WICKEDNESS That INVITES REPERCUSSION-V—Genesis 6:1-8
Attention:
Fruit Wrap—A picky customer went to a small local fruit stand struggling to stay in afloat. They had just received a new delivery of fresh fruit & were thrilled to earn any customer’s business. A customer walks up & says to the saleswoman, “Give me 5 pounds of oranges & wrap every orange up in a separate piece of paper, please.” She did just as the customer asked.
“I’d also like 6 pounds of plums, please, & wrap up every one in a separate piece of paper, too.” She did.
"And what is in those bins behind you?" he asks, pointing out two bushel baskets in the corner.
“Cherries & Raisins,” said the saleswoman, “But they are not for sale!”
Self-service, self-love, & flesh-driven feeling wreak havoc on us & others. In Noah’s day most everyone had effectively—‘made spiritual mountains of mole-hills & molehills of mountains’—by not considering &/or being indifferent toward their Creator.
Likewise today, when Christ is considered inconsequential to a person’s or nation’s life, vitally important matters are treated as though they were of little worth. Simultaneously, other things become elevated to the place of indispensability, taking Christ’s place as Head. If we are not very careful to honor Christ, we find ourselves making great sacrifices for that which has no eternal value, for the sake of temporal satisfaction.
Genesis records the wanton wickedness of humanity & its repercussions.
Repercussion—An unintended consequence occurring some time after an event or action, esp. an unwelcome one.
Wanton wickedness invites repercussion from God.
How/When does wickedness invite repercussion?
7 channels thru which wickedness invites repercussion.
7 aberrations of wickedness that invite repercussion.
We have seen previously that Wickedness invites Repercussion thru (An) Aberrant...
1. RELATIONSHIPs(:1-2)
2. BURDENs(:3)
3. STANCE(:4)
4. CONTINUITY/Persistence(:5)
5—Wickedness also invites repercussion thru (An) Aberrant...
GRIEF(:6)
Explanation: (:6)
:6—“And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, & He was grieved in His heart.”
Our Creator(“YaHoWeH”) was so hurt by man’s overwhelmingly pretentious & pompous self-centered “evil” that He “was sorry” that he had even created mankind.
Does this mean that God did not know what would happen? & that He lives in the day-to-day tension of what man will do next? That He is ever learning, His decisions being caught up in & bound to His own finite & linear creation? NO!!—He knows all things & knows us intimately—so much so that He knows us better than we know ourselves!
God did not change of mind, but change of way—Matthew Henry
Such an intensity of emotion may be approached & mimicked(experienced/felt) when we become inundated & crushed with frustration when our major work is not only unappreciated, but has become outright contemptible, deplorable, shameful, & disgraceful to the very ones to whom we have given our all.
God has a “heart” that is capable of being “grieved.” For God to be grieved is for Him to experience a horrific loss & experience the willful separation of His creation from Himself. It is the grief we would associate with adultery, except extended to a level of perfection & holiness which is unattainable by man. It is the reason for the existence of hell.
We are indeed, obviously made in God’s image!
God is both changeless & immovable, yet He is indeed moved by compassion for people(the crown of His creation). He does not desire for any to lose their place in heaven. He grieves at our chosen loss of heaven. He has never nor will ever be unfaithful to His perfect & holy nature. This is the reason why we must trust God in relation to heaven & hell.
“Why did God regret it? Because He was going to have to act in holy justice....& that was a grief to God.”.... “He knew what death was going to do repeatedly throughout human history & the pain & sadness & sorrow that it would cause & the judgment that it would bring about.”... “God has no choice. Judgment falls & that is a grief to God.”... “it is precisely because God does not change His mind that He is sad.”... “God was[& is] truly grieved by sin & truly grieved by the immutable & necessary consequences that sinners bring upon themselves. Yes, God is sovereign. Yes, man is responsible. God didn't make him[man] sin. God didn't want him[man] to sin. But God doesn't accept excuses for his[man’s] sin, nor does He blame his[man’s] environment. And if he[man] rejects God, then hell is God's only option.”—John MacArthur
“Is man any different today? No, this describes him. He was this way before the Flood by virtue of his folly. He was this way after the Flood, he's still this way & as the years & centuries have gone on, he's just become more clever in devising & forming & shaping the intent & the imagination of his heart into evil. God's heart is still grieved. He still is sorry. But He must do what He must do. That's why anybody is a fool who thinks that environmentalists or genetic engineers or social reconstructionists are going to guarantee a future for humanity, it's not going to happen. There is no future for humanity.” thru any of those means. ..... “the only escape today is to come to God as the true & living God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom He appointed to be judge & Savior of all who repent.”—John MacArthur
*God grieved & now grieves because His witness was basically destroyed. Sadly, God’s witness is subsumed & supplanted by man’s worship of himself, his abilities, the angelic, the demonic & every created thing & everybody else!
