i 
 
 Cljeap i&epasftotp. 
 
 SUNDAY RE J DING. 
 
 NOAH'S FLOOD. 
 
 Sold by HOWARD and EVANS, 
 
 and bv 7„ V 9 ?' ., CCADILLY ' London - B y S - HAZARD, Bathj 
 t Country. ii00ksellers > Newsmen, and Hawkers, in Town and 
 
 < allowance will be made to Shopkeepers and Haiders, 
 ™ICE ONE PENNY, or 6*. per Hundred. 
 
 Cnferejji at fetattoneras fcall. 
 
1 
 
 f I 
 
 MOAH's FLOOD 
 
 i 
 
 OAH was a remarkable instance of a righteous 
 [\ man living in the midst of a wicked gene- 
 ration, and in giving his character and history, we 
 
 N 
 
 ft 
 
 necessarily led into a description of the general 
 slate of mankind at the time in question. 
 Though the world which is now about six 'thou- 
 sand years old, had been created only about one 
 thousand years at the time of Noah's birth, it was 
 probably then very full of inhabitants, for as the 
 life of the same man lasted often for eight or nine 
 hundred years, many generations may be supposed 
 to have flourished together. Adam himself was 
 feat hie same time with Noah's father, and he 
 W only a short time before the birth of Noah, so 
 liatGur fare-father must have seen a very mi- 
 aous and (what was extremely distressing) a 
 
 E 3W P° sterit y- He must have beheld' 
 children's children corrupting one another, and 
 Jngarapid progress in iniquity. 
 J. men began to multiply on the face of the 
 
 tpkSr?T* tmmore and more abandoned. 
 * the ftlr ™ Weve ^ to preserve a chosen seed 
 iamil y ot Seth, from whom also the Savior 
 
4 
 
 was to come, of which line of descendants it i 
 that "a blessing was in it." 1S5ai i 
 
 But did this peculiar seed all walk uonVhH 
 the sight of God ? Ah ! how difficult it if \ T 
 unspotted from the world ! Even these were, 
 fected with the general corruption; an d i Ueein 
 as if the want of separation between the profess 
 of religion, and the open sinners, had hastened ik 
 destruction of the earth, for we read that "thesons 
 of God i by which those who seemed to be of the 
 true religion are very naturally supposed by many 
 to have been intended) saw the daughters of meq 
 that they were fair, and took to them wives ohll 
 which they chose." A general carelessness akt 
 the religious character o{ those with whom the pro 
 fessors of religion intermarried, arising from an 
 unrestrained affection for their persons, appears to 
 be given as a reason why matters so soon came to 
 that dreadful pass which we are now to describe 
 them. The few who retained the knowledge of Goi 
 probably discovered little zeal, and were scarcely! 1 
 be distinguished from others, or at least men were 
 strangely drawn aside into worldly compliances, 
 
 But while sin was thus advancing with ffJ 
 strides, did not God notice or behold it? Yesjlfi 
 often made himself known in those days by signs 
 and judgments : " My spirit," he also says, 
 not always strive with man." It appears then trat 
 the spirit of God strives even with the most : f 
 inga^e sinners ; and in another place, the c ' patien^ 
 of God" is represented as " well nigh, weari" 
 in the days of Noah ;" yet behold his iongsii^ % 
 Still he allows them a respite of an hu r^ 
 twenty years, during which period he wai s ■ r. 
 them with offers of mercy. He warns them d | 
 
I 
 
 & thus proves that he " willeth not 
 
 lie strips an „ Qnd that his destruction is of 
 death of asinircr, 
 
 ^ Self> w said that " God saw that the wicked- 
 jt 1 f man was great in the earth, and that every 
 toation of the thoughts of his heart was only 
 1 winually." Is not this description too strong? 
 tunoZl further evidence of it to be given ? 
 Kswer is, "God saw it" The men them- 
 Lves no doubt did riot see it, and if we could sup- 
 nose them to have had historians of their own, 
 [he«e no doubt, would not have mentioned it, but 
 God's testimony is better than that of a thousand 
 witnesses. 
 
 Such then being the state of mankind, who can 
 wonder to hear the determination of a holy God to 
 destroy the earth with its inhabitants, and to leave 
 a monument of his awful justice for the warning 
 and instruction of every age that was to follow. 
 
