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In this message we continue our study of the third fall of man. Although no one likes to hear the word "fall," we need to realize that the falls portrayed in the book of Genesis are the background of a very positive picture which shows what God has done with the fallen human race. The main purpose of the record of Genesis is not to show the fall, but to show how much God's grace can do for fallen people. The fall is a black background which helps us see a white picture. Without the black background, the white picture would not be so impressive. In Genesis 3 we saw man's first fall and what God did for fallen mankind. In Genesis 4 we saw man's second fall and something further which God did for the fallen people. In this message we shall see what God did as a result of man's third fall.
As we consider the third fall of man, we shall see more of what God has done for fallen people. After the first fall, Adam and Eve were saved. It is not a small thing to be saved. Although Adam and Eve were fallen, they nevertheless were saved. Adam said, "Living," and Eve said, "I have acquired." Adam and Eve were not saved by themselves, but by Christ who is the Lamb of God and the seed of woman. After seeing how God dealt with Adam and Eve, we saw that Abel offered sacrifice and gifts to God (Heb. 11:4). Sacrifice was offered for his sins, and gifts were presented for God's pleasure. Can a fallen man please God? Abel was a fallen man, but he pleased God. He was not only saved, he also satisfied God. Abel did not please God by and with himself; he pleased God by and with Christ. We go from Adam to Abel and from Abel to Enosh. Enosh initiated the matter of calling on the name of the Lord to enjoy all His riches. With the case of Enosh, it was not just a matter of salvation or of pleasing God, but of calling on the Lord that man might enjoy all that He is. As we proceed from Genesis 4 to Genesis 5, we find even more riches. In chapter five we learn that the saved ones lived, begat, and walked with God. After all of this, there is still more in chapter six. In Genesis 6 we see that Noah certainly was saved, pleased God, called on the name of the Lord, and enjoyed all that He is. Noah also lived and begat, for he begat three sons. In addition to all of these positive aspects of the life of the saved ones, Genesis 6 shows us even more items.
Gen. 6:9 tells us that Noah walked with God. Undoubtedly, Noah inherited all the spiritual blessings from his forefathers, such as Adam, Abel, Enosh, Enoch, etc. and he followed his great grandfather, Enoch, to walk with God in a crooked, perverse, and adulterous generation. I do believe that he was much influenced by hearing of his great grandfather Enoch's godly walk. Noah stood for a strong continuation of the line of life and, with much development, he carried it on further.
Genesis 6:8 says, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." Finding grace in the eyes of the Lord is not a small thing. What does "finding grace" mean? Notice that this verse does not say that God was gracious to Noah, or that the Lord granted grace to Noah. No, it says that Noah found grace. Remember that Genesis is a book filled with spiritual seeds. Here, in 6:8, we have the first mention of grace in the Bible. Noah was able to be what he was because he found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Heb. 4:16 tells us to come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace in time of need. When I was young, nearly every day in my prayers I would say, "Lord, I am coming to the throne of grace. At Your throne of grace I find grace for my timely need. Lord, I need Your grace every minute. I not only need Your grace every year, every week, every day, and every hour, but every minute. Without Your grace, I simply cannot bear anything." Today I still need the Lord's grace every minute. Perhaps in a few minutes my folks will give me a difficult time, or else one of the brothers will come to bother me. Perhaps I will receive a phone call from a sister. So, I keep on telling the Lord, "Lord, I need Your grace every minute. I know that You are gracious and that You have grace ready for me. Lord, since grace needs my cooperation, I kneel before the throne of grace to find grace to meet my need." Many times we simply cannot stand our situation and we cannot face what is happening to us. However, there is a place called the throne of grace. Come boldly to the throne of grace that you may find mercy and grace for your time of need.