“Sorry/Repented”(See :7)—Mxn naw-kham'—Verb—1) To be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted. Strong–a primitive root; properly--To sigh, i.e. Breathe strongly; by implication, To be sorry, i.e. (in a favorable sense)--To pity, console or reflexively--Rue; or unfavorably--To avenge(oneself).
“Made”(See :7)—hse aw-saw'—1) To do, fashion, accomplish, make; 2) (Piel) To press, squeeze. Strong—a primitive root; To do or make, in the broadest sense & widest application.
“Grieved”—bue aw-tsab'—1) To hurt, pain, grieve, displease, vex, wrest; 2) To shape, fashion, make, form, stretch into shape, (TWOT)--Worship. Strong—a primitive root; properly--To carve, i.e. Fabricate or fashion; hence (in a bad sense)--To worry, pain or anger.
“Heart”(See :5)—bl leb—1) Inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding. Strong—The heart; also used(figuratively) very widely for--The feelings, the will & even the intellect; likewise for--The center of anything.
Argumentation:
**1Sam. 15:29—““And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.””
*Isa. 63:7-10—“I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD And the praises of the LORD, According to all that the LORD has bestowed on us, And the great goodness toward the house of Israel, Which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, According to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses. For He said, “Surely they are My people, Children who will not lie.” So He became their Savior. In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the Angel of His Presence saved them; In His love & in His pity He redeemed them; And He bore them & carried them All the days of old. But they rebelled & grieved His Holy Spirit; So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, And He fought against them.”
Ps. 78:40-41—“How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert! Yes, again & again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel.”
**Ps. 95:7-11—“For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’””
Judges 10:7-18; 11:32-33—“So the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; & He sold them into the hands of the Philistines & into the hands of the people of Ammon. From that year they harassed & oppressed the children of Israel for eighteen years--all the children of Israel who were on the other side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, in Gilead. Moreover the people of Ammon crossed over the Jordan to fight against Judah also, against Benjamin, & against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed. And the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against You, because we have both forsaken our God & served the Baals!” So the LORD said to the children of Israel, “Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians & from the Amorites & from the people of Ammon & from the Philistines? Also the Sidonians & Amalekites & Maonites oppressed you; & you cried out to Me, & I delivered you from their hand. Yet you have forsaken Me & served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more. Go & cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.” And the children of Israel said to the LORD, “We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray.” So they put away the foreign gods from among them & served the LORD. And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel. Then the people of Ammon gathered together & encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled together & encamped in Mizpah. And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin the fight against the people of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”.....“So Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, & the LORD delivered them into his hands. And he defeated them from Aroer as far as Minnith--twenty cities--& to Abel Keramim, with a very great slaughter. Thus the people of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.”
Did you know that the God of the Bible has a tender heart?
Mk. 3:1-6—“And He[Jesus] entered the synagogue again, & a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, & his hand was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out & immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.”
**Eph. 4:30 -5:5—“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, & evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us & given Himself for us, an offering & a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication & all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ & God.”
*It is “in Christ” & only in Christ that God forgives anyone!
Illustration:
Older children(adults) who live addicted to substance abuse/God is not their master...the substance is!/A parent of such cannot allow them to enter your house..to influence others within who are not so inclined to ungodliness/May require forceful removal—heart-wrenching soulful Sorrow—Tears—Grief—Disdain—Hatred—Threats—Emotional rollercoaster ride—Guilt....But above all, the Grief that the parent lives with!/Judgment ensues/God’s GRIEF
We have always punished our children when they were out of line...But only because they brought it upon themselves!/At times, I quickly spanked them to set them straight...to keep them from aberrant & unacceptable behaviors/& yes, it absolutely does hurt the spanker more than the spank-ee(disciplined child)/At other times we punished them thru a time of Separation--limiting area(staying home or in a room or away from certain people or places), or Removal--of taking something away from them that they treasured/Aberrant actions prevent & hinder the parent’s right behavior—They break a parent’s heart!/They limit a child’s progress & must be stopped/This mimics God’s GRIEF
Application:
?You invited Divine Repercussions thru God’s GRIEF?
?Your Wickedness invited God’s Repercussion?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
the Cherries & Raisins are NOT for sale!
Action:
Wickedness invites repercussion thru (An) Aberrant...
5. GRIEF(:6) God’s Grief
1. RELATIONSHIPs(:1-2)
2. BURDENs(:3)
3. STANCE(:4)
4. CONTINUITY(:5)Persistence
Pt. 5 only! Presented 01/08/2017am to:
FBC C’belle
206 Storrs Ave. SW(Ave. A)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
Pts. 6-7 Presented 01/08/2012am to:
Needmore Baptist Church
1620 Mt. Vernon Rd.
Woodleaf, NC 27054
