Our reading today from God's word is from the book of Hebrews. Chapter 10, we'll be starting at verse 37, going through chapter 11, 1 to 7. So let us listen to our God. for yet a little while, and he who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw back to partition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts. And through it, he being dead, still speaks. By faith, Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, and was not found because God had taken him. For before he was taken, he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith, it is impossible to please God. For he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. By faith, Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. Amen. You may be seated. Let's pray once again. Heavenly Father, as we now have this time of what we've just read in your Word, and now this special time of the preaching of it, that you, O Lord, would peel back the blinders from our eyes, the veil over our mind, and any hardness of heart that we might be able to better grasp who you are and what you have done and what you will do. For you have said in your word that if a city is against you and sins against you, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, That judgment will still come. They will only be able to save themselves by their righteousness. But we know, O Lord, it was not them that looked at their own righteousness, but they looked to you in your righteousness and your promises. They looked forward to the things not yet seen and trusted you. And so, may we all the more clearly understand and believe and trust in your promises, knowing that one day, most certainly, you will return and make all things straight, renewing the heavens and the earth, a new heavens and a new earth, in which only righteousness dwells. So we pray that you would grant that we would hear this word that is preached, knowing that we look back at those who have gone before us, and that we might live by faith, not by sight, but by faith in the unseen, in Jesus' name. Amen. The title of the sermon this morning, Faith to Warn of Coming Judgment. We've seen thus far in this chapter of Hebrews the description of what faith is, the assurance of things hoped for based on the promises of God, and the conviction of things not seen. And so when we've seen that extrapolated into the idea of, first of all, creation, we believe that God created all things. And He created them out of nothing, by the Word of His power, all of it very good. And that we know because He has declared it so. And in this world we see a testimony to God at every turn. But you see, it's not based on our having seen it happen. We see the results, obviously, but we base it upon God's Word that He has declared it so. the one who was there. And so when we go on from there and we've talked about then the illustration of what faith is like, we came to Abel and Abel was the one who, Cain and Abel both, of course, had their altars, had their offerings. But as it describes Abel, we know that Abel had a blood offering. He had one of the firstlings of his flock, The fat thing. So not the worst, not the leftover, but the best. And he gave that to God, and of course it was a blood sacrifice based upon what had been observed in the garden, that the way to cover his parents, Adam and Eve, was by the skins, or in other words, the death of innocent animals as their substitute. So substitutionary atonement, that was the only way God accepted the worship. through the righteousness imputed of an innocent victim to us. Cain, on the other hand, came of his own fruits and vegetables, things he had done with his own hands, and it just didn't even say first fruits, but he gave what he had, gave it to God, and God had no regard for his sacrifice. And we see here right from the beginning what God had said would happen there in Genesis chapter 3, that the seed of the woman would be persecuted by the seat of the serpent. And so we see Cain rise up and murder his own brother. And so the fall that affected the nature and the heart and the mind and even the body and even the creation itself all around us, you see, sees its application immediately there in the brother rising up to murder brother. Well, that's directly applicable to the things we see in the text, or will see in the text. Of these other two men that follow in the list of how faith is seen in the life, and that is, first of all, with Enoch, and secondly, with Noah. And so we come now to this portion of scripture in verse five, then, of chapter 11 of Hebrews, by faith Enoch. was taken away so he did not see death and was not found because God had taken him. For before he was taken, he had this testimony that he pleased God. If you were to go back to Genesis, in the description of him in verse chapter five, you'll find that it says, he walked with God. Which is true, both. But we'll come to that in a minute. But let's deal first of all with a world under sin's sway. A world under sin's sway. We already talked about Cain and Abel. And the fall affected the heart and the mind where even the natural love that one would have for a brother is turned on its head and out of jealousy, out of resentment, out of pride that's wounded. He rose up and murdered his own brother. And then, we would say of our children, talk back. Talk back to God. You know, who am I? He said, where's your brother? He said, what am I, my brother's shepherd or keeper? Of course, the Lord knew where he was. He says, his blood cries out to me from the ground. And so you know what happened with him. You know what happened with Japheth, a descendant of Cain. And so you see that here he was the first one to have two wives. Polygamy began with him, and he was one who applied the same methods of Cain. He says he sang a song to his