Let's open our Bibles to Genesis chapter 6. If you just drop in and out of Grace Chapel every few months looking at Ben's parents, you may wonder, does he know any other books besides Genesis? But I've wanted to come back to Genesis for a while. Let's preach maybe a few months, maybe three or three, maybe through the spring from this book. because there's a few things that haven't let me go. So I want to come back here and try to grab hold of those things. And I'm going to read the first 13 verses of Genesis chapter six. You'll recognize this as God's thoughts before the flood. Genesis six, verse one. And it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born into them. that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh, yet his days shall be in 120 years. There were giants in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bared children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast and the creeping thing and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations. And Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt. For all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh has come before me. For the earth is filled with violence through them, and behold, I will destroy them with the earth." So you know that Genesis means beginning, and certainly the book of Genesis is the beginning. The book of Genesis relates for us the beginning of history, but maybe more noteworthy is Genesis is the beginning of God's revelation of himself to man. So what we know about God, we know because God reveals it to us as he steps into history with the creation of mankind, and then the recording of what he wanted us to understand about life, about the earth, and ultimately about himself, he records for us in this book of beginnings, the book of Genesis. And what is really noteworthy about this book is that so early in the beginning, there are four massive judgments. Genesis is filled with judgment, and Genesis is filled with grace. We're going to get to there. So we're going to walk through these judgments, and then we're going to walk through grace that is found as God works faith in Abraham. And we see the great plan of salvation unfolding early in history through God's love and care for His people through Abraham. But I don't just mean small judgments for the garden, the flood, Babel in chapter 11, and then Sodom in chapter 19, Sodom and Gomorrah. These are not just small, run-of-the-mill moments, but these are, we're going to stop and think about them, these are massive, head-scratching, heart-stopping revelations about God. Now, you may be wondering, and I wouldn't blame you at all, Brother Isaac, this is a second service in a room that's not exactly comfortable for worship. It's a little bit gloomy in here. There's a few lights that are out. If we turn two more lights out, then I think we can worship in the dark, right? Why wouldn't you give us something more sunny, something more cheery, something more, maybe Nehemiah? We can all build the wall together, something like that. Why would you pick this time to come right in this transition period and jump right back into Genesis and right into these judgments? And here's the answer to it. The answer is, it's really similar to what Brother Jefferson was saying a few minutes ago in the song service, is that our greatest need is to know God. to really know God. We are familiar with the Lord, but our greatest need is to know the Lord as he has revealed himself to us. And the reality is that we all have a problem. And I'm not saying this is a problem only for you. It's a problem for all of us. It's a problem worldwide. It's always been a problem, whether you're talking about Christians or non-Christians. The problem is that we all tend to underestimate God. Man tends to be big and God tends to be small. And it's only through the revelation of God by grace to reveal the glory of God in the face of Jesus that our hearts are turned to even wanting to know God. We certainly don't want to know God by nature. But God must be known and God will be known either through judgment or He will be known through grace. And so Jesus Himself and all through the New Testament, Jesus points Christians and everyone back to this beginning. And specifically back to the judgments in the beginning that we might understand who God is. We're going to look in a little while in Luke 17, where Jesus is basically saying, remember the flood. And remember the behavior of people prior to the flood, how that they did not take God seriously. And then he'll say, remember Lot's wife. Remember this. Because the way it was then, he's saying, is the way it is now. And it is the way that it will be before the Son of Man returns. And so don't think like that. Know God. Understand who God is. Peter does the same thing. In 2 Peter, we have this in 2 Peter and in Jude as well, and other places in the New Testament, Peter's emphasis in 2 Peter 2 is to point back to this series of judgments, to the flood, to Sodom. And he would say to us, really, two major things. Number one, he says, is