Part 3

But it happened in those days, as it has too frequently happened with the sinful and rebellious ever since, that the people believed not the threatenings denounced against them; whether they doubted the power of God to inflict so extraordinary a punishment; or whether they built their hopes upon the vain expectation of His mercy; or whether the wickedness of their hearts and lives led them entirely to cast off the belief of God and His word, and to plunge unheeding into the gratifications and pollutions of vice; whatever were the operating motive, “they would not turn and seek after God.” Yet these infatuated people were not lost for want of further instruction and admonition. God mercifully thinks of His creatures, though they are forgetful of Him. He had raised unto them preachers of righteousness; and sent His Holy Spirit to work upon their consciences, to convert them from the delusions of evil, to teach them the knowledge of His ways, and persuade them to desist from their work of self-destruction. But there is a day, to nations as well as to individuals, beyond which the goodness and patience of God will no longer forbear: “My spirit,” says He, in the chapter before us, “shall not always strive with man.” It had been working in the human heart, ever since the fall; inspiring His servants to point out the way of salvation; and struggling with the wayward inclinations, the perverse opposition of His creatures; to mortify the power of sin, and lead them to recover the favour and happiness, which their first parents by transgression had lost. But it shall not _always_ strive; and the approaching termination of their trial was thus graciously declared to this “disobedient and gainsaying people.” God spake thus by the mouth of Noah: “The days of man (the time which I will allow, to see if ‘haply he will repent and seek after Me,’) shall be a hundred and twenty years.” {43a} All this period was to elapse between the denunciation of the divine vengeance and its execution; and to this St. Peter alludes, when speaking of “the long-suffering of God, that waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing;” {43b} while Noah himself, the great “preacher of righteousness,” warned all around him of the certainty and the terror of this impending calamity. All entreaties, however, and warnings, and threatenings; all present mercies and past experiences, were vain. They despised the faith and rejected the preaching of the patriarch, and ridiculed his preparation of the ark; but they could not “make the word of God of none effect;” His judgment overtook them in the midst of their rebellious career; the flood came at the appointed time; desolation was spread over the face of the earth; and all its inhabitants, with the exception of one family, were indiscriminately involved in the wide-wasting ruin.

Let us pause for a moment, to apply the consideration of this part of the history to ourselves. To all who are wilfully walking in the ways of sin, the good and gracious God is continually addressing His warning and expostulating voice; by His holy word, abounding with the most awakening admonitions and awful examples; by His appointed ministers, superadding their feeble endeavours to inculcate the doctrines and set forth the terrors of that word “by line upon line and precept upon precept;” by various occurrences in life, by reverses and privations and afflictions and sickness and death; by the strivings of the Holy Spirit, and the alarms of conscience; by flashing at intervals, in vivid colours, the conviction of an hereafter upon the mind and heart; and compelling the sinner to see, whether he will heed it or not, the peril and the dreadfulness of his situation. Of all who hear me there cannot be one, but has experienced, more or less, these manifestations of mercy and of terror: Are there not some by whom they have been disregarded? We have all of us been instructed and reminded and admonished, in a great variety of ways; have we “profited withal?” Have we been awakened from the dreams of sensual pleasures, from the stupor and infatuation of sin? Can we now lift up our hearts in sincerity to God, and thank Him that we have been brought, by this or that warning, into nearer and holier communion with Him; to serve Him in righteousness and truth, and to seek, in right earnest, the salvation of our souls? If it be otherwise with us, if we have neglected the seasons of grace, or if we have returned, after a temporary humiliation and conviction to the vanity of our former habits and pursuits, let us, if we believe the word of God, lay seriously to heart the solemn declarations on this head, with which that word abounds—that there is a limit prescribed even for the divine compassion and forbearance; a period marked out, beyond which God will not manifest His favour, “though it be sought with tears;” beyond which, “His spirit will not strive with man;” and whenever that spirit shall be withdrawn, the conscience will become hardened, the understanding benighted, and the sinner “given over to a reprobate mind.” God allows, indeed He has already allowed, to every one of us, abundant space and opportunity for repentance, as He did of old to the ante-diluvian race; and if we, like them, are negligent of His merciful admonitions, we must expect, like them, to go on from one degree of wickedness to another, till the “measure of our iniquity be filled;” till we are hurried into everlasting perdition.

