The vast majority of human beings on earth regard the flood described in Genesis 6 through 9 as a myth at best, superstition at worst. It was interesting to read Dennis Prager's commentary on this. He just basically says, we don't really know if this is true. It doesn't make any difference. It's a story, and we can take meaning from the story. And a lot of evangelical Christians have that same view. They reject a common sense reading of the Genesis record because it contradicts the dogma of modern evolutionary science, especially the evolutionary interpretation of the geology of the Earth. The Genesis record gives us a good reason to believe that the strata that we find all over the earth were deposited in just weeks as the worldwide flood abated, not through gradual sedimentation over hundreds of millions of years. And even some Christians choke on this pill. They just cannot swallow it, even though it's filled with scripture. So what do such Christians do with Genesis 6? You're right. Well, some of them believe that it's just a story. Some of them believe it's a myth that's borrowed from the legends and myths of other civilizations. A number of ancient civilizations have flood myths. And we'll talk about that in the second service and what that should tell us. But what do evangelical Christians who claim to believe the Bible, what do they do with Genesis 6 through 8? I don't want to take too much time with this, but I think we at least need to get a taste of it by way of introduction. In a word, these skeptics believe that the flood was a local flood. They tell us that Noah may have experienced this flood. I mean, from his viewpoint, it may have felt like it was a worldwide flood. All the people that Noah knew, they may have gotten wiped out in this flood. All the animals in the region around where Noah lived, they may have died. But the flood wasn't really worldwide. They point out that sometimes when the Bible uses the word all, it doesn't really mean all. For instance, in Matthew 2 we read, when Herod the king heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. We can't take the word all there in Matthew in that sentence to mean 100% of all the men, women, and children in Jerusalem that they were all troubled when they heard that the Messiah had been born. This is just a figure of speech. We all talk like this, right? And so when God says here in Genesis 6, the end of all flesh has come before me, we shouldn't take those words literally. Noah may have thought all human beings died in the flood, but that's not really what happened. Now, I would respond that if we take Scripture seriously, If we believe that Genesis 6 through 8 is just as much the inspired authoritative word of God as the Gospel of John or the Book of Romans, then there are dozens of reasons to believe that a worldwide flood occurred in the days of Noah. And this morning I'm going to summarize those and give you the top 10. The top 10 reasons we know from scripture that the flood was a universal, global, worldwide flood. If I could think of any more words to describe it globally or universally, I would. Number one, the language of the flood. The language of the flood. These chapters emphasize that this flood was universal in ways that cannot be explained away as hyperbole. like the passage I read a moment ago from Matthew 2. And let me just point to three texts that are as clear as crystal. The first is here in chapter 6 and verse 13. Genesis 6, 13. And God said to 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. Now when that verse says, the end of all flesh, that's the equivalent of saving every man, woman, child and animal. And then the verse ends with, I will destroy them with the earth. God didn't just say, I'll destroy every human being on earth. No, He said, I will destroy the earth and everything on it. You can't get much more inclusive than that. Flip over a page to chapter 4, excuse me, chapter 7 and verse 4, Genesis 7, 4. For after seven days or seven more days, I will cause it to rain on the earth 40 days and 40 nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made. Notice he doesn't just say all living things. He says, all living things from the face of the earth. And He doesn't just say all living things from the face of the earth. He says, all living things that I have made. That's a triple universal. There's no way of being more inclusive than that. And then look down the page at verses 22 and 23 here in Genesis 7. all in whose nostrils was the breath of the Spirit of Life. All that was on the dry land died. So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground, both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. Now that final sentence comes at this from the opposite direction. It doesn't tell us who died from the earth. It told us the only survivors on the earth. And the only survivors were the men and women and animals that were in the ark. Let me sum up these verses in this way. What could you possibly say more than what these verses say to communicate that all human beings and all land animals died? If you read these words in a newspaper, how would you take it? A similar argument, number two, are the words the Bible uses for the flood. The words for the flood. In Genesis chapter 6 through 9, in fact, Genesis chapter 6 through 11, These chapters use a special word for the flood that's not used anywhere else in the Bible, except for Psalm 29, which is also speaking of the Genesis flood. So let me give you an example. The first usage is here in chapter 6 and verse 17. God says, and behold, I myself am bringing Floodwaters, that's actually two words in the original language. I'm bringing a flood of waters on the earth to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life. Everything that is on earth shall die. That word, that word flood, is used 10 other times in the Old