Noah, Righteous in His Generation

NOAH, RIGHTEOUS IN HIS GENERATION

Genesis 6: 8

Sermon by:

Rev. P. den Butter

PUBLISHED BY THE

PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE

OF THE

FREE REFORMED CHURCHES OF NORTH AMERICA.

(November 1997)

LITURGY:

Votum

Psalter 225

Law of God

Psalter 41: 1, 3, 5

Scripture Reading: Genesis 6: 1 – 13

Text: Genesis 6: 8

Congregational Prayer

Offerings

Psalter 403

Sermon

Psalter 387: 1, 4, 5, 6

Thanksgiving Prayer

Psalter 190

Doxology: Psalter 315

NOAH, RIGHTEOUS IN HIS GENERATION.

“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” – Genesis 6: 8

The first word of our text, the word “but” marks a great contrast with what precedes.

In verse 7 God says, “I will destroy man whom I have created from off 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.” God speaks a sentence of death and doom on man and on every living thing in the earth. God’s anger burns against the sins of man. The just God will punish the sins of man with temporal and eternal punishment.

Were things so bad in those days that God had to make such a drastic decision? Yes indeed they were. We read in the beginning of this chapter, particularly in verse 5, just how bad it was. For we read, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth.” Also in verse 11, we read, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” We may well ask, “How did it happen that God’s creation has deteriorated to such a level?”

The Bible’s answer to this question is that one of the major causes is “that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.” What do these words mean? Do they mean, as some allege, that the angels came down from heaven to dwell on the earth and that they had intercourse with the female descendants of the human race and that these liaisons resulted in the birth of giants? I do not believe that this explanation is correct. The words “sons of God” indicate the children of the holy seed, namely the descendants of Seth.

In the family of Seth, God was obeyed, and His name was revered. In his family, the fear of the Lord was the dominant factor, whereas in the “family of man”, the children of Cain, the service of the Lord was forsaken and God’s name was misused and dishonoured. For many years a line of separation had been maintained between these two

segments of mankind. There had been little contact between the children of Seth and the children of Cain. As long as the fear of the Lord was dominant in the family of Seth it was realized that there could never be a close relationship between these two families. There was a common understanding that there could never be fellowship between the children of light and the children of darkness.

But as time progressed this mentality began to change. Doubts arose, among the children of Seth, as to the wisdom of living in perpetual isolation from each other. Especially when, in the family of Cain, important inventions were made that greatly improved the quality of life. But as long as there were differences in opinions and lifestyle between the church and the world, the church would never be able to partake of these inventions.

The question was raised among the children of Seth, why should we be so backwards?

This questioning resulted in some of the sons of God, sons of the holy seed, beginning to look at the daughters of men, of the unholy seed, to see what they were really like.

These sons of God then easily convinced themselves and each other that there was really nothing all that wrong with these girls and thus they established relationships. They fell in love with one another and took these women to be their wives.

And what was the outcome of these “mixed marriages”? Were the daughters of men brought to conversion through the example of their new husbands, the sons of God?

Did these marriages result in an upbuilding of the church of that day and an increase in the knowledge of the Lord and His ways?

No! sadly the opposite was the case. The unbelieving wives caused their husbands to stumble and finally to lose that which was left of their godly upbringing. Sin increased so abundantly that, “the wickedness of man was great in the earth”. It all started with mixed marriages. Do you understand why the Lord warns so strongly against this type of marriage? The apostle Paul writes in his second epistle to the Corinthians, that we must not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Righteousness has no fellowship with unrighteousness and light has no communion with darkness.

As time progressed, the world became more and more filled with violence. It was not even safe to walk on the streets. There was robbery and rape on every side.

If this sounds familiar, could it be because we are heading in the same direction today.

If those in authority do not take steps to halt the deterioration of our society, it is to be feared that we will see similar circumstances as prevailed in the days of Noah.

With the number of those who turned their back on the Lord, increasing, and the number of those who feared the Lord, decreasing, God announced that His judgment would come. For “it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at his heart”. This expression or anthropomorphism, as it is called in theological circles, seeks to express the thought that in God’s estimation, man as he now was, was no lomger the being God had intended him to be. Man was now only a perversion of what God had intended when He created man. As a result, God decided that this fallen, degenerated man should no longer be allowed to dwell on God’s earth.

Man was now too depraved, for we read in verse 5 that, “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”. Think of it! Every imagination of his heart, only evil, continually.

How terrible! There is absolutely no good left. Total depravity!

Can we be amazed then, that under these circumstances God announces that He will bring judgment upon the earth and its inhabitants? There is a limit to God’s forbearance and longsuffering. Sin can not continue to go unpunished.

God says, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man”. Therefore there comes a time when the day of grace will come to an end and the door of mercy will be closed.

It was in such a time that Noah lived. Noah was the son of believing parents, at least we can surmise that his father was a believer, of his mother we know very little. When Noah was born his father called him Noah because, he said, “This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath

cursed”. At the time of Noah’s birth, Lamech, his father, had high hopes and expectations. But. he must also have had concerns. “What will become of my son?

What will happen to him when all around people are turning aside and departing from the ways of the Lord to walk along the broad way? Will Noah fall away as well?