God spared not. He's looking at the flood, God spared not. Looking at Lot, or Sodom, God spared not. He wants you to know, you must understand this, God did not spare. When you and I might spare, God did not spare. And then his other takeaway is, and the Lord knows how to deliver. Are those two things important to know? God did not spare, and the same God who did not spare is the only one who knows how to deliver. With the thought being, so take note that you might take God seriously and love God and serve God. Let me just give you a few more introductory thoughts. Scripture lays out for us, Scripture points back to the judgments of the past, to remember the judgment that's coming, to provoke our hearts to love and good works. Scripture really mentions three main bad responses to the prospect of judgment. Okay? So God's a judge. He will judge. He has judged. Here are the three wrong responses to God's judgment in the prospect of that. The first one's in Romans chapter 1, in verse 28-32. It just says basically that man knows God's judgment, man knows the righteousness of God's judgment, but man just ignores that. Man does that really through groupthink. Man does that, or herd mentality, man does that by giving approval to those who are doing other evil things, even while at the same time knowing the judgment of God. So just ignoring God's judgment. The next one is in Romans 2, the first three verses. And basically what this says is that man, this is usually religious man, underestimates God's judgment. Okay? So man ignores God's judgment or man underestimates God's judgment. And what he's talking about here is, he said, you people who know the law of God and know the goodness of God and know the grace of God, you people comfort yourselves that you're not like the people of Romans 1. who are just wholeheartedly giving themselves to evil. And so you comfort yourselves by thinking that if I can teach the right things, well, I may not be doing the right things. If I can teach this, I am better than the people of Romans 1. And he says, what in the world are you thinking? Don't you know that the goodness of God is meant to bring all of you to repentance? So underestimating God's judgment. I'm doing pretty good. Surely God grades on a scale. God grades on a curve. That sort of idea, right? We all have that, right? There's a part of me that believes that God grades on a curve. And so God gives the flood for someone like Isaac Guess to say, Isaac, get that thought as far from your mind as you can. God does not grade on a scale. You may be better in your mind than somebody else, but that's not how God judges. See, the goal of all this is to drive me to Christ, right? To the ark. And the third one, this is in 2 Peter 3, is that those who know the judgment just scoff at it. They don't actually believe it will come. Since it's been so long, surely judgment is not real, it's an empty threat. And then there are only two positive responses to judgment that are laid out in Scripture for us as well. And this is what I hope the Lord will drive us to both today and in coming days through our lives. And that is, the first one is, those who know the judgment of God flee to God's refuge, Hebrews 6. They fled to God for refuge. They fled to Christ for refuge. The only refuge is the refuge that God has provided. As God provided these cities of refuge in the Old Testament for those who were caught in a capital punishment guilt, then they could flee to these cities for refuge and find refuge in the city that God had provided. If they were outside the city, there was no refuge. Well, friends, God has provided refuge. Praise the Lord for that. From this massive judgment, God has provided for refuge, but it's only found in one place and one person. It's found in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so daily be running to Christ for refuge, not dressing yourself up in some kind of an insufficient garment, but instead running to Christ in His righteousness. And then the second positive response to judgment, the second Peter 3, says that those who know the coming judgment of God, they are hasting, they are looking forward to, they're waiting for the return of Christ, waiting to see Christ make all things new. Is there a part of you that's like that? I hope there is. I hope that as you walk around in a world that deserves judgment and you walk around in your own skin that deserves judgment, that you're longing for the return of Christ. who will make all things new. And so you're praying, Lord, will you come? And as you're coming, Lord, I want to live in a way that is pleasing to you. I want to stay close to the cross, and I want to stay close to Jesus, and I want to live in the power of his resurrection. And I want you to return. They're setting their affections on things above. So for today's message, We're gonna do, I guess, three through this flood. Today's message really looks at it with just one thought. I think it's a very important thought that we consider. It's very simple, it's a question. Here it is. Why is God so