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We have just finished a series called ‘The Missional Church’. It's a 4 parter, in January. Today, we return to our series, expository series, through the Bible and indeed through the book of Genesis. So if you have your Bibles, you can turn to that, but because it's such a long chapter that we've read, I will not reread those verses for you.

But I'll show you a picture, I like to ask you if you know this man. His name is Tiger Woods. What a name, right! I mean, how many of you will call your son, Tiger. But anyway, he's called, Tiger Woods. Probably very well known, He's one of the greatest golfers ever, won many championships, rich man.

But something tragic happened about 10 years ago, when he was caught to be in an adulterous relationship. He was unfaithful to his wife. He was at the top of the world. I mean, he had everything, money, success. And this is what he said, "I knew my actions were wrong, but I convinced myself that normal rules did not apply. I thought I could get away with everything I wanted to."

"I thought I could get away with everything I wanted to". This phrase, "I thought I could get away with it", that is why I think Tiger Woods must have thought - "It is quite okay to have a fling here or there. No one's going to find out! And even if I'm find out, I can handle it. I can get away with it or maybe I will not be punished for it."

Now, you'll be familiar with Tiger Woods, but maybe this man you would not know. Let me show you. Anybody has a clue? I think it would be amazing if you know. Anybody? He's from the States, very well-known actually, if I tell you, that this man's life has been acted out by this gentleman, Leonardo DiCaprio in a movie, "Catch Me If You Can". His name is Frank Abagnale. He is a well-known swindler. He's a cheater. He's a forger. He's an imposter.

In that movie, which I'm told, quite accurately depicts a lot of Frank's life. It shows that he used to be a ... an imposter. He pretended to be a pilot. He pretended to be a lawyer. He actually fought cases and won cases as a lawyer. He studied and passed the bar exam, you know, even though he didn't go to law school. Amazing! He also pretended to be a doctor. I hope he didn't kill anyone. But he was a imposter, a cheat. He ... he wrote a lot of cheques and so on, and he swindled people of a lot of money.

Eventually, of course, he turned over a new leaf. He worked for the FBI and is now a famous man. But this is what he said when he was younger. He did all that when he was young, and he said, "I asked myself, "Could I get away with it?"' See, everyone who has done something wrong in their life must have thought in their mind, "I thought I can get away with it. I will not be caught. Or even if I am caught, I will not be punished. I thought I can get away with it."

That's what a little child thinks, when he or she cheats in school, "I thought I could get away with it!" This is what every employee thinks when he 'jia zhua', Hokkien here in Singaporean language he ... he ... he skives and he's lazy at work, "I thought I could get away with it!" That's what every man thinks when he's unfaithful to his wife, "I thought I can get away with it." That's what every Christian thinks when we grumble and complain, and we, and we murmur and thinks that God is not going to know it or no one's going to deal with us about it.

"I thought I can get away with it!" And that's, I think the thinking of many, many people during the time of Noah - "I thought I can get away with it! I thought I could sin! I thought I could live my life as what it used to be and I will not be judged!" So this must have come as a huge shock and surprise to many during Noah's days. So today is a long chapter, I'm not going to go through every verse, but I want to pick out three thoughts from reflecting upon this story with you.


[1] The Promise of God's Judgment
The first thing I like us to consider is - the promise of God's judgment.

So the flood is God's judgment, right, upon a sinful world? But before we read about the flood, let's consider this - did God actually warn people about it beforehand? Yeah. This is what we would want to think about this morning that God did give a promise, "I will judge this world." That God did warn this world, or that world, the ancient world about His impending judgment.

See, "Why did God have to judge this world." You say, "What's wrong with this world, when He made this one wasn't it perfect? Didn't say, didn't He say, "It was very good?"' He did! But the problem is that, after Adam and Eve sinned against God, sin penetrated the world, and it's like a virus. It's a spiritual virus.

