You.
Welcome to the Willow Ridge Sermons podcast.
This is where you can find audio from Sunday morning messages and more.
Make sure you're subscribed so that you don't miss future episodes.
And thanks for listening.
Good morning.
Hopefully at some point in time today we will experienced a little bit of sunshine outside like we got for a few hours yesterday.
But it is good to be here and hopefully you didn't get too wet coming in this morning.
If you've got your Bibles, go and open them up to Genesis, chapter six.
We are still going to continue to look at the flood this morning.
Last week we read almost about four chapters, right?
It was kind of the first time, honestly as a preacher that I've read that much and kind of stopped and paused through.
But we wanted to tell the whole story that the Bible accounts with the flood.
And then last week we looked at Noah and specifically looking at Noah's faith, right?
Noah's a big deal in scripture.
Noah's someone that we can look at and see what their faith looks like.
We can see their success and failure as he walked with the Lord.
But in looking at Noah's faith, what we looked at last week was Noah was obedient, that Noah was trusting and that Noah's faith was responsive, that Noah responded in worship.
And so last week we kind of took who, one of the characters of the story, and we looked at Him and looked at his response to this historical event that happened.
We believe that the Bible is literal, meaning that the flood happened and that it took place, and that we see in the life of this man, Noah, who lived, who was a real person in his response to the Lord and his walk in obedience and his trusting in Him in his response in the midst of a situation that you and I could not possibly imagine.
But today we're not going to look at Noah when you read the Bible.
The Bible is the story of God.
The Bible is the revelation of God.
The Bible is the story of Christ, of showing us who we are in light of Him, showing us who we are in our sin and showing us who we are in light of his salvation.
And so this morning, what we're going to take a pause is as we read through this and we're going to look at and understand the goodness of God in the flood.
Now, I would argue that when you read the story of the flood and you speak to the parts of the story that speak to you, you will reveal and you will lay your hand out.
You will show your cards of how you view God as you speak to the events that happen and unfold as you look at the destruction of mankind minus one family.
And as you speak to what that speaks to you, you'll display your view of God.
And oftentimes when people speak to this and also when individuals are critical of this, what they see in the flood is they see God's anger and they see God's wrath.
And I want to say that's true to get from this.
When you read the account of the flood, you see God's hatred of sin and you see the destruction that sin brings.
And we'll talk about that too today.
But if that's all you see in the dialogue in the account of the flood, then you miss the fullness of God and you miss his goodness.
And so what I want to do this morning as we journey back through, we're not going to read all of those verses.
We're going to look at different ones, though, as we go through, is to look at this and we will see God's anger towards sin.
We will see God's wrath poured out in destruction.
But what we will also see in this is the goodness of God, what.
We just sang and what we just proclaimed.
So let's look at the account of the flood and begin to understand how.
Good God truly is.
The first thing that we see in the flood is this that God is the righteous judge.
God is the righteous judge.
Genesis six, verses eleven through twelve says, now the earth was corrupt in God's sight.
This is important.
It's not simply that the earth was corrupt, but in whose sight was the earth corrupt?
In God's sight.
God is the standard then.
God is the standard today.
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.
So let's look at this and understand some things that we see, because this is really important in this.
So in God's sight and what God saw, he determined in his righteousness that it was corrupt.
God in his perfection, God in his holiness, god in his righteousness, looks down and sees everything.
Not some things, not most things, not a little bit of things, but everything.
I got a new app this weekend.
It's called Life 360.
I've heard about Life 360.
I didn't know what Life 360 can do.
And I've got the freebie version of Life 360.
It's driving everyone in my family crazy, right?
They'll be driving somewhere and I'll call them, hey, what's the traffic looking like over there on 378?
I see you're over there by the chickfila.
You're thinking about going to getting something neat?
What are you doing over there, right?
Emma's like, dad, you're just creepy.
You're just creepy, right?
I love when they get home.
It says, So and so traveled this distance and their top speed was this.
But none of them can see that about me, right?
I love it.
I love it because I think I can see all, but I really can't right, but I can see most.
But God in his sight.
God sees the earth.
He sees all that it is, and he sees the corruption and violence that's there for this reason, for flesh or mankind had corrupted their way on the earth.