angry? Why is God so angry? This is right in the beginning, right? This is at the beginning of history. Surely it's not the very beginning, but it's relatively, it's the beginning of history. And why is God so angry? I don't want to do this long, but we got to do this for a minute. I think you know about the flood. God says to Noah, I'm going to destroy all flesh off the earth. Jesus believed this was history. Jesus points us back to this spot in history. Just consider for a moment the sheer magnitude and horror of this moment. You can't leave your mind there very long. You'll be too horrified. I've seen, and probably many of you have as well, I've seen people die before But my experience with seeing people die, I've seen quite a number of people die in my life, as a pastor in particular. But it's always been those moments where you're seeking to make the loved one as comfortable as possible. And there's usually prayers, some soft singing. The lights are dimmed. And honestly, though mysterious, most of the time, as painful as it's been, it's also been some of the most treasured moments of my life. Weird, right? Treasured and awful at the same time. This is nothing like that picture. Nothing at all. This is a picture of chaos, of terror, And I don't really want to think any further than that. But understand, that's what this is. And so any reasonable person would ask, wait a minute, why? Why is God this angry? Why would God resort to such horrific, comprehensive, extreme, whatever word you want to put. It's an extreme measure, early. Why? I've said it before, again, this is early. This is sort of a first impression moment. We're just six chapters in. It's sort of like, you know, the person who brings their new boyfriend to Thanksgiving dinner for the first time. Nobody's met him. And he talks way too loud and belches a lot. He's like, what are you doing? Everybody's kind of giving sideway glances, and they're nervous. And like, this is a disaster. This is sort of like what this is, but it's not, is it? God's not embarrassed here. God chooses to reveal this about Himself, and Jesus brings it back up. This is not an embarrassing moment for God. It's one that He features for us. Well, if you're thinking about God being just angry here, maybe this is another thought that may be more helpful. So look in verse 6, and I'll read this. Here's what it says. It says, and it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And so I think if you had just this picture of this raging maniac, that's the wrong picture here. This is not what's happening. Yes, God is angry. Yes, God is ruthless. But this is not the picture of a raging maniac. You know what the word repented means, actually means here? The word repented means, I'm just going to do it, It's a sigh. It's that sigh when you've had that conversation or maybe you've told your children to go to bed and you hear something and it just cleaned the room and you go into the room and every thread of clothes is laid out everywhere. And you just go, I can't believe this. And then, of course, there are more significant, more painful sighs that we've all endured, right? Something so painful. I can't believe this. Now, God is not saying I can't believe it. He's taking it by surprise. But this is absolutely what's happening. There's a sorrow here. There's a sighing here. That's what you need to see. There's a shake of the head. You see, this is important for you to understand that what the world at the time of the flood considered just to be normal activities, you get up and you live your life, God saw this and sighed. And the same to you and me, what we see as just normal life oftentimes, God sees the same and God sighs. He will return again in judgment, right? And so what's happening here? Well, let me give you a few things. The first one is, this is in a general way, why is God so angry? Why is He sighing? Why is He grieving? Why will He destroy? And the first part of the answer to that is just the inevitable, the inevitable depravity of humanity. So this is a very interesting moment in history. Just go back for a minute and remember, in creation, God made creation and it was Good. And what's the modifier? Very good. It was good and very good. And so that means not only was it quality, that means it was harmony. It was pleasant. It was safe. It was secure. It was organized. It was worshipful. It was all the things that make good good. Not just, I got all my ducks in a row. Not just, I made 100 on a test. I mean, good is far more broad than just 100 on a test. Good is pleasant. Good is beautiful. Good is harmonious. And then God makes the first social structure in Genesis 2, and that is the family, one man, one woman, as companions to go and make more image bearers who will also live in this harmonious way that will bring companionship and warmth and goodness in a social way to this world. And then you know that man falls into sin. And what God does after man falls into sin, you know about the curse, we talked about that a few weeks ago. But one of the things that God does in