The Flood

[0:00] The following message was given at a Sunday celebration at Trinity Grace Church in Athens.! For more information about Trinity Grace, please visit us at TrinityGraceAthens.com.

[0:10] Generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.

[0:42] And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence.

[0:52] And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on earth. And God said to Noah, I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them.

[1:12] Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.

[1:23] This is how you are to make it. The length of the ark, 300 cubits. Its breadth, 50 cubits, and its height, 30 cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door on the ark in its side.

[1:37] Make a roof for the ark, and finish it a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. For behold, I will bring a flood of water upon the earth to destroy all flesh, in which is the breath of life under heaven.

[1:56] Everything that is on earth shall die, but I will establish my covenant with you. And you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.

[2:11] And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female, of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds.

[2:26] Of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every sort shall come into you to keep them alive. Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up.

[2:39] It shall serve as food for you and for them. Noah did this. He did all that God commanded him.

[2:50] Chapter 7, verse 1. Then the Lord said to Noah, Go into the ark, you and all your household. For I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.

[3:01] Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate. And seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth.

[3:15] For in seven days I will send rain on the earth, forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.

[3:27] And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him. Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth.

[3:38] And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Of clean animals and of animals that are not clean and of birds and of everything that creeps on the ground, two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah as God had commanded Noah.

[4:00] And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened, and rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

[4:24] On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark. They and every beast according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, every winged creature.

[4:46] They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. And those that entered, male and female, of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him, and the Lord shut him in.

[5:06] The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters.

[5:22] And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep, and all flesh died that moved on the earth.

[5:37] Birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. Everything on the dry land, and whose nostrils was the breath of life, died.

[5:50] He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground. Man, and animals, and creeping things, and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth.

[6:02] Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days. May God bless the preaching and the hearing of his word.

[6:22] Well, if a child came up to you and asked, what's the story of Noah's ark all about? What would you say?

[6:34] Maybe some of you, like me, grew up with flannel graphs, and coloring books, and puppets, and all sorts of things flood into your mind.

[6:46] Maybe you'd say something like this, it's basically about a big floating zoo. Pretty clear summation. That response would make sense. It's a Sunday school favorite, because, I mean, who doesn't want a story for kids that includes boats, animals, and rainbows all on the same thing, right?

[7:03] But often, the reason for the boat, the animals, and the rainbow is left out. You see, the story is one, actually, of judgment.

[7:17] Not a super hot topic for coloring books, is it? But when you get to the why, the flood forces us to wrestle with questions like these.

[7:29] Who is in charge of the world? What is good and what is bad? What are the penalties?

[7:40] And who decides the penalties? In a culture like ours that despises authority, and wants to decide what's good and bad, just or unjust, based on our own standards, this story swings from arbitrary and whimsical over here to life and death hanging in the balance.

[8:06] It's no longer just a kid's story. It's included in the broader unfolding story of the Bible to probe our hearts.

[8:17] It calls us to ask the questions, Where am I in the story? Who reigns supreme in my life? Who is this God, and what is he like?

[8:33] Fundamentally, the story of Noah is intended to help us see not only judgment, but also the mercy of God in providing salvation. And the glory of this salvation is that it ultimately is intended to reconnect us in an intimate relationship with God himself.

[8:54] I believe the main point for us this morning is very simple. Keep trusting the Lord and take refuge in Christ. Keep trusting the Lord and take refuge in Christ.

[9:06] We're going to break this out into three points. The corrupt and the righteous, a call to continual trust, and salvation through judgment.

[9:17] So let's look first, the corrupt and the righteous. History fascinates me. But I'm also fascinated by the presentation of history.

[9:28] We want all the facts, don't we? But the presentation of the facts communicates something too. Things like which facts are included, and which facts are left out.

[9:41] How much emphasis and space do the facts get? And then how are those facts portrayed? All of those things communicate something about the author's goal behind the presentation.

[9:56] So we just finished seeing the pervasiveness of sin. That's what came directly before. We've been kind of flying high through lists of generations, hundreds of years and countless lives we've just flown over.

[10:11] And now in Genesis 6-9, we have a very deliberate shift. What came before were the generations of Adam. That's what just happened.

