1 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:05,980 I got this message, friends, while a good 2 00:00:05,980 --> 00:00:08,240 number of you were still asleep. 3 00:00:08,780 --> 00:00:11,400 Our text is found in the book of 4 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:13,640 Genesis in chapter 6. 5 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:15,920 You can turn in your Bibles there now, 6 00:00:16,020 --> 00:00:16,480 friends. 7 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:19,900 We will be in verses 5 through 9. 8 00:00:21,890 --> 00:00:25,020 Hear now, it's the Word of God, and 9 00:00:25,020 --> 00:00:27,320 may the Spirit of the Lord attend the 10 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:30,220 reading of His Holy Word. 11 00:00:30,220 --> 00:00:35,340 And God saw that the wickedness of man 12 00:00:35,340 --> 00:00:39,680 was great in the earth, and that every 13 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:43,420 imagination of the thoughts of his heart was 14 00:00:43,420 --> 00:00:45,460 only evil continually. 15 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:49,000 And he repented the Lord that he had 16 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,280 made man on the earth, and it grieved 17 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:53,920 him at his heart. 18 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:58,140 And the Lord said, I will destroy man 19 00:00:58,140 --> 00:01:01,580 whom I have created from the face of 20 00:01:01,580 --> 00:01:05,180 the earth, both man and beast, and the 21 00:01:05,180 --> 00:01:08,200 creeping thing, and the fowls of the air, 22 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:11,580 for it repenteth me that I have made 23 00:01:11,580 --> 00:01:12,100 them. 24 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:17,840 But Noah found grace in the eyes of 25 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:18,440 the Lord. 26 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:21,440 These are the generations of Noah. 27 00:01:21,900 --> 00:01:25,740 Noah was a just man and perfect in 28 00:01:25,740 --> 00:01:30,240 his generations, and Noah walked with God. 29 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:32,740 I will stop there, friends. 30 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:38,000 This striking passage of Scripture says that the 31 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,120 wickedness of man was great in the earth, 32 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:43,820 meaning it was predominant. 33 00:01:44,300 --> 00:01:45,680 That's a big thing. 34 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:51,960 Secondly, our passage states that every imagination of 35 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:55,180 the thoughts of his heart was only evil 36 00:01:55,180 --> 00:01:56,020 continually. 37 00:01:56,870 --> 00:02:00,580 That's the description of a society that has 38 00:02:00,580 --> 00:02:05,040 become so vile and corrupt with sin that 39 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:07,620 it exists to only sin. 40 00:02:08,169 --> 00:02:09,840 That's a big statement. 41 00:02:10,920 --> 00:02:15,760 That points us to Job 15, 16, which 42 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:19,240 describes the condition of man in the following 43 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:20,140 terms. 44 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:25,040 How much more abominable and filthy is man, 45 00:02:25,460 --> 00:02:28,780 which drinketh iniquity like water? 46 00:02:29,380 --> 00:02:33,480 God is saying here in Genesis that mankind 47 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:37,540 has reached a tipping point, that his thoughts 48 00:02:37,540 --> 00:02:39,820 were only evil continually. 49 00:02:40,460 --> 00:02:43,320 That man can't get enough of sin. 50 00:02:43,820 --> 00:02:47,580 Man wakes up with sinful thoughts and goes 51 00:02:47,580 --> 00:02:51,520 to bed with sinful thoughts, and throughout the 52 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:55,780 entire day, he is consumed with thinking only 53 00:02:55,780 --> 00:02:57,420 evil continually. 54 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:03,340 He is undressing his secretary in his mind 55 00:03:03,340 --> 00:03:04,480 while he's at work. 56 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:08,320 He's imagining the most perverse things he can 57 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:09,040 lust over. 58 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:11,640 He's drinking iniquity like water. 59 00:03:12,220 --> 00:03:14,320 He can't get enough of sin. 60 00:03:15,180 --> 00:03:20,280 In all this spiritual darkness and devilry is 61 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:23,820 a man, a man by the name of 62 00:03:23,820 --> 00:03:28,000 Noah, who stands out like a white diamond 63 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:33,620 against a black velvet background because it is 64 00:03:33,620 --> 00:03:37,720 said of him, and Noah walked with God. 65 00:03:38,420 --> 00:03:42,120 While everybody else is walking away from God 66 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:46,800 in sin, here is Noah walking with God 67 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:48,660 in obedience to him. 68 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:52,680 Our text is saying you are either in 69 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:56,140 step with God or you're out of step 70 00:03:56,140 --> 00:03:56,940 with God. 71 00:03:57,640 --> 00:03:59,980 If you're in step with God, then you 72 00:03:59,980 --> 00:04:02,800 hear his voice and you have his vantage 73 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:06,620 point of heaven, but if you are not 74 00:04:06,620 --> 00:04:09,400 walking with God, then you are walking away 75 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:10,180 from God. 76 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:12,000 You are walking with the devil. 