No doubt, when the threatenings of the Almighty began to be executed; when the mighty waters were descending from above, and rising in billows from the deep below; when these people saw the ark, whose building and preparation they had despised, floating in security upon the surface of the waters, gladly would they have been admitted: no longer did they question the power of God, or the truth of His word; or hold in contempt the preaching of His prophets; earnest then, no doubt, was their supplication for mercy; and they must have wished, in the bitterness of their hearts, that they had listened to the declarations and instructions of that holy minister of God, who was provided with a refuge; who was escaping unhurt amidst the rolling of the waves, which threatened _them_ with immediate and inevitable destruction. But their conviction came too late; the days of reconciliation were ended; the door of the ark was shut; never to be opened again, till the flood had wrought its vengeance, and exterminated the sinners from the earth.

Has not the like, the parallel of this dreadful case, been frequently discovered by ourselves? Have we not seen, or at least heard of persons, who have held out impenitently all their lives long against every means of grace and reclaim, by which they have been visited, and then at last, when suddenly overtaken by a sickness unto death, have distressfully desired that comfort and refuge, which they have never appeared to find? Their attention has been called, their eye directed to the ark of salvation, the gospel of the blessed Jesus; but having taken no interest in it before, having discarded and rejected it, they have seemed to behold it only in dismay and despair. Man, it is true, is not an adequate judge in such a case; he could not possibly decide, whether they were saved or not; but there was fear all around; their friends were denied the consolation of persuading themselves, that the door of mercy was opened; the sinner cried in agony, but there was no visible sign, that the cry was heard; no respite to the afflicted conscience; and no repose upon the countenance, that betokened the blessedness of peace.

Suppose not, that this is a scene pourtrayed for the mere purpose of a momentary excitement or present effect; it is a true description of what has too frequently occurred; and it falls indeed, as every representation must fall, infinitely short of the terrible reality. Readily can we imagine the sufferings and sorrow and distress of the people, who were drowning, with the ark before their eyes; and must we not conclude, that the impenitent sinner under the gospel, when he comes to die, will behold, with even deeper feelings of anguish, the ark of righteousness into which he has never sought to enter; when he finds or fears, that the overflowings of ungodliness are sinking his soul to ruin, can any description exaggerate, can any description equal, the wretchedness of his condition?

The very idea and contemplation of these things may well lead us, with all sincerity and fervour, to implore the grace of God, while it is so freely offered, and to “seek Him while He may be found;” and O that it may lead us gladly and unfeignedly to embrace the covenant of safety, which is graciously propounded to us in the gospel; and to “give all diligence” to fulfil every condition which that covenant contains. We shall not, if we value our eternal welfare, think it sufficient not to “deny the Lord that bought us,” not to despise the means which He has provided for our preservation and deliverance; we shall turn to Him with all our heart, grateful for the means of salvation, and anxious to employ them all. “Lord what wilt Thou have me to do?” {50a} “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth;” {50b} this is the language that befits a sinner, who has no hope but in God’s covenanted mercy.

“Our time is in the Lord’s hands;” we know not, if little or much remain: Arise, defer not a day. His spirit is now striving within us; to purify our affections, to change our corrupt nature, to form the christian principle and temper in our souls; let us then, without doubt or delay, humbly and thankfully concur with His holy operations, and strive with Him, while we may: not lingering and loitering about the ark with thoughtless indifference, as if our minds were not made up, whether it be worth while to enter; but, in the full and perfect and abiding persuasion, that it is the only refuge for man, let us secure, as far as it is possible, our rest and habitation there; and then we need not fear the overwhelming of the waters, come they ever so suddenly or ever so soon; we shall be raised above them all, unhurt and undismayed; we shall ride safely and triumphantly over the foaming billows; and settle at last upon the heavenly Ararat, the “mountain of the Lord of Hosts,” the everlasting abode of tranquillity and bliss.

