The Flood: Whose Voice Are You Listening To? 2 Peter 3 1
Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and 2 perdition of ungodly men.
In recent weeks in Sunday School and worship services we have been looking at Genesis chapters 1 thru 11. It has been a rich study for many of our people and today we continue in that study to look at the biblical flood of Noah’s Day. Have you noticed the powerful effort by our world system to discount and remove from our memories the reason and message of the flood? There must be a reason for such, don’t you think? There are three events that our world wants to remove from our thinking and memory … (1) creation, (2) the flood (God’s first judgment), and (3) the final judgment of the world. One way to accomplish this with creation and the flood is to introduce into the conversation “millions of years.” It seems the evolutionist thinks that if we put enough time in the timeline, anything can become possible ... It is certainly going to be more believable sounding. So we hear of millions and billions of years. Several years ago I was pastoring a church in Alabama. We wanted to decorate the children’s department by painting a picture on the wall at the check-in desk. We chose a bright picture of a boat with a house-like structure on it, a smiling Noah waving and animals on the deck looking out at the children as they came in. The idea was nice enough, but without meaning to we were feeding the mythical concept of the flood story. We have contributed, without meaning to, to feeding the idea of the flood not being real. Today, we as believers do not want to be thought of as "simple minded" and "ignorant" or be seen as “unenlightened.” This desire to be “seen as reasoning people” makes us open to non-biblical concepts to find their way into our personal belief system. Many people unfortunately do not accept the biblical account of a worldwide flood because they have been taught that most rocks and fossils were deposited over millions of years (and therefore not by a global Flood). Until the 1800s, most westerners believed what the Bible records about the earth’s recent creation and the global Flood. The secular idea of millions of years did not gain extensive popularity until the 1830s, under the influence of a man named Charles Lyell. Based on how slowly many rock layers seem to form today, Lyell rejected the Bible’s claims and declared that the earth’s many rock layers must have been laid down slowly over millions of years. Lyell’s claim was based on his own theory, not his observations. In contrast, modern geologists observe that most new sediment layers are deposited rapidly in catastrophic events. Yet Lyell’s idea took hold in Western universities, was useable by evolutionists and spread throughout the Western world. Sadly, many Christians simply tried to add this idea to the Bible. Although there is tremendous physical evidence of a global flood, ultimately, it is a matter of trust in a Sermon - Sept 29, 2013 Bob Crowe - Speaker
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perfect God who created everything (Genesis 1:1), knows everything (Colossians 2:3), has always been there (Revelation 22:13), and cannot lie (Titus 1:2). The only alternative is to trust imperfect, fallible human beings who can only speculate on the past (see Romans 3:4) since no one was here to observe it personally. The question then comes to us this morning: Whose voice are you listening to? Now anytime a preacher talks about issues like this, questions pop-up and I will try to deal with a few of them this morning. But let me restate what our pastor has said: You have a trustworthy Bible that you can go to with confidence. Where Did All the Water Come From? In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights (Genesis 7:11–12).
The Bible tells us that the water came from two sources: below the earth and above the earth. Evidently, the source for water below the ground was in great subterranean pools, or “fountains” of fresh water, which were broken open by volcanic and seismic (earthquake) activity. Genesis 1:9 indicates that the land may have been one piece surrounded by water. The event of the subterranean pools breaking up through the land may have begun forming the continents we know today. As even secular geologists observe, it does appear that the continents were at one time “together” and not separated by the vast oceans of today. The forces involved in the Flood were certainly sufficient to change all of this. Scripture indicates that God formed the ocean basins, raising the land out of the water, so that the floodwaters returned to a safe place. (Some theologians believe Psalm 104 may refer to this event.) Where Did All the Water Go? And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased. (Genesis 8:3). Simply put, the water from the Flood is in the oceans and seas we see today. Three-quarters of the earth’s surface is covered with water. Was Noah’s Flood Global? And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered (Genesis 7:19– 20).
Many Christians today claim that the Flood of Noah’s time was only a local flood. These people generally believe in a local flood because they have accepted the widely believed evolutionary history of the earth, which interprets fossil layers as the history of the sequential appearance of life over millions of years. Those who accept the evolutionary timeframe, with its fossil accumulation, rob the Fall of Adam of its serious consequences. They put the fossils, which testify of disease, suffering, and death, before Adam and Eve sinned and brought death and suffering into the world. In doing this, they also undermine the meaning of the death and resurrection of Christ. Such a scenario also robs all meaning from God’s description of His finished creation as “very good.”
Sermon - Sept 29, 2013 Bob Crowe - Speaker
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In 2 Peter 3, the coming judgment by fire is likened to the former judgment by water in Noah’s Flood. A partial judgment in Noah’s day, therefore, would mean a partial judgment to come. Whose voice are you listening to? Where Is the Evidence in the Earth for Noah’s Flood? For this they willingly forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water (2 Peter 3:5–6).