Do you believe that, by himself, Noah was able to find grace in the eyes of the Lord? I do not believe that he did this by himself. The flood came 1,656 years after Adam was made. Adam lived for nine hundred thirty years. This leaves seven hundred twenty-six years from the year Adam died to the year the deluge came. When Adam was six hundred twenty-two years of age, Enoch was born and he lived as a contemporary of Adam for three hundred and eight years. After Adam died, Enoch still lived another fifty-seven years before he was taken by God. Sixty-nine years later Noah was born. So, Noah was born only one hundred twenty-six years after Adam's death. When Enoch was sixty-five, he begat Methuselah and then lived for another three hundred years before he was taken away. Methuselah lived for nine hundred sixty-nine years, dying in Noah's six hundredth year, the year the deluge came. Undoubtedly, Enoch learned the things of God from his forefathers, perhaps even learning directly from Adam. The fact that Enoch named his son "Methuselah," which means "when he is dead, it shall be sent," proves that he taught his son concerning God. Methuselah must have taught his son, Lamech, and Lamech his son, Noah. Noah came from a godly family and learned from his forefathers all the godly things. Thus, he came to realize his need for grace. His generation was corrupt and filled with violence. The human race had become flesh. Noah lived in a crooked, perverse, and evil generation. Nevertheless, his parents and grandparents taught him the things of God, and he realized that he needed God's grace.
Now we can see why Noah found grace. Verse 3 of the same chapter indicates that God was prepared to give grace to fallen man, because His Spirit was striving with man, ready to give grace to the needy ones. However, this grace needed human cooperation. Noah gave the necessary cooperation and he found grace.
What is grace? Most Christians think that grace is merely something given by God. If I give you a Bible as a present, that is grace. Although this understanding is correct, in the Bible grace means much more than that. Grace is not only something given by God, but it is God Himself doing things for us. Grace is not merely something objective that is given to us by God. Grace is God Himself coming to us and doing things for us. Are you weak? God will come to be your strength, and that coming of God is grace. Are you unable to face your situation? That need not be a problem, because God will come to stand with you and face that situation for and in you. This is grace. If you read Genesis 6 carefully, you will see that grace here does not mean that God gave Noah many things. It means that God came to Noah and was with Noah. God's presence was Noah's strength and power. Noah not only enjoyed something given to him by God objectively, but he enjoyed God Himself. In the midst of a crooked, perverse, and adulterous generation, a generation whose temptations no one could withstand, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God came to strengthen Noah that He might stand with him and uphold him. That was the grace that Noah found, and that is the grace that we need today.
Consider the situation in modern society. I do not even dare to look at a newspaper. It contains too many temptations. While I am walking along the street, I do not dare to look into the show windows. This is the reason that I do not like to go into the department store. Department stores are more than devilish, and all the exhibitions and displays in them come from hell. The talk you hear on the radio, at work, and at school is evil, corrupt, and devilish. It is hard for anyone as a fallen person to stand in such a situation. This age is truly crooked, perverse, and adulterous; it is full of fornication and immorality. People talk about immorality without one bit of shame. Who can stand in such a generation? Not one of us is able to stand. We all have a fallen nature within us, the same evil nature that all men have. We need grace. We must come to the throne of grace boldly and say, "Lord, I am here. I need Your grace. I am not coming to ask You to give me good things. I am coming to find grace to meet my need. Lord, I cannot go to work or to school without Your presence. Lord, I cannot go to a department store without Your presence. Lord, I need You to stand with me. Come to be my strength. Lord, uphold me and sustain me."
The matter of divorce is a great temptation to the young people today. The temptations are without and the lusts are within. Who can stand in such an age? There is such great temptation! Because none of us is able to stand, we need the grace to be today's Noah. Only grace can enable you to be one with your wife or husband. Only grace can help us to love our husbands or wives without change. None of us can do it without grace, for there is too much temptation. The tide, current, and trend of the age are too strong. People seem to think that if you are not divorced, you are not modern. They say that in order to be up-to-date you must be divorced. How we need grace! We need God to come to us to be our strength and everything we need. This is grace. This is what Noah needed and what we also need today. Noah found it, and we also must find it. Because Noah found grace, it was easy for him to walk with God.
Parents are concerned about their children in school. The biggest temptation that the children face in the schools today is the matter of drugs. Even in the elementary schools there are heroin addicts. This is pitiful! The young children cannot stand against this kind of temptation. They need grace. There is no addiction that you can overcome by yourself. You need to come to the throne of grace and find grace. Noah found grace and he walked with God. Grace helped him to walk with God.