 But are none exempted from this general charge 
 of iniquity ? Yes, here is an individual selected for 
 our notice. It is said that " Noah found grace is 
 the eyes of the Lord." The most honourable tes- 
 timony is given of him in scripture ; he is said to 
 be been " a just man, and perfect in his genera- 
 tan;" which does not mean that he was without 
 rank, for we read in another place of his being ac» 
 tolly overtaken by sin, but that he was a sincere 
 or complete and consistent character, uncorrupted 
 tythe wickedness that prevailed in his own time 
 ^generation. It is also said in another place that 
 he walked with God," he was mindful of him, 
 Jjstomed to pray to him, regarding God in all 
 * 1( 1 1 he was also zealous in his cause, for he was 
 Poacher" as well as an example u of righteous 
 
ness;" and while the "lone suffi • 1 
 waited on the sinners around him n u g of G * 
 up for the special purpose of instrn? Was ra N 
 buking them, and warning them of ,u 5 and *i 
 ing destruction. h ° f their approach. 
 
 But while we admire his undanni^ 
 us ask ourselves whether we are enl? 1 "'^ let 
 ous in the same cause, and while ? C ° Wa S e - 
 Noah for renouncing and re^o^Z^ 
 darkness, though licensed by L ner 2 r ,5 ks of 
 ther we equally nmoaRce^p^* 
 ^.Qharenowcommonlypractised. 1 ^ iltl if 
 of the times will justify us, sureiv it 1. S " 
 justified Noah also. - y ffilfiht have 
 
 and^oVfhfr" 6 ^ T ak of the Period of the deW 
 and of the favor shewn to this eminent pers ' 
 
 God condescended to reveal to him the tremS 
 purpose of destroying a ]l fl esh by a flood oC 
 saying unto Noah, " the end of all flesh is befe 
 m£ J a u he ,? n , ters int0 covenant with him, to save 
 him and his little family from the general ruin. 
 
 ine met.iod of deliverance, with all the circum- 
 stances of it, was of divine appointment. The Lord 
 nimseltdirected Noah to prepare anark of immense 
 size which might contain his household, and a 
 small remnant of all other creatures, for the pre- 
 servation of their different species. In this building 
 the various animals, with sufficient provision for 
 their support, were to ride in safety, while one 
 common desolation swept away the inhabitants cf 
 the earth, with all its furniture. 
 
 Behold then the faith and obedience of Noah, for 
 whicn he is mentioned as a bright example to all 
 succeeding ages 1 An inspired writer has told us 
 that "he believed God."—" By faith, Noah being 
 
i f God of things not seen as yet, prepared 
 w , /\hP saving of his house, by the which he 
 
 an 
 
 :ondemn 
 
 ed the world, and became heir of the 
 
 teoustiess which is by faith." 
 
 c 
 
 rt fJ^|iE$ V6ee him with stedfast countenance 
 [determined step, proceeding amidst the pro- 
 f e ridicule of surrounding multitudes, to prepare 
 Iterials for the ark, and to engage workmen in 
 this strange and arduous employment, while at the 
 sime time he reproves that wicked generation, 
 warns them of their danger, and denounces, if they 
 repent not, the approaching judgment of God upon 
 them. Instead of respecting his faith, they smile 
 at his credulity, and scornfully turn away from this 
 venerable man of God. Year after year, however, 
 he pursues his work. Year after year they taunt 
 him with his folly, and amuse themselves in over- 
 looking the vast building as it proceeds. 
 
 Surely, say thev, he is a man of a gloomy ima- 
 gination, of an absurd fancy, or of a disturbed 
 brain: he is forward, troublesome, and censorious, 
 always representing our conduct in the most wicked 
 and abominable light ; the world, they insist, is not 
 so wicked as He pretends. Fathers and children 
 join in deriding him. High and low, rich and poor, 
 men and maidens, equally forgetful of God, and 
 worldly and unbelieving, comfort each other 
 that they are in the right, and that such a goodly 
 multitude as they seem to make, cannot be altoge- 
 ther wicked, and exposed to one general judgment. 
 
 his here worthy of observation, that the com- 
 toon order of the world does not seem to have been 
 overthrown at the time of which we are speaking, 
 font is very possible for the frame of society to be 
 e W together, even when the irreligion and cor- 
 
ruption of man is extremely m . Mf , 
 indeed, we read, "that the «rhl in istl H 
 violence," for when the passn-n, J " 6d 
 restrained by religion, much violence h?l ? ft n °< 
 language and conduct h apt to folil \ lnthe 'r 
 One great feature in their charac e s L C ° Urse ' 
 ever to be their being quite ^Z^ 1 "? 
 pleasures and concerns of this life for th* P y the 
 speaks of them at that time, as eSi g gg* 
 and marrying and being given to marr aJ " 5 
 dently , mplying, that their whole time and L2 
 vvere engagedin tho.se things,and that 
 of these they were led to forget God J* t„™ , 
 the warnings which were se.ft ul ^ m ° 
 
