A Sin Sick Society...Sentenced

Turn back with me to Matthew, Matthew chapter 24. As we work our way back to the book of beginnings, Genesis chapter 6. And in Matthew 24, we'll start with verse number 36. But of that day, that is the day of the Lord, and our, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days, which were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark.

And they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away. So shall the coming of the Son of Man be. Jesus Christ in his infamous Olivet Discourse would talk about the times where evil men will go from bad to worse. But what is going to be characteristic of that day is as it was in the days of Noah. So Christ affirms not only the fact that Noah existed, but there was a flood that destroyed the world. What does that mean? To understand that, we need to study Genesis chapter 6. And that's where our study of the book of beginnings takes us today.

Genesis chapter 6, verses 1 to 5. Those are the only verses we're going to cover, but they are power packed. Let's read them together. Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful. And they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Then the Lord said, My spirit shall not strive with men forever, because he also is flesh. Nevertheless, his day shall be 120 years. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them, those were the mighty men, who were of old, men of renown.

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Genesis chapter 6 talks to us about a sin sick society that God himself sentenced to judgment. We will look at the setting of our lesson, then the sin in the land, and then the sentence from our Lord.

Those are our three points this morning. We'll take us through those first five verses. First of all, the sin in the land.

Two things I want you to notice. Number one is the malady of man, and number two is the multiplication of man.

The text says in verse number five that God saw the hearts of man, and that his heart was only evil continually. But the first thing I want you to notice is the malady of man.

Man is a sinful person. Man is far from God. In fact, over in Ephesians chapter 2, listen to what the Apostle Paul said in the first three verses as he gives us the most succinct definition of man's condition.

He said this, And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest. Paul says before we came to Christ this was our condition. We were dead in our trespasses and sin.

We followed the prince of the power of the air. We followed him. He was our master. He was our leader, and we would willingly subject ourselves to his authority and to his leadership because we were far from God. In Christ in eternity, in the pre-flood time, as God would look down upon man, he would see the heart of man. It was evil continually. What sees us to point number two, the multiplication of man.

The multiplication of man, it's one thing to have an evil heart. It's another thing to have that evil heart multiplied over and over again by a multitude of people. And the Bible says in Genesis chapter 6 verse number 1, Now it came about when men began to multiply on the face of the land.

The depravity of man began to run rampant. Now what does it mean that it began to multiply? Well if you were with us in our last study of Genesis chapter 5, you would realize that the genealogy of Adam tells us one thing, that there are lots of people on the earth. They were having kids at the minimum every five years. What began with two men at around age 65 and ran through at least one man who was 500 still having kids, that was Noah when he had his three boys. And if you run through the genealogy and you work it out, we know that they had him every five years at the minimum.

They could have had him more than that. They had sons and daughters. If you multiply all that out, you have somewhere between 4 and 6 billion people on the face of the earth before the flood hits. Billions of people. Not thousands, not hundreds, not millions, but billions of people. And so you have the setting for our lesson today that helps us understand a sin sick society that God Himself would sentence. Which leads us to the sin in the land. The sin in the land. It says in verse number 1, 1. Now it came about that men began to multiply in the face of the land, and daughters were born to them.

2. And the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took wise for themselves whomever they chose. Now listen very carefully. The sin in the land centered around marriage in the land. Some of you will say, yes, Pastor, that's true. If you knew my marriage, you would know how bad sin is in the land. But the sin in the land centered around the marriage in the land. You say, well, Pastor, marriage is a good thing. Marriage is set up by God. That is true. And yet there's something about this marriage, or these marriages, that is different.

That will help you understand what Jesus said in Matthew 24, that as it was in the days of Noah, when they were marrying and being given in marriage, that phrase will be understood when you comprehend Genesis 6, and the sons of God marrying the daughters of men. You with me so far? Good. Who are the sons of God? There are three views. Number one is this.

There are some who believe that the sons of God are the sons or the rulers of the sons of the rulers, and leaders of the people of that time. This is the least common view, but it is a view, so I must give it to you. In Psalm 82, the ancients of Israel were called the sons of God. And so there are some people who believe that it was the sons of God, these people of nobility, who would marry with the commoner, the daughters of men, and that then was the sin in the land. That's a pretty weak view, but that is one of the views.

