In this sermon, the preacher discusses the similarities between the days of Noah and the closing days of the church age and the tribulation period. He highlights that both eras were characterized by violence and corruption. The preacher also emphasizes the importance of recognizing God's creation and the consequences of neglecting His salvation. He references Romans chapter 1 and Hebrews 2 and 3 to support his points and urges the audience to not turn their backs on the light and knowledge of God.

And verse one, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and God said, Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness he called night, and the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament, and it was so. And God called the firmament heaven, and the evening and the morning were the second day. Let us turn to Genesis chapter nine. Genesis nine, and the first verse, And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea. Into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you, even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat? And surely your blood of your lives will I require. At the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso shedeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God made he him. And you, be fruitful and multiply, bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein. And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech. And it came to pass that they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men built it. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language, and this they begin to do. And now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth, and they left off to build the city. Therefore the name of it is called Babel, because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth, and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. May the Lord bless to us the reading of his word. Now, we have been noticing in the nights that are past that God's dealings with men are divided into dispensations or into ages. Now, these dispensations bring before us that the world is like a household which is ordered and directed or administered by God according to a certain pattern for each particular age. And we have seen how that the six days in Genesis chapter one, one doesn't like to call them the six days of creation, because as we have seen, creation is really brought before us in the first verse of the first chapter of Genesis, but the six days are rather six days of reconstruction or six days of reformation in which the Lord is forming the earth in order to make it a habitable place for man to live in. And we have seen how these six days, they foreshadow for us six ages of human history in which God deals with mankind from the very beginning of time to the very end of time. And we have seen how in the first day God said, let there be light, and there was light, and God saw the light that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness, and God called the light day, and the darkness he called night, and the evening and the morning were the first day, or it was day number one. And in this day we find how God brought the light to bear upon the chaotic state of creation, and of course all it revealed was nothing but water surrounding this entire earth, as yet there was nothing upon the earth. It was a barren, it was a fruitless, it was a darkened earth, but the light begins to penetrate, and that is the way that God always begins to deal with man. Now, it's strange that men seem to have the idea that they can learn and know about everything under the sun, but when it comes to the knowledge of God, or knowing God, men and women are content to be in ignorance. They're content to be in darkness. How many there are in the world today? If you were to ask them, do you expect to be in heaven? Well, they would answer, I'm not sure whether I'll be in heaven or not. I hope I'll be there. I'm trying to do the best I can to be there, but after all, none of us can be sure until we leave this world, and then we'll find out whether we're going to be saved or not. But, the first thing that God does with the human soul is the first thing that he did with creation, and that is, God shines in with his light, and with his light, men in the first age of human history, a period from Adam to Noah of about 1656 years, man did have light from God. There was never a time in man's history when man did not have light from God. The reason why many heathen nations today are shrouded in darkness is not because they did not at one time have light from God, but it is because they have turned their backs upon the light, and as Romans chapter 1 tells us, when they knew God, well, let us turn to Romans chapter 1. I would like you to read how heathenism came into being, that heathenism was not always heathenism, but it was when men turned their backs upon the light that God gave them, that God gave them up to the darkness in which they are at the present time. Notice in Romans chapter 1 and verse 19, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath showed 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 in Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imagination, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like the corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things, wherefore God also gave them up. Now, there you notice, friends, that in the time when man did know God, when man did have the knowledge of God, when man had the light of God, instead of responding to that light, man turned his back upon the light, and the result was that he was given up to darkness, and so the result is that men and women over the entire face of the world are without excuse. People sometimes ask the question, well, are the heathen lost? What about those who have never had the gospel preached to them? Are they lost? They certainly are lost, because they have had a witness from God, and they have turned their backs upon that witness. It is not, of course, in heathen countries the full light of the gospel. It's a wonderful privilege to be born in Omaha, or to be born in Nebraska, or the United States of America, to have the word of God in its fullness at our disposal. My, just think what a wonderful bargain it is. You can go into a store, into a dime store, and you can usually pick up a testament for about 25 or 50 cents, and for that 25 or 50 cents, you go to that testament, and that testament will give you the key to heaven. That testament will tell you how you can become the possessor of unsearchable riches, unutterable, eternal riches, all through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, so that the person who is born and raised in America, and has the word of God at his disposal, who listens to the gospel, yes, and rejects that gospel, that person will be just as lost as the poor heathen who does not hear the gospel, but his