So God looks and what God sees is the divergence of mankind from the plan and the path of God, and they journey on their own.
And so God makes a decision, a.
Decision that is hard for us to fathom.
It is in Genesis 617, God says, 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 earth shall die.
That's the words of Scripture.
And so God is the righteous judge in his holiness, in his perfection, looks down and sees the corruption that has filled the whole earth, and he brings a judgment.
Now, why would God do this?
When we understand why God would do this?
In verse 17, we understand more of his goodness.
We understand more of his holiness, we understand more of his perfection is because God hates sin and God will judge sin.
Have you ever looked the other way?
Maybe you've looked the other way in your life, or you've looked the other way in someone else's life.
Maybe you've made an excuse for the decisions that you or others have made.
Maybe you've swept it under the rug.
Maybe you've said, we're just going to keep this a secret.
But that's not God.
When God sees sin, God cannot ignore sin.
So he stands and he looks and he sees.
And in verse 17, he pronounces his judgment.
But if you're here last week, you know that while all flesh but Noah found favor with the Lord, that word in the original language for favor is grace.
Noah found grace in the Lord because.
Noah was blameless and righteous, which speaks nothing to Noah of who he is.
But it speaks to the next phrase that we'll see in just a moment where the Bible tells us that Noah walked with God.
And so Noah's blamelessness and righteousness came not from himself, but from his relationship with the Lord.
And so in judgment, what we see is God is the righteous judge, is that, yes, God hates sin and will judge sin.
God cannot ignore sin, but God rewards those who are found in Him.
Paul writes in two, Timothy four eight, henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
So there's this reward that's there, there's this reward that is found.
There's this reward that is granted.
So on the verdicts of the righteous judge of God, what you have is you have wrath and you have reward.
You have wrath and you have reward.
And as the writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 927, that's the truth that everyone will face.
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, what after that comes judgment.
Comes judgment first.
Peter four five.
They will give account to him who is ready to judge what the living and the dead.
And we begin this by having to understand that God is the righteous judge in his perfection.
He looks at the earth and he sees corruption in his perfection.
He looks at the world and he sees violence in his perfection.
He looks at the world and he sees that mankind has wandered from the path that God has established.
What do you think God sees?
Now, after the flood, God didn't close his eyes.
After the flood, God didn't say, I'm just going to ignore the character and the nature and the person and who he is of God has not changed.
What do you think God sees?
Here's my prayer for you, genesis six, eight through nine.
But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord, and these are the generations of Noah.
And Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation, and Noah walked with God.
Next week we're going to see how Noah wasn't perfect, how Noah didn't have the perfect family.
But that still doesn't take away from the truth and even reinforces the truth of God's grace, of who Noah is.
You see, Noah walked with the Lord, and therefore Noah's position determined the verdict.
God's the righteous judge.
The second thing that we see is God is compassionate and patient.
God is compassionate and patient.
When we look back, remember from several weeks ago when we read the genealogy and there's all of these list of numbers that's there.
Well, when you look at those numbers and you ask yourself, what is the time that passed from the creation of Adam to the flood?
Here's the number 1656.
I didn't do that math.
I leaned in on a few individuals who are smarter than I am, right?
1656, years from the fall to the flood.
The story of the flood points us to the compassion and the patience of the Lord.
Oftentimes when critics read the account of the flood, what they see falsely is an irrational God who whimsically, does as he pleases.
And that's not the truth of the Lord at all.
He does do as he pleases.
But what we see is in this he is compassionate.
What we see in this is that he is patience.
And the Bible over and over tells us this in numbers 1418.
Here's what says the Lord is what slow to anger and abounding instead forgiving iniquity and transgression.
But he by no means cleared the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.
Look at Psalm 80 615.
But you, O Lord, are a God of God.
Merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding instead, fast love and patient and faithfulness.
And so what we see from scripture is that, no, this is not God waking up one day in a bad mood, making an irrational decision that is void from his character and his nature of who he is.
What we see from scripture is the understanding of God not being annoyed as he waits, but in compassion he is patient and he waits.
1656 years and he waited during the day of Noah first Peter 320 peter writes and says they formally did not obey when God's patience waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons were brought safely through water.
Why is there so many years?
