment of God's promise, seed come harvest, summer, winter, cold and heat, Day and night, continue. That is why Isaiah writes, he, the believer, shall dwell on high. His place of defense shall be in the munitions of rocks, bread shall be given him, his water shall be sure. Which is why Jesus says to us who believe, take no thought saying what should we eat or what should we drink or wherewithal should we be clothed, for your heavenly Father knoweth. You have need of all these things. And if we're living outside of Christ right now, shelter in him. Come to him and hide yourself in him. Say, Lord, I have sinned and I'm evil in thy sight. Be merciful to me for Christ's sake. And then you too, will be spared when the storm of God's wrath passes by. And then finally, more briefly, God's deliverance of Noah. We said a moment ago, a year and 10 days is a very long time to be in an ark. But God did bring Noah and his family out at last. The troubles and trials we may experience as the people of God may feel very great and very long-lasting, but they are really nothing compared to the weight of glory that is awaiting us, and nothing to be compared either with what awaits the wicked at last. Paul writes, we reckon that the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us, our life affliction. which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Do we believe that? Do we believe that the people of God are truly blessed? That believers are truly blessed even in a time of suffering? Should God call us to that? It is really nothing compared to what awaits us. And so we read, Noah went forth and his sons and his wife, his sons' wives with him, every beast, every creeping thing, every fowl, whatsoever creepeth upon the earth after their kinds went forth out of the ark. Did you notice something, children? Not one cricket was missing. Not one sheep was missing. Not one bird died. Not one beast perished. God brought all of them into the ark, and God brought all of them out of the ark, and he will do that for us. None can pluck believers out of the safe hands of Christ. No matter what men do to us, they can kill the body, but Christ preserves us for eternity, just as he did all that was on the ark. He brought them forth. And even if we see ourselves as some of the beasts on the ark, or maybe even a creeping thing in God's sight, he brought them out too. He spared them too, and so we may trust in him if we call upon him to do the same for us. And then we read, God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, The original command to Adam and Eve, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. It's almost as though children of brand new worlds. A new beginning. Now, was it exactly like at the beginning? No. No, things weren't very good anymore. Even Noah carried within him remnants of his fallen nature, his tendencies to sin, The earth would not be the same as that pristine, beautiful, beautiful place that Adam and Eve first inhabited. And yet a new beginning. And isn't this just a picture of regeneration? A new start. No, we're not perfect. No, we're not sinless, much as we would want to be, much as we pray to be. But it's like a new world opens up. It's a fresh start that God gives to us after our life. wasted in sin. Not a single thing was left behind in the ark. When Israel came out of Egypt, we read, not a hoof was left behind. None in Christ Jesus will be left behind when Jesus returns in glory. And so, God bless Noah. the baptism form that we use as we save and protect the believing Noah and his family. And notice, and his family. This reminds us of what God writes to us in 1 Corinthians 7 verse 14. The unbelieving husband is sanctified by the believing wife. The unbelieving wife is sanctified by the believing husband. Else, were your children unclean, but now where they hold you are set apart. Now that doesn't mean that a believing parent in and of him or herself saves that parent's children, but it does show the tremendous blessings that God bestows upon the home of a God-fearing parent or two. God is so often pleased to work in the generations of his people, covenantal lines. We see so often children walking in their godly parents' ways and then even grandchildren and beyond. I had the privilege of being part of a church council years ago where the grandfather and the sons and even now the grandsons served the Lord as office bearers. Children, do you think of Noah? Do you think of God's covenant when you see a rainbow? Do you think of God's promises? When you see a rainbow of God's covenant and mercy? Now, we're not going to say a lot about the last part of Noah's history. We will consider that at another time, perhaps. But suffice it to say that this entire history of Noah, as singularly godly as the grace of God made him, it was just that. Noah, a man in need of God's mercy and grace, was saved, was sanctified, and was preserved. And Noah was not finished sacrificing. Though delivered from the flood by God's mercy, he would continue to find reasons to petition the Lord and to thank the Lord, and so did we. Salvation is not the goal. of spiritual life, it is just the beginning