Preached in Markham Baptist Church, February 29, 2004.

Genesis 6:5-22

CONNECTING WITH GOD IN THE MIDST OF A DECAYING WORLD

One of my heroes of the faith is an old time evangelist by the name of D.L. Moody.  There is much that I like about Moody, his preaching centered on the person of Christ (he was a powerful speaker) but his grammar was awful, and he found it difficult to properly pronounce many of the names and places in the Bible. 

Among the thousands of stories written about Moody, one that has influenced me and stuck with me is the famous account of a meeting between Moody when he was a young man and another evangelist by the name of Henry Varley.  Moody had met Varley during a visit to Britain in 1872.  And one day when the two of them were sitting on a park bench in Dublin Ireland, Varley looked at Moody and said, “Moody, the world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully-consecrated to Him.”

The remark was made casually and Moody didn’t comment on it, but it haunted him for days.  “The world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to Him.”  Moody kept repeating it to himself.  And he thought, “Varley was referring to any man.  He didn’t say he had to be educated or scholarly.  Just a man.  Well, by the Holy Spirit in me, I’ll be that man.” 

And he did.  He truly was a man fully devoted to God and as a result led millions of people to Christ. 

Today we have been introduced to a man who similarly was a fully devoted follower of God.  He gave his all to God.  And as we study this text today I want us to think about this question - “Has the world yet to see what God can do through me?”  That’s the question for this morning.  Has the world yet to see what God can do through you? 

I want you to understand that God is not looking for established saints; He is not looking for scholars and superheroes necessarily.  He simply wants to use ordinary people like you and me.  Yesterday we had a time of memorial for George Cruickshank.  He was an ordinary man – but he was fully devoted to Christ and as a result his children were given a godly influence, his wife Ruth had a loving husband, his church benefited from years of service, his work benefited from having a man of integrity work for them for 37 years. 

“The world has yet to see what God can do through a man or a woman who is fully devoted to Him.”  Has the world yet to see what God can do through you?  Has the world yet to see what God can do through us? It may be that God is calling you to be an evangelist to millions – or He may be using you to influence one – it does not matter – what matters is that we are fully devoted to God.

Know it isn’t easy.  Of course you know it.  Many of you seek to live God devoted lives in the world every day. You know it’s not easy.  Our day is not dissimilar to Noah’s day.  Look how his day is described in verse 5:

“The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually.”

It’s frightening as we have studied these opening chapters of Genesis how pervasive sin is. Its influence has now tainted all relationships, all aspects of humanity.  Notice that it doesn’t say that the actions of humanity are wicked, although surely they are, it was ever “inclination of the thoughts of their hearts”.  Wickedness is like a virus that knows no barriers, it knows no limits.  Nothing can stand in its way it simply has overtaken every aspect of the world right down the heart.   And this is where God looks – I Samuel 16:7 – “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  And as God looks at the heart of humanity He sees wickedness. 

And don’t you feel that we live in a similar age?  Nothing is pure in our society any more -everything has been tainted by wickedness, government, media, the church.

Not only is the wickedness pervasive, it is continuous.  “Ever inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil CONTINUALLY.”   There was no stop to the wickedness.  It just went on and on and on.  One scandal follows another, one murder follows another, one kidnapping follows another, one lie follows another.

And so with the world in which we live.  And don’t you get tired of it sometimes?  Of course we get tired of wickedness in our world, it seems like one area of the world calms down and another area of the world flares up in riots and dictatorship.  But I think of my own heart and sometimes I get so tired of sinning.  Don’t you?  I promise myself that I will not speak poorly of someone – and the next thing you know I’m tearing the person down.  Or I promise I won’t be self-seeking – but the first opportunity I get, I want to be first.  I want the biggest slice of pie and the best parking spot.   Sometimes I feel like Paul who wrote in Romans 7 – "who will save me from this body of death?"  Wickedness is pervasive and it is continuous.

"The world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to Him.”  Has the world yet to see what God can do through you?  It’s not easy, for we live in a world that is wicked – it is pervasive and it is continuous.

So the Lord decides to wipe everyone out.  He decides to make the world one large swimming pool.  Listen, people think that God should just put up with sin.  “He had no right to wipe out all those wicked people, and all those words of judgment in Scripture – they shouldn’t be there,” people say.

But people who speak like that don’t understand mercy, they don’t understand grace.  God must be a God of judgment if he is going to be a God of mercy.  You cannot have mercy without judgment.  Mercy, grace is the answer to judgment.  Wherever you find judgment in Scripture you find grace.  And so with this situation. 

God cannot stand sin - He cannot be where sin is so He decides to wipe out humanity.  He is filled with pain to have to do such a thing. He is grieved says the text.  But it must be done  and then in verse 8 the great word: “But..”  “But Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord.” 

There is one man who is fully devoted to God.  There is one man who has heard the challenge – the world has yet to see what God can do with a man or woman fully devoted to Him.” Has the world yet to see what God can do through you? 

Now the story gets interesting.  Here we discover why Noah was fully devoted to God. He had discovered God’s grace – you know grace means, "God’s unmerited favour".  Noah had discovered God’s unmerited favour. 

