“ Our Biblical Worldview” ( 9 ) Living with view to the final judgment and life beyond 11/14/2021

Well, a couple of those hymns we sang this morning were psalms put to music, and they've been sung by the people of God upwards to 3 ,000 years, not with that tune, of course.

That only dates about 300 years ago. But the message of those hymns are from the psalms, and God delights in his people rehearsing his work corporately.

Well, I know that you have listed a New Testament reading, 2 Thessalonians 3, but instead we asked

Pastor Jason if he would read an Old Testament passage, Genesis 6.

So let's turn there, please, on our Bible. Genesis 6, and he's going to read verses 9 through 22.

And this is a familiar story of God having Noah build an ark in preparation for his judgment upon the world through that flood.

Genesis 6, 9 through 22. Genesis chapter 6, verses 9 to 22.

These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation.

Noah walked with God. And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence.

And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

And God said to Noah, I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them.

Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood, make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.

This is how you are to make it. The length of the ark, 300 cubits, its breadth, 50 cubits, and its height, 30 cubits.

Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side.

Make it with lower, second, and third decks. For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven.

Everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your son's wife with you.

And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you.

They shall be male and female, of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind.

Two of every sort shall come into you to keep alive. Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up.

It shall serve as food for you and for them. Noah did this. He did all that God commanded him.

Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the example of Noah, that he obeyed you.

All that you told him to do, he obeyed. And Lord, we pray that we would follow this example.

We thank you that even though we fail at this and we fall short, that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished what we could never do.

And so, Lord, we trust in him, and we are thankful for him. We're thankful for his life, for his death, for his resurrection, for his ascension.

We're thankful that you are ruling now. And Lord, we ask that you would help us as we open up your word and as we study the things therein.

We ask, Lord, that you would make things clear to us. Take the word of God from our ear to our heart, and we pray that you would change us.

Conform us, Lord, to the image of your son. Thank you, in Jesus' name, amen. Well, this morning we're going to begin with just one verse from Hebrews 11 that reflects the faith of Noah that was demonstrated through what

Pastor Jason just read for us in Genesis 6. This is the ninth

Lord's Day that we've given attention to this theme, our biblical worldview. And so, we'll begin reading

Hebrews 11, verse 7, which records the saving faith of Noah, and that's made quite clear.

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.

Noah's faith was shown in his lifelong preparation for the judgment of God that was coming upon the world.

Noah had believed what God had said to him, respecting God's coming judgment upon the world, the world of his day, that would take place, of course, through a great cataclysmic flood.

Noah's faith moved him to build this great ark which delivered him and his family and, of course, all the animals joined with them.

They escaped God's wrath upon sin through the building of that ark. Because Noah was a man who ordered his life in faith according to God's word,

Hebrews 11, verse 7, says he became an heir, an inheritor of the righteousness, that is, on the day of judgment, the future day of judgment, when all the world is brought before King Jesus and we judge, he will be found to be righteous through faith when he stands before the

Lord on that last day. And so we see that he was given the gift of Christ's righteousness through faith alone, but his faith was shown forth in spending his entire life in preparation for the wrath of God, the judgment of God, by building this ark.

And so Noah was a recipient of the grace of justification through faith alone, due to the grace of God alone, just like you and I are as Christians.

And so upon God revealing himself and his word to Noah of his impending judgment upon the world,

Noah began to see the world and his responsibility for the Lord in a different light than he had formerly.

He ordered all of his life thereafter according to what he'd come to understand and believe about God and his future judgment of the world.

This was his primary concern in life. It shaped his life. And he stood out as a man distinct from the world about him, his life of faith was ridiculed by others, they mocked him, he was mocked, but he is with the

Lord today and his people even now because of his faith in God and God's work.

And so the word of God teaches that Christians, if taught rightly, have a worldview that's distinct and different from that which characterizes those of the fallen world in which we live.

We see the world differently than they do. We have values and standards that differ from the fallen people of the world.

We have desires and interests that are distinct from those who live only for this world. We have expectations and aspirations that distinguish us from them.

Scriptures describe us in the King James as a peculiar people. And to the world, we are a peculiar people, we recognize that.

One of the significant differences between us and the world, if we're thinking rightly, it is thinking biblically, is that we live in preparation and in anticipation of the second coming of Jesus Christ and the judgment that he will execute upon the human race.

And so although we're living in this world, we're not living chiefly for the things of this world or what we may acquire or achieve in this life as though that were the purpose and the end of all things.

Rather, we live with view to the coming of the Lord and the judgment that he will execute on the human race.

And we look beyond that, of course, coming through that judgment, we look to a new heavens and a new earth that will follow, which is our destiny, which

God has promised to the people of God. And so we are as Abraham, we who waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is

God. And that's what we do as well as people of faith.

Now this view of watching and preparing for the realization of God's promises, and that we must pass through much tribulation, even the judgment of God on our way to our final homeland has characterized the people of God throughout history at different times.

When God revealed that his judgment was about to occur, he often warned his people to flee from that place lest they also be consumed.