wife, so proud of the ordeal. And he says, a young man wounded me, so I rose up and I killed him. And so we see things spiraling downward from there. God blessed Adam and Eve with another child to replace Abel in the godly line of Seth. And you see it was in this line that says, they were the ones who called upon the name of the Lord. The other line of Cain, well, they were intelligent people. They were talented people. These were the ones who developed implements and came up with dealing with metals, you know, like a foundry working with a forge and other things. They were able to deal with metals out of ore. And you have those who develop musical instruments. They were intelligent, but evil. Sin ruled. And so There was a cascade of corruption throughout the society, throughout the world. And if you were to look in that list, we will look at it in a bit, by the time you get to Noah, it describes the violence and the immorality and the polygamy. It says, every thought and intent of the heart was only evil continually. Think of that. And so that's why the first one here we mentioned today, and that is Enoch. Because Enoch was a man in the midst of this corrupt generation who walked with God. All of us know the passages in 1 John. 1 John, it talks about chapter 1, where it says, God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with the other, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from our sin. You see the same thing as we see with Abel and his sacrifice. And it also says in the text, he pleased God, Enoch pleased God. The seventh from Adam, pleased God. How did he please God? Look at verse six of our text in Hebrews chapter 11. It describes here, it says, but without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he who comes must believe that God is, that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. What's the reward he gives you? Those who seek him, the reward is he is the reward. Remember God saying, I am your exceeding great reward. I'm your shield and buckler. And so when we see how to please God through faith, you see the faith cannot be as it was with, with Cain in our own righteousness. We have none. It is as filthy rags. But our faith must be in the one who is our substitutionary atonement, as we've seen in Hebrew so abundantly, the one who is our mediator, who stands between God and us and intercedes in our behalf. Based on our righteousness, we don't have any. Based on his righteousness, that's imputed to us through faith alone. The just, as we read in chapter 10 here, the just are the justified ones. Live by faith. In other words, justified means that we are the ones in faith in Christ. Remember our sin imputed to him, satisfied at the cross. But don't forget that last part, his righteousness accredited or imputed to us so that God sees us cloaked, robed in the righteousness of Christ. Our faith is not in our righteousness, but his. And so we have a cascade of wickedness, of corruption in the time that intervenes between the Fall and Enoch. He's only the seventh from Adam. Now you say, well, yeah, but their lives, they lived up to 900 years old. Yes, that's true. But still, it grew quickly. And so we find that Here's one man, Enoch, standing out from the multitudes of those in sin. Let me ask you to, well, you have it in your bulletin, turn to the sermon notes in your bulletin, and you'll see there Jude, verses 14 and 15. Now, odd thing about Enoch, not much is said about him at all. When we read about it in Genesis 5, we read about it here in Hebrews chapter 11, and we read about it in Jude. And in Jude 14 and 15, it gives us a little more information. It says, Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men, we'll come to that in a moment, saying, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints, or possibly his angels, holy ones, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." In other words, in word and in deed. So when we look at Enoch, there's the other dimension. And so the warning was given through him, that God's coming in judgment. He's coming with his holy ones, whether that be angels or his saints, and I believe it's both. We'll develop that. He's coming. And so the warnings were simply this, there's a payday someday. There was a famous sermon preached by that title. That title is not mine. It's something that I, I heard in a sermon title once, but I thought it was well said. Payday someday. And for the sinner, the one who is living in rebellion against God, in darkness and with no regard for Him, there is a day of accountability. There's no escaping accountability. That's the idea of the Lord's coming. You cannot escape. And so that is a message that is universal, a message that is key to every human being. on this earth. This life. Those who live for this life. Not for him. Not for the life to come. Remember, Enoch walked with God. Enoch pleased God. It was not living just for now. All of you know what the word, there are words in Latin and in Greek that say one word is for, you know, the world, this inhabited space, the creation, you know. You think of Mundum is the word in Latin, or you can say cosmos in Greek. And so mundum, we'll use Latin today. What is the other word for age? That would be saeculum. And so those who are living for the secular are living for now. This life is what matters. I remember there was a beer commercial when I was growing up. Don't ask me why I remember a beer commercial from my childhood. But I remember this line that was in it. You only go around once in life, so grab all the gusto you can. My question to my dad. Dad, what's gusto? Never mind. But you see, that philosophy, that mindset, whether it be hedonism or humanism, all of it comes down to the point of living for the here and now, rather than looking at setting our minds