Will the temptations be too much for him and cause him to say farewell to his godly upbringing? Will he also join himself to one of the daughters of men and have fellowship with unrighteousness? Will he also bring great sadness and disappointment to his godly father as so many others of his time have done?”

No, Noah belongs to the Lord. Noah is a just man and perfect in his generation. He walked with God, as we read in verse 9. But how is this possible? Well, certainly not because Noah was better than his fellow citizens. Our text gives us the answer in the words “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord”.

This fact made the great difference between Noah and the others. But why was this so? Why did the Lord look upon Noah with an eye of grace and mercy? Was it because Noah lived an exemplary life? Was it because he was so God fearing or because he was obedient and willing to walk in the ways of the Lord? Was it because of these things that God was gracious to Noah or must we say that because God was gracious, Noah could and did manifest this lifestyle?

I do not think it is very difficult to give the correct answer to this question. Of course God first showed mercy and bestowed grace upon Noah and the fruit was that Noah became just and perfect. Without the finding of grace in the eyes of God, there can not be any Christian virtue or anything that pleases God. When grace is experienced it makes a man to differ. Noah was not different prior to the gift of God’s grace, he became a different, a just and perfect man, after God was gracious unto him.

Before Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, he was no different than the rest of mankind. Then he too was a sinner. In spite of the fact that his father was a God fearing

man, in spite of the fact that Noah received a godly upbringing, in spite of the fact that, we can safely assume, he was taken by his father to the place where an altar was built, where the name of the Lord was called upon, Noah was different than the rest of mankind. Even though the Word of the God may have made some impression upon his conscience, at times he was still a youth, he was by nature a child of wrath just like all the other people around him. He too was conceived and born in sin and iniquity. He too was a man with a wicked heart.

What God says in verse five (5) also applied to Noah’s natural heart, “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”. If Noah had been left to himself, he would have walked the same path as almost everyone else in his day. He too would have traveled the broad way that leads to destruction. He too would have lived without the true fear of God and he would have continued in the stubbornness of his unregenerate heart.

That this is so we learn from the third chapter of the book of Romans where we read, “there is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God”. Since the fall of Adam and Eve in paradise this is the sad reality of all mankind. “They are all gone out of the way, they are all together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one”. Noah was no exception and neither are we. Yes, about our heart must also be said, “every imagination … only evil… continually.

I know this statement is rather blunt and is humiliating as well. We are inclined to protest against such a statement. Is it really true that there is nothing at all in us that has value in God’s eyes? Born in sin. Unable to do any good. By nature, children of wrath that can not enter into the kingdom of God. Is it really that bad? Does it not make any difference that we have been born and raised in a Christian home and that we receive a Christian education? Although these are great benefits and blessings the question is – Did these things change our natural condition? Have we, simply because of these benefits, become

new creatures in Christ? The answer must be – No! In spite of all these outward

privileges we are still wicked and depraved UNLESS WE HAVE BEEN BORN AGAIN!

Maybe there are some in our midst who still have difficulty with this part of God’s truth, the truth of TOTAL DEPRAVITY. Maybe there are some that feel an inward rebellion against this truth. But let us then investigate, for a moment, what the imagination of our thoughts is. Do not try to hide anything or justify your thoughts. Be honest and don’t try to gloss over your actions. Have there never been foul thoughts or hasty words? Nasty glances or sins of youth?

But this is not where this truth stops. The most important question is have you, by the Holy Spirit’s irresistible work, been convinced to embrace this truth and to admit that it is truly the truth of your life? Have you learned to confess, with shame and brokenness of heart, that you are corrupt to such an extent that God must even say that it repenteth Him that He has made you on the earth? Have you felt pain within you because you by your sins have grieved and caused the Lord pain? Has it humbled you in the sight of God that you are so depraved in His eyes?

This is the truth the Holy Spirit teaches a sinner when He reveals unto that sinner, his true nature. Then the sinner learns to humbly acknowledge, before God, his sins and misery, his depravity and complete inability to please God and walk in His ways. Then that sinner comes to the place where the Lord brought David when he admitted before God: “Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight … Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51: 5& 6)

And now again to Noah. He was not naturally different than the others of his time. And yet the Lord showed mercy unto him and God made him to differ. Noah did not ask for God, but God asked for Noah and sought him out, found him and showed him grace.

Grace, which can not be merited, for grace is always undeserved favour. Grace is divine favour bestowed upon an illdeserving sinner.

What then is the source of this grace? Nothing less than God’s eternal good pleasure at the root of which is God’s electing mercy. But why Noah, why is favour shown to him and not to so many others? How can this be explained? This can not be explained because God has not revealed it. The only answer that can be given is that spoken by The Lord Jesus who said: Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight”.

Congregation, we can not hesitate to proclaim this truth, even though it might disturb some who hear it. Is it not the Word of God? The secret of Noah’s life is that God loved him with an everlasting love. For that reason God looked upon him in favour and Noah found grace in God’s eyes. The Lord found Noah and drew him, irresistibly, with cords of love. The result of this divine work was that Noah began to see that he was in need of a Saviour. Then he began to seek the Lord, to love Him, to obey Him and to walk in His statutes. When God asked for Noah then Noah began to ask for God. God’s Word was applied to Noah’s heart and he began to hunger and thirst after that Word.