 Let us next view Noah entering into the art 
 according to the commandment which God 2 
 given him; « He, and his sons, and his sons™" 
 
 IS ?Tr 0f t aie W f T ° f the fiood! of leasts also 
 and of fowls, and of creeping things there went in 
 
 two and two, male and female, as God commanded 
 iNoan. And it came to pass, that after seven days that 
 the waters of the flood vvere upon the earth, and all 
 the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and 
 the windows of heaven were opened." 
 
 But while we accompany Noah into the ark, let 
 us turn our eyes to the multitudes who remained 
 . without, of whom no doubt he took his leave, with 
 many painful sensations. 
 
 What a wonderful and tremendous scene! Oh 1 
 the lamentations and bitter cries of thousands now 
 perishing by that very calamity, the kind noticesof 
 which they had refused to attend to, orhadpre- 
 sumptously derided. Many of Noah's dear rela- 
 tions were included in this number. What anguish 
 mus.t he have felt for them : but in vain !: they bad 
 
gro 
 
 few 
 
 : , ed his warning, their day of grace was past 
 fcS f uld afford them no relief. 
 
 5 °° w the rain overflows the meadows, and 
 uvhde multitude seek, no doubt the rising 
 d- but the waters increase upon them. A 
 Probably reach the mountains, and they trust 
 fhlt at least, the highest rocks on the mountain- 
 m shall save them : V But the waters prevail ex- 
 ceeding, and all the high hills that were under the 
 whole heaven were covered. Fifteen cubits up- 
 wards did the waters prevail, and the mountains 
 were covered. And all flesh died that moved upon 
 (he earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, 
 and of every creeping thing that creepeth on the 
 earth, and every man, and Noah only remained 
 alive,' and they that were with him in the ark." 
 
 It is no unimportant remark, that the truth of 
 this story of which we have thus given the plain 
 scriptural account is confirmed by a variety of 
 striking circumstances, not necessary here to be 
 mentioned, and also by the several traditions of va- 
 rious and distant nations, differing indeed in then, 
 religion, but agreeing in their account of an ancient 
 and general deluge. 
 
 And should we not feel terror for ourselves, 
 while we contemplate these effects of the divine 
 vengeance? Who can stand before this holy Lord- 
 Godi We see here that the God who threatens will 
 ?ko execute his threatenings, and that though hand 
 f°in in hand, the wicked shall not go unpunished. 
 
 But a pleasing prospect opens itself to righteous 
 Noah, v for God remembered Noah, and every 
 ilv ing thing with him in the ark, and made a wind 
 *° P ass °ver the earth, and the waters were assuaged> 
 
10 
 
 and the ark rested on the mountains of A 
 in the tenth month, the first dav of th P at ' 
 
 the tops of the mountains seen " Noah° n * Were 
 forth a raven and afterwards a dove from ?h ^ 
 flow of the ark, " the dove, as yet could find * 
 for the sole of her foot, and returned into tteSR 
 and again " after other seven days he sends f \\ 
 the dove" again. " And the dove came into! 
 in the evening, and lo in her mouth was anoliv! 
 leaf plucked off. so that Noah knew that the water 
 were ahated from off the earth." What a pleasta 
 confidence would he now feel of his deliverance! 
 Wherever indeed he turned his eye, he would see 
 the devastation which sin had made, nor can he be 
 supposed to have reflected without unutterable an- 
 guish on the multitudes that had perished in their 
 iniquities, ye: a sense of gratitude for his own won- 
 derful escape, seems to have overpowered him, and 
 tn have swallowed up for the time every other 
 concern; He hegins the new duties of the life 
 which had been preserved to him by an act of so- 
 lemn worship to his preserver. 
 
 " Noah builded an alter unto the Lord and took 
 of every clean beast and offered burnt offerings on 
 the altar." 
 