It's like the COVID virus, you know, COVID virus. Maybe you breathe in someone who was speaking and the virus got stuck into your body. Now, that little bit of virus doesn't make you sick, but the problem with virus is that they tend to replicate, they get more and more and more in your body until it makes you real sick. And that's what sin is like, it's a spiritual virus.

It entered the world through Adam and Eve, but it began to multiply. So much so that the whole world is corrupted, and not just the whole is corrupted, is corrupted, real deep, real bad. And that's what we read, in Genesis 6:5, "The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." I mean, it is just got to a terrible state!

I love the sermon video trailer we have been showing. It talks about the corruption of sin, and how it passes on from generation to generation and how the whole world is now steeped in sin and it was so wicked that "Every ..." look at every word there, "... every intention ..." it's not just his actions. It's, "Every intention of the thoughts ..." not just his thoughts, but the reason behind the thoughts. "Every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." [Gen 6:5]

It got so bad that God had to judge this world. God is holy, and He must deal with sin.
Now, the people however, who were living such lives, who were thinking such thoughts, could not care less. They cannot be bothered! To them, "No big deal! We will still continue to live the way we want. We would still continue to sin." How do you know that? How did I know that?

Jesus said so in Matthew 24:38, "For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage." In other words, again, in Singapore vernacular, 'bochap' - can't be bothered! "Yeah, we sin, who cares! Let's carry on live as per normal! Let's go to the best restaurants. Let's ... let's enjoy ourselves in marriage, and ..." They can't be bothered!

Now, did God warn them? You say, "Jason, they can't be bothered, because they don't know what!" No! Did God tell them? Did God tell the ancient world that He's gonna judge them? Yes! You say, "How do you know?" Again, a New Testament passage in Jude 14-15 tells us, "It was about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam ..." So he's a seventh from Adam, he's the great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandson of Adam. He lived about a thousand years, alright, just for estimation about a thousand years before the flood came.

So about a thousand years before Enoch, "The seventh from Adam prophesied, he preached, he declared, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment on ..." what? "... On all your ungodly deeds and all your ungodliness ...", and so on and so forth.

So the great, great, great, great, great grandfather had already said, "God will judge you. God will deal with our sin." For a thousand years nothing happened and so they said, "I think I can get away with it! I'm not going to be found! I'm not going to be punished! God has not come, He has not dealt with us, so let's carry on!"

Now, Enoch, not only warned them by his preaching. We studied that the last time, last year in Genesis, chapter 5. Enoch also did something very interesting, he named his son a very special way. He gave his son this name, Methuselah. Now, most of you can't remember what Methuselah. I can't remember this name and Micah I can, Matthew I can, Methuselah cannot.

Well, but you've got to remember this name because Methuselah means something very interesting. His name literally means - when he is dead, it shall be sent, or his death shall bring. What do you mean? What do you mean - when he's dead, it shall bring? What is the 'it'? And what does it mean - his death shall bring? Bring what?

Well, as I've shown you the last time, Methuselah lived to a ripe old 969 years-old. He's the longest living human being ever recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. No, it's not, is recorded in the Bible, alright. But he lived 969 years and on the very year he died, Guess what? Is the year that the flood came upon this world.

In other words, I think it would be quite alright for us to infer that Enoch not only preached to the world, then, but he said, "This, my son will be a sign to you, when he is dead, the judgment will come." God is using I think Enoch and his family, his son, to be like a picture to the world, a warning to the world. And it is God's mercy and grace that Methuselah lived the longest in this world, isn't it?

By the way, for those of you who have a hard time remembering Methuselah, let me give a tip. If you're Hokkien speaker or Singaporean, you can remember, 'mai tu, si lah'. Can or not? 'Mai tu, si lah', if you 'tu' [procrastinate in Hokkien] Ah, if you wait, if you don't repent you wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait too late, you die. That's the meaning of Methuselah. Maybe God ... maybe the Jews had a Hokkien influence, I'm not sure.