Now don’t get the order wrong.  There are some who read verse 9 before they read verse 8.  They read verse 9 where it says that Noah was a righteous man, therefore they say, he found favour with God.  That’s not what the text says, don’t get the order wrong.  Noah found grace in God, he found favour in the sight of God, he discovered God’s unmerited favour AND THEN he lives the righteous life. 

That is the order that the word of God puts before us all the time. We experience God’s unmerited favour and then live the holy life.  Never the other way around.  What does grace mean?  It means unmerited favour.  So my friends understand that we experience God’s unmerited favour because it is unmerited favour.   If we merited God’s unmerited favour it wouldn’t be God’s unmerited favour.  What kind of logic is that?  I know it may not agree with the logic of Aristotle but it is the logic of grace.

And that’s what grips men and women who attempt to live for Him in the midst of a decaying world.  It is that God should love, that He should be gracious toward us even though our hearts are inclined to evil all the time.  

Has the world yet to see what God can do through you?  My friends, gain a vision of God’s unmerited favour for you.  We have the advantage of living on this side of the cross of Christ.  Unlike Noah we can see God’s unmerited favour demonstrated for us in the person of Jesus Christ.  He died for our wickedness so that we could be forgiven.  It is men and women who have a great vision of the grace of God that are able to respond to the statement, the world has yet to see what God can do through a man or woman who is fully devoted to Him – with the resounding words, "Because of God’s grace I will be that man, I will be that woman."

Once you have discovered God’s unmerited favour it changes everything.  I mean – I could go in all sorts of directions – I mean what it does for your self esteem is amazing – to know that God loves you unconditionally and expressed that love by dying for you – wow! 

You have heard no doubt all the responses to the new Mel Gibson movie, 'The Passion of the Christ."  It is a film that graphically portrays the last hours of Jesus’ life.  It portrays His flogging, His suffering, the shame and the agony of His death.  And as you have heard the reviews and opinions of people, have you heard that one segment of society that just don’t get it? They see it as an hour of brutality, a Hollywood celebration of torture – they aren’t getting it. But the people who are weeping, who are moved, are making the connection that what is being depicted here is the death of one who died for you and for me, that it is my sin that is causing the lashing, it is my sin that is causing His death. 

And not only this, but it is because of God’s unmerited favour that Jesus Christ died.  It is because of His grace that He took the penalty for me.  He was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

You see, it is not until we allow our eyes to be opened to God’s grace, it is not until we find the unmerited favour of God, it is not until we see the wonderful love of God in Christ that we are able to respond, and be fully devoted followers of Christ in the midst of a decaying world.  

Has the world yet to see what God can do through you?  Have a clear experience of His grace.

Then we discover the difference it makes.  Noah having discovered God’s unmerited favour says I will be that man who is fully devoted to Him. And as a result verse 9, he is a righteous man.  That is he lives for God – he lives rightly.  If we had read through chapter 7 you would have heard the refrain, “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.”  - 6:22 and again in chapter 7 in verse 5, 9, and 16. 

Noah lived differently from the world around him.  He lived in obedience to God’s word and God’s will. 

The world has yet to see what God will do through a man or a woman who is fully devoted to Him. 

Our world needs people who will live in obedience to God’s word.  Our world needs accountants who will keep proper accounts.  Our world needs politicians who will rule without seeking personal gain. Our world needs entertainers who will keep their clothes on and athletes who will compete honestly. Our world needs people who will live reflecting God’s word - cashiers who will smile; ;drivers who give the right of way; newspaper carriers who will take the paper right to the door.

What I am saying is that our world needs people who will obey God’s word and reflect it in their everyday living.

Then Noah, says the text, lived blamelessly.  The idea here is that Noah not only acted uprightly before the Lord but also that he acted in such a way as to appear blameless in the eyes of the watching world.  Noah lived blamelessly – so that when men and women looked at him they saw a reflection of what God was like. 

One of the great men of faith of the mid 1800s was Robert Murray McCheyne – he was one who lived his life fully committed to God. Soon after his death, his relatives went through his personal belongings.  And it wasn’t long till they came to his desk, and a locked drawer.  There in the locked drawer they found a letter addressed to McCheyne which he had ever seen before – The anonymous writer testified that McCheyne was responsible for them giving their lives to Jesus Christ.  And the letter concluded – “it was nothing you said that made me wish to be a Christian; it was rather the beauty of holiness which I saw in your face.” 

Has the world yet to see what God can do through you – experience his grace, then live in obedience to Him, live blamelessly and finally this – Noah walked with God. 

Noah had a relationship with God that was close and personal.  You can imagine Noah as being a man of prayer, as being a man of worship, of being a man who loved to hear God’s voice, and who loved God’s people.  Noah walked with God.

Has the world yet to see what God can do through you? The cost is great – the world will not like the fact that you live entirely for God.  But the rewards – well, they are great.  You may indeed be instrumental in bringing millions to Christ like D.L. Moody or you may be instrumental in God saving only a few – Noah was only able to influence seven for God and he was 600 years old when the floodwaters came on the earth.

But the numbers are not the rewards.  The rewards are the in the service.  Can you imagine a greater reward than people – when they gather to memorialize you, or even to celebrate your friendship the same things that are said about Noah – He lived righteously before God, She lived blamelessly, you walked with God.   The rewards are in the service.

The world has yet to see what God can do through a man or a woman who is fully devoted to Him. 

Has the world yet to see what God can do through you?

Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - February 2004