And so, for example, we read of Lot and his wife and his daughters fleeing from Sodom and Gomorrah. We read that when

God purposed to deliver a Jewish remnant from exile in Babylon, God commanded them, the

Jews, to flee out of the city of Babylon, which he was about to overthrow. And in the

New Testament, the Lord Jesus warned his disciples to flee Jerusalem when his judgment was about to fall upon it, and this took place in A .D.

70 with the Roman armies. Jesus said to his disciples, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

Let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her, for these are the days of vengeance that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

And again, this was fulfilled in A .D. 70 after the Roman troops had laid siege to the city and destroyed it.

And when the Lord brought us to salvation, we similarly fled from God's impending judgment upon us.

We took to heart his pronouncement of our damnation if we continued in our sin. And so we fled from the wrath to come unto

Jesus Christ in repentance from our sin, exercising faith in him as our only

Savior and Lord. And so it is said of Christians that we have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.

Again, the writer to the Hebrews, this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which enters the presence behind the veil that is in heaven where the forerunner has entered for us, even

Jesus. Our hope is set upon him. But there were other times, rather than God telling his people to flee immediately from his impending wrath, he told them to prepare themselves for his judgment.

They would be poured out upon his enemies, but for them it was in the indefinite future. They were to be ready because it was going to happen, even though they didn't know when it was going to happen.

They needed to prepare themselves, such as Noah building his ark. And this is how we are to live in the world.

We are to live with view to the future coming of Jesus Christ, the judgment of the world, which he executes through history and fully and finally at the end of history, which will then be followed by the glorious life promised to us in eternity.

As Peter wrote, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

And that looking is something that we continually fix ourselves upon. That is our desire and destiny, and it governs our thinking and the way we live in the world.

We're not living for this world, but we're living for the world to come, or at least we should be if we're living and walking as Christians should.

But it's also said with respect to our destiny, we must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God.

This church age is the age of tribulation, according to the

Lord Jesus. In this world, you will have tribulation, but rejoice, I've overcome the world.

The entire book of Revelation says that we're going through tribulation. Now it's greater at different times than at others, but the life of the

Christian is one going through much tribulation in this world. The ongoing judgment of God in history upon the world.

And so where the Lord is overthrowing the wicked, he's using that judgment to purify us, to keep us from straying and wandering, and cause us, of course, to return to him in humble faith and obedience.

The Lord has spoken to us through the hand of Peter, these words, beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you.

You see, it's the normal course, the normal experience of Christians. We in America, of course, are experiencing what is rather unusual, a period of many decades in which we've had relative little, at least national, calamity with regard to war.

But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

For the time has come for judgment to begin in the house of God, and it begins with us first.

What will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? And now if the righteous one is scarcely saved, in other words, with difficulty, it doesn't put it in doubt, but it's with difficulty and hardship and endurance that he brings us to our full and final salvation.

Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear? And therefore let us, let those who suffer according to the will of God, commit their soul to him and doing good as to a faithful creator.

And so we should be prepared and ready to encounter difficulty, hardship, tribulation.

I suspect things will probably worsen the way this old world's going now.

And so living in our preparation for the coming judgment of God is illustrated and foreshadowed in historical events in the scriptures.

And perhaps one of the clearest cases of this may be seen in the salvation of Noah and his family from God's judgment upon the world to the great flood recorded in the early chapters of Genesis.

And so here we want to give our attention and see some spiritual lessons that will help shape our biblical worldview.

We ought to see ourselves in the world pretty much like Noah, how he viewed the world and the impending judgment of God.

And so let's continue from the fall of Adam and Eve that we have emphasized in recent weeks and now consider the advancement or the degradation that sin brought upon the human race between Adam and Eve and the calling of Noah and the flood.

First Cain killed Abel, Genesis 4. The first narrated episode of history after the fall is that of a man killing his brother and then denying the fact and responsibility for having done so.

Shortly after sin entered the world, its hideous nature began to be manifested soon and egregiously.

The struggle between the seed of the woman and the seed of the servant began immediately. Cain rose to slay his righteous brother

Abel. Both men had presented offerings to God, God accepted

Abel's sacrifice offered in faith but God rejected Cain's sacrifice. The reason why

Cain's offering was not accepted is not specifically stated, however it seems that God indicated to Cain that his sacrifice would be accepted if he had done well,

Genesis 4 .7. Now it's always been popular preaching to say that Cain's sacrifice was not a blood sacrifice, he offered grain.

Whereas Abel's sacrifice was a blood sacrifice and so that's why

God accepted Abel's sacrifice for without the shedding of blood there's no remission. However, this is saying something that's not stated in the text.

There's no statement that these were sacrifices for sin, actually they seem to be thanksgiving sacrifices, farmers commonly offered grain to the

Lord, shepherds would offer a sacrifice from their flocks and apparently it was

Cain's heart or life before God which rendered his offering unacceptable. Abel offered it in faith,

Cain did not. As one wrote, it is not to be doubted that Cain conducted himself as hypocrites are accustomed to do namely that he wished to appease

God as one discharging a debt by external sacrifices without the least intention of dedicating himself to God but this is true worship to offer ourselves as spiritual sacrifices to God.