Evidence of Noah’s Flood can be seen all over the earth, from seabeds to mountaintops. Whether you travel by car, train, or plane, the physical features of the earth’s terrain clearly indicate a catastrophic past, from canyons and craters to coal beds and caverns. Some layers of strata extend across continents, revealing the effects of a huge catastrophe. The earth’s crust has massive amounts of layered sedimentary rock, sometimes miles deep! These layers of sand, soil, and material—mostly laid down by water—were once soft like mud, but they are now hard stone. Encased in these sedimentary layers are billions of dead things (fossils of plants and animals) buried very quickly. The evidence all over the earth is staring everyone in the face. A fossil is a plant or animal that has been dead for a long time - usually thousands of years. It must be buried immediately after it dies. If it dies and is exposed to the air it will never become a fossil. A flood could cause a sudden burial and provide a means of fossilization. The larger the object, the longer it will take to fossilize. In Brazil, the Santana Formation contains millions of fossilized fish converted to stone instantly. A fossil of one animal was in the process of giving birth! Something happened very fast in order to lock this event into stone. In my reading I found this: What is the most unusual fossil? It is a miner's felt hat from Tasmania. After 50 years, the hat was found and was as hard as a rock. The minerals in the water that covered the hat had turned it to stone. On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted. A billion board feet of lumber fell like so many toothpicks and was pushed into Echo Lake. It was buried by melting snow mixed with volcanic debris which formed destructive mud flows reaching 90 miles per hour! Pertified wood has been the result. These mud flows laid down multiple layers of enormous amounts of sedimentation. Another eruption on March 19, 1982, created even more mud flows which eroded large canyons. In fact, one such canyon is now called, "Little Grand Canyon" which is 1/40 that of the real one! Within five years the layers of strata had hardened into solid rock. It does not take a long time for rock to form, just the right conditions. Anyone asking questions about “millions of years” yet? Popular education tells us that the dinosaurs, buried in sediment millions of years ago, have become the "fossil fuel" or oil that we use today. An article in Chemical and Engineering News (May 29, 1972) describes the process for making oil. The [cow] manure was heated at 716° F [380° C], at 2,000 to Sermon - Sept 29, 2013 Bob Crowe - Speaker
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5,000 pounds per square inch for 20 minutes in the presence of carbon monoxide and steam. The product was a heavy oil of excellent heating quality. The yield was about three barrels of oil per ton of manure. Polystrate means many strata. Polystrate trees are fossilized trees that extend through more than one stratum. A dead tree sticking out of the ground would decay over a period of time. However, a polystrate tree confirms rapidly forming strata. In Nova Scotia there is an entire forest of these trees. Polystrate trees can be found in coal mines. They are called "kettles" which can be deadly. Unless they are secured, they can easily detach and fall on the miners below. From September-October 1995 issue of Creation ex nihilo, Australian geologist Dr. Andrew Snelling wrote the article " 'Instant' Petrified Wood". Here is an excerpt: “Under the right chemical conditions wood can be rapidly petrified … even at normal temperatures and pressures ... The time frame for the formation of the petrified wood within the geological record is totally compatible with the biblical time scale of a recent creation and a subsequent devastating global Flood." How are “millions of years” doing? My point is the same as Brother Fred’s in his earlier message: You don’t have to add to or be apologizing for your Bible. Why Did God Destroy the Earth That He Had Made? Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 6:5, 8).
These verses speak for themselves. Every human being on the face of the earth had turned after the wickedness in their own hearts, but Noah, because of he sought to be righteousness before God, was spared from God’s judgment, along with his wife, their sons, and their wives. As a result of man’s wickedness, God sent judgment. As harsh as the destruction was, no person could say they were innocent. I started today by asking: Have you noticed that the three main events in your Bible that speak to the penalty of sin are discounted by many today? Many today believe that the earth evolved, that it was not created. They also believe that when the earth came into being it was first of all a hot molten blob, it was not covered with water. In Genesis 1 we read the testimony of the one who was there (God), the one who says that when He made the earth it was first of all covered with water. No human observer was there. The evolutionist was not there (although he talks as if he was) and does not know for sure what the early earth was like. His assertion that the earth was a hot molten blob is really just his faith position. However, the Christian does have a witness who was there, who can be trusted and who has recorded for us exactly what happened. Many today tell us that there never was a world-wide flood. We are told that millions of years of geological processes can explain the enormous fossil record in the sedimentary rock layers around the earth’s surface. These people are ‘willingly ignorant’ that the facts do not support their evolutionary ideas but do fit into a model of geology based upon what the Bible says concerning Noah’s Flood. Sermon - Sept 29, 2013 Bob Crowe - Speaker
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Much of the scientific literature also tells us that most scientists expect this world to go on and on for millions of more years. If scientists agreed that (1) God had created, (2) that Noah’s Flood was a real event, and that, therefore, (3) the Bible was true, they would have to tell quite a different story. As Jesus in Matthew 24:37-39 uses the event of Noah’s Flood as a warning that God has judged and therefore will judge again, they would have to agree that God is going to come back as judge, but next time He will use fire. • Creation = Creator = Accountable for Sin • Flood = Judgment of Sin • Creation + Flood = Bible is Accurate = Coming Judgment by Fire Sinful man in rebellion against God does not want to admit that he must stand before the God of Creation one day and give an account for his life. By rejecting Creation and Noah’s Flood and claiming ‘scientific’ evidence that supposedly supports his own belief, he becomes comfortable in not thinking about coming judgment. But, just as God created the world by His Word and sent the Flood through His Word, so God will judge this world by fire just as He has said. Jesus is our Ark. God takes sin seriously and He will judge sin (that is the clear message of the flood). He has judged it and will in the future judge it by fire. But, He has made a way for us. Just as He made a way for Noah and his family, He has made a way for you and me. If we will hear His voice He will forgive us and provide a way for us through the provision found in Jesus Christ our Lord. He wants us to enter the Ark and let Him secure us in the safety of that provision. If you will hear His voice today and have not responded to that voice in salvation faith before, today un-stop your ears and let God speak into your life. So, Noah’s flood holds a clear message for us this morning. What voice are you hearing? Are you hearing God’s reliable voice or man’s justifying guesses?
Sermon - Sept 29, 2013 Bob Crowe - Speaker
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