the curse is God limits mankind. God puts man out of the garden because God says, now that he has this knowledge of good and evil, if he eats of this tree of life, he will live forever. That would be a horrible thing to live forever in a place where there's such evil. So God limits man. And then, as you move to the next chapters, you can see that God is certainly monitoring man. The story of Cain and Abel is right there, right? God's right there. He's very observant. He's very involved in Cain and Abel's dispute and in Cain's murder of Abel. So God is right there. So God is certainly monitoring man. But that's about all that you see before we get to Genesis 6. And what you don't see is you don't see any sort of a written codified law. Right? There's no Ten Commandments. There's no law that's recorded there for us. This is before the law, before the written law. But certainly there is still law written into the heart of man. Cain knew it was wrong to murder Abel. Here's my point. God is giving between the fall and the flood, God is giving man a long leash. It's really sort of a test to say, what will man be? Let me ask you a question. Children all the way to the oldest adult, do you ever think this question? I wish they would just leave me alone. I wish they would just leave me alone. If they would just leave me alone, I could figure it out. That's the idea of society. There are a lot of people who think that, you know what, the real problem with society is that Christianity has put such a firm clamps on life and they would just leave us alone. Here's the question, does humanity evolve or does humanity devolve? I mean, from a moral standpoint, from a goodness standpoint for society, the answer is humanity devolves. Man has been left alone. Man does not have any firm written law. And yet we see in this grand experiment, man left to his own devices, brings a world that is filled with violence. So we're gonna see of evil hearts. So I'll just leave that with you. Do you just wish that people would just, maybe God, that people would just leave you alone and let you be? Friend, can I tell you that is the most horrific place to be in the world? We need a governor. We need a God. We need light for our feet, lamp for our paths. We are needy. We sang this morning, I need thee every hour, and it is true, okay? So that's a general way. There's the inevitable, there's poverty, there's humanity. God sees this. Man is not evolving, man is not growing, man is not improving. But instead, mankind is finding, as we see here, a new stage in the progress of evil. Evil progresses while good digresses. But more specifically, why is God so angry? More specifically, look at verse five. And God saw. If you have your Bible, you want to underline, underline the word saw. And then go up to verse 2 and underline the word saw. So there is this thread running through this passage of people seeing things. In verse 2, the sons of God saw. This is humanity or creation that is seeing. And in verse 5, God is seeing. That's important. Man sees, we're going to see in a minute, does evil things. God sees all the way to the heart. Let's read this. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. God saw. What does God see? Let me just say this again, where does God see? How far does God's sight penetrate? This is chilling right here. This is the first time we know this, although maybe from Cain as well. It says that God can see the imagination of the thoughts of his heart. How probing is God's sight? Have you considered that lately? I don't just mean, yeah, I know that God is omniscient. But have you considered the reality that God's sight probes all the way to the thoughts and intents of the heart? You see, this is the problem here in this passage, again, is that God is seeing something, man is seeing something, and the Bible, the Bible, Jesus in Matthew 6, he connects the eye to the heart. Let's read that Matthew 6 real quick. I want you to see this. So the eye and the heart are almost synonymous in God's economy of our, the state of our souls. In Matthew 6, let me just read this in verse 21, verse 20. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness." Did you see the connection of the heart and the eye? The eye is just the window of our desires, right? It's the way that our desires are expressed and that where we set our eyes on something is where we reveal where our heart is. So God can see this. Man sees his whole body's full of darkness, his heart is full of darkness, and God sees all the way through to the heart of man. So what does God see? God sees, and what God sees is God sees a heart. God sees the heart of man. He sees the heart of man and it is, what does it say? God sees that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. The wickedness of man is great in the earth, wickedness. This word wickedness is the same word, if you remember this story, later in Genesis 41. In Genesis 41, Pharaoh has a dream. This is before the famine. And in the dream, he has some cattle in this dream, and some of the cattle were ill-favored. I