Please take your copy of God's Word and turn with me once again to Genesis chapter 7. In our ongoing exposition of the book of beginnings, Genesis, we have watched the slow downward descent of the human race into sheer debauchery. From Adam's sin in the garden, through Cain's murder of his brother, to the arrogant boasting of Lamech over his murder of a young boy, We've watched in just six chapters, the human race become more and more degenerate. God has sent warnings, preachers of righteousness, godly exemplary men, but to no avail. Now tonight in our text, we will see Jehovah follow through on his threats of judgment. And there is a powerful application that we will state again and again. God keeps his word. Let's seek the Lord's help now. Oh, blessed Holy Spirit, you have given this word for our instruction and by your providential care, you have preserved the word pure and intact for millennia so that not one of your words have fallen to the ground so that we hold in our hands tonight the absolute truth. We ask that you would give us hungry and teachable hearts and minds as we come under your holy truth. Use the preaching of this word to correct us, encourage us, to mold us into the image of Christ, and so that we might be wise and mature and grateful servants of our King. We pray in the name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen. There are days, exact days, that are important to know. Those of you who are husbands, you probably know that there are at least a couple of days you better know. You better know your wife's birthday. And some of you only have to forget that day once and it never happens again. You better know the day of your anniversary. But there are bigger days, days on the world stage that are hard to forget as well. Important days to know. For example, August the 23rd, 1572. On that day was perhaps one of the most pivotal, defining days in the history of Europe, the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in Paris. 12,000 Protestant leaders, the Huguenot leaders, Calvinist reformed men, were murdered by the Roman Catholic Church. This forever changed the landscape of Europe. No less than a historian than Dr. Doug Kelly states, that was the day, August 23rd, 1572, that was the day God wrote Ichabod over the nation of France. And I'm certain he's right. July 4th, 1776. Every school child knows the importance of this date, the day the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain was adopted. Interestingly enough, in the early years of the Republic, when July 4th fell on a Sunday, the Sabbath consensus in our culture was so complete, Independence Day was not celebrated until the next day, July 5th. That's a good lesson for us. That's what a culture that reverences God looks like. Then there's December 7, 1941. There are people in this room who were alive then, that day when our nation was bombed by warplanes. And then almost everyone in the room remembers what they were doing on September 11, 2001, the attack on the United States by Muslim terrorists. Tonight in our text we are given just such a date, a specific exact date, a day that marks the beginning of the great flood and God's judgment on the whole earth. Tonight our text is not a once upon a time story, but an exact historical moment, a calendar day. Look very carefully at verse 11 in our text and notice what we are meant to understand about all the events. And that is, we are to see the historicity of them. This is history that we are dealing with, just as certainly as St. Bartholomew's Day, just as certainly as the 4th of July in 1776, just as certainly as the day that we'll live in infamy, December 7th, 1941. And certainly, just as historical and just as real and true as September 11th, we don't read when we come to verse 11, long ago there was an old man and one day there was a flood. No. What we are given in verse 11 is the exact calendar day. We are told the year, We are told the month and we are told the day that the worldwide flood began. And so the first thing that needs to be locked into your consciousness tonight as we look at Genesis 7 is the historicity of this account. This is a calendar event, not a fable or a legend. But I want you also to notice the final warning that comes place before the flood ensues. You see this in verse 4. In verse 4, the Lord says to Noah, After seven more days, I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made. Obviously, this is the time needed for Noah to load the animals and the other seven people on the ark, a time for final preparation. But what you and I should see when we look at verse 4, once again, as we've seen over and over again, is the richness of God's mercy and long-suffering. The people of Noah's day had already had 120 years' warning. 