Introduction:

   At the beginning of time, God made man in His own image.  At Gen. 1:26-27, the inspired Word of God states:  "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:  and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."  However, man was not inclined to retain the divine image, because by the tenth generation, a period of only 1656 years, mankind became very evil.  At Gen. 6:1-3  the inspired Word states:  "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.  And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh:  yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." Question:  Who were those daughters of men and who were those sons of God?  Some falsely claim that the sons of God were angels and that the daughters of men were any human females in which the angels married.  This erroneous concept is contrary to what Jesus said about angels at:  Matt. 22:30, "For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven."  The true answer:  When the children of those who sought to reverence and obey God intermarried with the children of the ungodly, mankind became more ungodly as a result. At the time of the flood, the scripture states:  "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence" (Gen. 6:11). Our Lord Jesus Christ states of that period of time:  "For as in the days that were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that No-e entered into the ark,." (Matt. 24:38). Basically at that time, the descendents of Seth were sons of God (Gen. 4:25; 5:3-32); whereas, the descendents of Cain were the daughters of men (Gen. 4:9-24).  It is interesting that Lamech, a descendent of Cain was the first polygamist; and Jubal, another descendent of Cain, introduced instrumental music unto the human race.   

   The scripture declares:  "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.  And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Gen. 6:5-8).  Keep in mind that this was near the beginning of time.  It is interesting to know that Noah was 84 years old when Enosh (Enos), the grandson of Adam died.  Enosh (Enos) lived during the time that Adam was still living for 695 years.  Thus, Noah had the first 84 years of his life to learn from Enosh (Enos), Adam's grandson who lived for nearly seven centuries while Adam was still alive, specific information about Adam.  Not only was that so; but Lamech, Noah's father, was a contemporary with Adam for 56 years.  And Methuselah, Noah's grandfather who died the same year of the Great Flood, was a contemporary with Adam for 243 years.  From these forefathers, Noah surely learned much about the period of time when Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, how Satan deceived them, and the consequences of sin. 

   We also know that God talked directly unto Noah.  After God declared that He would destroy man from off the face of the earth, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.  At Gen. 6:9-13, we read, "These are the generations of Noah:  Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.  And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.  And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.  And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth."  Note that God recognized Noah as being:  "a just man and perfect in his generations."  The term "just" (righteous) would indicate that he was fair, impartial, and honest in his dealings with his fellowman.  And the word "perfect," (blameless) as used in that passage, depicts him as being morally upstanding before the Lord.  It is also stated in that passage that "Noah walked with God."  This has a spiritual application!  The prophet Amos said:  "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3)  The implication is that they cannot!  That is certainly true concerning religious matters.  In reference to Noah's great grandfather Enoch, the inspired Word states at: 

Gen. 5:21-24, "And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:  And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:  And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:  And Enoch walked with God:  and he was not; for God took him." 

That passage reveals that Enoch walked with God for three centuries.  While Enoch still lived, his son Methuselah never saw his father act in an ungodly manner.  Recorded in the New Testament are the following words of the Apostle John at: 

1 John 1:5-7, "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." 

Discussion:

I.                   NOAH WAS A PREACHER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

A.           While his fellowman lived ungodly lives, Noah upheld and proclaimed God's commandments.

1.      The Apostle Peter informs us that God:  ".spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eight person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;" (2 Pet. 2:5).  There are all kinds of preachers in the world today, but Noah was "a preacher of righteousness."  We have a Biblical definition of righteousness at Psalm 119:172.  In that passage, the psalmist said, "My tongue shall speak of thy word:  for all thy commandments are righteousness."  Thus, Noah, in his preaching, emphasized God's commandments and man's responsibility to submit unto them.  Was he a successful preacher?  Well, God looked upon him as being faithful.  The prophet Ezekiel pointed out that God's people will not be held responsible as to whether or not others obey the Lord's commands, if we uphold the truth unto them.  What he states under the old covenant is just as true under the new covenant.  Ezekiel revealed God's charge unto him at: 

Ezekiel 3:17-21, God said unto Ezekiel:  "Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel:  therefore hear the word at my mouth and give them warning from me.  When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.  Yet if thou warn the wicked and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.  Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him he shall die because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.  Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul." 

2.      In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul exhorted Timothy, as an evangelist: 

2 Tim. 4:1-5, "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom:  Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.  But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry."   

B.           False teachers will be eternally damned! 

2 Pet. 2:1-2, "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.  And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of."                 

C.           It is our responsibility to proclaim the whole counsel of God. 

Acts 20:26-27, "Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." 

II.                GOD HAD A PLAN FOR THE PRESERVATION OF LIFE AND THE DESTRUCTION OF THE UNGODLY.

A.           We learn in the 7^th chapter of Genesis that God caused a Great Flood that completely covered the earth. 

2 Pet. 2:5,  ".spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eight person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;" 

B.           God instructed Noah to build an ark according to the specifications that He gave unto him. 

Gen. 6:14-21 (Read and place emphasis upon various points therein). 

C.           The New Testament is the one and only pattern for the church, salvation, and how we are to live as Christians. 