don't know what an ill-favored cow looks like. Maybe they had some extra, you know, knobs on their nose or something, I don't know. And maybe they were, maybe one leg was shorter than the other, but there's some ill-favored cattle, maybe too skinny, I don't know what it was, but there are cattle in this dream that were clearly ill-favored. I'm saying that again, because this means they're ugly, they're not really useful for much, because that word, ill-favored, is the word for wickedness. They were wicked cows. They just didn't look right. They were malformed. And that's what God sees. And so again, I want you to see that the judgment of God flows from the goodness of God. If you don't see that, you don't get God. His judgment flows from His goodness. He made things good and pleasant and right and harmonious and beautiful. And so when He sees things that are ill-favored, it grieves Him to His very heart. Relationships weren't supposed to be ill-favored. People weren't supposed to be ill-favored. Violence was not supposed to exist. I'm getting loud, but I want you to see this. God's good. He's so good. Yet he sees such ill-favored. Well, where does this ill-favor come from? Man's heart was ugly. Here's where it comes from. Listen to this, he sees the wickedness of man that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The word imagination is the word that in other places of scripture is used for a potter forming something. That should give a little more oomph to imagination. You know, we think of imagination, well, it's just something passing through my mind and passing out of my mind. He says, no, no, no. I'm looking at your heart and your thoughts, and here's your imagination. Here's your dreams. Here's your daydreaming. You're daydreaming. You are forming, like a potter is forming. You're forming evil from your heart. Now, think about this. When Adam and Eve first sinned, and they knew they were guilty, They, initially, they tried to hide, they tried to cover, but they were very aware they were evil, wicked, and they wanted to do something about it. And now it's changed, hasn't it? They were shy, they were ashamed, they were hiding, they were covering. But now God says, I'm looking at man, and there's no hiding, there's no covering. Every imagination of his heart is forming evil. There's a thirst for evil. There's open rebellion. There's a throwing off of God's restraints. And so, I would just mention this. Where does God pinpoint this judgment? He pinpoints it to the heart of man. You see, all through the study of the flood, we're gonna get into some interesting things here in a minute, but there's not some like massive, There's not some massive scandal that God fully reveals to us for what happens. He starts just with this, the heart of man is very evil. Well, let's make sure we tie that to us. What does an evil imagination look like? What does an evil imagination look like? Here's what it looks like. It looks like something that always suits me. So you may be thinking, well, evil imagination looks like murder, it looks like pornography, and certainly including those things. And evil imagination are thoughts that always are turned back to suit me. Well, that looks good. Well, that would taste good. Well, how dare they offend me? It's all based on my feelings, my advancement, my security, my vindication. It's all about me. That's what an evil imagination looks like. We were designed to praise, to honor, to worship God. And a heart that's turned towards self is a heart that is turned away from God. You see, it's very easy to think that this is something that's not like me. And friends, just know this, the heart of man is common. And when God sees this, God's heart is grieved, according to this passage. And so as we think, well, you know what, I'm a good person. I don't do all the things that other people do. Just know this, God looks to the heart. And if your heart is turned towards yourself, this is a heart that is filled with evil thoughts. And God says the heart of man is only turned towards evil continually. Here's the second thing. What's formed in the heart never stays in the heart. Right? What we form in our imagination never actually stays there. And so we see the second reason that God gives here in this passage in verse 2. The evil heart forms evil things. Let's read this. Genesis 6 verse 2. This is after men begin to multiply. The sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose." Here are the words, saw or see. Implied next is they see that they're fair, there's a desire. So what do they do? They take. And then it says, of all which they chose. So what we have here for sure, get this written down in black because this is what actually matters, is what God sees is that with the heart forms man will take. There's an overstepping of boundaries that's happening here. A big step past boundaries that God has set in place. Now here's the next thing that you're all hopefully, I'm sure you're thinking, well what is this all about? And so I'm gonna tell you what I think it's all