on heaven, on the right side of God is Jesus Christ, our hope, our salvation, our life. We live in light of eternity. We're the ones who know that this life is one that's marred by sin, but by redemption in Jesus Christ, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. And so when you see here the idea of these godless people, that is precisely it. But this is saying, no, he's coming. There is accountability coming. Now what's also implied by this? As we look in general at this, what was declared of what these sinful people heard from these two godly preachers, one prophet by the name of Enoch and a godly preacher by the name of Noah, what's implied in the message is also grace. Repent. Turn. Believe. There's the implication. They would preach judgment, yes, but it was also to preach the gospel to follow, the good news. Look to the sacrifice. Look to the righteousness in our stead. Look to the God who is gracious and bow before him in worship and spirit and in truth. You see, all of these things we hear in New Covenant language. But in Old Covenant times, the message, the gospel, and the final analysis was ultimately the same. Look to the Savior. the seat of the woman, the sacrifice. Bow and believe and turn to Him. So I come secondly to Enoch, the prophet. Let me talk about him for just a moment. We already mentioned the fact that he was a prophet of the Lord's coming. As it says there in Jude, here he was, the seventh from Adam. Now wait a minute, when you talk about the second coming or the return of the Lord, you don't often think of, wait a minute, I thought that was New Testament preaching. Any of you ever, I invite you to do this. When you go home, just read, just three chapters. Can you do three chapters in Isaiah? Read chapter 24 through 26. You go home and read those three chapters. There's lots more I could point to, but just those three. And you come back or come away from that and ponder and think about whom is it speaking and what big event. I'll give you a hint. Jesus Christ in the second coming. And so here we see that the preaching of the coming of the Lord was right there. The seventh from Adam before the flood. And so, first of all, we think of his life. Here in Hebrews 11, verse 5, he pleased God. He was one who walked by faith. Now, by the way, when we think he walked with God, There is the fellowship of worship. There is the idea of the one who would seek to please God, the one who is trusting in what he's promised, the hope that is given him. Remember the idea of what faith is. He was assured of those promises. What God had promised, for example, he's coming. That's a promise. He was certain of it. He was assured of it. He was convicted of it, even though he had never seen him. Even though he had never seen this event happen or something like it, he had a conviction of that which was not seen. Our faith is to be like that. Our faith is to be what he has said here, whether we see it or not, whether we even think anybody else in the world believes it's possible or not, is irrelevant. If God has promised, God has declared it, then we must be they who bow and say, Lord, I worship you and believe you. Though no one else believed, we're coming to that too. And so he was one who walked with God. By the way, for 300 years that we know of. He was 365 when he died. He was young by that day's standards. But how many of us have walked with God 300 years? And think of it. Growing, not getting bored. I don't know how many people I've spoken to that say, yeah, I used to be interested in those things. And I say, what happened? Oh, I don't know. You know, I got older and that just doesn't interest me like it once did. And I said, well, how old is old enough to think that way, to be an apostate? There is no age. And so you see, 300 years, rather than diminishing, rather than boring, rather than turning away, rather than mixing other things or compromising or denying or whatever else, here is one who grew in it. In progressive sanctification, isn't that the bent of the movement? Yes, there are peaks and valleys in the life of walking with the Lord. And yes, there are times where we stumble and that kind of thing, but the Lord works in our lives. And I always look at an analogy of like a sailboat. The sail is moving in which way? That way, not backward, not off the path. And so the point here is he walked with God, the fellowship of probing into the things of God, of prayer, of fellowship in prayer, and of worship, of being with the other saints, of knowing those things of the Word. Remember, a lot of the Word before we have it here, Moses writing it down for us, was certainly known orally. Maybe even some of the things written before. Certainly the things of Adam and Eve and all that went through the family was passed down after time, after time. And so here, growing in these things, he walked with God. Contrary to that society that was swimming in darkness, he walked with him furthermore. This one who had fellowship with God like this had a conviction of the unseen, and he knew God was coming like he said he would. I had Paul back up to chapter 10, And read verses 37 to 39 again for us. For yet a little while, and he who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw back, draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. And so, beloved, as we consider the matters before us, it says, and God took him. He walked with God all this time, and then it says, and God took him. Here's when a prophet, declaring these things to the generation around him, he was probably saying, my brothers, cousins, uncles, all of these around him, many were family members, of course. Everybody was related. He said, turn from your wickedness, don't go into this murder, into this vile wickedness, into the immorality that abounds into the hatred of the heart and the mind and the cruelty of the lips to others. To turn. He's coming. And so God took him. Now, this is, don't have many in the Bible that we talk about that the Lord takes and they don't die to be with the Lord. Remember Elijah taken up in a whirlwind in a chariot? And so when you're thinking of this, what a picture that God rescues from death. Remember those he was preaching to were, like he, were all subject to the fall of our covenant father, Adam. And so death was a result of Adam's fall. And so God rescued him from death in a special way in that he did not see death, but God took him to be with him. What a picture of what lies ahead. In 1 Corinthians 15, I'm going to turn there and read. You're welcome to follow me if you want to. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 51, says, Behold, I tell you a mystery. Speaking of the second coming, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruptible corruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. When this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying written, death is swallowed up in victory. And so we see here a picture of what happens. The scriptures describe the coming of the Lord, and it talks about the persecution of the saints. You know, in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, 2 Thessalonians 1, it describes this, and we're not going to go through it in any more detail. Our time is fleeting. But the whole point here is even we believers are subject unto death. But we have a crown of life awaiting us. But when Jesus comes again, he prophesied the Lord was coming with his saints, did he not? Let me ask you to turn to another text with me, since you're in the mood to turn to text with me today. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 14. By the way, you can find the same idea in chapter 3, verse 13. So 1 Thessalonians, Chapter 4, verse 14. And a very familiar text. If you were to begin, it says, I did not want you, in verse 13, To be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, a euphemism for have passed away or died, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus when he comes. Have you ever caught that part? It says the same thing in 3.13. And by the way, it says the same thing in Colossians chapter 3, verse, I don't know, 4. In verse 4. And so in other words, remember, you and I are not Those who die leave this body we know for 2 Corinthians 5, 8, absent from the body, present with the Lord, right? And that's where we're in the presence of the Lord in heaven. But that is not eternal. That is called the intermediate state in theology. And you see the saints in heaven await the time when the Lord Jesus Christ will come again. And you see this text and others that describe this. And what happens when Jesus comes, what happens to, we are buried and see the body has died, but the soul, the spirit lives on with the Lord and his presence. But what is the promise of first Corinthians 15? I was reading to you. The promises that we get a new body, this in this corruptible must put on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality. And so when that happens, a glorified body received, that's when Death is swallowed up in victory at the coming of Christ. We receive a new creation and we inhabit that new creation in glorified bodies made whole again, body and soul. That's the idea. And so when the Lord comes, all of these who have died in the Lord are resurrected. They're not asleep in the grave. The body is raised and glorified, joined to a glorified soul and made whole again. It's glorious. So you see, beloved, as he preaches this, the Lord is coming with tens of thousands of his saints. Yes, he's talking about the judgment to come, repent, believe there's judgment to come, accountability. But you see, the other part of the message is he's coming with the saints. Death will finally be destroyed and be no more. So you see, the message is judgment, all right. But what about us? How could we possibly receive a glorified body? We, too, sinners. Well, you and I enjoy, as a book title has even put, the death of death in the death of Christ. And so Enoch, preacher, yes, prophet of God. But the third point I'd like to bring out, is Noah a preacher of salvation? the only way. So returning here to Hebrews chapter 11 and looking here at verse 7, by faith, Noah being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. Notice it's always righteousness by or through or according to faith. So it says he was warned of God, divinely warned. Things not seen. What had not been seen? Well, much could be brought up. Remember what the Lord had told him was going to happen. He said he's going to send the great flood, and that you build this ark, you're going to send a great flood, and everybody who does not enter into the ark will be washed away and killed. Okay. How's that going to happen? Well, rain. In Genesis chapter 2, It's interesting, you read in verse five, it says, it says, before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field grown, the Lord has not caused it to rain on the earth for there was no man to till the ground. But a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. And so a mist rose. We also see that there was a firmament that was around the earth at the time. And so as one is preaching about rain, the question is debated, but it is interesting. If you're listening to a sermon and someone says, it's going to flood and there's rain going to fall from the sky and cause it to be so. How many people who had never heard of rain or seen rain before would say, yeah, that's right. You suppose you say, well, it wasn't just rain that caused it. And that's true. But the Lord was divinely warning Noah of this event. Certainly things he had not seen. And what did Noah