But okay, that's the point. So God has already been warning the world. Example, Enoch and his preaching. Example, Enoch and his son. And of course you would know about Noah, Noah was a preacher, Noah was not just a builder, he was a preacher. "He was a herald of righteousness. He preached righteousness." [2 Peter2:5] He told people about righteousness, about God's righteousness and our unrighteousness and about God's provision for righteousness.

And of course, Noah had been building The Ark for 120 years estimated. And that ark, that massive structure must have stood as a warning sign to everyone. Noah's ark is like one of the seven wonders of the world, at least... alright. People all around the world must have felt, "What is this crazy guy doing, building an ark?" Why? Because he says that, "God will judge this world."

So God did not leave this world without a witness. He did promise, He did warn about judgment, but nobody cares. "They were just eating and drinking and marrying" [Matt 24:38], because they all thought, "I can get away with it!" Hey, human nature has not changed very much, because today, today, you know what ...?

Countless people are not bothered about what the Bible says because they think to themselves, "I can get away with it!" Countless people today know that they are sinful, know that they are not perfect, that they know that there's something wrong in their life, but they never really want to deal with it because somehow they imagine they can get away. "God will not judge. There will be no God. There will be no judgement, so I'm fine."

But they don't realize that the Bible does tell us that, "It is appointed unto man, once to die and after this, the judgment." There is simply no escape. None excepted. And by the way, the Bible gives warning, that just as the ancient world was judged, our world in a time soon to come, we're not sure when, but in a time soon to come, will also be judged.

It is clear that, "Scoffers in the last days will say, "Where is the promise of His coming?" [2 Peter 3:3-4] Huh, people today who read the Bible, who go to church may say, "Yeah, I know what the Bible says, but hey, 'bo zhun' [inaccurate in Hokkien dialect], 'bei zhun' [inaccurate in Hokkien dialect]. God is not accurate. God is not precise. God is not faithful." He says, "He will judge, but look here it's been so long. We are still standing. This world is still flourishing. We still have increased in technology, a good life. Don't tell me about His coming."

You see these other scoffers who laugh at the warnings of God, "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief." [2 Peter 3:9-10] Now, it's not saying that, "God is a thief, but the way he comes is going to be like a thief coming." How does a thief come to your house? He comes at a time, you do not expect. Because if he comes at a time you're sitting there waiting for him, he's a stupid thief; lousy thief. Won't work! But he comes at a time you don't expect and that's the way God's judgment will come.

"The Day of the Lord will come like a thief." The judgment, the entire sequence of events will come like a thief. And at the end of it all, we will see, "The heavens pass away and the heavenly bodies ..." , the stars, the moons, the stars, the sun, the moon, the stars. We've looked at that in Matthew 24, how that, "all will be dissolved.[2 Peter 3:9-10]

"For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." [Matt 24:37] Here is God's warning! Here's God's promise! He will return. Jesus will return in judgment. "And they were unaware until the flood came and swept them away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man."[Matt 24:39]

So there is absolutely every evidence in the Bible. You don't have to test God on it. You don't have to doubt God on it. It will be fulfilled, because the promise of God's judgment will be fulfilled. Just as it was in Noah's days, it will be in our day. Let me ask you, do you really believe this?

It makes all the difference in how you live, and how you'll respond to the Bible. Because if you think, "I can get away with it", the Bible would not make sense or would not be of importance to you. But the moment, God works in your heart and you are convicted, yes, if this is what He says, it will come, then that absolutely will change the way you interact with the Bible, the Word of God.

So number one, the promise of God's judgment, but let me move on.


[2] The Power of God's Judgement
Secondly, I'd like us to notice - the power of God's judgment. So often when we think about Noah and The Ark, we think about cute cartoons, right? I understand why because in Sunday school, you will love to tell this story. It's so kids-friendly. So cute! Because you can draw the giraffe, you can draw the elephant, even the tiger looks cute. Everything is cute in Noah's Ark. And the idea is, "Wow, what a cute story!"

However, I think when you read Genesis 7, you should not read it as if it is cute, you should read it as if it is awesome, it is scary. Wow! God is absolutely mighty! And when He judges in His wrath, who can stand? That is I think the tone we need to understand from the text.