2 Tim. 1:13, "Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus."

2 Tim. 4:3-4, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." 

III.             JUST AS NOAH WAS FAITHFUL IN CARRYING OUT THE WILL OF THE LORD, YOU AND I ARE TO ABIDE BY THE NEW COVENANT.

A.           Noah did not question the instructions of God; but rather carried them out to the letter. 

Gen. 6:22, "Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he." 

The fact of his obedience is reiterated at: 

Gen. 7:5, "And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him." 

B.           Only those who do the Lord's commandments have the assurance of entering the Eternal City of God. 

Rev. 22:14, "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." 

IV.              THE SALVATION OF NOAH AND HIS FAMILY IN THE ARK IS A TYPE OF OUR SPIRITUAL SALVATION. 

A.           There was no other way for Noah and his family to be saved. 

Heb. 11:7, "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 the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." 

1 Pet. 3:20-21, "Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is eight souls were saved by water.  The like figure whereunto 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."           

B.           There are those in the church who no longer believe in the essentiality of baptism for our spiritual salvation.  We wonder if they were ever truly converted in the first place.

1.         Some would accept into the membership of the body of Christ those who were not baptized for the remission of sins.

2.         But the New Testament still teaches the same thing about baptism that it did in the First Century. 

Matt. 24:35, Jesus said:  "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." 

(Mk. 16:15-16; Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16; Rom. 6:3-4; 1 Pet. 3:21) 

V.                 WE SHOULD ALSO NOTE THAT GOD SAID, "MY SPIRIT SHALL NOT ALWAYS STRIVE WITH MAN, FOR THAT HE ALSO IS FLESH:  YET HIS DAYS SHALL BE AN HUNDRED AND TWENTY YEARS." (GEN. 6:3).

A.           There has been a false concept concerning how God's Spirit did strive with man.

1.         Actually, God's Spirit still strives with man.  But the question is:  How did God's Spirit strive with man before the Great Flood and how does God's Spirit strive with man today?

2.         A false concept is that this is done by a direct supernatural impact upon the heart independent of any medium or means, including the Word of God.

3.         It is certainly true that the Holy Spirit convicts mankind of their sins. 

At John 16:8, in referring to the Holy Spirit, Jesus said unto the apostles:  "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:" 

4.         The Apostle Paul had referred to himself as chief of sinners at 1 Tim. 1:15.  Question:  How did Paul (as Saul of Tarsus) come to realize that He was a sinner?  Answer:  He learned by way of the inspired written Word. 

Rom. 3:20, "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight:  for by the law is the knowledge of sin." 

Rom. 7:7, ".I had not known sin, but by the law:."   

B.           How did the antediluvians resist the Spirit and how does man today resist the Holy Spirit?  Answer:  By rejecting the inspired Word! 

Acts 7:51, Stephen, in speaking to Jews, said: "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost:  as your fathers did, so do ye." 

How did their forefathers resist the Holy Spirit?

Neh. 9:30, "Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy Spirit in thy prophets; yet would they not give ear; therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands." 

C.           There is a misconception that it took Noah and his sons 120 years to build the ark.

1.         Noah was 500 years old when his oldest son was born (Gen. 5:32; Gen. 11:10); and 600 years old when the flood came (Gen. 7:6).

2.         His three sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth were grown and married when Noah received instructions to build the ark (Gen. 6:10-16).

3.         Then what was the purpose of the 120 years?  It was to give the antediluvians adequate time to repent under the preaching of Noah (2 Pet. 2:5).

4.         The Lord is now giving mankind adequate time to repent before He returns at the end of time. 

2 Pet. 3:8-10, "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward,  not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." 

VI.              AT THE END OF TIME, THE WORLD WILL NOT BE DESTROYED BY WATER, BUT BY FIRE.

A.           The Lord made a covenant with mankind after Noah and his family left the ark that He would never again completely destroy life upon the earth by a flood. 

Gen. 8:20-22, "And Noah built an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every 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 thing living, as I have done.  While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." 

Gen. 9:11-17, "And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.  And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:  I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.  And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:  And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the water shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.  And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.  And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth." 

B.           Although God will not destroy all life upon the earth as He had done in the days of Noah; but He will destroy the earth by fire at the end of time. 

2 Pet. 3 (Refer to). 

C.           Some question as to whether or not the Son of God really meant that Gehenna (hell) would be eternal punishment. 

Matt. 25:41, 46, "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment:  but the righteous into life eternal." 

Conclusion: 

We need to regain in our lives the image of God that was lost by the antediluvian world.  We add the divine nature to our life by adding the Christian graces unto our self.

2 Pet. 1:3-11 (Refer to and make application).  

With the exception of Noah and his family, no one else was prepared for the time of the Great Flood.  This truth is given as a warning for you and me to be prepared for the second coming of our Lord. 

Matt. 24:36-39, "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.  But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." 

2 Thes. 1:7-9, "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:  Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;" 

We are not to boast of tomorrow. 

2 Cor. 6:2, (".behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.") 

Prov. 27:1, "Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."    

Heb. 9:27, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" 

 --Dub Mowery 

[Note:  I do not read or quote the more lengthy passages of scripture, but rather narrate the contents therein.]