Noah walked with God by faith (Heb. 11:7). As we pointed out in the Life-Study messages on Romans, faith is not something produced out from ourselves. Faith is something of God that is transfused into our being. The more we touch the throne of God and the more we look to the Lord, the more we are transfused and infused with all that He is. When He is transfused and infused into our being, His very divine element infused within us becomes our faith. When you touch the throne of grace and are transfused with God, you will believe in God spontaneously. There is no need for you to strive to believe in Him. Once God's element has been infused into you, something within you springs up to believe in Him. That is God Himself who has been transfused into you believing for you. We do not know how to believe and we cannot believe. However, if you simply come to the throne of grace, looking unto Him, touching Him, and finding grace, you will be infused with the believing God. He will believe in and for you. He will be your faith. Faith comes from this source.
Noah believed in God and, as a result, became a righteous person. He was right with God, with others, and with himself. None of the worldly people are right with God, with others, or with themselves. However, Noah was a righteous man (Ezek. 14:14), and Hebrews 11:7 says that he "became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith."
Firstly, Noah found grace. Secondly, because God had been transfused into him, he believed in God. Because God's believing element was transfused into him, Noah had the believing faculty. He believed in God, and immediately his believing was reckoned unto him by God as righteousness as God did with Abraham (Rom. 4:3, 9). Moreover, because he found grace in the eyes of the Lord, this grace strengthened him and helped him to live a righteous life. In his daily walk, righteousness was lived out of him. This kind of righteousness was not merely objective, but also subjective. Firstly, he received objective righteousness; eventually, he lived out subjective righteousness. Thus, in the eyes of God, Noah inherited righteousness.
In the sixth chapter of Genesis, we see three important seeds: flesh, grace, and righteousness. This matter of the flesh is fully developed in the New Testament, particularly in the Epistles, and especially in Romans 7 and 8. Since we have covered this in the Life-study of Romans, we need not to repeat it now.
Do you realize that God's grace came because of the flesh? "The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us..full of grace.." (John 1:14). In a good sense, where there is flesh, there is grace. What is flesh? The flesh is Satan's masterpiece. Do you know where Satan is today? He is in our flesh. The flesh is the meeting hall of Satan, sin, and death. These three great enemies continually meet together in the hall of our flesh, and their meeting is never dismissed. I cannot tell you how many thousands of years this meeting has been going on. The flesh is such an ugly thing.
What then is grace? Grace is God Himself enjoyed by us and helping us to face the situation of the flesh. In a sense, if there were no flesh, grace would not be so much needed. If it were not for the flesh, probably God would not have to give us so much grace. We have seen that, according to Hebrews 4:16, we may find grace to meet our timely need. What element causes us to need grace? It is mainly the flesh. I sympathize with the young people, for I was once a young man myself. As I passed through all the human experiences, I came to realize how much we are in the flesh. Although I do not like to be in the flesh, the flesh is here. Once I got mad at the Lord and said to Him, "Lord, why don't You take away my flesh?" Eventually He showed me that, in a sense, I needed the flesh, for the flesh is the very factor that compels me to come to the throne of grace. I cannot do anything with this flesh. All I can do is go to the throne of grace. Although there is nothing that we can do, yet there is somewhere that we can go — the throne of grace.
If you read the New Testament carefully, you will see that where the flesh is, there also is grace. This is especially true in the book of Galatians. Galatians 5:4 says that if we attempt to be justified by the law, we are fallen from grace. We are in the flesh. Galatians deals with this matter of the flesh, and it also speaks much about the matter of grace. Do not say that you do not have the flesh. You have a great deal of flesh. Even as you read this message, you have the flesh to contend with. What shall we do? Let us come to the throne of grace for the sake of dealing with the flesh. Because the flesh is here with us, we need grace.
The flesh is the very presence of the Devil, and grace is the very presence of God. In order for us to face the presence of Satan, we need the presence of God. Where is Satan? Do not think that Satan is far away from you. He is within you. Every minute, even while you are praying, Satan is in your flesh. A good number of times my prayers have been frustrated by the flesh. Even in the holiest time, the time of prayer, the flesh is a frustration. This frustration of the flesh forces us to come to the throne of grace. Although the flesh is the presence of Satan, over and against it we have grace, which is the presence of God. How strong are you? Are you strong enough to overcome Satan? Do you think that you can deal with him? Forget such thoughts. Satan is much greater than we are. Although Satan is greater than we are, God is greater than Satan. God is the greatest. Since Satan is here with us, we need God to be present. We have to say, "Lord, You know Your enemy is right here. You have to come and stand with me against him." When God comes to us and stands with us, that is grace.