120 years and it had taken no heed of it. Yet now, one week away, God still lingers in compassion and gives yet another warning. How many times in Scripture does God tell us that this is His nature, to be long-suffering with sinners? Long-suffering is the attribute of God that enables Him to forbear long before judging sin. Think how often we see this attribute held before us. I've shown you several times, but let me just point you again to Genesis 15, a great example of God's long-suffering and forbearance. In Genesis chapter 15, in verse 16, The Lord says to Abraham that he's going to bring, as he's in the midst of cutting a covenant, making a blood covenant with Abraham, and he promises to bless his descendants and to give them the land that they are in. But notice what the Lord says to Abraham. He says in Genesis 15-16, but in the fourth generation, that is from Abraham's day, They shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete." God's longsuffering is on display here in Genesis 15 and 16. He says, Abraham, I'm going to bless your descendants. Be patient and wait, and I'm going to judge the pagan Gentiles who are in this land, but I'm going to give them four more generations. Not four more hours. I'm going to give them four more generations. That's the nature of our God, that He's long-suffering. He forebears long with sinners. We see this again in Exodus chapter 34, when God gives the stones of the Ten Commandments a second time after they've been shattered. In Exodus 34, verse 6, God reveals Himself to Moses and says, Here is who I am, long-suffering. And then again, in Psalm 86, the psalmist just confesses that God's people learned to sing about this attribute. In Psalm 86, verse 15, God's people would sing, You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in mercy and truth. There are some of you here tonight who don't properly appreciate the long-suffering and mercy of God. But Paul tells us in Romans chapter 2, verse 4, you have been a beneficiary of this same long-suffering and forbearance. Paul says in Romans 2 verse 4, do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that it is this goodness of God that leads you to repentance? What we should think every time we read of God's long-suffering, we should say, yes, Lord, that's how you treated me. I know in my case for 20 years, God was longsuffering with my vileness, my wickedness before I ever first called on the name of the Lord. And no doubt in your case, sometimes it was, many times it was longer. And we see here again in verse 4 of our text, the final warning, God shows His longsuffering once again. But we also see the call to safety that's issued, effectual call. Look as our chapter begins at verse 1 where the Lord says to Noah, come into the ark. Now let me address what is stated to be an alleged contradiction in the text. What I want to do tonight is bring some apologetics to bear on our text. Because in several places, this text has been the subject of incredible criticism. By the way, too, it's also been the subject of incredible mockery. For those of you who enjoy the New Yorker cartoons, and I certainly do, The most biblical, the most drawn subject from the scripture in all the New Yorker cartoons is the ark and the flood. It's been made a mockery of by the world. And many times men have stated, wicked men have stated alleged contradictions. Let me clear up some of those. Notice beginning in verse one, the Lord not only affectionately calls Noah and his household into the ark, but then we are told in verses two and three, the command to bring seven or seven, or perhaps from the Hebrew text, seven pairs of clean animals. This is not a contradiction. Look carefully at Genesis 6, just backwards across the page in verse 19 and 20, where Noah is told to bring two of each kind. That should be understood as meaning that at least a pair of every kind of animal is to be brought. Now in chapter 7, God distinguishes between the number of clean and unclean animals to be brought into the ark. Interestingly, Noah is already familiar with the laws regarding clean and unclean that will be stated later in the ceremonial law of Israel. So when it's stated to Moses hundreds of years later, it's no change from this paradigm. Now, so you'll have this firmly set in your mind, what is the difference between a clean and unclean animal under the Old Covenant regulation? Keep one finger here and look at chapter 1 of Leviticus. Turn over several pages in your copy of God's Word to Leviticus 1. In Leviticus 1, verse 10, we are given the start of the listing of what constitutes clean animals for sacrifice. In Leviticus 1, verse 10, we read, if his offering is that of the flocks, of the sheep, or of the goats, As a burnt sacrifice, he shall bring a male without blemish. And then in verse 14, if the burnt sacrifice of his offering to the Lord is of birds, then he shall bring his offering of turtle doves or young pigeons. God is defining there what are clean animals, legitimate, usable animals for sacrifice. Then turn over to Leviticus 11. Now you'll see animals that are clean for eating, for human consumption. Leviticus 11. Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, These are the animals which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. And then you have lengthy delineation made of animals that are clean and legitimate and animals that were illegitimate. And so when we come back to our text in Genesis chapter 7, we see the selection of seven of the clean animals is for several purposes. Be clear with me. Moses or Noah brings onto the ark seven of many clean animals for at least two reasons. First of all, for the purpose of sacrifice. We'll see later in Genesis 8 verse 20 when he comes off the ark, his first act is to build an altar and sacrifice at least one of every kind of clean animal and bird. He couldn't have done this if there'd only been one pair. That's why it's a necessity for him to have seven of the clean animals. But the number of unclean animals is limited to two each for the purpose of reproduction only. But there's a second reason why he takes seven of some animals onto the ark. It's not just for purposes of sacrifice. Clearly, God is planning ahead. When Noah's family leaves the ark a year later, they will encounter a vastly changed world. It'll take time to plant and harvest and raise animals for eating purposes. With two of each animal, it will be necessary to keep them alive until mating and procreation occurs. What will this family of eight eat until such a time as adequate growing and procreating time has passed? The extra animals of the clean variety will be a source of food when the year has ended. Now there's an application for us right here. When we obey God, we can have the confidence that God has planned ahead for us. God planned ahead for Noah and his family, and we see that here. But I want you to think for a moment as you look at verse 1 and the following verses. I want you to think for a moment of the spectacle that occurs in Genesis chapter 7. We are told specifically in verse 9, and you should stare at verse 9 for it's an amazing account. In verse 9, we read these words. Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds and of everything that creeps on the earth, two by two, they went into the ark, two Noah, male and female. This is the world's greatest parade that ever occurred. I'm a parade junkie. Sandy has frozen to death with me before just to indulge my passion for Christmas parades. I love Veterans Day parades and Fourth of July parades. I love bad marching bands and politicians in convertibles and high school floats. But I've seen some astounding parades, but nothing like verse 9. Your breath should be taken away when you look at verse 9. Because no less than 35,000 species come into the ark in that moment. In those seven days, 35,000. James and John and I once watched a Veterans Day parade in Las Vegas that lasted an hour. But I can tell you there are certainly not 35,000 species in that parade. We can't even grasp, we can't wrap our minds around verse 9 what it looked like. And this parade, be clear to see what it did. This parade condemned all those who watched as it passed by. For this parade showed that soulless creatures had more wisdom than image bearers. This parade showed that these beings, dogs, cats, birds, lions, tigers, elephants, had more wisdom than image bearers of God. They condemned all that stood and watched, no doubt mocking as they entered the ark. But I want you also to notice as we see this call in verse 1, this call of come into the ark. I want you to notice the freeness of the call. but also the effectual nature of the call. Who could have come into the ark while the ramp was down and the door was open? Let's be very clear about this. Anyone could have come. Noah had been inviting for 120 years. Anyone could have come. Whosoever will could have walked right into the ark and been saved. But no one did except the eight. So also today, isn't this a glorious picture of the effectual call of the gospel? So also today, anyone can come to Christ. The free offer of the gospel stands. But the only ones who will come are those who are affectionately called and sovereignly drawn, just as they were on that day. As we move on in the text, we come to the sad reality. And the sad reality is this. There is, after 120 years and then seven more days, There is an end to God's long-suffering. Sadly, and we must say it with sadness, we must not be gleeful and rejoice over this. As we read in the text, the day of God's patience comes to an end. Long-suffering is great, but it's not unending. The day of reckoning must come. For one final week, the door stood open. But the week ended, the door closed, and the flood came. For those of you who see this as some sort of ancient relic, that this will never happen again. That the door will never be shut again to sinners. That God's patience with sinners will never run out again. Keep one finger here and look at Matthew 25. For the Lord Jesus tells of a similar day that is coming. In Matthew chapter 25, Jesus tells a parable. And he says this in Matthew 25. then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard, Behold, the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish said to the wise, give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying, no, lest there should not be enough for us and you, but go rather to those who sell and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came. And those who were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut. It's exactly like Genesis 7. Afterwards, the other virgins came also saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you. What's therefore for, you know, neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. Notice the ominous ending of this parable in Matthew 25 verse 10. The door was shut. The door was not open because the opportunity for entering was passed. My friends, I have to say this tonight. Tonight, the day of God's grace has not passed. Tonight, the door to the kingdom of heaven is still open. Tonight, Jesus is still calling, saying, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Isn't this even the final word of the New Testament as the New Testament closes? It still holds out the free offer of the gospel in Revelation 22. As the New Testament closes, we hear those final words again. The Spirit and the bride say, come. Let him who hears say, come. Let him who thirsts, come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. Tonight, the Lord is saying, do you come into the ark who is Christ? but very soon the door will be shut. What we're to see from Genesis 7 as well tonight. For those of you who read this account and somehow are able to read past it and think that all we see here are just sort of impersonal actions and you're used to saying things like, it's raining, the depersonalization of God's sovereign control No one can say as they read of Genesis 7, it reigned, whatever it is. That's not what we're meant to see because look