[10:22] The generations of Adam. Here we see now that these are the generations of Noah. It's a new era that we're looking at.

[10:33] The story of the world intentionally slows down and hones in on one man in one year of his life. This is God's word.

[10:46] And it draws us in here to see the significance of this story in this moment. The first thing to note is the description of Noah.

[10:57] Look at it. What's the most important thing we should know about Noah? Noah was a righteous man.

[11:09] Blameless in his generation. This description of Noah is really set in contrast with the rest of the world. You look in verse 11.

[11:21] Instead of being righteous, it says the earth was corrupt and filled with violence. It mentions corruption three times in just two verses. Verse 12 says, who is responsible for the corruption?

[11:35] If you look at it, all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. So in the opening verses of this account, we see a stark contrast between Noah and the rest of the world.

[11:49] Noah is presented as righteous and everyone else on earth is corrupt. That's a sweeping claim right there.

[12:00] That should make us say, wow, what? Who would dare make such an indictment as that? I mean, initially, it rubs you the wrong way.

[12:14] To me, it does. It seems audacious. What kind of categories are these that only one person in the whole earth fits in on the good side?

[12:27] Can it really be that bad? What's the standard? We're so attuned to comparing ourselves by ourselves.

[12:41] That this claim right here seems very jarring to us. I mean, we tend to adjust our standard by the best and the worst of what we see around us, right?

[12:53] Relative to those around me, I don't lie that much. Relative to those around me, I don't gossip that much. If we were to be around during the time of Noah, I'm not sure we'd feel all that out of place, to be honest with you.

[13:13] In fact, the New Testament itself highlights the seeming normalcy using quotes of that time. Look at Matthew 24. I have it up here on the screen for you.

[13:25] For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark. However, the standard of what seemed normal to one another is not the standard being used here in our text.

[13:45] Instead of the creature measuring itself against other creatures, the creatures are measured according to God's standard. Verse 11, if you look at it, it says, The earth was corrupt in God's sight.

[14:02] Verse 12, And God saw the earth. This is not some kind of baseless standard, some arbitrary rule. This is the ultimate standard we're dealing with. This is the creator's assessment of his own creation.

[14:16] According to this standard, all righteousness and corruption are measured in relation to God himself. If we are created, which we are, If we are created, then we must not miss that we are accountable to our creator and dependent on our creator.

[14:40] C.S. Lewis rightfully captured this God-centered standard in his book when he says, There is but one good that is God.

[14:51] Everything else is good when it looks to him and bad when it turns from him. I mean, look at the words used to describe those in rebellion against him.

[15:05] Violent and corrupt. Two words there. Violence, if you think about this, occurs when one's will is forced on another for selfish gain.

[15:16] It demands its own way. Violence is destructive and it brings pain and death. Violence is the ultimate, the ultimate expression of self-rule.

[15:30] Because it believes and it acts on the assumption that the world should bend to your desires as supreme. The violence described here is like a fire hose operating apart from the firefighter.

[15:45] You ever seen that? It was intended to be a powerful tool in the hands of the operator, but left to itself, it only thrashes wildly and destructively with no true purpose.

[16:00] Not only are people regarded as violent, God describes them as corrupt. Corruption happens when something is no longer functioning according to its intended use.

[16:14] It becomes broken, maimed, disfigured. But everything just seems so normal. They were just eating, drinking, marrying.

[16:26] What's so wrong there? How can that be deemed corrupt? What? That's because true life is intended to be more than just these things.

[16:41] True life is intended to be more than just eating and drinking and marrying. Fellowship with God is what we were made for. Fellowship with God is what has been broken.

[16:56] God knows that he is the supreme source of life. For the creature to live independently from the creator is no life at all.

[17:09] It leads to nothing but death. No matter how normal it may look, life apart from God is like a limb severed from an animal. It's already dead and rotting.

[17:21] It's already dead and rotting. According to God, all flesh have become corrupt by being severed from their creator. So this standard is not just the paradigm used in this story.

[17:36] It's the standard for us now. The question is not, how are you doing compared to other people around you? That's not the question.

[17:47] The question is this. What is your relation to your creator? That's the main question this is driving us to. Often we look at the Ten Commandments and we try to check off the seemingly big ones on the back half.