Testament, and it's only ever used to describe this worldwide flood. When the Old Testament speaks of a normal flood, If I can put it that way, of a local flood, it uses different Hebrew words than this word. For instance, in Psalm 90, Moses describes the frailty of man in these words. You carry them away like a flood. They are like a sleep. The idea in that word is something that doesn't last long. A sleep, a flood. Not so the word that's used in Genesis chapters 6 through 11. The New Testament also uses a special word to describe the Genesis flood, a word that's not used anywhere else in the New Testament. We'll turn to 2 Peter chapter 3 in a few moments, but that chapter describes the flood using the Greek word kataklouzo, from which we get our English word, cataclysm. That's the only place that word is used. It uses a unique word to describe the Genesis flood. We believe that every word of the Bible is inspired by God. And so the Old Testament uses a unique word, the New Testament uses a unique word to describe the Genesis flood because it was a unique event. The only time there was ever a worldwide flood. Number three, the purpose of the flood. The purpose of the flood. Either we believe the clear teaching of Scripture on this or we don't. A local flood would not have accomplished God's purpose in sending the flood. Notice Genesis 6, verses 5 through 7. We studied these verses a few weeks ago. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and he was grieved in his heart. So the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them. God doesn't say here the wickedness of man is great in the region where Noah lived. The wickedness of man was great all over the earth. Remember what we talked about. If we believe the Bible and what it says about how long men were living at this time before the flood, then conservative estimates tell us that there were a billion human beings at this time. They certainly all didn't live in the region where Noah was. We don't know what the continents looked like before the flood, but they were spread all over the place. And God's purpose was to wipe out all of mankind because mankind had been contaminated by the fallen angel father brigade. You remember we talked about this a few weeks ago. Satan sent fallen angels to interbreed with human females. And he contaminated not just humans from a spiritual perspective, I believe he contaminated the human gene pool. If you're going to cleanse the human gene pool, how do you do that? Not by killing part of mankind, but by wiping out mankind except for those who had not been contaminated. Nothing less than a worldwide flood would accomplish God's purpose. Number four, the depth of the flood. The depth of the flood. Genesis 7, verses 18 through 20, gives us detail about the depth of the flood. Notice those verses. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed 15 cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. Now this is another one of those instances where I just don't understand the translators of our English versions. The word that's translated hills in verse 19 and the word that's translated mountains in verse 20 are the same word in the original language. And so the idea here is Not only were the mountains covered with water, all the mountains were covered with water. Even the highest mountains were covered with water. It says the high hills, the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. Now what was the highest mountain? Well, the Ark eventually settled on Mount Ararat. revealed here in these chapters as well. Ararat was one of the highest mountains in the Middle East at nearly 17,000 feet. Now, we don't know what kind of tectonic shifts occurred during the flood, what the high mountains and hills exactly looked like, but the arc was able to go over the top of those mountains. Verse 20 goes on to tell us, that to a depth of 15 cubits, 22 and a half feet. Why 22 and a half feet? I believe that was the draft of the barge when it was fully loaded. It sank 22 and a half feet and it could still get over the highest mountains without being grounded. I don't know how you have a flood that covers a 17,000 foot mountain and it be a local flood. Does that make sense to you? Maybe you study a different geometry than I do. Number five, the duration of the flood. Many of us have a misconception about the flood from our Sunday school days. I asked my wife a couple weeks ago how long the flood lasted and she gave me the answer that all of us learned in Sunday school. The flood lasted 40 days and 40 nights. That's what we all learned in Sunday school, right? But let's read what Scripture actually says. Look with me here in chapter 7 and verses 11 and 12. In the 600th year of Noah's life, in the second month, the 17th day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened. and the rain was on the earth 40 days and 40 nights. So there's your 40 days and 40 nights. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights. So your Sunday school teacher wasn't wrong. But what's more important in that verse is verse 11. It dates the first day of the flood based on Noah's life. 600 years The second month is 17th day. It also tells us where the flood came from. The water for the flood came from two directions. It not only came from above, it also came from below. You remember Genesis chapter 1? It said that there were waters below the firmament and waters above the firmament. And here we're told that not only did the water above the firmament come down in rain, but the waters below the firmament were broken up. And then we have a summary statement at the end here of Genesis 7. It says, and the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days. Now, that prevailing or increasing, that's the idea in the word, includes the 40 days that it rained. But for 110 more days, the waters continued to