very carefully at what the text tells us explicitly. It tells us this, God is the personal agent of judgment and mercy. God is the personal agent of judgment and mercy. The same personal God in Genesis 7 that destroys sinners is the same God who secures the saints. Just as God was the one who invited Noah and his household in and affectionately called them and drew them, so He was the one who shut out the world. Look at verse 4, what we read. God takes personal responsibility for the judgment. He states, I will cause it to rain. I will destroy. What he destroys is what he has made. Now, my friends, you do God a disservice if you say, it rained on that day. There is no it there. There is no depersonal action. This is a highly personal action. It is God acting in wrath and judgment. It is God sitting on the throne of heaven and exercising his kingly wrath against wicked subjects. But notice as well, we see in verse 16, God personally taking responsibility for mercy. He personally shuts the door behind Noah's family. And this is the sovereign Lord who we are later told in Revelation 3, who can shut and no man can open. There will be no last minute entrance into the ark by force, for He is the one who shuts and no man can open. When we come to verse 17 and following, What you need to see is the author is almost beside himself at the massive and cataclysmic nature of the flood. I want you to see how the language escalates from verse 17 on. Listen to the torrent of terms that pour out of the author of Genesis pen to try to describe what happened. In verse 17 he says this, the waters increased and rose high. In verse 18, he ratchets up and says, the waters prevailed and greatly increased. In verse 19, he says, the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. And then in verse 20, he starts to top out. He says, the waters prevailed and the mountains were covered. The specific designation in verse 20 of 15 cubits speaks of water that is somewhere between 20 and 25 feet above the tops of Everest and Kilimanjaro. When the Ark finally, by the way, comes to rest in the mountain range of Ararat, it comes to rest among peaks that are 17,000 feet high. That's how high the water is. It's above those peaks. Now where did all this water come from? The water arrives from two places, we are told in the text. First, in verse 11, We read that the springs of the great deep are let loose on the land. This appears to be the same waters below that are spoken of in Genesis 1-7. And what you're to see in the flood account, don't just think that you have some gentle raindrops that come down. What you have is water coming from below and water coming from above. The event that's described in verse 11 is a catastrophic, breaking open or bursting forth of underground reservoirs of water that are hurled up. Rivers, oceans, streams come pouring onto the land from below. Subterranean sources are shooting up fountains like a geyser. The water is flooding up from below. And then second, according to verse 11, We also have the windows of heaven opening and these seem to be the waters above of Genesis 1-7. And so the earth is being pounded by water from below and water from above at a torrential rate for six weeks straight. Let me again engage in some apologetics. We should answer the question, was the flood worldwide? Because there are those, and this is sort of mind-boggling and breathtaking at the same time to me, that there are people today who are claiming that Noah's flood did not cover the entire earth, nor all the mountains of the day. Further, they will claim that Noah and the animals floated on a shallow, temporary inland sea caused by the flood, somehow covering only the Mesopotamian region. Thus they must claim that the earth's entire human population was limited to this area or that not all humans were killed in the flood. Now let me give you some lines of evidence that point to the fact that the flood was worldwide. Look at the text with me and notice some of the hints that point us in that direction. First of all, all, according to Genesis 7 verse 19 and 20, all the mountains were covered. The tops of all the high mountains under the entire heavens were at least 20 feet beneath the waters, according to Genesis 7, 19 and 20. It would be absurd to think that a flood covering the highest mountains of the Middle East would not affect the rest of the world. In addition, the waters remained at this awesome mountain covering height for five months, according to Genesis 7 and Genesis 8. The second reason why we are to think that the flood was worldwide is that all the humans were killed. The Bible clearly teaches that all flesh died. Every man, according to Genesis 7.21. Genesis 9.1 confirms that only Noah's family was saved and every living person today is descended from that family. And then we're also told that every breathing land animal was killed, according to Genesis 7.21. The world's entire population of air-breathing land animals died, except those taken into the ark. And we're told that in Genesis 6.17 and Genesis 9.16. If only those animals in a specific geographic location died, it would seem unnecessary for God to protect pairs in the ark for the express purpose of preventing their extinction. Surely there would be representative of their kinds in other areas. If, on the other hand, there were some unique kinds of animals in the local flood's path, then it would seem more logical for God to send representative pairs out of the area rather than to the ark as He did. But the Bible is clear that all the air-breathing land animals perished during the flood