god's determination to destroy man.
Gen. vi. 6, 7. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man, whom L have created, from the face of the earth.
THE evil of sin is visible wherever we turn our eyes. Not only has a manifest deterioration taken place in the intellectual and moral qualities of man, but the material world itself, together with all the brute creation, bears marks of God's displeasure, and of the curse inflicted on account of sin. The spring with all its vivifying powers, or the autumn with all its profusion of matured fruits, does not more sur- pass the desolate appearances of winter, than the earth at its first formation did the state to which it is now reduced. It was the garden of the Lord, replete with beauty, and productive of nothing which did not minister to the comfort of its inhabitants : but it is become a waste howling wilderness, infected with plagues, agitated with storms, and fruitful in occasions of sorrow. Whether any additional curse was inflicted on it at the time of the deluge, we can- not say: but the shortening of man's life from eight or nine hundred years to less than one tenth of that period, seems to indicate, that both the frame of our bodies, and every thing that contributes to their support, have undergone a further change, and " be- come subject to vanity" in a yet greater degree, than they were before the deluge. However this may be, it is certain that, of all the judgments with which God has ever visited his rebellious creatures, the deluge was the most tremendous. All other expres- sions of God's anger have been limited to a few individuals, or cities, or nations ; but this extended over the face of the whole earth.
That we may view aright this awful dispensation, let us consider,
I. The state of the antediluvian world —
14.1 god's determination to destroy man. 71
The degeneracy of mankind had been advancing with rapid strides from the time that Adam fell, to the time spoken of in our text. Their state was characterized by
1 . General supinen ess —
[Our blessed Lord informs us, that " in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, till the day that Noah entered into the arka." By this he did not mean to condemn the use of those means which God himself had appointed for the maintenance of life and the preservation of our species, but to inform us, that the people were altogether addicted to carnal and sensual indul- gences, without paying any regard to their spiritual and eternal interests. The great ends of life were quite forgotten by them; and their only study was, how to dissipate care, and spend their time in pleasure.]
2. Awful depravity —
[The expressions used in the preceding and following context clearly shew, that wickedness of every kind was prac- tised without restraint11. The law of God being disregarded, and human laws not having been framed and executed as they are amongst us, the strong and violent oppressed the weak and peaceable ; and whatsoever any man's interest or inclination prompted him to do, that he did without shame or remorse. We may form some idea perhaps of the state which then existed, from what still exists among uncivilized nations, and amongst us also, when the restraints of human laws are withdrawn0.]
3. Obstinate impenitence —
[For a hundred and twenty years did Noah continue to warn that wicked generation11. By his practice also as well as by his preaching, did he" condemn them. Before their eyes " he prepared (with vast expense and labour) an ark for the preservation of his household e ;" giving them thereby a certain pledge that the threatened judgments should be inflicted on the impenitent and unbelieving : but they, no doubt, ridiculed