When God sees such hypocrisy combined with gross and manifest mockery of himself, it's not surprising that he hates it and is unable to bear it whence also it follows that he rejects with contempt the works of those who withdraw themselves from him for it is his will first to have us devoted to himself, he then seeks our works in testimony of our obedience to him but only in the second place.

God gave a warning to Cain that he was vulnerable to sin after God had rejected his sacrifice.

Cain was about to be pounced upon by the beast, a metaphor of sin itself.

The beast was at the door ready to consume him but Cain was to master it. It's shown through Cain that all of Adam and Eve's posterity are to resist and conquer sin when temptation comes.

Cain failed and he rose to murder his brother and when God confronted him, where is your brother

Abel, Cain showed the effects of the fall to which his parents had subjected him.

He lied to God first just like his parents, he denied responsibility just like his parents, he showed his crass ignorance of the nature of God the same that his parents had in presuming that God had not seen him committing his sin.

He also revealed the effect of sin and his callousness of heart toward his brother. He was without natural affection and this was just one generation from the initial fall.

Even the creation grown from under Cain's crime, the earth had been forced to drink the blood of an innocent man shed upon it.

The blood of Abel cried out for vengeance for the injustice of his brother taking away his life.

God said to Cain, so now you are cursed from the earth which has opened, notice the metaphor, the personification of the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

It's like the earth personified had to open its mouth as Cain basically shoved

Abel's blood into the mouth of the earth. And so now the earth would no longer cooperate in feeding

Cain for he had fed it, he fed the earth with his brother's blood.

God cursed Cain. So as God sent Adam and Eve from the garden, Cain was sent from the face of the ground.

God consigned him to a life of wandering in the earth, away from his presence, which was essentially a death sentence, away from the presence of God.

And Cain said it will come about that whoever finds me will kill me. There's no suggestion here of remorse for his crime, but Cain did have fear and sorrow for its consequences, it's too much

God. God nevertheless in his mercy set a sign upon Cain so that his life would be spared by others.

And so Cain, it is said, went out from the presence of the Lord, which was a further departure from God than even his parents had experienced.

Bible said he survived to have descendants, but it's apparent that the effects of sin became aggravated in them even to a greater degree.

Mankind was departing farther and farther from God as it plunged deeper and deeper into sin.

And so Genesis 4, 16 and following record the ungodly lineage of Cain culminating in a man named

Lamech, an evil and vengeful man. And so in this episode we see several things about the nature of sin.

Sin does not stand still, but if not dealt with thoroughly it will fester and worsen, showing itself more hideous and pervasive in a person's life or in the society that does not address it quickly and righteously.

I read yesterday in an article how a professor at some so -called institution of higher learning is wanting to take away the stigma of pedophilia.

How far can a society go? Sin doesn't stand still.

There are people today advocating, supporting, encouraging, celebrating things they would have repudiated themselves a couple decades ago.

And what we're advocating, what we stand for today is nothing different than what our grandparents stood for or even our parents stood for.

We haven't departed. The world is departing and going downward. Who knows where this world is going to be in coming years?

And so unless the Lord causes sin to be arrested through his temporal judgments like a depression, like a world war, something like that, or through the grace of regeneration in a sinner, sin will continue to increase in its manifestation of evil until the time that God intervenes in his judgment, bringing an end to sin in his overthrow of the wicked.

And that's of course what happened here in Genesis. But this episode also reveals to us several things about the nature of God as well as the nature of sin and the way of God with sinners.

First, we see God's rule over his creation and over man continued even after the entrance of sin into the world.

God is still the sovereign king because he's the creator. God's right and ability to rule over the creation had not been forfeited by him nor arrested from him by the devil due to man's sin.

And secondly, God continued to have fellowship with mankind even after he had sent Adam and Eve out of the garden, he communicated with Cain and Abel.

God had not abandoned the race after it had fallen. He came to them and spoke with them. And third,

God judges sin in the lives of people indicated by his punishment of Cain for his crime. Fourth, yet we see that God showed mercy on Cain even in his sin and that he gave him a mark that assured his preservation.

God is a very merciful God even to the most wretched of individuals. In conclusion, we have portrayed before us in Genesis 4 a good

God who continues to show favor toward man, toward sinners, extends mercy to him.

Nevertheless, man continued his ascent into sin and his departure from the presence and blessing of God.

That's what sin is in mankind. And the episode concludes with a word which indicates there's some among the race who yet maintain a relationship with God.

God in his mercy gives another son to Adam and Eve, Seth, who replaced the slain son

Abel. And through Seth's lineage, men began to call upon the Lord.

See to the woman. God had his people. Now let's consider events from Genesis 5 up until the passage that Pastor Jason read for us, events leading to the flood.

The account of the worldwide flood reveals just how pervasive and extensive sin had become in humanity.