Because God's waiting and God's waiting in God's waiting in God's waiting and the truth of it is that it's not an Old Testament thought that God is patient but God is patient with you and he knows and I know that he is patient with me.
Two Peter three nine the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance.
I lead a men's group that we get together for lunch on Thursdays and we talk through different things.
We're doing the study, experiencing God right now and I'm going to share this about our group and some of the guys are in here this morning are probably getting a little bit nervous what's there?
But as we go around and as we talk about our struggles, one of the things that we constantly have to encourage, speak truth, in and confess because we fail at often is patience.
Patience.
We get annoyed, we get triggered, we get grumpy, we get selfish, we get greedy, we get prideful.
And then in that, what comes out because of our lack of patience, right.
Is fruit that bears that.
And oftentimes this is what we think of when we see the Lord as well.
But the truth is that God is patient with you and he's patient with me.
And I love the fact that in these two verses that we see from the New Testament that talk about God's faithfulness are both written by Peter.
When you do the study of Peter.
What you will understand is Peter is an expert on Jesus's patience, on God's patience.
Why?
Because he was continually reminded of his.
Failings and Christ's goodness and patience with him and so when we look at the account of the flood we have to be reminded that God is patient and he is compassionate and today he is passionate, compassionate and patient as well.
He's compassionate for you, he's patient for you, just easiest for me and for the world.
Number three, what we see from this, what we see from the account of the flood is that God is trustworthy.
God is trustworthy.
The flood shows us the promises or.
The covenants of God.
And when we get into Abraham here.
In just a few weeks, we're going.
To talk more about the covenants of God.
But we see these with God, with Noah in Genesis chapter six.
Look at verse 18.
God says to Noah, but I will establish my covenant with you and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife and your son's wives with you.
Genesis one eight but God remembered Noah and all the beast and all the livestock that were with him in the ark.
I'm sorry.
And God made a wind blow over the earth and the waters subsided.
So look in these two verses.
Look who is doing the actions of what we see of salvation in this moment.
God tells Noah, I'm going to establish this with you.
God says, Here is what I am going to do.
And then in the midst of this, God remembered Noah.
So God says, this is what I'm going to do.
And then God does what God says he is going to do.
God is trustworthy.
If he says it, we can believe it.
If he says it, we can hold on to it.
If he says it, we can set our lives on it.
Because God is trustworthy and his word is true.
In Genesis 821 and 22 says and when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, so this is after the flood.
I will never again curse the ground because of man.
For the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth.
Never will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.
Continues on in Genesis 911 through 13 I establish my covenant with you that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood.
And never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.
And God said, this is the sign of the covenant that I make between Me and you and every living creature that is with you for all future generations.
I've set my bow in the cloud and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
And in both of these, in Genesis 821 and in Genesis nine, both of these still ring true today.
As God sets this, this is what.
God determines and this is what God does.
Not only does the word of God not contradict itself, but the actions of God do not contradict the word of God.
I know you maybe felt like you.
Wanted to, but that's why you didn't.
Need to pull up with a boat this morning, right?
Because God's good.
And regardless of what it portrays, when we see in the sky the picture of the rainbow, we are reminded of God's faithfulness and grace in our life, right?
God's trustworthiness.
This is so key.
God's trustworthiness is based in his faithfulness.
God's truth is based in who he is, not in who we are in the account of the flood.
God says I will establish god remembers, God made.
God says I will never curse again.
God says I will never strike down.
God says I will establish my covenant.
God says I will make between me and you.
And God says I have set my bow in the sky.
God doesn't go back from his word.
And as we read God's word, right, we're reminded of his promises for us, two of the promises from the New Testament that we see for those who are in Christ with a reminder of this.
Philippians one six paul writes this, and he says, and I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
That God, not you, who began the work, but that he God, who began a work in you and in me.
He doesn't say, hey, we'll just go figure that out on your own.
Just go see what you can do with this.
What does he say?
He will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
So we know that we're a work in progress, being worked on and moved in and gone forward.
I want to ask you this.
How many of you have a project at your house not that needs to be done?
I just heard Deborah Schul laugh.
How many of you have a project that you started and needs to be finished?
Right?
Can I tell you?
There are several rooms in my house that are painted gray with this beautiful texture of unsanded sheetrock mud, right?
There's one in there.
We've been in her house for five years.