[18:01] You know what I'm talking about. I haven't stolen. I haven't murdered that many. You know, you try to get out quick. We usually skirt over the first commandment.

[18:13] Which in reality is the gateway to all the other commandments. You shall have, you remember? No other gods before me.

[18:25] Interestingly, when Jesus gives his answer about the greatest commandment, it's essentially just an inversion of this one. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, your soul, your mind, your strength.

[18:46] So in summary, those two things, those two commandments. Don't love other gods. Love the one true God. That's it. When this is broken, everything else goes off the rails.

[19:00] Everything else goes off the rails. Who has obeyed these commandments completely and perfectly? Like in the days of Noah, Scripture makes it very clear.

[19:14] Romans 3.23 tells us the answer. All have sinned. And fall short. Not of one another, but of the glory of God.

[19:27] The standard. All flesh is corrupt. So what do we make of Noah's righteousness and blamelessness then? Is he just a freakishly nice guy?

[19:40] Was he out mowing everybody else's yard and working at the food pantry and just always smiling? Was that Noah? Again, we need to be careful not to apply our own standards of righteousness and blamelessness here.

[19:53] Even though one might abstain from sin, it isn't the same as sinlessness. In fact, we even see King David. King David was an adulterer and a murderer.

[20:07] And he still claimed this verse in 2 Samuel. I have been blameless before him. Referring to God. I've been blameless before God. So it can't mean sinlessness.

[20:20] So as with corruption, righteousness must be understood in relation to God. God. This makes sense because the very next thing our attention is drawn to in Noah's description is this.

[20:33] Noah walked with God. This is the wellspring of righteousness.

[20:45] Like Enoch, Noah was angled towards God. He was positioned. He belonged to God. His righteousness was not something that earned him a place with God based on his good behavior.

[20:59] Rather, his behavior was based on belonging to God. He walked with God. Was in fellowship with God. He would need to trust God in order to embrace what was about to unfold.

[21:17] Point two, a call to continual trust. In verse 13, God approaches Noah and reveals the reason for his judgment.

[21:32] This is a miracle. Don't miss this. There is no reason God should have said anything to anyone. You ever think about that? He had no obligation to say anything to anybody.

[21:45] But he graciously communicates the reason for his judgment. And not only that, God reveals a plan for salvation. God is gracious and he is slow to anger.

[22:00] He gives specific instructions to Noah about how to build this gigantic floating structure. All of this instruction is given in advance. God could have just poured out a flood and he could have simply just kind of scooped Noah up along the way.

[22:15] He could have done it that way. But this is not how God chose to operate. There's a gap between verse 21 and verse 22. God reveals his word and then gives Noah time to respond to his revelation.

[22:32] What does he do? Verse 22, Noah did this. He did all that God commanded him.

[22:45] Noah's obedience reveals his faith in God. He begins to act in reliance on the God who made the promises to him.

[22:56] The New Testament makes this reality clear in Hebrews 11. Looking back at the story of Noah, it says this, By faith, Noah, saying this is faith.

[23:07] By faith, Noah being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen. In reverent fear, constructed an ark for the saving of his household.

[23:18] By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. Do you see it? He heard God's word, believed God's word, and responded to God's word.

[23:33] Noah's ears were tuned to God's word because his heart belonged to God. Notice that Hebrews captures the uncertainty that Noah felt.

[23:43] Being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen. It was mind-blowing stuff that was going on here. The point being drawn out is not Noah's bravery.

[23:56] Rather, we see something here very relatable. Noah was in a vulnerable position going into an unforeseen circumstance. You ever been there before?

[24:07] That's what's happening. What we need to see is that Noah did not have to understand the complexity of the details that God left out. Hebrews 11 said that Noah constructed the ark in reverent fear.

[24:25] The motivation for obedience wasn't in the plan, but in the planner. Walking with God means you can walk into the unknown because your trust is not in the circumstance that you're being called into, but in the God who has called you into the circumstance.

[24:48] Walking with God is a continual call to trust. As Charles Spurgeon once said, when you can't trace his hand, you can always trust his heart.

[25:05] Obedience is a response of faith. It's an active trust in God in the midst of the unknown. But we also see that this trust is demonstrated by costly obedience.