It also, of course, reveals God's attitude and reaction toward sin in the world.

What seemed to be a rather minor infraction of God's law in the garden, eating some fruit, is now revealed as having totally corrupted human nature, resulting in a race characterized by violence and immorality.

I remember reading a scholar who didn't believe the Bible. This was decades ago.

He wrote, he repudiated the whole doctrine of original sin, but then he acknowledged it certainly explains the world and its condition.

Humanity invoked a disgust and anger of God who had created them, and the only remedy that God would give at that time was to wash and cleanse the world of its pollution through a great deluge, a great flood.

The genealogy of Genesis 5 records a continual gracious blessing of God upon humanity through the lineage of Seth, who was

God's replacement for slain Abel. God blessed the people whom he had created. In contrast to the lineage of Cain, the seed of the serpent, godliness was present in Seth's descendants, the seed of the woman.

They began to call upon the name of the Lord. We read that Enoch walked with God, a descendant of Seth.

And then another Lamech is mentioned, who is a godly man who desired rest.

The world was full of turmoil, labor, hardship. He desired rest, this

Lamech. He was the good Lamech, and he fathers Noah, because he thought that through his son

Noah, his hopes and desires for rest would be realized. And so we read in Genesis 5, 28,

Lamech lived 182 years and had a son. He called his name Noah, saying, this one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands.

They were looking for an eternal Sabbath rest from their hard labor because of the ground which the

Lord had cursed. And so this Lamech is set forth in contrast with the

Lamech and the lineage of Cain, who longed for violent vengeance. Two peoples so different from one another.

But then, sadly, even the godly line of Seth corrupted itself. The descendants of Seth, the sons of God, intermarried with the daughters of men, the cursed sons of Cain.

And as a result, they all apostatized their descendants from God. They became morally corrupt for having failed to remain separated from those of the fallen world.

And so once again, the seed of the serpent would oppose and corrupt the seed of the woman. But God would not overlook their sin, for the world had become utterly corrupted.

And so here's Genesis 6, 1 through 8. Now it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, the daughters were born to them, and the sons of God.

That would have been the godly lineage. Saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful, and they took wise for themselves of all whom they chose.

And the Lord said, My spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh. It is day shall be 120 years.

It'll be 120 years before the flood came. And there were giants on the earth in those days.

And also afterwards, when the sons of God came to the daughters of men, they bore children to them.

Those were mighty men who were of old men of renown. And those aren't angelic beings as is commonly preached and taught and found, but rather it's talking about a corrupt human race who became mighty in the earth, but they were evil.

As we read in verse 5, then the Lord saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth. Every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

And the Lord was sorry that he made man on the earth, and he was grieved in his heart. The Word of God personifies

God so that we can relate and understand his thinking and his attitude toward things.

And so the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.

But verse 8, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, thank God. So the time had arrived when the wrath of God would come upon the children of disobedience.

This is the way that God orders history. He tolerates sin, he shows forth his goodness in his mercy and kindness, but if it does not result in man's repentance from sin, he brings forth his judgment within history.

He has always governed his world in this way, and he always will. There's no hope for our nation, for our present nation, unless the

Lord brings temporal judgment upon us of such a degree in nature, it results in national humility and repentance.

And unless and until that occurs, the Lord will continue to take us down. Now, King Jesus is calling the shots, and we're seeing a manifestation of his righteous judgment in history.

And so God declared, my spirit shall not strive with man forever because he is also flesh. Man was of a complete different nature than God.

Man is flesh. Man was incurably corrupt and carnal and sensual, so that his labor lost to him, or with him.

God's own people had defected from him, resisting and striving against him. Having polluted themselves, they lived as all others.

But God, in his mercy, gave them time, 120 years, but that time did not cure what is inherently sinful or corrupt for corruption and violence, worsened, permeating all segments of humanity, even while Noah built his ark.

And so rather than God's goodness leading them to repentance, mankind perceived God's forbearance as their further license to sin.

We're going to do our own will, sin the way we want to sin, and you better celebrate it.

As one wrote, the threatened vengeance moved with reluctant step. Long suffering suffered long.

Years dawned and closed. Still the sun was bright, the skies were clear. Surely if space or repentance brought the grace of repentance, the world would have been clad in sackcloth of penitence and shame.

But something far mightier than external opportunity must work. People aren't going to be converted.

Your children aren't going to be converted because you put them in the right environment. Only the word of God, through the power of the spirit of God, can convert the sinner to Christ.

Something far mightier than external opportunity must work before a soul can feel and confess and forsake its sins.

Man not arrested from on high is man going downward in guilt.

A lengthened respite, even 120 years, is often nothing but a lengthened iniquity.

And so when God saw the wickedness of man was great on the earth, that every intent of the thought of his heart was only evil continually, he was grieved, being sorry it made man.

And because God is the creator, he's free and right not only to be man's creator but also to be man's destroyer.

And God purposed to destroy all living things from the face of the earth and would have done so completely had not

Noah found favor, found grace in the eyes of the

Lord. Pastor Jason read this passage, that's why we had to read it, give me a little bit more time.