 Sacrifices no doubt had been origiaally appointed 
 by God, for the sake of shewing forth that great 
 atonement which in due time was to be made 
 through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, " that iamb 
 of God which takeih away the sins of the world 
 by whose blood, and not by the blood of bulls and 
 goats, the iniquities of men were to be pardoned 
 and the true vVorsiiipners were to be brought nigh 
 to God» 
 
. , tbc lord said, " I W»t not again curse the 
 j v more for man's sake, for the imagma- 
 g rou 7 heart is evil from his youth, neither 
 W «\^n smite any more every li ving thing as I 
 \kme While the earth remaineth, seed time, 
 b Tl arvest and cold and heat, and summer and 
 Ster, and day and night shall not cease." 
 
 "'And God said, I do set my bow in the cloud, 
 nd it shall be for a token of a covenant between 
 me mi the earth. And it shall come to pass, that 
 when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow 
 shall be seen in the cloud : and 1 will look upon it, 
 that I may remember the everlasting covenant 
 between God and every living, creature of all -flesh- 
 that is on the earth." 
 
 Thus were the tokens of God's meucy give* 
 immediately after He had been displaying his most 
 awful vengeance, and if we are walking in the steps- 
 of Noah we may look on the rainbow, even to this 
 day, with confidence and' joy, because it is a sign 
 of security, not from a flood of waters only, -but 
 from all the effects of the wrdt'h of* God, It 
 spoken of in the book of Revelations as the peculiar 
 emblem which surrounds our Savior, for when, he 
 is described as " sitting on his throne," it is said, 
 "there was a rainbow round about the throne/' 
 implying that as God was true to his promise'made 
 to Noah, both delivering him froHh a ttood of wa* 
 ters and no more drowning the world for the sins 
 of men, so also would he be true to the everlasting 
 covenant made through Jesus 'ChrLt, who is indeed 
 t' e Savior as he is promised in- the scripture, of 
 those who put their trust in him. $ : 
 
 And it is said in like manner in Isai ah, for the 
 comfort oSeach individual who sh&ttbfc7oQiVd among 
 
1 25 
 
 God s faithful people. « For this is as the 
 Noah unto me, for as I have sworn that th f 
 0f Noah should no more go over the earth ° W f ers 
 I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee 
 the mountains shall depart and the hills be rem 
 but my kindness shall not depart from thee, rieiS 
 shall the covenant of thy peace be removed 2 
 the Lord that hath mercy on thee." " 
 
 I think we may reduce die whole instruction to be 
 gained from this awful and affecting story to these 
 two heads, I mean we may learn the " severity" f 
 God on the one hand, and his "goodness" on the 
 other. 
 
 Men are not apt to believe that God will be true 
 to his word, especially in respect to his threatnings 
 against the wicked. They chuse to conceive of 
 Him as some easy being who," because he is 
 merciful, will either not punish at all, or will 
 not punish severely, or at least will not ex- 
 tend his punishment to any great number of his 
 creatures, and when the preachers of righteous- 
 ness stand up like Noah, and declare in the very 
 words of scripture, his eternal judgments on the 
 wicked, multitudes are apt to think they will never 
 come to pass, and they treat the preachers muchas 
 this wicked and unbelieving world treated Noah 
 before them. But the history which has now been 
 given shews that God is not the sort of being he is 
 supposed to be, and affords a full answer to this 
 dangerous delusion. Cf For if God spared not the old 
 world, but saved Noah the eighth person a preacher 
 of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the 
 world of the ungodly. And burning the cities ot 
 Sodom and Gomo/rah into ashes, condemned them 
 
13 
 
 ,„ an overthrow, making them an example unto 
 ?w after should live ungodly : 1 he Lord 
 ^ rth how to deliver the godly out of temptation 
 to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment 
 
 ^SuchTs the argument drawn by the apostle Peter 
 fro m these ancient judgments, and it is very re- 
 adable that uur Saviour himself makes nearly 
 the same use, though in a still stronger way, of 
 these well known and famous events, explaining by 
 the means of them the surprise and consternation 
 which will overtake not the few profligate and more 
 abandoned only, but the worldly minded and care- 
 less, and unbelieving, in the day of judgment : and 
 how important as well as truly charitable is it f re- 
 quently to warn men of these sayings of that Savior, 
 whose name we all profess to reverence, and in the 
 truth of whose words how shall we refuse to trust ? 
 For are not many persons seen living at their ease 
 up to the hour of their death, who are by no means 
 religious and yet are no more afraid that a day of 
 wrath is coming, than the world of unbelievers 
 were on the day before the flood. Hear then I say 
 our Saviors description of the surprise which will 
 one day overtake such persons. 
 