[25:20] Just consider for a moment the magnitude of what God has just told Noah to do. According to some modern estimates, the ark was 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, 51 feet high, made of wood, and intended to feed and house thousands of animals from all over the earth.

[25:45] Everything about this assignment would have been costly. It would have been costly to accumulate the necessary supplies. Where's he going to get all this stuff?

[25:58] It would have been costly to track down and transport all of the needed materials. Then, even with the materials procured, the building process would have been a massive time commitment.

[26:10] Who's going to help this project? How long would it have taken Noah to build a structure like this? There's no timeline given in Scripture. But there is a break between the instructions being given to Noah and the seven days prior to the actual flood.

[26:28] It could have taken years. We don't know. All of these were costly commitments. But there's more. In obeying God, there would have been nowhere to hide.

[26:44] Think about that. Noah was incrementally building this enormous boat structure in a place that was landlocked.

[26:54] He would have appeared insane in the membrane to everybody around him. His neighbors would have thought he was crazy. Everybody would have thought he was loony.

[27:07] It was not a secret to be kept. The boat demanded an explanation. What are you doing?

[27:18] Are you crazy? Can you imagine the costliness of this obedience? The central aim, though, of Noah's life was to obey God, no matter the cost.

[27:34] This was not a one-time, unobtrusive commitment. No, this was a continual call to trust God daily in an all-consuming way.

[27:50] His life demanded an explanation. Does your life demand an explanation? I'm not talking about some kind of weird mysticism and carrying your cross, walking around all over the streets.

[28:07] I'm not talking about that. But I do wonder if some have settled for something less than biblical Christianity. If every aspect of your life can be easily explained apart from Christ, can you claim to be a Christian?

[28:30] That's what I mean. Pastor J.C. Ryle said, There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity in this day, which many have, and they think they have enough.

[28:44] A cheap Christianity, which offends nobody, and requires no sacrifice, which costs nothing, and is worth nothing.

[28:55] The Bible does not present a one-time profession of faith that checks a box, but then has no observable impact on our life.

[29:10] Instead, the Christian life is a posture of continual trust and obedience that expresses itself in doing what God asks us to do, including confessing and repenting when we fail.

[29:29] It's a costly obedience. It demands that you put the full weight of your whole life on God, so much so that if God turned out to be a sham, if it was just a big hoax all along, then your life would be laughable.

[29:47] Your life would be a tragic waste. That's what Noah is showing us. Do you live to please the one who made you? In your work, in your marriage, in your parenting, in your friendships, in your giving, this is a costly obedience, and it begs the question about who we aim to please with our lives.

[30:19] Are we more afraid of people or of God? In his book, When People Are Big and God Is Small, Ed Welch said this, we are more concerned about looking stupid, which is a fear of people, than we are about acting sinfully, a fear of God.

[30:47] Who is it that has your ear? Whose approval do you most long to hear? It's not a far stretch from the ear to the heart.

[31:02] I want to appeal to you to turn your heart over to the God who made you. He does not abandon his people. In fact, in verse 18, God says, I will establish a covenant with you.

[31:17] This is the first mention of the word covenant in the Bible. It is a vital theme, runs throughout the Bible. We'll hear more about this next week. But for now, suffice it to say that a covenant is a promise that God makes, an oath that he takes, and a life and death commitment to fulfill his promise.

[31:37] So when God establishes his covenant, he moves into action to save. The word establish here, that you see, literally means to stand upon its feet.

[31:51] What an amazing word to use for a covenant. So in a sense, God is bringing his covenant to life by putting his promise to work. God always keeps his promises, no matter how impossible or how far off they may seem to us, what he says, he does.

[32:12] Point three, salvation through judgment. In chapter seven, God reenters the story and tells Noah to go into the ark.

[32:29] Why? In verse four, God says, I will send rain on the earth. Judgment is coming.

[32:41] But notice who's taking full responsibility for the judgment. God says, every living thing that I have made, I will face of the ground.

[32:58] He said it earlier in chapter six, verse 17, if you scan back up, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all life.

[33:09] I will do this. God is the one bearing the responsibility of bringing the flood waters. How can he do this? Isn't he loving?