increase. Now, why did the waters continue to increase when it had stopped raining? Another source of water, right? Water's from below. And then the waters began to abate. And I'm not going to read all of the passage. It's nearly all of chapter 8 that tells us exactly how that ran. Most of us remember that, again, from our Sunday school teachers, that Noah sent out a couple of birds. One returned. One didn't. And he knew it was time to see if they could leave the ark. And look with me in chapter 8, verses 13 and 14. And it came to pass in the 601st year, that's talking about the 601st year of Noah's life, in the first month, the first day of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the earth was dry, but they still didn't leave the ark. Because I can imagine what that earth was like. We've had some pretty good rain lately, and I looked at a place yesterday, I wouldn't want to walk in, I'd be afraid, I'd go right down. And so verse 14 goes on to say, and in the second month, on the 27th day of the month, the earth was dried, and apparently that is the day they exited. So we've got the beginning date, and we've got the end date. It started on the 600th year of Noah's life, the 17th day of the second month, and it ended in the 601st year of Noah's life, the 27th day of the second month, which is a total of 371 days. Now, with these facts in hands, we can make a couple of pretty clear deductions. Number one, no flood that continues to increase for 150 days is a local flood. I didn't read these verses, but if only the tops of the mountains could be seen after 224 days, that's not a local flood. And a flood that lasts over a year, there is no way that such a flood can be a local flood. I don't think there's any doubt that these chapters were written by an eyewitness. It may have been Noah. It may have been one of Noah's sons. But if you take the very detailed statements in this passage seriously, then you can't believe anything other than that this flood was a global, universal flood. Number six, the need for the ark. the need for the ark. Now this point is just common sense. When local floods occur, how do reasonable human beings respond other than by driving through flooded streets? No, when local floods come, reasonable human beings head for the hills. Head for higher ground. I was born and raised in western Pennsylvania. Very mountainous, hilly region. I lived in Greensburg, which is about 40 miles from Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Growing up in Greensburg, the Johnstown flood was part of the history. It was part of the lore of that area. Some of you know this story. Back in 1889, a dam high above Johnstown let go. And within about 10 or 15 minutes, 2,200 people died, 1,600 homes were destroyed, and even several locomotives were swept away. But I'll tell you what, the only people that lost their lives were those who were taken on away and couldn't make it to higher ground. This is Western Pennsylvania. There's always higher ground not farther away. Listen, if what Genesis 6-9 describes is a local flood, then the reasonable advice is, head for the hills. I mean, even if this were a regional flood, Noah simply could have moved his family. If this were a local flood, why in the world would God instruct Noah to spend a hundred years building an ark? You remember when Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus were in danger? God sent an angel. He appeared to Joseph in a dream and warned him to flee to Egypt. God could have done the same thing easily with Noah. This entire story makes no sense if the flood was local. I follow up with a similar point. Number seven, the size of the ark. Now perhaps God instructed Noah to build some kind of an ark as an object lesson to his generation. God does those kinds of things. God instructed some of the Old Testament prophets to do some really strange things. as visual demonstrations of truth that he wanted to communicate to the nation of Israel. I mean, maybe the ark was that kind of an object lesson. And I could buy that if God had not told Noah to build a barge that was obviously sized to sustain the life of Noah and his family and all the various kinds of animals for an entire year. Have you ever heard of the seven wonders of the world? I got to tell you, the Ark had to have been one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. And again, I say, this story is all of a piece. And the size of the Ark only makes sense in a storyline of a year-long worldwide flood. Now, since I went into great detail in terms of the size of the ark and the construction of the ark last Sunday, I'm going to say no more and we'll move on to number eight. Man, I'm making pretty good time this morning. I need to slow down. Number eight, the covenant after the flood. The covenant after. the flood. God ratified a covenant with Noah after the flood and we read about it in Genesis chapter 9. Look with me in Genesis 9 verses 12 through 15. And God said, this is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you for perpetual generations. I set my rainbow in the cloud and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. It shall be when I bring a cloud over the earth that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud and I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. The water shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. Now again, many of us remember our Sunday school days. We remember the promise of God that accompanied the rainbow. This is the true meaning of the rainbow as opposed to the meaning that's been attached to it by our society today. It was a reminder of God's promise never to destroy all life again in a flood. And again, the word that's used there in verse 15 is that Hebrew word that we discussed earlier. It's used only of the Genesis flood. But, if you're saying that this flood was a