The Bible tells us that, "All the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of heaven were opened." [Gen 7:11-12] So from the top and from the bottom, this whole world, this planet Earth is just flooded with a lot, a lot of water. "And the waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them 15 cubits deep." [Gen 7:20] So this whole world became like a giant water ball.

And can you imagine with me what it would be like all the animals floating, struggling, all the human beings floating and struggling and drowning. There must be a lot of people screaming; shouting; crying, "Help! Help! I don't want to die!" They must be frantically holding on to every log, every branch just to stay afloat. It's a scary sight, because this was so sudden, it was so massive, it was so universal. No one could escape it!

"And everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died." [Gen 7:22] There has been nothing like this before and there has been nothing like this after. This Genesis 7 account stands as the most destructive thing God has done on planet Earth. Yes, God did destroy Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone! Yes, God did destroy Canaanites when He sent the Israelites in! Yes, God did allow Babylon to pillage and to plunder Jerusalem! And yes, the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70 is tragic. But there has been nothing thing on the scale of the global flood, where every single being died!

And so Genesis 7, Noah's Ark and the story of the flood, is not a cutesy little story that uh, about animals and camels and giraffes. No! It's about how every single one died, except for Noah's family. And that will stand as a foreshadowing or as a type of the future judgment that is to come.

Now, God did promise, we will learn that next week that He will not destroy this world by a universal flood anymore. Doesn't mean there's no flood, ah, by the way. Singapore also have flood, many places we have flood, but He will not destroy the whole world with a flood anymore. But, "The whole world will be destroyed next time with fire." [2 Peter 3:6-7] And we're going to read of how this world is going to melt away.

So when the Bible talks about the judgment that is to come when Jesus returns, it's a scary thing! Look at Isaiah 13:9-10, he says, "Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel with wrath and fierce anger." Now, we like to think about God like a Santa Claus. We like to think about Jesus as ... as that gentle person. Yes, Jesus was absolutely gentle when He came the first time, but please don't misunderstand that He is not filled with wrath and vengeance when He comes the second time.

He will execute wrath and vengeance. It will be a cruel day, because, "The land will be made a desolation, and all sinners will be destroyed." [Isaiah 13:10] Behold, both the love and the wrath of God. The Bible tells us both.

In Revelation 6:16, we read, "Fall on us, hide us from the face of Him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb." What an interesting phrase! We will think about the lamb as innocent, and gentle, and fun, but the Lamb here is described to be with wrath. The Savior who went to the cross to die for our sins, will one day return as the One who will execute vengeance on all who rebel against God.

Behold, the wrath of the Lamb. "The great day of their wrath has come, who can stand?" [Rev 6:17] It's a fearsome day! "Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn", [Matt 24:30] because judgment is come. It's a scary thing!

So 2nd Peter, chapter 3:10, we read eventually, "The heavens will pass away with a roar, the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved in the earth, and the works that are done on it, and the works that are done on it will be exposed." So like I said, "The world will be destroyed". This world as we know it, will be destroyed. The new heavens and the new earth that God will recreate will not be consisting of things here, it will all be utterly burned up.

So as the world was destroyed by the flood, not entirely, a lot of it, because a lot of sea creatures are still alive, a lot of the elements of the old earth are still here. The future one means an absolute wipeout, absolute wipeout. "And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." [Rev 20:15]

Let me tell you the judgment when Jesus comes is scary, more scary I think, than the flood, but it's not as scary as the ultimate judgment when men and women who refuse to believe in Jesus Christ will be thrown into this lake of fire.

What is this lake of fire? It's hell. We read about hell in for example, in Mark 9:47-48, "Thrown into hell, where the worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched."
You say, "What in the world is this saying?" Well, the word, 'hell', we know in English is translated from a Greek word that is called, 'gehenna'.

The word, 'gehenna' refers to a real place in Israel. It's in the south of Jerusalem and it's like that massive garbage dump of the city. So anything that is dirty and is a refuse, that is garbage, you bring it to this place called, 'gehenna', which stands for the Hebrew word or name, 'The Valley of Hinnom'.