do? It says, well, let's read it again. Here in chapter 11 of Hebrews, it says, he was moved with godly fear. In other words, this was a man who, even though he had not seen, God had given this promise. He said he was going to send the flood, and therefore he believed. It was the belief that caused him to fear. How many people, other than Noah and his family, believed and feared? Well, that's easy to surmise, right? Maybe Methuselah. Okay, maybe he was the exception. He died and then the flood began after that. But other than that, how many people believed and how many people feared? You wouldn't fear if you didn't believe it, would you? Who moved? How many people budged? How many people said, let's get in the ark with Noah and his family? It does not record a single soul. In fact, it makes it clear only Noah, his three sons, his wife, his three sons, and the three sons, their wives, entered into the ark and were saved. Eight souls out of the earth. And so it says his family was saved. Noah knew it was true because of the source. His humility before God, he trusted God, he believed God, and therefore, because God was his source, he bowed and acted upon that faith, and he built this ark and he preached. In 2 Peter 2, verse 5, also there in your sermon notes, it says, he did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly. a preacher of righteousness. We know how long Noah preached as well, because the text elsewhere you'll see in the text, God says that my spirit will not always contend with men, but his years will be 120 years. In other words, that's the deadline. So Noah preached for 120 years, a preacher of righteousness. What was he preaching? He too was preaching judgment to come. He too was preaching against the sin. If you were to look in Genesis chapter six, let me just go through the list real quickly. I mentioned it already. But if you look at Genesis chapter six, and you see what was rampant throughout the land in the time of Noah. Genesis chapter six, verse seven. So the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth. But man, beast, creeping thing, birds of the earth, sorry, I made them. He's sorry he made them? Yes. He's sorry he made them. And so when you look at all that's around them, why would he be sorry? Look at verse five. The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great, great in the earth, and every intent and thought of his heart was only evil continually. When you think of that, only evil continually. Every thought, every intent, every motivation of the heart, everything evil. All darkness, all self-centered, all destructive, all immoral, all vile, all wicked, all rebellious against God, down the list. But that was then, of course. We don't have that today, do we? Where your laughter illustrates my point, the absurdity of what I just said. Matthew chapter 24, verse 37 to 39, I'll even read it. Jesus is talking to his apostles. And in that text of Matthew, he says these things. But as the days of Noah were, so also will it be in the coming of the Son of Man. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered into the ark and did not know, until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." In other words, they didn't believe it. As Noah preached, Hardened hearts, 120 years. Hardened hearts, deaf ears, probably jeering, making fun. You read in 2 Peter chapter three, that's talking about in this new covenant age when Jesus comes. It says, at the end of the age, it says there'll be scoffers who come and they're scoffing saying, where is the promise of his coming? Everything continues today as it has since the times of the fathers. And it says in verse 7, don't you, they don't realize the present heavens and earth are reserved for fiery destruction. And you get to chapter, same chapter, 2 Peter 3, 10, and it says the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. in which the heavens pass away with a roar, the elements melt with fervent heat, the earth and its works will be burned up. No, He will never again destroy it with water, He will with fire." But it says, you and I, believers, we're looking for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Jesus said, as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of Man. So you and I could very well be that people. We certainly are called to live as though it is. Do we see anything to do with the immorality? They had serial marriages today. We have immorality of LGBTQ+, and the list goes on. We have those who shamelessly portray themselves on video or on internet or anywhere showing the acts that are most wicked. They have parades to go through the streets and say, it's all right. We have lawlessness on the increase. Dare I go on. to preach judgment. It says Noah was a preacher of righteousness. Put yourself in his shoes. How many people were there on his side? He said, I'll preach, but I want to wait till I have some reinforcements. And it says that Noah preached. The only ones we know are his converts were his wife, his three sons, and each of their wives. So seven converts. What does that mean? You had a world full of people against them on the opposite side. See to the woman there with Noah, see to the serpent everywhere surrounding them. Well, think of what was courage it took. Remember, if you look in the scripture, and I don't have time to read it, but you look in the Genesis, it says several times of the violence. Remember Cain and Abel? Remember Japheth? And here the violence filled the earth. And here is Noah preaching righteousness and the judgment of God. Think of the courage it took to preach to a violent world that may kill you. This message they must hear. The boldness to preach righteousness to those who rejoice in iniquity. Think of confronting sin. That's offensive. How many people balk if you just