local flood, then you make God a liar. He promised never again to send that kind of flood, the kind of flood that He sent on Noah's generation. And if it was a local flood and it did not destroy all flesh, well then certainly God has sent those kinds of floods again and again and again and again throughout history. And God is a liar who has broken His covenant repeatedly. Again, I say, this story is all of a piece. If it was not a worldwide flood, then this story just falls apart. Number nine, the cosmology of the Earth after the flood. The cosmology after the flood. That's C-O-S-M-O-L-O. G-Y. Cosmology. As part of this post-flood covenant with Noah, God promised certain changes in the earth. Notice what God said in response to Noah's sacrifice in Genesis 8 and verse 22. Genesis 8 and verse 22. While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease." Now let's unpack these words of God and notice how the earth changed as a consequence of this flood. Verse 22 is the first mention of cold and winter in the Bible. First time those words are used in the Bible. As best we can tell, before this point, the temperatures over the earth would have been more or less uniform and more or less temperate. More or less moderate. And that was all due to what? It was all due to the waters above the firmament. It was due to a water vapor canopy. The greenhouse effect, to use the terminology of modern environmentalists, it was a fact all over the entire earth. And so it may have been a little bit cooler at the poles, but nothing like it is today. The dramatic differences in temperature would not have been a thing. True, cold, wintry conditions did not exist until that water vapor canopy fell as rain during those 40 days at the beginning of the flood. Because of the loss of that protective water canopy over the earth, the overall climate of the earth cooled. Now, if you want to talk about climate change, this was climate change. It'll been climate change in a dramatic fashion. Creation scientists believe that this dramatic climate change resulted in the Ice Age. In the Ice Age, there's evidence of the Ice Age all over the place. It's not something we can deny. But here's the thing, evolutionists have no explanation for the Ice Age. They believe that things have just basically remained the same since the beginning of human history for millions of years. They don't have an explanation for the Ice Age. This account gives us that explanation, a tailor-made explanation. In the second place, these words imply four seasons. Seed time and harvest, cold and heat. Before this point, there may have been some seasonal differences. I think maybe a few drop increase in temperature, but nothing like what we experience now. But the end of that water vapor canopy would have made the seasons much more distinct. As I think about what Earth was like before the flood, I mean, think about it. You could have probably planted and harvested three crops a year. At least two. But after that, the seasons became distinct and they would support no more than one crop a year. Maybe one and a half. Sometimes they get that little winter wheat season in there. We find another change in the cosmology of the earth mentioned in Genesis 9, in the covenant that God made. In verses 12 through 15. In verse 14, he talks about clouds. He talks about the rainbow. He talks about never destroying the earth again by waters that would come in a flood. So you have to read between the lines here a little bit, but there are no rainbows without rain. There are no floods without rain. Before the flood, Genesis chapter 2 and verse 6 tells us that the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land. And a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground. So initially the water cycle was some kind of a heavy mist or a heavy dew each night. I get the idea that it was pretty tropical. But no rain, very little wind. But once that water vapor canopy was broken up, things changed completely. A new water cycle began. The energy of the sun evaporated water from the oceans into the air, winds moved it inland, it condensed in clouds, fell to the ground in rain or snow, and then the runoff formed streams and then rivers and channeled the water back to the oceans and you start all over again. You learned this in physical science in high school, right? This is the cycle that sustains all life on Earth. All living things depend on this water cycle. Water is more precious than gold. We can get along without gold. We can't get along without water. But this water cycle that we're familiar with today would not have been in place before the flood. Now, let's not lose sight of the main point here. These kinds of dramatic changes in the climate of the Earth, in the cosmology of the Earth, could not have been a consequence of a local flood. We have local floods all the time. They don't change the climate. So again, only a worldwide flood caused by the breakup of that water vapor canopy can explain the change in the cosmology of the earth that we read about here. And then finally, turn with me to the New Testament. The Apostle Peter has some interesting words about the Genesis flood. Turn with me to 2 Peter 2, excuse me, 2 Peter 3. Peter teaches us about the parallel to the flood. The parallel to the flood. 