You bring all your garbage to 'The Valley of Hinnom', to 'gehenna' and that's where you burn. You burn these things, garbage, you better burn, otherwise disease spread, right? So they set it on fire, it's continuously burning because there are continuous refuse and garbage being thrown there - dead corpses, carcasses, are thrown there. And so it becomes a symbol, a picture of what hell will be like, where there's fire and burning and, "Where the worm dies not." [Mark 9:48]

What do you mean - the worm dies not? In the place where there are carcasses and corpses, there are maggots. Oh, I should have taken a photo. Okay, I shouldn't have! It will just eek you out. I, I saw a rat that is dead, eaten by maggots or being eaten by maggots. It's a horrible picture. But that's what's happening at 'gehenna', 'The Valley of Hinnom' all the time.

And so that's a picture of how men who refuse Jesus, would suffer forever in this place called, 'hell'. They are burning. They are in torment, in pain. And they will be eaten by maggots. Now, is this physical? Is this literal? Maybe not. There are commentators who say, "Now, it's probably not maggots really in hell, just looking for people to eat, but it's probably referring, some people think about how your conscience, your emotional, your mental state will be so devastated."

Maybe you'll be eaten up from the inside thinking, "Ah, I should have repented and believed in Jesus while I knew about it, but I didn't." That regret will just eat you up. Or maybe that regret, that thought, "I shouldn't have thought I can get away with it", would eat you up for all eternity. Wow! Hell and God's judgment is not a figment of our imagination. You don't have to wait to see if it's real. Look at the flood! God said it and he did it! And in a world or in the judgment that is to come, if He said it, He will do it.


[3] Protection From God's Judgment
So today, we have looked at the promise of God's judgment. Then, we've looked at the power of God's judgment. But I want to end with a positive note, and I think this is also the essence found in this text. And it must be that we must learn - the protection from God's judgment.

Because whilst the whole world was wiped out, there was one family that was saved. A family that understood what it meant to believe in God; to repent; and to come into the protection God provides. And what is the protection of God's judgment? Well, it is found in this Ark. It's called Noah's Ark, but actually, it's God's Ark, because it's God's idea, not Noah's idea.

This is a massive structure. By the way, this is a life, this is not painting ah! This is a photo, this is a life size replica of Noah's Ark, the best we know. Where is this? Marina Bay Sands? No! No! Singapore, we don't have such land for this, right? This is in the United States, in Kentucky. It is called "The Ark Encounters".

So one day, when COVID is over, and you can fly, maybe if you go to America for holidays, you may want to visit "The Ark Encounters". I think this is done by "Answers in Genesis", this Christian group. But it's not free lah, you go in, must pay. But you at least get to see it from the ... maybe outside, no need to pay. You can just view it and it's a massive thing. God's idea!

No wonder ... not Adam, Noah and his sons would have to spend about 120 years to build. This one you give me, you give me 120 million years, I also don't know how to build. So big, so massive! But that's what they did. And the Bible tells us that, "It is for this purpose, that Noah and his sons and his wife, his family can, "... escape the waters of the flood." [Gen 7:7]

There's only one way to be saved. Only one way! You can't climb a mountain to be saved! You can't climb a tree to be saved! You can't hug a log to be saved! The flood is so massive, so destructive, there's only one way to be saved - The Ark that God has provided.
And my friends, there's only one way you can be saved from God's wrath. Not that you build for yourself some works of righteousness. Not that you hang onto the 'log' of my parents are Christians, or I've been to church. The only way is that you are in Christ. You are a believer of Jesus Christ. You hide in Christ. Because I think The Ark is a perfect picture of how Jesus Christ shields us from the wrath of God, from the judgment of God.