But of this happy termination we shall have occasion to speak more at large, in another discourse; when we come to treat of the character of Noah, and the circumstances of his wonderful preservation. In the mean time, let us observe, that the deluge is a subject of most awful consideration; not merely in itself, as sweeping away into perdition almost all the human race, and changing the very form and structure of the globe; but also as being a resemblance and emblem of other visitations of an offended and avenging God:—in the first place, of the overthrow of Jerusalem, and the miserable and general destruction of its rebellious people. “As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be;” {53a} so unlooked for, so amazing, so disastrous to His enemies.

This stupendous event may also be regarded as typical of another period, infinitely surpassing all the rest in terror and in awe;—the coming of Christ to judge the world, to execute His final vengeance upon those who would not be reclaimed by His mercy. The face of nature will then be destroyed by another process; by a direful and universal conflagration. “By the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” {53b} “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, (a new state) wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” {54a} All that have ever lived shall be summoned again into existence; the righteous to be separated, and “caught up to meet the Lord in the air,” {54b} and to be conveyed into the regions of eternal blessedness; the wicked, to perish, to die, not a bodily but a spiritual death; to be consigned together to a place of banishment and wretchedness and horror and despair. The miserable unbelievers and the obstinate transgressors, in the days of Noah, shall then return to the earth from which they were swept away; not to enjoy again their revelry and licentiousness; not to be favoured with another day of grace; but to receive, with all their companions in evil, with all that have ever “followed their pernicious ways,” the full and eternal recompence of their deeds. This will indeed be a day of desolation, “of lamentation and mourning and woe,” of “weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth;” of which awful day no words, no example, no past event, nor even imagination itself, can afford an adequate representation.

God Almighty grant, that we may never know its terrors; that we may profit from the warnings and experience, which are mercifully vouchsafed unto us; may embrace, with all our hearts, the covenant of salvation into which we have professedly entered; and, amidst the wreck and ruin of the world, may be delivered with an everlasting deliverance, for the sake, and through the merits, of that omnipotent Saviour, who was with Noah in the ark; who has guarded, and will continue to guard, the ark of His Church in all ages; whose mercy and truth are pledged for the final preservation of His faithful people: God Almighty grant this blessing unto us all, through the aid and operation of that “Holy Spirit, whereby we are sealed unto the day of redemption.” {55}

SERMON IV. THE PRESERVATION FROM THE FLOOD.

GENESIS vi. 8. _Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord_.

IN a former discourse, your attention was called to the execution of divine vengeance upon the sinful race of man, by the tremendous visitation of a universal deluge; I would now direct your contemplation to another point of view; to a fulfilment of the gracious promises of God made to a distinguished believer and a faithful servant; to his preservation from the general ruin; to the covenants of mercy established with him; to the blessings and deliverances thus proclaimed and typified to the Church of God in all ages.

Noah, be it first observed, was possessed of that principle, which is the sure and only foundation of true righteousness; and to which the Almighty has, in every age, manifested His especial favour—the principle of _faith_; of a settled, vital, influential belief in the sovereignty, the providence, and the word of God: he doubted not the truth either of a threatening or a promise, and withheld not the obedience, which his belief implied or required. Of this St. Paul assures us; “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith;” {57} he condemned the world, inasmuch as his example, his preaching, and his deliverance furnished matter of accusation against them; he pointed out and led the way to a place of safety; he escaped destruction, and the rest of the people might have escaped also; and thus he proved, that they justly perished in the unbelief and obstinacy of their hearts. Hence he became the heir of those promises and that happiness, to which the righteous believer, by God’s mercy, is entitled; he was blessed, not merely with that temporal preservation, which the ark afforded him in the flood; but also with that spiritual and heavenly salvation, of which the ark was an emblem and a sign.