77 00:04:12,500 --> 00:04:15,560 You're turning your back on God in sin. 78 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:20,680 Amos 3.3 states, can two walk together 79 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:22,720 except they be agreed? 80 00:04:23,140 --> 00:04:25,880 Well, the answer is no, they cannot. 81 00:04:26,580 --> 00:04:30,540 This startling passage from Genesis 6 is a 82 00:04:30,540 --> 00:04:34,980 stark warning to us today for our society 83 00:04:35,280 --> 00:04:38,280 is very similar to the days of Noah 84 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:41,800 where the earth was corrupt and filled with 85 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:42,640 violence. 86 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:45,920 Why, it's not safe to go outside today. 87 00:04:46,100 --> 00:04:48,680 You can be gunned down by a madman 88 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:52,080 just standing in line at the grocery store. 89 00:04:52,630 --> 00:04:55,360 Blood spills over the streets of this nation 90 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:58,060 through violent crimes daily. 91 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:02,360 The murder of the unborn is enough spilled 92 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:06,100 blood to provoke a holy God to destroy 93 00:05:06,100 --> 00:05:08,740 us completely from the land. 94 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:13,300 At this moment in America, the devil has 95 00:05:13,300 --> 00:05:16,440 the highway and the bulk of mankind is 96 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:20,460 crawling over each other's backs on a mad 97 00:05:20,460 --> 00:05:21,680 dash to hell. 98 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:24,320 There's no fear of God in the land 99 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:27,580 today and atheism is abounding. 100 00:05:29,060 --> 00:05:33,820 Like a filthy sewer that's overflowing, evil is 101 00:05:33,820 --> 00:05:37,260 rampant in society and the most popular TV 102 00:05:37,260 --> 00:05:40,040 shows are the ones with the most frontal 103 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:42,500 nudity and perverse sex. 104 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,800 Evil abounds in such large measures that even 105 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:50,980 most Christians are desensitized to sin and they 106 00:05:50,980 --> 00:05:54,180 sin as if it is a light thing. 107 00:05:55,060 --> 00:05:58,960 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil 108 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:02,000 in the sight of the Lord above all 109 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,260 that were before him and it came to 110 00:06:05,260 --> 00:06:09,320 pass as it had been a light thing 111 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:12,100 for him to walk in the sins of 112 00:06:12,100 --> 00:06:13,560 Jeroboam. 113 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,820 Christians sin like it's a light thing today. 114 00:06:18,620 --> 00:06:23,480 The psalmist says horror had taken hold upon 115 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:27,360 me because of the wicked that forsake thy 116 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:27,880 law. 117 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:32,340 But I fear there is little horror today 118 00:06:32,340 --> 00:06:34,560 over sin in our churches. 119 00:06:35,060 --> 00:06:37,900 We are quite cozy with sin. 120 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:40,700 There's no fear of God in our hearts 121 00:06:40,700 --> 00:06:43,420 and no obedience to his word. 122 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,760 And in all of this darkness all around 123 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:49,880 us, God is looking for a man. 124 00:06:50,140 --> 00:06:53,240 A man who will stand out from society 125 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:57,300 like a white diamond against black velvet. 126 00:06:57,300 --> 00:07:00,300 To where it can be said of him, 127 00:07:00,780 --> 00:07:02,880 he walked with God. 128 00:07:03,740 --> 00:07:07,460 A man who is up at odd hours 129 00:07:07,460 --> 00:07:10,260 of the night on his knees and in 130 00:07:10,260 --> 00:07:14,300 his Bible crying out to God in desperation, 131 00:07:15,020 --> 00:07:18,700 crying to God in desperate prayer over the 132 00:07:18,700 --> 00:07:19,880 sins of the nation. 133 00:07:20,500 --> 00:07:23,140 God is on the search for such a 134 00:07:23,140 --> 00:07:23,500 man. 135 00:07:23,500 --> 00:07:25,860 We see this to be the case in 136 00:07:25,860 --> 00:07:29,040 2 Chronicles 16 9. 137 00:07:30,020 --> 00:07:32,420 For the eyes of the Lord run to 138 00:07:32,420 --> 00:07:36,220 and fro throughout the whole earth to show 139 00:07:36,220 --> 00:07:39,880 himself strong in the behalf of them whose 140 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:42,400 heart is perfect toward him. 141 00:07:42,900 --> 00:07:46,320 God is on the lookout for that kind 142 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:46,940 of man. 143 00:07:47,340 --> 00:07:49,980 God can work with that man. 144 00:07:50,940 --> 00:07:53,640 God can speak to that man. 145 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:57,140 God can reveal the secrets to that man 146 00:07:57,140 --> 00:08:00,220 as seen in Psalm 25 14. 147 00:08:00,940 --> 00:08:03,920 The secret of the Lord is with them 148 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:05,460 that fear him. 149 00:08:06,060 --> 00:08:08,800 God will speak to that man like Noah 150 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:13,080 and use that man like Noah to preserve 151 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:14,120 a generation. 