[33:21] Isn't he just? There's something that recoils inside of us at the thought of judgment. I mean, it's the cardinal sin in our culture is judging others.

[33:37] It's the worst thing you can do. And to be non-judgmental is considered the highest virtue imaginable. However, one of the main reasons we have this reaction is because we think of God as being like us in his judgments.

[33:55] But is he limited in his perspective? Is he scrounging around for some corroborating evidence? Is he like a referee who misses a call?

[34:07] Is that what God is like? We must be very careful not to lower God to the level of our own limitations and try to soften the blows for who God himself claims to be.

[34:24] Well, some say they can't accept a God who judges. but before you throw God out I think it's worth asking by what standard do you judge the judge?

[34:40] Your own? How do you determine what is just? My friends, God's justice and wrath unlike ours is the expression of his love toward the corruption of the world.

[35:00] If he did not love the world why would he feel the grief that he feels that he mentioned earlier just a little bit earlier in chapter 6? It's because of God's love that he feels the grief.

[35:14] It's because of his love that he feels also righteous anger. to dismiss the guilty would compromise his perfect justice and his perfect love.

[35:29] His wrath is the other side of the same coin of his love. It is the loving response to good which has been corrupted.

[35:41] In C.S. Lewis' book Letters to Malcolm Lewis writes a series of letters to a fictional friend named Malcolm and in one exchange Malcolm attempts to depersonalize the wrath of God as if the wrath of God is like getting shocked by a live wire of electricity.

[36:01] People kind of bumble into the great power and they get shocked but it's not personal. Does that rightly capture God's wrath? Lewis responds in his letter saying as you say the live wire does not feel angry with us but if we blunder against it we get a shock.

[36:25] My dear Malcolm what do you suppose you have gained by substituting the image of a live wire for that of an angered majesty? You have shut us all up in despair for the angry majesty can forgive and electricity cannot.

[36:49] An impersonal shock can kill but it cannot forgive. That's true. But the question that we are left with is this.

[37:01] How can God be loving and just as a judge without destroying the pervasive corrupting influence of sin?

[37:16] How can God be a loving and just judge without destroying the pervasive corrupting presence of sin? How can he do that? Well the story continues to unfold.

[37:28] Verse 6 says the flood waters came upon the earth. God is sovereign over all and often uses nature to judge humankind. the sea has always been kind of a symbol of chaos.

[37:41] Something that humans cannot control. Remember in Genesis 1 the earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep and the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters and God said let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and it separates the waters from the waters.

[38:03] There we see God subduing the chaos of the waters and he separates it. He brings order to it. So now we see a great reversal.

[38:20] What we're about to see is the undoing of creation. In verse 18 and 24 the waters prevailed. In verse 21 all flesh died.

[38:33] Verse 23 he blotted out. This judgment was all consuming. The violent were overtaken violently. Chaos was swallowed up in chaos.

[38:47] But God also provided a way of escape. In verse 7 Noah and his family went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood.

[38:59] Notice that it is not referred to as a boat or ship at all anywhere. It may be better to think of this as a very large floating box. That word ark is only used in one other place in the Old Testament to describe the small container that carried baby Moses down the Nile River.

[39:20] Think of it. In a similar way to Noah's ark it was like a big coffin committed to death but then it voyages to life. Incredible.

[39:32] Notice in verse 16 that after Noah and his family obeyed God and entered the ark the Lord with all caps shut him in. The word Lord there is in all caps because it's the personal name of God Yahweh.

[39:49] It is the personal God who walked in relationship with Noah who sealed him inside the ark. The Lord personally closed the door to confer his promise and his presence.

[40:02] This is kind of like a form of a final reassurance that the Lord was on his side and that no judgment at all would befall him. He would be safe and secure amidst the flood of God's wrath inside this promised vessel of escape.

[40:20] Notice also that there is no mention of a rudder anywhere. prayer. This is no ship for a human captain to skillfully navigate.

[40:34] This is a vessel of mercy completely in the hands of a sovereign God. And while the world was swallowed up in chaos, the ark floated on the face of the water.

[40:44] Salvation was occurring at the same moment as judgment. There cannot be salvation if there is not judgment. You got to be saved from something.

[40:57] Noah and all those who were in the ark experienced salvation from judgment through God's promised plan. God promised to establish a covenant with Noah but this was not the ultimate covenant.