except those preserved with Noah, from which all modern animals are descended. There's another line of evidence that points to this being a worldwide flood, and that is God's rainbow promise. You see it in Genesis 8, 21. You see it again in Genesis 9. This promise is demonstrated by the symbol of the rainbow, a sign of God's promise to all the earth. The rainbow is a sign to every living creature, mankind and animals, If this promise was not made to all creatures on earth, then God has broken His promise. For there have been local floods that repeatedly killed hundreds and even thousands of humans and animals since Noah's time. Why stay in the ark for a year, by the way, if this is not a worldwide flood? No, stay in the ark for more than a year, not just 40 days. We'll see that in Genesis 8 next week. 53 weeks is an absurdly long time to stay in the ark for a local flood, since dry land would have been just over the horizon. After the floodwaters had been going down, though, we read for four months, the dove could still not find suitable ground, we'll read in Genesis 8 and 9. This doesn't fit the circumstances for a local flood in which the dove could fly to dry land. And then we read just a clear statement. that the whole earth was devastated. In Genesis 6, 13, God says, I'm surely going to destroy both them, the people, and the earth. The global extent of the flood, by the way, is referred to more than 30 times in Genesis 6, 7, 8, and 9 alone. And then in the rest of the scriptures, in Isaiah 54 and 2 Peter 3, we are told explicitly that the flood was worldwide. The Bible specifically teaches that the tumult, the catastrophe, the flood was global in extent, and all air-breathing land animals and humans were killed except those saved in the ark. How could the Bible be any more clear about the global nature of the flood, or if this was actually a local flood, how could the Bible be any more misleading about its extent? There's a global flood. When we read the text, we also see God's redemptive plan seemingly hanging by a thread as the waters begin to explode upward and the waters pour down. And it seems that the entire plan of redemption hinges upon the safety of this boat, this man-made boat. the fulfillment of the promise of Genesis 3.15, that the seed of the woman would destroy the serpent, depends on this gopher wood boat surviving this perfect storm. God's plan and promise of redemption seems to hang by the slenderest thread, that these people must survive if His promise is to come to pass. Yet, God's plan of redemption has always been infallibly certain of perfect success. God's decrees are sovereign. They cannot fail. In outward appearance, there was only a wooden boat between these eight and the turbulent floodwaters. But in reality, there was the protection of a sovereign, omnipotent God. And when the triune God is between His people in danger, they are perfectly safe. Notice how the chapter begins to come to a close in verses 21 and following. And what we are to see is the reign of death. In verses 21 and 22 and 23, listen to this obituary. All flesh died that moved on the earth, birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth and every man, 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, and it goes on and on. As we read these three verses, 21 and 22 and 23, we are meant to be silenced and solemnized by the universality of death. Other than Noah and his family, there were no survivors. Look across the page now at Genesis 6-7. God had stated, I will destroy man from whom I have created from the face of the earth both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air. My friend, the reason why you had Genesis 7, 21 and 23 is to show that God keeps his word, that he fulfills his promise. Let me make several applications to us from this text. One that is so explicit. It almost can remain unstated, but it must be voiced. Do you not see now from Genesis 7 God's hatred of sin? Do you not see now how despicable and how hateful rebellion against his laws and his person sin is to God? That he will destroy everything he has made. My friend, you who think lightly of sin, who you have that hidden sin and you think it's no troubling, it's not troubling to God and it shouldn't be bothersome to others. My friend, God destroyed everything that moved and breathed because of sin. The second thing we should see from this text is God's raw power. This is not a pocket-sized deity in Genesis 7. This is not a tame God. This is the God of might. This is the God of the storm. This is the God who can cover the tops of Everest with water. This is the God before whom we must bow. My friend, put away any thought of irreverence. Put away any flippancy when dealing with this God. I said it last Sunday night. I am so delighted that between, at the women's retreat, Mrs. Curdo teaching on the fear of God, that our brother Jim Hustetler will be teaching on the fear of the Lord in Sunday school. Perhaps the Lord is going to teach us. Perhaps he's going to press home to our consciousness that we must reverence such a mighty God. That all foolishness must be seen as out of place in the presence of the God of the storm and of the floods. But there are other applications. I say this reverently. We should see that Noah was a failure as an evangelist. I'm quite sure, based on his inclusion in the Hall of Faith from Hebrews 11, 7 and what we are told of him in 2 Peter 3, that he was a preacher of righteousness, that Noah was an amazing pulpiteer. You would want to call him as your pastor. But here's his church growth record. 