Noah and family were saved. They were able to escape the judgment, escaped the waters of the flood. And when they got in, "The Lord shut him in." [Gen 7:16] I like that! I like how he is shut in so that he will be absolutely safe and secure from the judgment. Not one bit of the flood striking him, "Only Noah was left and those were with him in the ark." [Gen 7:23]

So there is only one way to be saved. Just as there is only one way to be saved today - Jesus Christ. "There is no name given under heaven whereby men can be saved." "I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by Me", Jesus said. "Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved." Any way else won't work!

Let me say this, "Jesus bore the wrath of God for you." The flood, the rain, the fountains hit The Ark, but not Noah within. And when Jesus went to the cross, he knew no sin. He was not a sinner. He did no sin at all, but He bore the sufferings and the mockery and all the pain of separation from the Father, because He was there bearing our sins for us. He was there suffering on our behalf.

And there is only one way therefore you can be saved, if you belong to Jesus, if you believe in Him. Some of you think, "Uh, I just want to enjoy my life! I want to eat and drink, marry, and so on. I want to just live it up in this world. And when Jesus comes or when later on in life, then I believe." Let me tell you something, "The only people who were saved were those who got into The Ark 7 days before the flood." Because after they got into The Ark, the door was shut.

I guarantee you, when the flood came, there will be the neighbors of Noah and people around Noah who would want to get into The Ark. They will knock on the door, they will try to pry everything open, but it was too late. My friends, that's why the Bible says, "Behold, now is the accepted time." We don't exactly know when Jesus is going to come back. But you don't wait and you don't flirt with your eternal soul in such a way. Whilst it is yet time, while it is, it is still available to you, I pray you'll be wise to enter The Ark.

You know the thing about humanity is this - when I read the Bible, I see the animals 'kuai kuai' [obediently in Hokkien dialect] walk in. No problem, you know. The tiger; the lion; the cheetah, all 'kuai kuai' walk in. Noah don't, don't have to, as far as I know don't have to, wah, fight with the ... They just one by one, I think God just made them go in, but humans, man in their sin, despite 1000 years of warning, he just won't!

I hope it will not be you, because there was a family in those days, who did not think like everyone did. I think everyone in the ark, Noah and his sons and his and their wives, they thought, "I will not get away with it! I will be judged! I will be damned! And I better get in today." I hope you'll be wise. I pray at least some if not all would come to Jesus and be saved in that Ark.

Let's bow for word of prayer together.

Salvation is such an amazing gift. When our hearts are filled with evil and wickedness, God still provides a way for you to be saved. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. What an amazing reality! This is the Good News!

My friends, this morning we hear about the bad news. The bad news is that we are sinful and we are unable to save ourselves and we will be judged. But it is in that context of this bad news that we understand how good that Good News is - that Jesus came to die and rise again to save you from your sins. His body bore the punishment and the wrath of God that I deserve, you deserve.

And if you today are willing to enter The Ark, if you today are willing to repent and believe in Jesus, you can be saved and you will be saved. I pray that you will not just come to church, I pray you will not just come to Punggol, I pray you'll come to Jesus and come inside The Ark. Because one day the door will be shut and it might just be too late,. This is the day of salvation open for you.

And I pray Gospeliters, we will not take this lightly. Let's not look at this story as if it's a Sunday school's lesson. But let's take heed that there will come a day of judgment, and whilst we do not do things to earn our salvation, let's serve God whilst we can. Let's be faithful! And let's be telling people the message of the Good News, just as Enoch and Noah did. Yes, we can't say, "Everybody would come. A lot of the people who listened did not repent." But hey, we just need to be faithful, isn't it? Go and tell it to others, "There is an Ark. There is a safety in Jesus Christ, for their sins."

Father, we thank You today for Your Word. Bless Your people as we contemplate, consider these things. And Lord, let this not just stay as a sermon or as some facts we learn, but let this be used by Your Spirit to change our lives. Please grant understanding. Please save souls. And please help Your Church to take Your Word seriously. Thank You for loving us and sending warnings to us, but more than that, thank You for sending Jesus, the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. Give us wisdom unto salvation. We thank You in Jesus' Name. Amen.

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