152 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:18,640 What cause counts and what counts cost. 153 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:21,780 There is a price to pay, a sacrifice 154 00:08:21,780 --> 00:08:24,220 for that kind of walk with God. 155 00:08:24,420 --> 00:08:27,340 That kind of walk with God doesn't come 156 00:08:27,340 --> 00:08:27,880 easy. 157 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:30,640 That kind of walk with God has a 158 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:34,059 cross right smack dab in the middle of 159 00:08:34,059 --> 00:08:34,320 it. 160 00:08:35,380 --> 00:08:39,460 That kind of intimacy with God comes only 161 00:08:39,460 --> 00:08:43,340 through a life lived in surrender to God. 162 00:08:43,340 --> 00:08:47,720 A life lived under the absolute lordship of 163 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:48,720 Christ Jesus. 164 00:08:49,340 --> 00:08:52,000 A life lived on the full stretch for 165 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:52,440 God. 166 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:56,000 A life of brokenness that goes against the 167 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,600 grain of society and lives in a higher 168 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:03,800 atmosphere where the most high dwells as seen 169 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:06,840 in Isaiah 57 15. 170 00:09:07,330 --> 00:09:11,140 For thus saith the high and lofty one 171 00:09:11,140 --> 00:09:15,620 that inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy. 172 00:09:16,060 --> 00:09:19,980 I dwell in the high and holy place 173 00:09:19,980 --> 00:09:24,400 with him also that is of a contrite 174 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:28,300 and humble spirit to revive the spirit of 175 00:09:28,300 --> 00:09:31,320 the humble and to revive the heart of 176 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:32,580 the contrite ones. 177 00:09:33,540 --> 00:09:36,280 God is looking for the man who will 178 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:40,720 walk with him like Moses atop Mount Sinai. 179 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:44,020 He's looking for the man like Peter and 180 00:09:44,020 --> 00:09:46,880 John in the book of Acts where it 181 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:47,920 was said to them. 182 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:51,840 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter 183 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:56,240 and John and perceived that they were unlearned 184 00:09:56,240 --> 00:10:00,460 and ignorant men they marveled and they took 185 00:10:00,460 --> 00:10:03,400 knowledge of them that they had been with 186 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:03,960 Jesus. 187 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:08,380 God is always on the lookout for such 188 00:10:08,380 --> 00:10:08,920 men. 189 00:10:09,380 --> 00:10:12,560 God is looking for a man who's so 190 00:10:12,560 --> 00:10:15,660 intoxicated with Christ and so eaten up with 191 00:10:15,660 --> 00:10:18,960 the gospel that nothing else matters. 192 00:10:19,700 --> 00:10:22,400 Nothing but the glory of God. 193 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:26,060 A man willing to be so pruned with 194 00:10:26,060 --> 00:10:29,140 a sharp knife so fruit can grow abundantly 195 00:10:29,140 --> 00:10:30,560 through its life. 196 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:34,680 A man like a Jonah who will emerge 197 00:10:34,680 --> 00:10:38,360 from the deep waters of purging and preparation. 198 00:10:38,820 --> 00:10:43,080 A man truly revived who can stride across 199 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:47,220 our cities crying out in God's name for 200 00:10:47,220 --> 00:10:51,020 repentance to bring a nation to its knees. 201 00:10:51,680 --> 00:10:55,120 Let me ask you friend are you that 202 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:59,420 man or are you if we as a 203 00:10:59,420 --> 00:11:02,740 nation sit on the brink of utter destruction 204 00:11:02,740 --> 00:11:06,340 and the devil has the highway and the 205 00:11:06,340 --> 00:11:08,860 world is going to hell what are you 206 00:11:08,860 --> 00:11:10,820 doing with your life? 207 00:11:11,500 --> 00:11:13,940 Are you squandering it on the things of 208 00:11:13,940 --> 00:11:14,580 this world? 209 00:11:14,580 --> 00:11:17,400 Are you just living for yourself and your 210 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:20,420 family or are you doing all you can 211 00:11:20,420 --> 00:11:22,860 to reach the world for Christ? 212 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:26,520 You're either all out for God or you're 213 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:27,160 not. 214 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:30,920 Christ held nothing back on Calvary. 215 00:11:31,420 --> 00:11:34,420 How can we hold anything back from him? 216 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:38,700 A day is fast approaching where we will 217 00:11:38,700 --> 00:11:41,900 each stand before God and give an account 218 00:11:41,900 --> 00:11:44,600 of how we lived our life for him. 219 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:49,900 Will our life be gold, silver, and precious 220 00:11:49,900 --> 00:11:53,240 stones reflect in the face of the glory 221 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:56,560 of Christ or will we stand there in 222 00:11:56,560 --> 00:12:00,320 the ashes of a wasted life and bend 223 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:03,880 over in an attempt to scoop up those 224 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:07,440 ashes and press them in his nail pierced 225 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:08,200 hands? 226 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:11,920 Are we all out for God or not? 227 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:16,220 He will not honor a divided heart or 228 00:12:16,220 --> 00:12:17,600 a selfish life. 229 00:12:18,020 --> 00:12:20,760 What's going to be on your tombstone friend? 230 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:26,240 I want on my tombstone the little poem 231 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:31,140 of C.T. Studd that reads, Only one 232 00:12:31,140 --> 00:12:34,000 life which will soon be past. 233 00:12:34,580 --> 00:12:38,280 Only what's done for Christ will last.