As you recall over in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, it says that the rulers of the land of Israel were the ones who crucified Christ. The argument being is that because rulers were able to do whatever they wanted to do, they could take whatever woman they wanted to take, and the text says in Genesis 6 they took women from whomever they chose, they took their authority, they abused their authority and took whomever they wanted, and that was the sin in the land. That's one view. Another view that is a very common view and held by a lot of theologians is that the sons of God are the godly line of Seth.

Now go back to Genesis chapter 4 for a moment. Genesis chapter 4, and it says in verse number 25, And Adam had relations with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth. For she said, God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him. And to Seth, to him also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord. Now, they say, this is the, in Genesis chapter 6, this is the godly line of Seth because Seth whose name means appointed, and Eve would say that he has appointed me another son, he would be the appointed one in whom the Messiah would come, and then men began to call upon the name of the Lord.

There were godly men, and then these godly men then intermarried with ungodly women. That is, you have believers marrying unbelievers, and that was the sin in the land. Not a bad argument. The only problem with that is that it can't be proven. It can't be proven because when you get to Genesis chapter 5, we only know for sure of two men who walked with God. There might have been others, but the Bible doesn't tell us that. If you are with us in our study of the book of Genesis chapter 5, then you realize that Enoch was one who walked with God.

Now Enoch walked with God. The Spirit of God makes it a point to say this man walked with God. Why didn't He make a point to say that other men walked with God? But Enoch did. We know that Noah walked with God. And we know that when the flood came, everybody died except for eight souls. That would mean that everybody else who existed was unrighteous and ungodly. So to use the argument that the sons of God are the godly line of Seth, and they intermarry with Canaanite women who are ungodly can't be proven biblically.

The third argument, which I believe was the right one, aren't you glad we're back in Genesis chapter 6?

All this technical stuff. Hold on to your hats. So what does God actually say about the sons of God? Turn back with me in your New Testament to 2 Peter chapter 2, 2 Peter chapter 2. It says this in verse number 4 of 2 Peter chapter 2, For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness reserved for judgment, and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.

Those two verses tell us two things. Number one, there were angels who sinned and God has put them into darkness, has put them into a place that is reserved for judgment, and it tells us the time in which they sinned.

It was sometime around the days of Noah. Okay? Very important. Now we know that all angels are not bound and reserved for the day of judgment because Ephesians 6 says that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of darkness, against the principalities and powers of the air, against the spiritual forces of wickedness. So we know that there are some demons that are active, but we also know from 2 Peter chapter 2 verses 4 and 5, there are some angels that fell, that sinned, and are reserved for judgment.

Now what is their sin? For that, turn back just a few chapters to Jude chapter, or Jude verse number 6. A few books to Jude chapter, verse number 6. And Jude 6 tells us what the sin was that made God put them in chains in darkness for the day of judgment. And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, he that is God has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. Just as, a word of comparison, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality, these being the angels, indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

It could be, and we'll study this more in detail in Revelation chapter 9, that the 200 million that are released are the 200 million sons of God that cohabited with 200 million people to produce a half-man, half-demon race in Genesis chapter 6 that would cause God to destroy the earth. Why? Because when Jesus Christ would send His, when Jesus Christ would come to the earth to save man, He would not come to save demon man. He would only come to save man. That's why. Think about it. That could possibly be what took place in Genesis chapter 6.

I believe that the sons of God were fallen angels that would inhabit bodies, cohabitate with whomever they would, with every woman they chose. That would be fornication. That would be adultery. That would be incest. That would be the sin that was happening all around the world. And it happened in an insurmountable kind of rate, unlike the world has ever seen until the day of the Lord, when Christ says, as it was in the days of Noah, when they were marrying and given to marriage.

Now you understand what that phrase means. When you understand Genesis chapter 6 and what the sons of God did when they took daughters of men, whomever they chose, whomever they wanted to take. That's what happened. Which leads us to answer the question, who are the giants on the earth? It says what? It says the Nephilim were on the earth in those days. And also afterward when the sons of God came into the daughters of men and they bore children to them, these were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

This is very significant. The Nephilim is used one other time in the Old Testament, Numbers 13.33 where it talks about the spies who went into the land of Canaan to spy out the land. And they came back and said that there were Nephilim in the land. There were giants in the land. We were like grasshoppers in their sights. We know that Goliath was a big man over nine feet tall. So we know that the Bible speaks of giant men in the Bible. Could it be that these people were giant men in terms of their physical stature?