He read this passage from Genesis about Noah, how God came to him, told him to build an ark. Noah is described as a righteous man, blameless in his time, and he walked with God.

And so here is a man whose life pleased God even in this wretched world. God regarded

Noah alone to be righteous. Noah had found grace in the eyes of God.

Now it's important to realize Noah did not find God gracious to him because he had been righteous, for that would not be biblical grace.

Noah had been righteous because God had dealt with him according to grace. If it had not been for the grace of God producing faith and righteousness in Noah, he would have been just as all others living in sin and condemned by sin.

And if you're different than the fallen world as a Christian, it's only because of the grace of God, not because you were a little smarter, a little less sinful, a little more wise, a little more willing.

No, you can thank God that he was willing to be gracious to you. Otherwise it wouldn't have happened.

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God had determined he'd stand in covenant relationship with Noah and his descendants.

God informs people who walk with him of his plans and purposes, and so he told Noah of his intentions.

The end of all flesh has come before me for the earth is filled with violence because of, because of,

I misquoted there, behold, I'm about to destroy them with the earth.

But because Noah had found favor with him, God made provision for him to escape his judgment on the world by instructing him to build an ark.

Noah's preservation, those with him, is assured because God determined to establish covenant with him.

And by the way, this secured the salvation, physical deliverance, salvation of his wife and his sons also, and all the animals because of their, really their association with Noah whom

God had blessed. And we read that Noah followed the commandments of God completely and fully in preparing an ark and gathering living things into it.

After God had given instructions for Noah to build the ark, it said of him, thus Noah did according to all that God commanded him, so he did.

We might say he lived as a Christian, as a believer, and that's how

Christians live. We order our lives according to the will of God and Jesus Christ.

We keep his commandments. Noah was saved through his faith in God, not because he was righteous in himself, but he had faith in God.

He believed God's words regarding the coming great flood. He believed it was true, it was coming. And so he moved to build this ark.

And so those few people and the representative animals were saved from that flood through the ark.

Again, to go back to Hebrews 11, 7 that we read in the beginning. By faith, Noah being divinely warned of things not yet seen.

You and I have been warned of things that we haven't seen. He 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.

God brought the flood upon the earth in judgment, destroyed all living things except for Noah and those with him.

God wondrously saved Noah and his household from his judgment through the ark, a haven of safety from the flood of judgment.

Behold the goodness and severity of God, his goodness in the mercy and grace extended to Noah and his family and his severity in that he destroyed all living things to the glory of his holiness and justice.

God was glorified in saving Noah. God was glorified and destroyed that wretched world.

God had forewarned Noah of his judgment, instructed Noah how to be saved from it. He would do so through an ark that he would build over the course of his lifetime.

He lived to prepare himself and his family to escape God's wrath upon the world. He was saved through faith alone.

He had believed God's word and thereby ordered his life according to faith. He did so confidently that he and those with him would indeed not be condemned with the world but would be delivered into a cleansed world, a new creation, a new world on the other side of the flood.

A new creation was before them. During the flood, the world returned to a pre -creation watery chaos, formless and void of life excepting for that which

God had preserved with Noah. And then after the execution of God's judgment, his wrath toward man was appeased.

With the abatement of the waters, the reappearance of land, a new beginning is offered to humanity. It is set forth in Genesis as a new creation.

And so after the waters receded, Noah's first act was one of worship. He built an altar and offered sacrifices, a burnt offerings to the

Lord. And the Lord responded to Noah's sacrifice. And on this occasion, God established his covenant with him and all his descendants through him.

Again, a covenant in scripture is an agreement made between two parties upon which a relationship is established, is based and established and maintained.

Sometimes a covenant idea is of a negotiated agreement between two parties of equal stature, say like a marriage covenant between a bride and groom.

But when God establishes a covenant with man, it's always as a sovereign king over his citizens as it were, his subjects.

And in his covenant, God sets forth the terms by which he, God, commits to them what he will do for them.

And he declares what responses that are his subjects owe to him, faithfulness, obedience, love.

And so he also makes clear the consequences of failing to keep his covenant. Often they cut an animal later to part when they establish a covenant.

The idea was that the one who breaks that covenant ought to be slaughtered and killed, suffered death if they failed to keep the commitment to that covenant.

Amazingly, when God established a covenant with Abraham, God himself offered sacrifice, split them and the lantern, which was a representation of the presence of God, went between those split animal carcasses, showing that God himself was committing that he would not break that covenant.

If he did, he himself would be worthy of death. That's how solid and firm that covenant was that God made with Abraham and his descendants through faith, that covenant that we enjoy too in Jesus Christ.

Well, God established a covenant with Noah promising him he'd never again destroy mankind and the earth through a flood.

The terms he set forth were known, his descendants were as follows. First, they were to be fruitful and multiply, replenish the earth.

Second, the animals of the earth were placed under their dominion. You have dominion over the animals. Third, all living things were given for food.