120 years preaching, zero members added. Zero converts. But the New Testament clearly labels him as a preacher of righteousness who warned. And so we must be told this again and again. Duties are ours, results are God's. Duties are ours, results are God. Noah preached faithfully. Don't think that he was a slacker. Noah preached the truth and he preached it powerfully. He called men to repentance and faith, yet had zero converts. My friend, when will we stop measuring ministries by numbers. Noah was a colossal failure in the eyes of the church growth movement. Zero converts in a hundred and twenty years. But he was faithful. We must learn from this text that Noah was faithful to proclaim the whole counsel of God to his generation. There's another application that has to be stated. Wicked men cannot escape the wrath of God. Sinners no doubt tried to escape the judgment of the rising floodwaters in those 40 days. Perhaps the more agile of them climbed tall trees or others ran up to hilltops and survived a few hours or maybe even a day longer than the others. But the roaring waters eventually reached them. My friends, the same will be even more true at the last judgment. You know what the problem was of all those who perished in the first great judgment? They had not made provision for safety. Oh, they'd heard about a refuge. Perhaps they'd even seen the refuge. Perhaps they'd walked by and seen the ark. And perhaps they'd even indulged their curiosity and heard Noah as he sawed and hammered with his sons. And they'd heard his warning of the judgment to come. But they mocked the idea and dismissed it. And then when judgment came, it was too late. My friend, it will be more serious in the final judgment for you. For you've been told of the one ark of refuge from the wrath of Almighty God, and that is to be found in Christ. And the writer of Hebrews says this plainly to you. How will you escape if you neglect so great a salvation? How will you escape if you neglect so great a salvation? Tonight, my friend, if you're still saying, I'll find a way to escape the wrath of God. Wicked men cannot escape the wrath of God. He's omnipotent. He seeks out sinners with vengeance. Your only hope is to run into the ark who is Christ. Another application we should see tonight. If you're going to do what God commands in 1 Peter 3.15 and be able to have a defense for everyone who questions the faith, you must be intimately acquainted with the details of the flood account. Wicked men, mockers and scoffers and cynics have aimed their arrows at the bull's eye of Genesis 7 and have been doing so for the last 200 years. If you're going to deflect and have an answer for the scoffer, you must know this account. Certainly, we must be familiarized with all the Word of God, but my friend, you must know Genesis 7 and 8. It is this section of the Bible that is one that is under the most massive attack. At the famous Scopes Monkey trial of 1926 in Dayton, Tennessee, the unbelieving attorney Clarence Darrow cynically confused William Jennings Bryan by asking him if he believed every word in the Bible. Bryan replied that he did. Clarence Darrow asked somewhat contemptuously if he believed that fish drowned in the flood Brian didn't know how to answer. He made some sort of speech and he died the next week. If he had simply stated what is in the Bible, he could have refuted the skeptic. Because what we see in verses 15 and verse 21 and 22 and 23, only the animals that had the breath of life, it's a basic Hebrew construction, meaning those which were on dry land, died. Obviously the fish didn't die. They swam in the water. And so we need to be acquainted, well acquainted, and know those sections of Scripture. There are others. The first two chapters of Genesis is another. We must be well acquainted. The resurrection of Christ is another. We must be well acquainted with those sections of the Bible that are under attack. And we are commanded to be able to give a defense for everyone who questions the faith. But finally, we come back to our original application. God keeps His word. Look at Genesis 6 verse 7. The Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air. God is a faithful God. Not one of his words will drop to the ground unfulfilled. When he says, the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out, he will keep his word. When he says he is coming in judgment at the end of the age to judge everyone who doesn't bow the knee to Christ, he will keep his word. God is true, even though every man is a liar. May he be exalted as the mighty God in our midst. Let's pray together. Our Father, we see your might in the storm and in the flood. And Lord, we pray your might, your wrath in judgment. will cause us to tremble in reverential fear. We will put away all silliness and flippancy and irreverent when we consider you and your word. We will understand that you're a sovereign and a mighty and omnipotent and omnipresent God who deals in wrath and vengeance against all who don't flee into the ark who is Christ. But oh, Lord, at the same time, we take great hope tonight because of the mercy. We see your long suffering and mercy, how you waited 120 years to judge and then seven more days, how you spared other sinners, Noah and his family. And so, Lord, we take great hope and confidence that we, having run into the ark as Christ, will be spared your wrath. Lord, we pray that we would cling to this truth, that we would love your word, that we would believe unswervingly every jot every tittle, knowing that in Your Word is life, and they are alone. We pray this with faith and thanksgiving in Jesus' name. Amen.