God is sovereign and wise. He knows that if He were to take away the flesh, probably very few of us would be desperate to seek His grace. In His sovereignty and wisdom, He leaves the flesh here, knowing that, in a sense, it is useful to us. Day and night the flesh helps us turn to the throne of grace. When we are matured, that is, when we are raptured, we will be able to turn to the flesh and say, "Little flesh, your time is over. You may leave now." Before the maturity of life, in a sense we need the flesh, not to damage us, but to force us to come to the throne of grace.
Where the flesh is, there is grace, and where grace is, there is the issue of grace — righteousness. Romans 5:17 puts grace and righteousness together. This verse says that "those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ." Righteousness always accompanies grace. There is not one husband who can be right with his wife without grace, and there is not one wife who can be right with her husband without grace. There is only one kind of wife or husband who is right — the wife or husband who finds grace. Once we have found grace, grace will make us right with our husband or wife. Consider the case of a particular husband who for years has been told by others that he should treat his wife better than he does. Nevertheless, he is not convinced. One night he finds grace, and grace issues in righteousness. Immediately he changes his attitude.
It is by the power of grace, the strength of grace, and the life of grace that we can be right with God, with one another, and even with ourselves. Grace produces righteousness. Righteousness is the highest product of grace. Therefore, Romans 5:21 says that "grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life." Thus, righteousness and grace always go together. Where the flesh is, there is grace, and where grace is, righteousness is produced.
We who have found grace are righteous. We are more righteous than others because of grace. We are not righteous because of ourselves, but because of grace. It is even possible to boast that the church members are more righteous than other people. They are righteous because they have found grace. Righteousness not only became a boast to Noah; it was also a boast to God. God was able to boast to His enemy. God could boast of Noah's righteousness to that crooked and perverse generation. Noah's righteousness strengthened God's standing to execute His judgment upon that ungodly generation.
Since Noah had found grace, walked with God by faith, and inherited righteousness, God was very happy with him. God was continually smiling at Noah. Whenever Noah was with God, God was smiling at him. How about you? Is God smiling at you? Is He happy with you? If He is, you should be able to say, "Amen," secretly to God. Because God was happy with Noah, He opened Himself to him. So, Noah was not only one who walked with God, but also the one who built the ark. The ark was for salvation. At that time, the ark of salvation was built up by Noah. Abel offered gifts to God, Enosh called on the name of the Lord, Enoch walked with God but Noah, in addition to doing all of these things did something more — he built the ark.
Firstly, Noah built the ark by receiving the revelation (6:14-16). While Noah was walking with God and God was happy with him, God opened His heart to Noah and revealed His secrets to him. None of the other people knew the real situation. The worldly people of the time were befuddled, blinded, covered, veiled, and "doped." They did not know where they were or what was coming. They were blinded and drugged by their lusts. Look at the situation today. It is exactly the same. People are lovers of money, lovers of self, and lovers of pleasure, just as the people described by Paul in 2 Timothy 3:1-3. Although the worldly people love money, pleasure, and themselves, they are not lovers of God. They have all been "doped" by their lusts, their pleasures, their riches, and other worldly things. They do not know where they are, where they are going, or what will happen to them. It was exactly the same in the ancient days. But Noah was with God. He saw the true situation because God revealed all His secrets to him. God told Noah that the earth was filled with violence, that the end of all flesh was come and that He would destroy them with the earth (6:13). Moreover, God told Noah what to do: to build an ark. Noah built the ark according to God's revelation.