This was new, including animals, accepting the blood within them. They were not to partake of the blood.

Four, capital punishment was to be executed for the crime of murder. You kill somebody who's the image of God, you forfeit your life.

And that law has never been rescinded, it's the law of God. And for his part,

God promised Noah that there'd never again would be a flood to destroy the earth. And as a sign of his commitment, of his covenant of peace with Noah and his offspring,

God hangs his bow in the clouds, a rainbow, as an archery bow. God is a warrior who is at peace, putting away his battle weaponry, and a condition of peace prevailed.

Blessing was pronounced, and a bright future lied before mankind. I can't help to think, what does

God think of that rainbow symbol being hijacked that was an emblem of his peace with humanity, and now is regarded as an emblem of ordering a life completely contrary to the way and purpose

God created mankind. And so the language of the account reveals that Noah and his descendants were entering a new world, a new creation.

The same language that God gave to Adam and Eve, God gave to Noah and his descendants.

There was a new paradise before them, full of opportunity, but with responsibility and accountability before God.

Now after having considered that historic event, we would argue,

I think it's important to underscore how you apply an

Old Testament passage such as this to us New Testament Christians. And so I want to really underscore this important matter, the

Old Testament is Christian scripture. Most evangelicals actually deny that, they say the

Old Testament is Jewish scripture, the New Testament is Christian scripture, and those of us who are

Reformed, historically Protestant say no, no, all of the Bible is Christian scripture.

And so we understand the Old Testament is a record of God's historical dealings with his people.

The Old Testament is a theological history, recording the nature of God and his ways among his people, but even though it records historic and physical events, as Christians we read our

Old Testament as Christian scripture. It sets forth through historic people and events, types and symbols, shadows, earthly matters which reveal and foreshadow spiritual realities for New Testament Christians.

Even the Old Testament prophets understood that what they were recording in the prophets was for a future time and for a people in the age of the

Messiah. Peter wrote of this, of this salvation, Peter's writing to Christians, of this salvation in this church age, the prophets, he's now talking about them back then, have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,

Peter's writing to mostly Gentile Christians in 1st Peter. Searching what or what manner of time the spirit of Christ was in them, note it was the spirit of Christ who was moving these prophets to record their words, and was indicated when he, the spirit of Christ, testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ and the glories that should follow.

The glories of this messianic age, Jesus' Lord, we his people, the kingdom of God having been inaugurated.

And then Peter wrote this, to them, the Old Testament prophets, it was revealed that not to themselves, but to us,

New Testament Christians, they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the

Holy Spirit sent from heaven. In my, I've been in the

Lord, it'll be 50 years, the second week of this coming January, but in the first 8 or 10 years

I was in a common evangelical setting that taught that the

Old Testament wasn't Christian scripture, it was Jewish scripture. And therefore, the

Old Testament is not Christian and you shouldn't interpret it as Christian, but rather Jewish.

And the common statement was, nowhere in the Old Testament is this church age spoken of or foretold.

And Peter declared here that the prophets themselves understood that they were writing for us in this age.

And then Peter in the book of Acts declared, you know, that all the prophets who ever lived, who ever have spoken, foretold these days, and he was talking about the early days of the church.

The Old Testament foretold this church age, we're in the kingdom, promised

Davidic kingdom, Jesus Christ, the son of David, reigns in heaven according to Peter in the day of Pentecost.

And so the Old Testament is Christian scripture. The Lord instructs us, the

Apostle Paul wrote of the Old Testament scriptures having been inspired of God for the benefit and instruction of New Testament Christians.

Now these things, he's talking about the Old Testament events, these things became our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things that they also lusted.

Do not become idolaters as were some of them, as it's written, the people sat down to eat and drank, rose up to play, that was at the foot of Mount Sinai, nor let us commit sexual immorality as some of them did, and one day 23 ,000 fell, nor let us tempt or test

Christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed by serpents. Remember the brazen serpent on the pole that foreshadowed the cross of Christ?

Nor complain as some of them also complained. We shouldn't be a complaining people and were destroyed by the destroyer.

And then Paul wrote, now all these things, everything in the Old Testament, all these things happened to them for what purpose?

As examples, they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

The Old Testament is Christian scripture. When Paul wrote in 2

Timothy 3, 16 and 17, he was referring to the Hebrew scriptures, the New Testament had been written in its entirety.

He wrote all scripture is given by inspiration of God, is profitable, in other words, it's applicable for Christians, it's profitable for doctrine, doctrinal teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, how to live.

The Old Testament teaches Christians how they're supposed to live. And yet this is denied by so many, no, no, it's

Jewish instruction, we're, why we're under grace, and so only New Testament, even epistles are

Christian instruction. That is an abuse of the Bible, it's not taught by the

Bible. Paul declared even to the church at Corinth that unbelieving Jews who had the

Old Testament scriptures nevertheless failed to understand the word of God, and they couldn't understand it until they came to Christ.

And when they began to read the scriptures with Christ as the lens, then it all opened up as a new book, and it became clear to them.