And further; Noah is described, in the verse following the text, as “a just man and perfect in his generations.” His faith, as we have already intimated, was not, like that of many professors of religion, a mere outward and formal assent; it resided in his heart, as well as in his understanding; and shewed itself in his disposition, his character, and his life. Believing in the goodness of God, he loved Him; in the power and justice of God, he feared; in the infallible truth and authority of God, he obeyed. With an enlightened reason and conscience, he studied the duty of ordinary life; his duty to God and man; and he performed it faithfully. “He was perfect in his generations;” not that he had attained unto absolute, positive perfection; for that is impossible to any mere man, in his fallen condition; it was only “the man Christ Jesus,” the incarnate God, that was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners;” {59} but Noah, in the midst of a “disobedient and gainsaying people,” was sincere and upright; he lived in no wilful or habitual opposition to his God; he had that degree of perfection, which is the mark and fruit of genuine faith; and shews, that the frail creature is brought into a state of acceptance with his Creator. He engaged heartily in the cause of religion; there was nothing in the world, which he was not ready to renounce for it; there was no ordinance, nor command of God, which it was not his unbending purpose to obey; desirous was he “to serve Him, in holiness and righteousness all the days of his life.” And therefore it is yet further said, that “he walked with God;” {60a} “setting the Lord (as David speaks) always before him;” {60b} living in a perpetual sense of the divine presence; acting as under the continual observation of that Almighty Being, who was acquainted with all his ways; and whose word was “a lamp unto his feet and a light unto his path.” {60c} He walked in communion with God, by his life and conversation, as well as by faith, and meditation, and prayer; and he preached to a “backsliding and stubborn generation,” by his example as well as by his word.

We cannot wonder, that such eminent holiness and obedience, shining forth in the midst of so much profligacy and corruption, were honoured with the signal favour of Almighty God. A righteous character, which is always “of great price in the sight of God,” is peculiarly honourable in an age overspread with impiety and guilt. The man, who stands forth to maintain the cause of God against a universal host of enemies; who is untainted by the moral contagion which is every where diffused around him; who perseveringly opposes the mighty stream of iniquity, which is ready to overwhelm his soul; that man is a spectacle for angels to behold with joy; and one in whom the holy God Himself is well-pleased; he is as “a light shining in a dark place,” made more conspicuous and attractive by the surrounding gloom. Such was Noah; and God distinguished him accordingly by especial tokens of favour and blessing: for He said, “Behold I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.” {62a}

A question has been raised respecting the nature of the covenant here intended; but the words themselves, taken in connexion with the subject, would lead us to conclude, that the covenant to be established, in the first instance, was a covenant of safety in the ark, during the flood; and this sense is abundantly confirmed by the same word being afterwards used in the 9th chapter, when God made His promise to the patriarch, that the world should never again be so destroyed: “Behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you, and with every living creature that is with you—neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.” {62b} Yet, though this was the immediate import of the covenant, it probably had, like the ark itself, a further and a typical signification, which is thus very admirably expressed by one of the best commentators; “I will most certainly make good the promise I have formerly made to thee, of preserving thee and thy family from the said destruction; and further I will make good, in due time, to thee or thy seed after thee, _all_ those covenants or promises, which I have made to mankind from the beginning of the world, and which remain to be made good; especially the grand covenant concerning the promised seed, of Messiah: to which end, I will certainly preserve thee and thy family from the destruction I am now bringing on the rest of mankind.” {63}

The first covenant made by God with Adam, was a covenant of works, of unsinning obedience; this was broken, and thence came death. The second covenant made with Adam, was that of grace and salvation by Jesus Christ, who should “come in the fulness of time;” this latter covenant was confirmed with Noah, the representative of mankind in the new world after the flood; and the covenant, thus renewed with him, was to extend to all his posterity; to generations unborn, to all that would become, as he was, “heirs of the righteousness which is by faith.” Through him, deliverance was preached to the people before the flood; through him, everlasting deliverance from sin and death was promised to believers in every future age. In the covenant, therefore, made with Noah, all mankind have an interest, an especial interest at this day; the promised deliverer, whom Noah represented, is come; we “have seen the salvation of our God;” the gospel of peace is proclaimed; and nothing is wanting but our faithful acceptance of it.