of a life of sacrificing ourselves unto God, depending on the one perfect sacrifice of Christ. So Noah's faithfulness, his patience, his deliverance. Children, wouldn't you like to be like Noah? I certainly would. But we can't be, unless we look to the greater Noah. to the one who brings all of his children through the flood of God's wrath safely, unless we look to the one whose precious blood speaks better things than that of Noah's sacrifice. We can never be like Noah unless we look to the one who is sinless, who is greater than Noah, the Lord Jesus Christ, confessing our sins to you. trusting in him for forgiveness, praying to love him more each day, and then to show the love of God to the Lord and to others increasingly as we live. And boys and girls, we started by asking, isn't there one more flood coming? And you may say, well, God promised not to flood the earth with water, and that's true. But there is another flood coming, the flood of the fire of God's wrath. Of this, Peter, the apostle, writes, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heaven shall pass away with a great noise, the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Are you ready to face that? Am I ready to face that? Are we ready to face God when we die? It's no wonder Peter adds to those words, seeing them, that all these things shall be dissolved. What manner of persons ought ye to be in a holy conversation in godliness? What's beautiful, as sobering as those words of Peter are, what manner of persons ought we to be? How whole we ought we to live? He adds that he's not frightened by that prospect. In fact, instead he wrote, nevertheless, we, according to his promise, God's promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and plainness. Peter is basically saying, seeing all the destruction of the works of men and the world as we know it, purged by fire, we're not sad. We're not looking for paradise regained here. We're looking for the new heaven and the new earth where only righteousness will be found. And he says because we look for such things, because we are not planting our hopes in this life, seeing that we look for this new heaven and new earth, this coming of Christ again, be diligent to be found when he returns or when we die in peace, as holy as possible without spot and blameless. That's why he concludes this epistle. Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so, boys and girls, beloved church family, let us together seek the Lord earnestly. Let us love him. Let us believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and in his word. and then we shall do well. No matter what this culture turns into, no matter what becomes of this world, we are looking for the coming of Christ. We are waiting for that new heaven and new earth where we will be safe and calm and secure in his love forever. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen. Let us pray. O Lord our God, we read this history, the history we well know. We look at the earth as it is now, and so much of the evidence is of that calamity, that worldwide flood that had covered over with parking lots and buildings, But the evidences are still there. A reminder, a silent witness. I came with judgment once. I am coming again. And Lord, unlike an ark which man had to build at thy command, the way out of the coming deluge is not any man-made structure, no man-made solution. It is the deliverance of thy own making, the giving of thy son, Jesus Christ, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. We praise thee, we adore thee, we glorify thee and love thee for thy salvation at such a cost to thee and such a mercy toward us. And so we pray that we may worship thee all the day. Be with thy servant, Pastor Klaver, as he hopes to begin the service tonight. And Lord, help us to walk uprightly in thy ways. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let us worship the Lord once again by singing as we conclude our service, Psalter 101, all stanzas, and then Psalter 422, the stanzas five and six. 101 is called The Prosperity of the Upright, taken from Psalm 37. The steps of those who be upright ♪ I am calling for the ones that left me before ♪ ♪ I have not seen them since I have come many years ago ♪ ♪ I see them staring at me now ♪ in your promise. ♪ All human duties shall still remain ♪ ♪ And sinners shall be no more ♪ ♪ Our God and Lord have gone quite far ♪ ♪ As still as the years increase ♪ ♪ We hold His light and now shall see His face ♪ how blessed lord are they who know the joy when they hear the voice Their countenances gleaming, With brightness of the light that from Thy face is streaming, Exalted by thy might, from depths of desolation, they praise for e'er thy name, thy justice and salvation. Thou art, O God, our Ghost, the glory of our power. Our fortress and our tower, we lift our heads aloft, for God our shield is for us. Through Him alone, whose presence goes before us. We'll wear the victor's crown, no more by foes assaulted. We'll triumph through our King, by Israel's God exalted. Let us receive the blessing of the Lord, and go in peace. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.