The Jews who didn't, who were not Christian, their minds were blinded for until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the

Old Testament because the veil is taken away in Christ. You can only rightly understand the

Old Testament when you read it looking for Christ, Jesus Christ. And even to this day when

Moses has read, a veil lies on their heart, nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, that's Jesus Christ, the veil is taken away.

And it's a wonderful thing when a Christian, all of a sudden the Holy Spirit reveals, why this

Old Testament is Christian scripture, it's the word of God, not just portions of the new.

And so what Paul was arguing was the need and importance to interpret the Old Testament spiritually, to see

Christ foretold and displayed for us, that Christian instruction, encouragement, warning, exhortation may be found there.

The Old Testament is Christian scripture. And this has been the universal testimony of Reformed Christianity until the novelty of dispensationalism of the 20th century.

Most evangelicals, due to the influence of dispensationalism, deny understanding the

Old Testament in this way. Here's one Reformed writer from the early 20th century who sought to defend this historic understanding and application of the

Old Testament scripture. Historically, Protestants have always interpreted the Old Testament to teach spiritual truths for New Testament Christians.

But this method of interpretation is opposed by those who claim that we're to interpret the

Old Testament literally, they say, not spiritually. They falsely accuse us of interpreting allegorically, no we don't.

So here are the words from John Wilmot. He was the pastor of a

Reformed Baptist church in Toronto, professor of Toronto Baptist Seminary. It was published in 1965.

D. Martin Lloyd -Jones wrote the foreword to it and said, I'm so happy that this book is in print now, it's going to be so helpful.

And it was called The Inspired Principles of Prophetic Interpretation. You don't need to look now, but on the last page of your notes,

I included the table of contents to show all the different subjects he addressed about understanding and interpreting prophetic scripture.

Well, he wrote these words, it would be acknowledged that the author, that would be God, of course, capitalized, is the final exponent of his own thoughts expressed in what he says and what he meant, though not disclosed at the time of his speaking, determined his selection of the subjects in terms he used, therefore, what he says will be fit the spiritual compliment disclosed in what he means.

Must the spirit's exposition of a subject be confined to our human understanding of the matter? In other words, literally only, is what he's arguing.

Is there not such a thing as an earthly story with a heavenly meaning, parables? Would it not be our wisdom to follow the counsel contained in the ancient couplet, the new, that is the

New Testament, is in the old concealed, and the old is in the New Testament revealed?

What God said in the Old Testament is given as meaning in the New Testament, yet contentment with the finality of spiritual meaning is supplied in the

New Testament is met with criticism, mysticizing or vaporizing glosses called interpretation.

We are accustomed to sing of God's providence, God is his own interpreter, and he will make it plain.

That's a hymn. Is not this equally true of his word? Examples of spiritual purpose and spiritualizing principle abound in the teaching of our

Lord and his apostles. Surely their manner of expounding what God says should be our guide in seeking how to know what

God means. If spiritualization is unwarranted, we shall find ourselves in danger placing our

Lord and the apostles themselves, if reasoning be consistent, under criticism. And so we only do what the

New Testament persons did, the Lord Jesus himself. So let's just stand back and make some application about Noah's life and faith to us.

The point we are making is this, the Old Testament account of the judgment of God upon the world through a cataclysmic worldwide flood was a type of foreshadowing of the final judgment of the world when

Jesus Christ returns a second time. And just as God saved Noah by his grace and promised him that he would be saved from his judgment upon the world, similarly

God has called us and has promised us that in Jesus Christ we will escape the judgment of God coming upon this world.

But we must add this caveat, just as God had appointed the means by which he would save Noah and those with him through the preparing of an ark.

So God calls us to order our lives in preparation for the judgment to come. Noah wasn't saved by his works of building the ark, he was saved through faith, but his faith led him to build the ark.

And so we're saved through faith as well, but our faith moves us to order our lives in faithful obedience to our

God through Jesus Christ. Just as God required Noah to order his life in faith in view of God's judgment, so we also are to do that with view to our own salvation, our full and final salvation.

Jonathan Edwards once wrote of this, I've cited this message many times in the past,

I actually attached it as a file to my sermon notes that I sent out by email this morning hoping people will read it.

He first stated the doctrine that the Genesis account gives us of Noah building the ark and then he set forth the application for us as Christians, doctrine, we should be willing to engage in and go through great undertakings in order to our salvation.

Now that sounds like works righteousness he'd be accused of today, but it's perfectly biblical.

We are to, you know, go through that narrow gate and we are to follow that narrow road that leads unto life.

You better not follow that wide road that leads to destruction. The Lord commands us through faith to order our lives with view to our own destiny.

It's a life of faith. Application, the use

I would make of this doctrine is to exhort all to undertake and go through this great work which they have to do in order to their salvation.

He's not saying you're saved by your works, but God has set forth a course of life and if we truly are believers we're going to order our lives in faith as Noah did.