In a sense, we also are under the same kind of revelation. Do you not know the real situation today? Do you not know what is coming and where you are going? I can boast to you that I know all these things. I know where I am. I know the situation of the world. I know what will come. I know where I will go, and I know where the church will be. We are not the people that are veiled and blinded by modern pleasures. The worldly people are covered with layer upon layer of veils. They go to the movies, to the night clubs, to the dance halls, to all kinds of amusements, pleasures, and sports. They only know those things. But all of those things are "dope." The worldly people have been "doped" and blinded. Are you that kind of person? Praise the Lord that we have been unveiled. We know where we are, we know the world situation, and we know what will come. We know what the Lord will do with this ungodly generation, and we know where we shall be. We are clear about all these things. We are building the ark, not only for our own salvation, but also for the salvation of others. Brothers and sisters, what are we doing here? We are building the ark of salvation for the accomplishment of God's purpose. Even as we meet together, we are building. We are not only offering a gift to God, not only calling on the name of the Lord to enjoy all His riches, not only living, begetting, and walking with God, but also finding grace, receiving the revelation, and building the ark. Praise the Lord that we are building.
After Noah received the revelation, he immediately believed in the Word of God (Heb. 11:7). According to the Bible, to believe always means to believe through the Word. In Romans 10:14 Paul asked, "And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?" Without the preaching of the Word, it is difficult for people to believe. Believing comes about by listening to the Word. Thus Romans 10:17 says, "So faith comes out of hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." Undoubtedly, Noah heard the Word of God and believed in the Word that he heard. Do not say that you have no faith. Do not say that you cannot believe. As far as we are concerned, we do not have the faith, but faith is God Himself believing in us. We need to come to Him and have Him infused into our being. We need to be infused with what God is. God is believing. God is our faith. When you come to Him, are infused with Him, and listen to His Word, spontaneously the very God who has been infused into you will believe in and for you. This is what it means to believe in His Word.
Noah preached what he believed in and practiced. He was a preacher of righteousness (2 Pet. 2:5). Why did Noah preach righteousness? Because nothing was righteous in his generation. The earth was filled with violence, and that violence included robbery, murder, fornication, and lawlessness. Noah preached righteousness, telling the people to get right with God, with others, and with themselves or else God's righteous judgment would come upon them. Noah preached this kind of righteousness probably over a period of one hundred twenty years (6:3). Perhaps the people accused him of being a mental case, saying to him, "Noah, what are you talking about? What do you mean that a flood is going to come? Look at the sky. It is the same as usual." I believe that Noah suffered a great deal of mockery during that one hundred twenty years.
While Noah was preaching righteousness, he was building and preparing the ark (1 Pet. 3:20). Perhaps the people said to him, "Noah, are you building a house for your grandson? You're crazy to think that a flood will come. Why are you building such an ark — three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, thirty cubits high, with three stories, a side door, and one skylight opened towards the heavens? This is ridiculous!" If you had been Noah, would you have built such an ark? Perhaps even your dear wife would oppose you. It might not have been easy for Noah during those years.
After Noah had prepared the ark, one day, perhaps while the sky was still clear, God told Noah to enter the ark and to bring with him his wife, his sons, and his daughters-in-law (7:13-16). Noah's wife, children, and daughters-in-law were all so submissive. They entered into the ark with all the living creatures. If I had been Noah's wife, I probably would have hesitated. But they all entered in.
After Noah entered into the ark, God shut him in (Gen. 7:16). His entering into the ark was a type of our entering into Christ. Although we are free to enter in, once we are in, we have no way to get out. Once you believe in the Lord Jesus, you can never get out of Him. It is up to you to come in, but it is not up to you to go out. I can strongly testify that during the past fifty years I have tried several times to get out of Christ. I tried, but I discovered that I had been locked in. Once you get into Christ, you are locked in Him.
When Noah, his family, and the living creatures entered into the ark, people probably said, "Look at those crazy persons. What are they doing? They don't care for their homes or for anything. They have forsaken everything just to go into the ark." The Lord Jesus has said that in the day of the Son of man it will be the same as it was in the days of Noah (Matt. 24:37-39). People will eat, drink, marry, and give in marriage. Suddenly He will come, just as the flood came in Noah's time. When the flood came, Noah and his family were in the ark, protected, preserved, and saved.
We all must be today's Noah. Let us follow Noah's steps to find grace, walk with God by faith, receive the revelation, believe in God's Word, testify to people what we believe in, work on what we believe in, and step into what we believe in. Finally, God will lock us in the ark, and we shall be preserved and saved.