I just got to close my eyes and raise my eyebrow.
Look, because she knows what I'm about to say.
There's one that has been in my house for four years, right?
And what do we say?
I'll get to it.
Here's my confession.
Moment of truth.
When we put the For Sale sign in the yard is probably when I'll get to it, right?
That's what we mean.
But that's not the Lord.
That's not the Lord.
He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.
And then first John one nine, if we confess our sins what he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
This is the God we trust based in his faithfulness and not ours.
The last thing that we're going to look at in the goodness of God, in the account of the flood is this god saves.
God saves.
If I were to write a paper.
Or an article on the flood, it.
Would be this believe that this is the overarching message.
So many things can be drawn out of these chapters, but the overarching message of the flood is this sin condemns, but God saves.
Sin condemns, but God saves.
Why did everyone die?
Why?
Because of their sin.
Everyone died not because God's mean, not because God's impatient, not because God's cruel.
But they died because of their sin.
And why did Noah and his family live?
First, Peter tells us that there were eight who survived.
Why did they live?
Because God saves.
God is not cruel because some people go to h***.
God is good because some go to heaven.
It's the perspective that we have to understand in this, that the fact that any of us will go to heaven is a display of God's goodness in.
Who he is, in his love, in.
His compassion, in his truth.
Your sin, my sin, the sin of this world condemns, but those of us found in Christ are saved because of God's goodness.
So when we say for salvation, you need to admit that you're a sinner, what we're asking you to do, what we've done, is to admit to take credit, to claim ownership not of your salvation, but of your sin.
This is what I've done.
This is who I am.
This is what I'm capable of.
This is my sin.
And my sin deserves the wrath of God.
We have to admit that.
But there's hope.
And the hope is that we're also called to believe.
Not to believe in ourselves, not to believe in our own moral capabilities, not to believe in our ability to follow the rules of the religion, but to believe that Jesus Christ is the sinless Son of God who came to this earth to die as the result of my sin.
So I believe in who he is and I believe in what he has done.
I admit who I am and I believe in who Jesus is.
And then I confess.
And I confess.
And my confession is surrender.
Surrender my sin to Him as Savior and surrender my life to Him as Lord and what he will do.
And he will take his place as Lord and Savior of my life.
And we see this in the account of the flood.
We see that God is the means of salvation.
Genesis 618 I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife and your son's wives with you.
God doesn't say, hey, there's a flood happening.
Figure it out.
He gives the instructions down to the detail of the type of wood, the size that it will be, the layers that it will have.
He gives instruction on the food that needs to be collected and the animals that will come to him.
And God says, and you shall come into my means of salvation.
In John 316 for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him the.
Means of salvation should not perish, but have eternal life.
And in the Gospel, Genesis seven seven, and Noah and his sons and his wives and his son's wives went with him into the ark to escape the waters of the flood.
What it means that God is the means of salvation is this that salvation is found in him, in him.
For I have been crucified with Christ in him, right?
Acts 412.
Peter's preaches, as there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men, by which we must be saved.
Paul writes two Corinthians 517 therefore, if anyone is what in Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has passed away.
Behold, the new has come.
You see, the Gospel has never been just about knowing about the Gospel has never been just about being around.
You see, the instructions that God gave Noah and his family was not just to know this is coming, was not to just be involved in the work, was not to just be around it when the waters started rising.
But the truth of what God gives them is that they need to be found in him in the ark.
And so we see that God is the means of salvation, but God also delivers us in salvation.
Genesis eight, one through two.
But God remembered Noah and all the beast and all the livestock that were with him in the ark.
And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.
So the understanding of the flood is this not only did God bring the.
Flood as a picture and display of his wrath, but God provided not only the ark, but the wind, the picture of his salvation.
God is going to fully deliver.
Noah god says, hey, go get on the boat.
No sail, no rudder.
I've got this.
You ever made it stop raining?
No.
You ever moved the waters away?
No.
Noah, as he stepped foot into the means that God provided, needed God to be faithful and true and to deliver them.
And God did.
Two Timothy 418 the Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.
To him be the glory forever and ever.
Amen.
That's why we boast in the cross.
That's why we place our hope in Him.
That's why we celebrate the fruit that we see in our lives.
Why?
Because who's making me better?