It could be. But it doesn't necessarily have to be. The word Nephilim means fallen ones. The Greek subduage, it translates it gigantes, which is where we get our English word giants. So we get our English word giants from Greek, not from Hebrew. But it's interesting to note that the children born as a result of the sons of God cohabiting with the daughters of men were mighty men, it says, men of renown. Very interesting phrase. When we get to Genesis 10, we will see where Nimrod was a mighty man upon the earth.

And the word mighty means wicked, vile, and rebellious. So it could be, which I think it is, is that those born of the sons of God and the daughters of men were not only giant in stature, but men of great evil, great wickedness, great vileness. So much so that when God looked upon the face of the earth, all he did was see the evil heart of man growing worse and worse and worse. And next week we will see where God's heart was grieved that he even made man. And thus he would destroy every man except for eight souls on the earth.

That's the sin in the land, which leads us to the sentence from the Lord. Verse number three, then the Lord said, my spirit shall not strive with man forever because he also is flesh.

Nevertheless, his day shall be 120 years. God says, my spirit will not always remain with man, will not always abide with man.

And God sentenced them to 120 years of life from that point on. Interesting. God says, and we know that the spirit of God is that which, according to John 16, convicts man of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

According to Second Thessalonians chapter two, the spirit of God is a restrainer that holds back evil and then releases it when the Antichrist reveals himself at the abomination of desolation.

And then evil runs rampant through the day of the Lord. We also know that according to Galatians 5, 16, that our flesh lusts against the spirit. And there's a battle going on between us and the spirit of God continually day after day after day. And God says, my spirit will not always remain with man, will not always strive with man, will not always abide with man.

Therefore, I have sentenced him to judgment. I have sentenced him to death. But I want you to notice not only the penalty from God, but the patience of God.

In spite of what he saw, in spite of what had taken place upon the earth, God still gave him 120 years, not 120 months or 120 days or 120 minutes or 120 seconds. He still gave him 120 years. Folks, our God is a God of patience. Romans 15, five speaks of our God as a God of patience. Peter would speak of him that way over in first Peter chapter three.

First Peter chapter three, verse number 18, For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that he might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison.

Oh, what is that? Jesus Christ died for our sins. And sometime between His death and resurrection, He went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison. Who are the spirits in prison? Same ones in Jude six, who have been chained up since Genesis chapter six, because of their sin and what they did. It says in verse number 20, Who once were disobedient when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is eight persons were brought safely through the water.

Christ went down and made a proclamation to those in the pit, to those in darkness, not presenting the gospel, made a proclamation of victory. You thought that you could overcome me. You thought that you could win the victory, but instead I have won. And I'm here to issue a proclamation that I am the victor to the ones who during the days of Moses were, excuse me, during the days of Noah were disobedient. But during those days, God was what? Patient, long suffering. Says over in second Peter chapter three, verse number nine, The Lord is not slow about His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.

God is so patient. He is so long suffering. Let me give you some application for a moment. Got a few minutes left. What happened in Genesis chapter six is, is very important. It tells us two things. We can't think for a moment that even what we would consider the best of us is free from the temptation of any kind of sexual sin. We can't do that. King David was a great man after God's own heart, but he fell into sexual immorality. We need to watch out. Why? Because point number two, the demons themselves understand our condition.

They do. They know. And they knew in those days that if they could just inhabit bodies of people and get them to go after others, whomever they chose, then they could do something that would be a horrible sin against God. And what God had designed specifically in Genesis chapter two as a beautiful, beautiful thing. You see, sex sin is a sin unlike any other sin. For there is only one sin that you sin against the body. Every other sin is done outside the body. First Corinthians six.

Only one sin in which you join Christ to a harlot. That is, if you're a believer and Christ is in your heart, and that is a sex kind of sin. And there's no sin that damages you more physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually than sex kinds of sins. No other sin. May we be not counted among those who miss His coming. The way we know for certain that our relationship with God is true and pure and holy. Let's pray together.