[41:08] Noah was a better Adam but he was not the ultimate Adam. And even though this was a decreation and a recreation story with Noah, he was an imperfect savior.

[41:21] And it won't take long to see that there is still corruption after this story. There's still violence. Sin remains in the hearts of humanity and justice remains to be satisfied.

[41:34] Even after the waters subside, the big question continues to flood our minds, how can we be saved from God's just judgment against our sin? The covenant with Noah points to a better covenant.

[41:50] God sent forth his son. On a stormy night, Jesus walked across the face of the turbulent waters to his disciples, displaying that he had the same authority over nature that belonged only to God.

[42:19] This wave conqueror would then go on to conquer something else. Death itself. He lived in perfect submission to God the Father, uncorrupt and at peace with God.

[42:35] And though he alone was innocent before God, he stood condemned before guilty men. At the cross, Jesus, the one true righteous man, willingly took on the flood of God's wrath against our sin.

[42:53] While we were still sinners, while we were still corrupt, while we were still violent, while we were still enemies of God, Christ died for us.

[43:05] He was buried and he was raised again to new life and he has invited us to be joined to him by faith. Peter says that baptism corresponds to this.

[43:19] We are united to Christ in his death, buried beneath the waters of God's judgment and then we are raised to new life in Christ. Jesus is the new and better ark.

[43:34] All who die to themselves and trust in God's provision will find refuge in Christ and Christ alone. He is the door. All who enter will be sealed in by God himself.

[43:47] This is God's long-awaited answer to the question. How can God be just without destroying sinners? Jesus is the perfect and permanent answer, provision, promised by God.

[44:02] Pastor John Piper wonderfully said, there is only one hope to escape the flood of God's wrath. It is not the levy of human virtue but the high ground called Calvary.

[44:14] So I want to call us afresh to the Lord and to take refuge in Christ, be united to Christ, hide yourself in Christ. So what does it mean for us now?

[44:28] If you're not a Christian, firstly, I want to invite you to turn from your sin and place your trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sin. All who enter by faith, God's wrath has already been poured out on Jesus.

[44:45] So God can still be just and sinners who are united to Christ can be forgiven and reconnected to God forever. if you are a Christian, rejoice in your salvation.

[44:58] Praise God for his wonderful refuge for you for all time. There's now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

[45:10] In Christ Jesus. Your hope is not yourself, but God's gracious provision for you. And what are we to make of this presence of sin in the world? Even if Christ is our refuge, the world is still corrupt, isn't it?

[45:25] It's still in rebellion against the creator. Christ is the definitive refuge. We can come right now for refuge from the wrath of God against our personal sin, but the part of the story yet to come is the great hope of the Christian life.

[45:42] The day is coming when Christ will return to judge all people, both the living and the dead. Those who have lived in rebellion against him will spend a eternity apart from him.

[45:53] That which is corrupt and wicked will be banished forever on that day. He will vindicate his people. All who are in Christ will be saved at the same time to dwell with him forever, unobscured by pain, brokenness, corruption, sin, cancer, all God, forever.

[46:17] So in light of this, we can see that God right now is mercifully restraining judgment. It's mercy. Each day is another demonstration that he is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

[46:34] He's giving more time for more people to turn from the vanity of life apart from him and come and find refuge in Jesus Christ. So let's be a church characterized by generously offering this glorious good news to anyone and everyone who would come.

[46:53] Finally, keep trusting the Lord. Keep trusting the Lord. No matter how far off or how impossible it may seem, he always keeps his promises.

[47:11] He's coming back, set all things right. So let's go all in. We can trust him with our whole lives while we wait. Let's pray. Lord, we worship you.

[47:26] We respond to your word, your revelation in awe and a desire for obedience.

[47:36] Help us to obey. We cling to you in a world that mocks and despises your truth. But Lord, help us to walk forward full of faith, costly obedience because of the one who gave us all things, Jesus Christ.

[47:54] We take refuge in him and we cling to you as our savior. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. You've been listening to a message at a Sunday celebration at Trinity Grace Church in Athens.

[48:11] For more information about Trinity Grace, please visit us at trinitygraceathens.com. Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr Pr