about. But ultimately, this is the speculation part of the message because God has not fully revealed to us what this is all about. Who are these sons of God who are taking these daughters of men, taking of all which they chose? Well, who is this about? Well, generally, people have had three sort of opinions about this. The first one is, the sons of God are the sons of Seth. Men began to call upon the name of the Lord when Seth was born. Seth was this hopeful line. After Cain has gone the wrong way, Seth replaces Abel. So the sons of God are the sons of Seth, the descendants of Seth. And the descendants of Seth and the descendants of Cain should have stayed separated. But apparently, maybe the sons of Seth began to have a desire for the daughters of Cain, and they began to mix these lines. Speculation through the years. The second one is that these are fallen angels. The sons of God are fallen angels. And this is not completely out of whack at all. Job and other places, this word for the sons of God is a word that's used for angels. Job 1, verse 6, Job 38, verse 7. These are fallen angels, evil angels who are desiring human relations and rebellion against God's order. Just this massive cosmic rebellion. So perhaps that's it. Another option is that these are humans, despots, mighty men who are just demon-possessed. Now, that's not so far out of the spectrum. We'll read Daniel 10 where there's clear, we should be, you know, not be spooked, but aware there is spiritual weakness in high places and in dimensions we can't see. Daniel 10 talks about this with Michael, the archangel having to come and assist Daniel as he is disputing with the king of Persia. There's clearly demon possession, demon activity occurring in that passage. So these are just men who were just driven with this demon possession who are filled with lust and taking from the population what they were not given to take. So I'm just going to tell you, I lean towards the last one. I think that makes sense. Here's why I don't think it was angels, although I would never argue with somebody. The first reason I don't think it was angels was because Jesus says in Matthew 22 that angels don't marry and they're not given in marriage. The second reason I don't believe it was angels is because the judgment of the flood was centered on mankind. So why would God judge mankind for something that angels were doing? So, that's my personal belief. It wasn't angels. The sons of Seth doesn't make sense because God hasn't revealed that. Maybe it was, I don't know. But I just think these evil men who were being driven by demons or who were, the world was filled with greater and greater and greater and greater evil hearts of men. And they're taking what God had ordained for sure in Genesis 2, one man, one woman, companions for life. And they're making mockery through their lust. They're making conquest and mockery of what God has designed. Whatever the case is in all of that, we know this, there was a big overstepping of boundaries. A big one. In verse 3, God says, my spirit will not always strive with man for that he also is flesh. Yet his day shall be in 120 years. It's as if God is saying here, when God says, my spirit will not strive, that word strive means to be present. My spirit will not always be present with man. Let me say that again. God says this, hear this, my spirit will not always strive, God says to humanity, it means to be present. My spirit will not always be present. I will pull my spirit back. His restraint, his blessing, his favor, I will pull it back. Is that an empty threat to you? Are those empty words to you? I pray that it's not. It's as if God is saying, what do you think you're doing? Who do you think you are? Don't you understand how much you need me? My spirit will always strive. Well, there's two more thoughts here about God's, why is God so angry? So the first one, of course, is the heart of man is turned towards evil. The heart of man is turned towards what his flesh wants. The second one is, the heart gives way to action, man begins to overstep his boundaries. Let's just stop there for a moment and think about that. Have you, do you regularly overstep boundaries? Children, do you have boundaries your parents have established? And do you think they're a big deal or not? Are they negotiable? Are they reasonable? But it goes to every other area of life does it as well. It's not just children at all, it's all of us. Do your appetites drive your life? By appetites, it could be fleshly appetites, it could just be, I must be appreciated. I must be vindicated. When God says to us that he hates a lying spirit or a gossiping tongue or a unforgiving heart, you go, those are dumb boundaries. Those seem sort of arbitrary. Those seem unreasonable. You see, God sees this and God is grieved at his heart and he says, my spirit will not always strive this way. So the third one is this, it's violence. Listen to verse seven. I'm sorry, verse four. There were giants in the earth in those days, and also after that when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bared