word of encouragement here for believing parents today who have unsaved children? Do we remember the word spoken to the Philippian jailor-"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house"-do we appropriate it and plead it before God?

Sixth, we learn of the witness of Noah's faith-"by which he condemned the world." In considering this clause we would first inquire into the nature of faith. What is faith? In Rom. 14:23, we read, "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Faith is the opposite of sin. What then is sin? The divinely inspired answer is found in 1 John 3:4 "Sin is lawlessness" (R. V.). Sin is more than an act, it is an attitude. Sin is rebellion against God's government, a defiance of His authority. Sin is spiritual anarchy. Sin is the exercise of self-will, self-assertion, self-independency. God says, "Thou shalt," and I don't; what is that but me saying "I won't!" God says "Thou shalt not," and I do; what is that but me saying, "I will!" But faith is in every respect the antithesis of sin. Faith is also more than an act, it is an attitude. Faith is submission to God's government, a yielding to His authority, a compliance with His revealed will. Faith in God is a coming to the end of myself. Faith is the spirit of entire dependency on God. There is a great gulf then separating between those who are members of the household of faith and those who are the children of the wicked one. We walk by faith, they by sight; we live for God's glory, they for self-gratification; we live for eternity, they for time. And every Christian who is walking by faith, necessarily condemns the world. His conduct is a silent rebuke upon the course followed by the ungodly. His life is a witness against their sin.

Finally, we learn here the reward of Noah's faith-he "became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." Faith brings a present blessing: it wins God's smile of approval, fills the heart with peace, oils the machinery of life, and makes "all things" possible. But the grand reward of faith is not received in this life. The inheritance into which faith conducts us is not possessed here and now. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob never did anything more than "sojourn in the land of promise." The children of God are "heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ," but the entering into their inheritance is yet future-we do not say the enjoy

ment of it, for faith appropriates it and revels in it even now. The Son Himself has been "appointed heir of all things" (Heb. 1:2), and it is not until He enters into His possessions that we shall share them with Him. Meanwhile, we are, with Noah, "heirs of the righteousness which is by faith."

11. THE FLOOD

GENESIS 6

In our article on "Enoch" it was pointed out that the name of his child intimated that God had given warning to him of the coming of the Deluge "And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah" (Gen. 5:21). The signification of Methuselah is, "When he is dead it shall be sent," i. e., the Deluge (Newberry). A divine revelation then was memorialized in this name. The world was to last only as long as this son of Enoch lived. If 1 Peter 3:20 be linked to Genesis 5:21 an interesting and precious thought is brought before us: "Which (the antediluvians now in 'prison') some time were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah." To what does this "long-suffering" refer which "waited" while the ark was a preparing? How long had God's patience been exercised? Nine hundred and sixty-nine years seems to be the answer-the span of Methuselah's life. As long as Enoch's son lived the world was safe; but when he died, then should it (the Deluge) be sent. Is it not a most impressive demonstration of God's "long-suffering" that the man whose life was to measure the breath of a world's probation, was permitted to live longer than any one else ever did live! Nine hundred and sixty-nine years-what an exhibition of God's mercy! How wondrous are the ways of Jehovah! As that child was to live until the time came for mankind to be swept away by the flood; and, as during this interval God's servants were to warn men from the coming wrath, shall not the mercy of God prolong that day? Shall not this man live longer than any other man ever did live? Shall not his age be unique, standing out from the ages of all others?-because that from the hour of his birth the Divine decree had gone forth, "When the breath leaves his body the throes of dissolution shall commence; when he departs the thunder clouds of God's anger shall burst, the windows of heaven shall be opened, the foundations of the great deeps shall give way, and every living thing shall be swept from this earth by the besom of Divine destruction." And so it was. Methuselah out

lived all his contemporaries and remained on earth almost a thousand years.

Having viewed the postponement of the flood through the long-suffering of God, let us next consider the provocation of it. We have already dwelt upon the fact that the New Testament Scriptures call our attention to the "longsuffering of God (which) waited in the days of Noah" (1 Pet. 3:20). These words intimate that God's longsuffering had already been exercised and that it continued to "wait" even in the days of Noah. This causes us to inquire how and when had God's "long-suffering" been manifested previously to Noah?

The word "long-suffering" implies that God had dealt in mercy, that His mercy had been slighted, and that His patience (humanly speaking) had been sorely tried. And this leads us to ask another question-a deeply interesting and important one: What Divine light did the antediluvians enjoy? What knowledge of God, of His character and of His ways, did they possess? What was the measure of their responsibility? To answer these questions is to discover the enormity of their sin, is to measure the extent of their wickedness, is to determine the degree of their aggravation of God; and, consequently, is to demonstrate the magnitude of His long-suffering in bearing with them for so long.

While the record is exceedingly brief, sufficient is revealed to show that men in general possessed no small amount of light even in days before the flood. Not only had they, in common with all generations the "light of Nature," or as Romans 1:19, 20 expresses it, "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead"-which rendered them "without excuse"; not only had they the testimony of conscience (Rom. 2:14, 15), but, in addition, they possessed the light of Divine revelation. In what this latter consisted we shall now endeavor to show.

First, man had the Promise of a Redeemer. Before our first parents were banished from Eden, God declared that the woman's Seed should bruise the serpent's head, and for His appearing believers looked and longed (see Gen. 51:

18). Second: There was the institution of expiatory sacrifices as the one means of approach to Jehovah. This was made known by God to Adam and Eve by means of the coats of skins which He provided as a covering for their nakedness. The meaning of His gracious condescension was clearly understood by them, and the significance of it and need of such sacrifice was communicated to their children, as is clear from the acts of Cain and Abel. That such knowledge was handed down from father to son is also seen in the fact that as soon as Noah came out of the ark he "built an altar unto the Lord...and offered burnt offerings on the altar" (Gen. 8:20).

Third: There was the "mark" which God set upon Cain (Gen. 4:15), which was a reminder of his disapprobation, a visible memorial of his own sin, and a solemn warning unto those among whom his lot was subsequently cast. Fourth: As we indicated in our comments on Genesis 4, the institution of the Sabbath was even then established, as may be seen from the fact that there was a set time for worship (Gen. 4: 3, margin). Fifth: The longevity of the patriarchs must be borne in mind. But two lives spanned the interval from the beginning of human history to the Deluge itself,.namely Adam's and Methuselah's. For nine hundred and thirty years the first man lived to tell of his original creation and condition, of his wicked disobedience against God, and of the fearful consequences which followed his sin. A striking illustration of the communication of this knowledge from one generation to another may be seen in the words of Lamech, who lived to within a few years of the flood itself-words recorded in Genesis 5:29, where it will be found he makes reference to "the ground which the Lord God hath cursed." Sixth: There was the preaching of Enoch through whom God warned the world of its approaching doom (Jude 14, 15). Seventh: The mysterious and supernatural translation of Enoch, which must have made a profound impression upon those among whom his lot was cast. Eighth: The preaching of Noah (2 Pet. 2:25), followed by his building of the ark, by which he condemned the world. Ninth: The ministry of the Holy Spirit (Gen. 6:3; 1 Pet. 3:19), striving with men and, as the record implies, this for some considerable time. From these things then it is abundantly clear that the antediluvians fell not through ignorance but by wil