2 Peter 3, reading verses 3 through 7. Knowing this first, that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts and saying, where is the promise of His coming, that's Jesus' coming, His second coming. For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they willfully forget, that by the word of God, the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of water and in the water. By which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Now verse 3 says that scoffers will come in the last days. Are we in the last days? How would we know? Well, Peter gives us a test here. Are there scoffers on the scene today? I don't know. What's a scoffer? Well, verse 2 gives us a two-part definition for a scoffer. First, a scoffer casts doubt on the second coming of Jesus Christ. And then second, a scoffer bolsters that doubt that the Lord Jesus is going to return to earth a second time, and judgment will follow that, cast doubt on that by proclaiming that all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. Now, there is a name for that belief. It's a big word, the kind of word that would win a national spelling bee if you could spell it. So don't try to spell it. Uniformitarianism. It's a great word. Say it with me. Uniformitarianism. It's kind of fun to say. Uniformitarianism is the dogma of evolutionary scientists that natural laws and processes have never been interrupted at any time ever. All things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. So uniformitarianism denies that God has ever entered human history, suspended the laws of nature by performing a miracle. Moses did no miracles, Elijah and Elisha did no miracles, Jesus did no miracles, the apostles did no miracles. So we are in the last days, because scoffers abound. Many are to be found as tenured professors in institutions of higher learning. Many are found in high school biology classrooms teaching our children. And as I have indicated, many Christians have attended these schools and these colleges and these universities, and they have swallowed uniformitarianism the dogma of the scoffers. Now in verses 5 and 6, Peter refutes uniformitarianism, refutes these scoffers. He points to two historical events to refute the scoffers. The first event is creation itself, which he describes in verse 5 in a unique way. The earth standing out of water and in the water. He describes that original creation in terms of the waters below the firmament and the waters above the firmament. And he says, God entered history at the very beginning or there would be no universe and there would be no history. But verse 6 is key for our purposes. The second historical event that puts the lie to the scoffers and to uniformitarianism is the Genesis flood. The natural processes of nature were upset at that point. And notice how Peter describes the consequences of the flood. The world that then existed perished being flooded with water. Peter says the entire world perished. Again, you can't get any more universal than that. He doesn't even talk about human beings. He just says, the world perished. It's a universal judgment. And if any doubt remains, Peter returns to his initial point in verse 7. And here's where we see this parallel. He says, the same heaven and earth that were destroyed by floodwaters in the Genesis flood. Those same heaven and earth are now reserved for the final judgment that will take place after Jesus Christ returns. That final judgment is explained in verse 10. Look with me here. 2 Peter 3 and verse 10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heath, both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up." Now some of you remember I preached on this passage about six months ago. I called this the Big Bang. The heavens and the earth will be destroyed in a final conflagration that prepares the way for God to recreate the new heavens and the new earth and the new Jerusalem. But here's Peter's point. There's a parallel between the destruction of the Genesis flood and the final destruction after Christ's return. Both are universal judgments. In both of them, the earth is completely destroyed. That's the point Peter makes. And here's my take on this. I really believe this. If you have no problem believing that God destroyed the entire earth in a flood during the time of Genesis, then you have no problem believing that Jesus Christ is coming again and that there's going to be a final conflagration in which God destroys the current heavens and earth and recreates the new heaven and the newer. And here's the thing, the same evangelicals who don't want to talk about the Genesis flood as if it's literal, they don't really want to talk about the Second Coming. They de-emphasize both of them. You believe one, you believe the other. You reject one, you reject the other. So this morning you have a real clear-cut choice that lies before you. You can believe the scoffers, or you can believe God's Word. Which will it be? It's that simple. Now if you believe God's Word, you better prepare for that second coming. and what takes place after the Lord Jesus returns. At the beginning of the tribulation period Jesus will come and rapture his church and then will be seven years of unparalleled judgment on the earth. We call that the tribulation period. At the end of that seven-year tribulation period Jesus returns and he sets up his kingdom But a thousand years later, there's a final rebellion that Satan leads. And then there's the great white throne judgment. And notice the verse that I read. Is it verse 7? Yeah. It says that they are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and the perdition of ungodly men. What's that talking about? That's talking about the final condemnation of ungodly men in what we call the Lake of Fire. That happens where? It happens at the Great White Throne. And it connects the Great White Throne with this final conflagration. I don't know what kind of a time period is between them, but they're connected scripturally. That is the final judgment. And it's a universal judgment. Are you prepared for that judgment? Noah preached righteousness. He preached for men to prepare for the day that the rain began to fall. And we know that very few people heard him. And the message is no different today. Are you prepared for the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you turned from your sin and put your faith in what Jesus Christ did on the cross for you?