children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And then later on in verse... In verse 13 it says, God said to Noah, the end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. So the violence of man was noteworthy to God. You see this digression, the heart of man into the actions of man, which leads to greater and greater violence against mankind. Wow, what are these giants? Well, again, God doesn't give us a lot of information on this. The word giant here is the word that we get nephilim. And here's what it really means. It means to fall. But not just to fall like you're just falling. It means that Jonathan came up here and he pushed me over and he stomped away. It's a bully. It's a tyrant. And the reason Jonathan could do that was because Jonathan was stronger than me. He just pushed me over. Sorry, Jonathan. We'll make up later. So it's a bully, a tyrant, a mighty one who just walks in there and takes what they want and does what they do. The word means to be ferocious. And so we don't know if this was a giant as in stature, maybe it was. But that sort of moves it beyond our ability to relate. What we do know is that these are ferocious, violent people bringing devastation far and wide. You don't have to be six feet tall to be ferocious. You don't have to be six feet tall to be a tyrant or a bully. All you have to do is have a heart that demands its own way. If your heart is demanding of its own way, you will stomp through whatever is in your path. You will destroy your home. You will destroy your play friends. You will destroy your workplace. You will destroy whatever it is You see the word violent here? The word violent here doesn't actually only mean to punch somebody in the nose. The word violent here is also translated in the Bible as wrongfully imagined. That sounds sort of like what Jesus said. When he expands on murder in Matthew chapter five and six, he says, you say, don't kill? Well, you're gonna say, guess what? But he says, let me expand on that. Whosoever hates his brother, or says thou fool, is in danger of hell fire. It's equating, he's equating the violence of our hearts with the action itself. Those who pray upon the weak, but just know this, God hates, no matter what the world says, no matter what you may have experienced, no matter what you may have gotten away with, God hates injustice. God hates oppression. God hates violence in every form that it takes. Go read James five. So if you're having a violent thought in your heart towards your brother, you've got to repent. And by violent, I don't mean that you want to kill them. I mean by violent means you refuse to give them one more inch. You've got to repent. Instead, these, they take, they seize. Listen to this, they are mighty men of renown, it says in verse four. So let me just say this. What was wrong in the world? The wrong people were being venerated. The wrong people were being praised. The wrong people were respected. And I fear it's much that way in our world today, isn't it? The wrong people are the people of renown. And so friend, no matter what, well, let me say it this way. Even as we enter a new, era, tomorrow as a nation, and we can see God's hand in different ways in being kind to our nation, may we not venerate or praise unduly those whose hearts are not turned toward the Lord. I don't mean that we, that's all I'm gonna say, that's all I'm gonna say, is that fair? May we be careful, may we be very careful to respect, to maybe even be thankful for where we are, but do not venerate that which is evil. The wrong kinds of people are the people of renown there, and so it is today. So here's the summation of all this. This is what God says in verse 11 and 12. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth And behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth. The word corrupt just means it was ruined. The earth was ruined. The earth was destroyed. The earth was, here's what it is, the earth was self-destroyed. Let me say that again. The earth had destroyed itself. Now listen, there is no mention of a hiccup in nature here. There hasn't been a drought. It's recorded. There's no earthquake. There's no reverse of gravity. Yet it says the earth is corrupted, it's destroyed, it's ruined. What is he saying? He's saying that nature is still, listen, nature was still functioning as nature. You know what wasn't functioning? Mankind. Mankind had destroyed the whole earth. by its heart that was violent and turned towards self and not turned towards others and not turned toward God in the way it was supposed to be. Isn't that something? There's no massive virus. There's no big animal rebellion. It's man's heart that has ruined the earth, God says. So let's move towards the close here. The sons of God saw and they took and their presumption and their rebellion and their thirst for evil. God sees and He's grieved and He will destroy. What do you see in this sermon? What do you see in this passage? I really mean that. We're looking at one question, why is God so angry? Why will God destroy