 "As were the days of Noah so also," says Christ, 
 "shall the coming of the Son of Man be. For as 
 in the days that were before the flo > d, they were 
 eating and drinking, marrying and giving in mar- 
 riage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, 
 and knew not until the flood came and took them 
 all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of 
 Man be. Likewise, also as it w t s in the days of 
 Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, they 
 s °ld, they planted, they builded. But the same day 
 
It 
 
 that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fi 
 «one from Heaven and destroyed them ^ bri| n- 
 thus shall it be in the day whenT q fi *» 
 revealed." J the Son of Man 
 
 revealed. 
 
 en 
 
 an i s 
 
 ul 
 
 1 
 
 for 
 so 
 
 But on he other hand, let the humbler f i 
 Christian learn from another part dBSS %ft 
 to trust in thealm;:1,ty fi Tac. an i^ e J' lmest or 
 
 - th, threatening of Godf^^ S&! 
 also are his promises sure to them that u "' 
 Repent and believe in Jesus ChH g» 
 be safe amidst all dangers. When ! ' a " 
 and terrible day of the skull come, « j J g 
 
 the elements shall me lt with fervent heat a H 
 earth with all the works thereof shal! be fiSS 
 they havmg committed their souls into the hi 
 of Christ, having believed his testimony and walk 
 though vn t he midst of an evil generation, 2 
 ch-ng to his holy word, shall then be like Noah iri 
 the ark safe amidst the surrounding storm. And 
 It may be added, that even in this world, when the 
 times grow dark and threatening, and calamity, 
 either public or private, seems to break in upon 
 tnernlike a flood, when the tempest lowers 
 and the clouds seem to gather over all -the sur- 
 rounding countries— even then I say, Gods pro- 
 mises of mercy shall be seen by them shining like 
 *ne rambow over the cloud, for amidst all their 
 troubles and afflictions they shall be reminded of 
 them interest in the Savior and in the everlasting 
 covenant of their God. 
 
 THE ENJ?, 
 
T 
 
 THE FOLLOWING 
 
 R A C T 
 
 ion, 
 
 i LATELY PRINTED ANP PUBLISHED BY 
 
 UV HOWARD and EVANS. 
 
 The History of Mr. BragweJl 7 Parts price Cel. 
 
 4he Two Shoemakers - - - 5 ditto 4 of. 
 
 1 Pr/Cf Threepence, 
 
 The Story of Joseph and his brethren. 
 The Explanation of the Ten Commandments. 
 Prayers to be used by a Young Person, by a Grown Per- 
 D by iheMastei or Mistress of a Sunday School, &c. 
 
 Price Twopence. 
 The History of Tom White, rhe Postillion. 
 The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain, 
 jjjack Giles the Poacher, in Two Parts. 
 
 Price Three -Halfpence. 
 Watts's Hymns for Children, complete, with Prayer** 
 The History of Mary Wood. 
 
 Mr. Fantom. 
 
 The Labourers in the Vineyard. 
 
 The Valley of Tears, in Two Parts. 
 
 The Judgment Day. 
 
 Price One Penny. 
 
 The Good Mother's Legacy, 
 
 The Two Soldiers. 
 The Thunderstorm, 
 'lis all for the Best. 
 The Cottage Cook. 
 The Sunday School. 
 Hester Wilmot, Part I. II. 
 The Sacrament of the Lord's 
 Supper. 
 
 A new Christmas Tract. 
 Good Friday Tract. 
 If 'ey the Porter. 
 
 : e £ll of Adam, 
 e Black Prince. 
 
 eCheapside Apprentice. 
 Lancash,re Collier Girl. 
 
 lk Shopkeep, 
 
 >er. 
 
 4 parts. 
 
 The Beggarly Boy. 
 Noah's Flood. 
 The Troubles of Life. 
 The Harvest Home. 
 Sorrowful 8am. 
 Tawney Ifachel. 
 Charles Jones, the Footman. 
 General Resurrection and Day 
 
 of Judgment. 
 Onesimus 
 
 Patient Joe, Wild Robert, 
 Faith and Works, Gin Shop 
 
 Sinful Sally. Rol en and Rich- 
 ard, Hampshire Tragedy, 
 Bad Bargain, 
 
 Turn the ( arper, Christmas 
 «ymn, Army of Martyrs. 
 
 Ho ^rd and Evans, Printers, 42, Long-lane, West smithfield,