question their pronouns? They want to get you fired. They want to zero you out of society. They want to erase you. I remember reading about the USSR in the days, you know, when the communists said, we're running everything more blatantly than they are now. But you see, they'd have the pictures of people all over the walls. And what they wanted to do, erase your identity, they came and they painted over the picture. It didn't exist. We have a cancel culture today that can do the same. And so you see, beloved, when we're looking at confronting sin in this offensive message, isn't the gospel an offense? How many try to remove the offense of the gospel? Don't. Declare the truth. Say the truth and may God bless the truth. And so when we look at the warning of destruction, It says that the fountains of the deep were broken up. You can read, you know, and the movement of the plate tectonics, it must have been rapid and it must have been, it was catastrophic. And if you look at the, what is it, and Ralph will fill you in after I'm done. But you have the great discontinuity where you're looking at places like in the Grand Canyon where you've got these layers laid down and you come all the way to the very bedrock, the very bottom of everything, and these layers that are laid down on top of them. And it goes for miles and miles and miles across states even. And you look at this and you say, this was laid down suddenly, catastrophically. You have things that are buried catastrophically with their mouths still full. They were eating. How did they suddenly get buried underwater like that? Worldwide, you have over 300, and I'm being conservative, but over 300 legends or stories of a worldwide flood around the world. How would that happen? Of people that have never heard of a Bible. And so you see, beloved, God's warnings are true. This is also a message of endurance. 120 years faithfully preaching and building, building an ark of salvation. You see, all of those in the ark were saved. What a picture of Christ. Those in Christ, those in union with Christ, these are the ones who are spared the catastrophic ruin and destruction. But what a picture that comes out on the other side of the destruction, though, just like the end of the Bible describes, just like second Peter three describes. What happens? They come out of the flood, this catastrophe into a freshly washed, newly made earth. a picture, a foreshadowing, a type, whatever you want to call it, of a new creation. But you and I aren't waiting for a type. We are in the last days. Remember, we read the very first verse of Hebrews chapter 1. God has spoken to us in these last days in a son. Remember that. Peter preaching in Acts chapter two, and he says, these are the things that God has told us would come. And Joel, you know, in these last days he would pour forth his spirit on all flesh, et cetera. This is next in the grand scheme of things. Are you ready? Are we urgently declaring it to others? And so belief, belief today. is shown by our too being faithful to, if necessary, like Noah, like Enoch, virtually so anyway, to stand alone. To stand alone against the scoffers, against the persecutors, against the deniers, even against those who would kill you. The truth of God, His message is worth it. You know, when we were in the Sunday school class, we closed with them. We're in Exodus, and the Lord's calling Moses. And the Lord says, I've heard the people's cry, and I've come down. I have come down to deliver them. That's what God said. I have come down to deliver my people from slavery, and so I'm sending you. Wait a minute, something changed there. I thought you were doing it. Yes, I am. I'm sending you and I will be with you wherever you go. Beloved, God is sending us with a message of judgment, but yes, of grace and gospel and Christ. And we need a sense of urgency. If he was preaching this, the seventh from Adam, how much more urgent must it be now? May God give us the grace to have a heart aflame with the truth of God and a sense of urgency and purpose in our lives, a faith like Enoch and Noah. Let's bow together in prayer. Lord, as we look at these saints who have gone before us, we're tempted to say these were heroes of the faith. But Father, as you have shown countless times in the pages of Holy Writ, these are not heroes. These are sinners saved by grace that you fill with your spirit and your power. Your strength is made perfect in our weakness. Father, may we see that you have no limitations and that, Father, if you could speak through a donkey to a prophet, Certainly, you can put the words as though we were prophets in our mouths as well. But Father, may we have a compassion, a concern for those who are desperately wicked and dark around us. So easy for us to look down upon them and castigate them and point our fingers and say, look at those awful sinners. And it's true, they are. And we, too, are sinners. Father, may we be they who see all things through the measure of grace we have received. And recognize, Father, that the message of Christ is more important than anything else in this world. May we live like that. May we talk like that. May we pray like that. God bless your saints, I pray. Remember what you said, Father, to Joshua through the angel of the Lord. You said, have I not commanded you be strong and of a good courage? Do not be afraid, neither be dismayed. For I, the Lord God, am with you. wherever you go. O Father, as those indwelt by God the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Christ, certainly it's no less so now than then. So may we be strong in the Lord and in the power of your might. Bless and use us, we pray for your glory in Jesus' name. Amen. Now receive the benediction of the Lord. May our Lord make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.