He is.
Who's sanctifying me, he is from every.
Evil deed, and he will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom for who he is.
And then lastly, as we see this in the flood, god keeps you in salvation.
Genesis 716 and those that entered, male and female of all flesh went in, just as God commanded him, and the Lord shut him in.
I love this verse.
There is not any six words in Scripture that I think ring out the promise of hope and the work that God is doing.
They went onto the boat, onto the ark as God had commanded, and then it wasn't, hey, make sure who's got the door?
Who's going to make sure the waters doesn't get in?
Who's going to make sure that seal is there?
No.
And the Lord shut him in.
God did this.
God says to Noah, I have you.
I've got you.
You can rest at night, you can cling to hope, because it's not you that's going to keep the water out.
It's not you that's going to keep that door shut.
It's not you that's going to keep you safe.
It's not you who's going to keep you in my hand.
I've got you.
I've got this.
I've got this closed in.
Paul writes in Romans 838 through 39, for I'm sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present or things to come, no powers, no height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
When we are in Christ, as Noah was in the ark, his means of.
Salvation, god has you and God sets you in, and God seals and God holds on.
He has you.
He's working in you, he's keeping you in church.
God saves you.
When we read the story of the Flood, it's hard to imagine the destruction that took place.
It's hard to imagine the number of people, young and old, who perished.
And when we see that, we see the display of God's righteous anger in his wrath.
But even that points us to his goodness, because God in his grace, took a man and his family and said, not because of who you are, but because of who I am, I'm going to display for the world my salvation.
Would you pray with me?
God, we thank you for this story of the Flood.
Or those words.
We ring through it and we think through the imagery of what we see.
We think through the destruction that took place.
Lord, we can only imagine the sounds as people cried out, when the fear that would have consumed them as the waters began to rise.
As they began to look for dry land.
Then, Lord, every mountaintop.
Would be covered.
And Lord, when we read this, Lord, Satan just wants us to to go, how?
How could you?
But, God, honestly, that the how could you?
Is that you chose to save or the how could you?
Today is the story in my life of all the things that I've done, of every action, every thought, every word, every deed of my very being, that is offensive to you, that is against Your character and who you are, that is away from Your plan.
But Lord, you in Your kindness, you in Your compassion, you in Your love, you save me.
And so, Lord, the story of the fullness of this, of what we see, is that, Lord, through this all, Lord, you are saving, and it's in who You Are.
Lord, I thank you.
That all of us here who were found in Christ.
Lord, our story before being found in him is we were once to the people who were not found on the Ark, and we stood in the path of Your judgment and Your wrath, and rightfully so.
But because of Jesus, we too, like.
Noah, have been saved, Lord.
We thank you for that, Lord.
We did not deserve it.
But you saved us.
God.
My prayer is that you would speak.
To the heart of each person here, God, if they have it that today they would begin that journey of walking with you, being found in relationship with you.
That today would be the day the drawing of your spirit that they are invited onto the heart.
Today in the.
Leading of your spirit that they take to step in.
And that today in the leading spirit, Lord, and the work that you do, Lord, you set them in.
They are found in Christ, and because.
He lives, so too will they.
They will no longer be objects of.
Wrath, but sons and daughters of the living God.
Or may today be the day of their salvation.
And for all of us who are, Lord, may we have hearts of gratitude.
Our salvation is not what we earned.
Our salvation is not what we deserved.
But, Lord, it was given to us and Your kindness and Your goodness.
And may we praise you for it.
May we live our lives in gratitude towards you.
May we desire obedience, placing our trust in you, responding to you in lives of worship, lord, because You've done for us what no one, what nothing else could do.
Lord, you saved us, brought us from death into life, place our faith and hope in you.
And because we have, may we carry that message to a broken, hurting, corrupt world, lord, may we see things the way that you see them.
May we be desperate for the lost, Lord, as you wait, in Your compassion, in Your patience, Lord, as we wait for the return of Christ.
Lord, may we carry the message of.
The hope of the gospel, because only.
You.
You'Re the only one who saves it's.
In Jesus name, you pray.
Amen.
Thanks again for listening, and be sure to check back next week for another episode.
In the meantime, you can visit us@willowridgechurch.org or by searching for Willow Ridgechurch on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.