for this? And so I'll just ask you, do you think I tried too hard today to find something that God was upset about? Or do you think God's being reasonable here? Is this all just a tempest in a teapot? Is God just having a, is He just a grumpy old man? Or is God fully reasonable? And then ask you about you. What are you forming in your heart? What do you regularly think of? What do you allow to come into your mind and into your heart that you dwell on? What are you forming? You're forming something. That's the point. Your imagination is not just random. You're forming something. What are you forming? Do you take what you see figuratively, literally? Is God being unreasonable here? Or is God more reasonable and good and beautiful than you ever thought? And that's the truth. Friend, you've lived both by your own sinfulness and you've probably suffered at the hands of those who are ferocious, ferociously going after their own good, their own pleasure. And you've also done the same thing to others. And you know how ruining and painful that is. Friend, God is reasonable and he's good here. And so here's where I'm gonna leave you. This is so important. Can you see the beauty of the ark? That in the middle of this whole thing, we're gonna see this later, God finds Noah and gives him grace. And there's an arc that is constructed in the middle of this. I mean, we'll look at this next time. These are chilling words. Listen to these words. Verse three. You know what that is? That is God turning the clock. And then tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. 120 years ticking down to the moment when God will do what he's promised to do. And in the midst of that, an ark is built. An ark is built. How foolish that ark must have looked. And yet, friends, that ark, think about this. In this building, there are a thousand places for kids to go hide, right? We gotta be careful, right? In all the world, in all the world, there was not one place to hide. There was not one place of safety, but there was in the ark. And those in the ark, though just a few feet in proximity, honestly, from the swirling tempest outside that was destroying, those in the ark were completely safe and completely secure and completely whole. And they were living in the ark, not only being spared from the wrath that was, but they had the promise of life to come after the ark would rest finally on the mount when God's wrath was done. Friend, that ark is Jesus. He is the ark. So may we, may we continue. The way to leave this sermon is not to say, well, I sure am glad he said that, because that dude is, that person is a violent person. No, no, no. The only way to leave is to be fleeing to refuge again and again and again to the author of Jesus Christ, and to say, Lord, your judgment's real, and it's fair, and it's right, and it's comprehensive. And so I want to live my life loving you, serving you, looking and hasting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is life now in the ark and there's life to come in the ark. Praise the Lord that there's a gospel message at the end of this sermon, right? There's always a gospel for those who are in Christ. and what good news the gospel is. But unless you see, Jesus said, you've got to see the flood, you must see the flood. You see, even as, this is what Jesus actually said, this is in Luke 17, Jesus says this, as it was in the day of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. They did eat, they drank, They married wives, they were given in marriage. In the back of your mind, you need to be hearing this tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. Let me read this again. This tick, tick, tick, and then they were marrying, they were drinking, they were marrying wives, they were given in marriage until the day that Noah, until the day, he says, until the day that Noah entered into the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. Jesus is speaking in wonder here. Can you believe this? They see the clock ticking, they see the ark being built, and they continue on doing the exact same thing, unbothered. Friend, do not leave this message thinking that God's full of empty words. He's not. But also do not leave this message thinking, I've got to do something to improve myself. Brothers and sisters, if you're in Christ, you are free and full and safe and secure. And so let's live in Christ to the glory of God, to the praise of His name. And that's the message, let's pray. Father, we're thankful today to have Genesis 6 laid before us to see something of You. Father, please, please help us to not underestimate You in any of our ways. May this humble us and may this thrill us that You are so good, that Jesus is a full and free and total security from the flood of Your wrath. And Lord, may we rejoice, may we be those who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Please, Lord, work this in the hearts of your people, in Jesus' name, amen. We'll sing a hymn. Is there a hymn? I tell you what, let's do My Hope is Built, Nothing Less. 197. Let's all stand and sing 197. 197.