The midland journal., 1945-07-06

GOLDEN TExT-While the earth remain.
eth, seedtime and harvest. and cold and
heat. and summer and winter and day
and night shall not cease.-Genesis e:z2
The beginnings of all things In
the book Of Genesis include, we are
sorry to note, the beginning Of sim
In the fall Of Adam. Soon we read
Of the first murder, Cain staying
his godly brother, Abel, because his
acceptance with God exposed che
wrong heart-attitude Of Cain.
The godly line was renewed In
Seth, but before long sin again lifted
its ugly head. Now the wickednesd
Of man had become 50 widespread
that God was driven to a drastic
judgment.
I. Judgment for the Wicked
{6:5-7).
The Lord sees the wickedness Of
men-let us not forget thatl At
times it seems as though the un-
godly flourish in their sin and that
there Is no judgment upon them.
God knows what goes on in the
world. He is long-suffering and mer-
ciful, but there is boundary line
to His patience, and when that
limit Is reached, there can be
nothing but judgment.
Ever imagination of the thoughts
of mans heart was evil continual
ly ". 81. One Is reminded of Jere-
miah 1873, and of such a contem-
porary estimate Of man as that Of
DR.. Mackay, who said, "Psycholo-
gy has unveiled the dismal and sin
lister depths in human nature. Man
can no longer flee from reality into
the romantic refuge of his own
heart; for the human heart has be-
come a house of horrors in whose
murky recesses man cannot erect
for his solace either shrine or a
citadel. Man is bad; he is a sin
ner."
God did not change His mind
". 81, but man by his sin moved
himself out of the circle of Gods
love over into the circle of His
judgment. God never changes, but
we change our relation to Him by
our actions. Such is the evident
meaning Of this verse.
III. Deliverance for the Upright (8:
l, 4, 18).
God remembered Noah, and he
found grace in the eyes of the
Lord" (Gen. 6:8) because he was "a
just man" (6:9). At the Lords COM
mand, he prepared the ark for the
saving of himself and his house,
and after the Lord had "shut him
in" (Gen. 7:16), the great judg-
ment by water came upon the earth.
After $50 days (Gen. 7:24), the
Lord remembered Noah (8:D and
caused the earth to dry up once
again. The same Lord who shut him
In to keep him during the flood
brought him out after the flood g.:
Is, 16), gave him great power 70:
LAY, assured him of His protection
(9:5-7), and gave him the great
promise (9:8-16) Of which the rain
bow became the token.
The God who will in.no wise for
get the sin Of the wicked will
never leave nor forsake those who
walk uprightly before Him. The
story of Noah should stimulate our
faith, causing us to obey and trust
God. His protecting hand is over
His children, and He can bring
them through the darkest days of
tribulation.
HI. Mercy in the Midst Of Sin
(S:2O-22).
''Noah builded an altar" for the
first impulse of his heart was to
give praise to God for His mighty
deliverance. His offering came up
to God as "a sweet savor," that is,
it was pleasing to God.
To come before God with accept
able worship, man must come
with clean hands. The question Is
not whether he is brilliant, learned,
or of high position. The one thing
that counts is obedience. When
such a man offers the worship Of
his heart before God, it goes up to
him Like sweet SAVIOR.
God knew mans heart ". 2I.
He had no illusions that even the
judgment of the food would change
it. Eagerly His love sought mans
obedient response, but He well knew
that the awful pestilence of sin
would continue until the very end
Of the age.
So in spite Of that sin, and in the
very midst of it, God promised that
He would never again wipe out hui
manity as He did in the food.
There would be individual judgment
and collective judgment on certain
groups, but never again the shifting
Of every living thing. Thus, He set
men free from the terror which
must have now been in their hearts.
The beautiful rainbow in the cloud
became a token Of Gods promise,
and the visible assurance to "all
flesh" that the judgment of the food
would not be repeated. Never again
would seed time and harvest, nor
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