And this let the work seem ever so great and difficult. If your nature be averse to it, if you don't want to do it and there seems to be very frightful things in the way so that your heart is ready to fail at the prospect, yet seriously consider what has been said and act a wise part.

Seeing it is for yourself, for your own salvation, seeing it is for so great a salvation for your deliverance from eternal destruction.

Noah had to build that ark. He wasn't going to get saved from that flood by building half an ark.

Thus Noah did. He did all that God commanded him. It is of absolute necessity in order to your salvation that the deluge of divine wrath will come and there will be no escaping it without preparing an ark.

Is it not best for you to undertake the work, engage in it with your might, go through it though this cannot be done without great labor, care, difficulty, and expense?

The Christian life is impossible apart from the grace of God. Jesus said unless you take up your cross and follow him daily, you'll not enter into life.

Saving faith in Christ leads us to order our life in humble, faithful obedience to Jesus Christ the

Lord. I would by no means flatter you concerning this work or go about to make you believe that you shall find an easy, light business of it.

No, I would not have you expect any such thing. I would have you sit down and count the cost.

And if you cannot find it in your heart to engage in a great, hard, laborious, expensive undertaking and to preserve in it, persevere in it to the end of your life, pretend not to be religious.

Indulge yourselves in your ease, follow your pleasures, eat, drink, and be merry, even conclude to go to hell in that way, and never make any more pretenses of your salvation.

And then he went on, here consider several things in particular. It's quite a message, and again, if you get my notes, it's attached to that email.

Well in a number of places, and we have to wrap things up here, in a number of places in the New Testament, the second coming of Jesus Christ to judge the world is set forth with Noah and his salvation from the flood as an

Old Testament type or shadow of the final judgment of mankind. Peter declared it.

People are willingly ignorant that this old world was consumed by a flood, but there's going to be a far greater flood of fire in the future.

And therefore, you ought to prepare yourselves. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise.

Therefore, since all these things be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God?

Because the heavens, which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, the elements will melt with fervent heat?

Nevertheless, again, he said we look beyond that judgment, nevertheless, we, according to God's promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

But we've got a judgment to prepare ourselves. Will there be enough evidence on the day of judgment to validate your claim,

I'm a Christian? You're not saved by your works. We're saved by God's grace through faith alone, apart from works.

But he created, we are his workmanship, and he created us onto good works that he's preordained that we walk in them,

Ephesians 2 .10. And the Lord spoke of his coming judgment, but as in the days of Noah were, so also the coming of the

Son of Man, they didn't know the flood would come or when it would come, even though Noah proclaimed to them it would.

They didn't know until the judgment fell upon them. On another occasion, the

Lord said, it's all important that you be in faith when he comes. If that servant says in his heart, my master is delaying his coming, begins to beat the male and female servants to eat and drink and be drunk, the master, that servant, will come on a day when he's not looking for him, at an hour when he's not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his apportion with the unbelievers.

He wasn't talking to professing, or he wasn't talking to unbelievers, he was talking to professing believers.

You're hypocrites if you don't order your life in faith and faithfulness to the

Lord. And then, of course, Paul said the same, there are many passages, and I gave them for you in your notes that you can refer to.

Now, someone may be thinking, with respect to himself, and this is pretty common, I squandered so much of my life,

I've not lived with view to the coming of Christ and the judgment to come, do I even have a reason for hope that I will escape judgment on that day?

Is there no hope for me? What ultimately matters is how the

Lord finds you when he comes. Your great need is not to build an ark, which took

Noah a lifetime, 120 years, but rather, you are but to flee into the ark that God has provided for you, even

Jesus Christ. Get to him and you'll be safe. Cast away that which keeps you from total surrender to him, discard any and all things that may hinder you from coming to him, acknowledge your sin, confess your unworthiness, be as a

Gentile centurion, saying to Christ, I'm not worthy that you should enter under my roof,

I did not think myself worthy to come to you, but say the word, and I shall be healed of my sin.

Come to the Lord as the leper, Lord, if you're willing, you can make me clean, claim the promise of faith in him, everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, to him who knocks it will be opened.

It matters how you live. Yes, it matters what you believe, but your faith, your belief better determine the manner that you live, if it's true saving faith.

Your salvation may be sure to you, not secured by you if you do these things, but assured to you if you do these things, it confirms your faith is genuine, wrought of God's grace.

And so may our Lord enable us to live with view to his coming, and the judgment that he will execute upon the human race, and may we look beyond that judgment to the new heavens and new earth, our glorious destiny, which is promised to every one of us in Christ.

Amen? Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for your word, and we thank you,

God, that you've given us an entire Bible as Christian Scripture, and help us to take to heart, our

God, these lessons. May the Holy Spirit enable us, our God, to be responsive, and flee to Christ afresh, our

God, and cling to him. Don't allow us to stray or wander, our God, and help us to order our life according to your word.

Help us to be as Noah, our God, who continued in faith to build that which would enable him to be delivered from that physical flood.

Help us, our God, to order our lives that will testify on that great day, our love for you, our faith in Jesus Christ, and him alone as our