responsibility will be greater. And the great fight for our judgment, when the poor heathen stands before God, who has never heard the gospel, but nevertheless has had life from God, so that he is without excuse, that person will not be punished with the same degree of punishment as the one who has heard the gospel, has had the word of God at his disposal, has neglected God's way of salvation, perished in his or her sins. It would be far better to have been born a heathen in Africa, and never have had the opportunity to accept the gospel and go into eternity, than to be born in Nebraska or the United States of America, have the opportunities that they do, and reject the Savior, and go into eternity without Christ. Oh, if there's anyone in this audience this evening, and you are not saved, you are still rejecting the word, why don't be so occupied with what will happen to the heathen who have never heard the message? The question is, what will happen to you who have heard the message, and yet have neglected the Lord Jesus Christ? There is one unanswerable question in the Bible, and that unanswerable question we find in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? My friend, as you sit in this meeting tonight, how are you going to escape the wrath of God, the judgment of God, if you neglect God's salvation? There is no possible way that a person can escape if that person neglects the salvation of God. And so, man had light, even the heathen had light at one time, and the reason he is a heathen today is because he has turned his back on the light that God gave, and the result is God has given them up to darkness. And if you read that first chapter of Romans, you'll read three times over that God gave them up. He gave them up to the lust of the body. He gave them up to the fulfilling of the desires of their souls. He gave them up in spirit when they desired not the knowledge of God. Cast the knowledge of God out of their educational systems. And I think it's a very serious thing that our so-called civilization and our governance has cast the word of God out of our educational system, because if they would only read Romans chapter one from verse 28 to the end of the chapter, you'll find what will be the result of those who put the knowledge of God out from the reach of men and women as we are doing in our so-called United States of America today. Now, we find that God gave man life. He gave him the light of creation to show that there is a God. He gave him the light of conscience. Man knew that he was a sinner, and he gave him the light of promise. For no sooner had man sinned in the Garden of Eden than God gave the promise of a coming Savior. Isn't that significant, friends? Adam and Eve had committed only one sin. They had committed only one sin, and people would look upon that sin as a very small sin. Why, just to partake of the forbidden fruit, what a small thing! And yet, because of that one sin, they lost paradise. They lost their innocence. They were brought under death. They became subject to death. They received a sinful nature. They had a condemning conscience, and it required nothing less than the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. If another sin from that time to the time that Christ came into the world, if not another sin had been committed, Christ would have had to come into the world to die for that one sin, because there was no other way that that sin, or any sin, could be put away. Am I speaking to someone tonight, and you think that perhaps your sins are not so many? Oh, you say, well, it's true that I do sin once in a while, but after all, my sins aren't so great. My sins aren't so many. My sins aren't so terrible that people think that I'm a terrible sinner. But friends, if you are guilty of only one sin, there's no way that that sin can be put away except through the death of the Lord Jesus on Calvary's cross. You must come to him. You must have dealings with him. You must exercise faith in him, because the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. But that one sin that was committed had in it the seeds of many sins, because those that were born into the world, Cain and Abel, and all who followed them, were born into the world sinners. And so, as sinners were multiplied, sin increased, and sin also multiplied, and we find that in that first stage of human history, Abel had life from God. Noah had life from God. Enoch had life from God. And we find that that first stage of human history, when man had life from God, and he was left as it were to himself, we find that the world went so terrible. It was so filled with violence and corruption that God said, the end of all flesh is come before me. Now, if you'll notice, the first day and the fourth day are quite similar. In the first day we have life. In the fourth day, the heavens are arranged, the sun and the moon and the stars are arranged to shine upon the earth, picturing for us this fourth age of human history. There is a similarity between the first age and the fourth age. Remember, our Lord Jesus in Matthew 24 said, as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it also be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. And the characteristics of Noah's day are the characteristics of the closing days of the church age, and the characteristics of the tribulation period, and what are they? They are that the world was filled with violence. The world was filled with corruption. Those are the two characteristics of Noah's day. They were days in which the world was filled with violence. They were days in which the world was filled with corruption. Isn't violence increasing in our society? Why in some of the big cities? Why even here in your city of Omaha? It's not safe for a woman to walk down the streets at night in certain sections of the city. You've had incidents here in Omaha that have rocked and shocked parts of the Midwest with some of the gruesome crimes that have been committed on the streets of Omaha, and not only of Omaha, but of Des Moines and Chicago and New York and other cities where gangs and mobs are walking the streets, and where in certain places it's not safe for respectable people to be found after certain hours of the evening. What does it bring before us? It brings before us that violence is increasing, and corruption as we think of the corruption that there is in so many different avenues of American life in our schools, in our business life, in our political society, in all of these various avenues of life, corruption is speedily permeating the every rank and every status of life here in America. Corruption, what does it indicate? It indicates just as it did in Noah's day. When God looked down and saw it, God said, the end of all flesh is come before me. And that age, we remember, was brought to a close with a flood, just as this age is going to be brought to a close by the return of our Lord Jesus and the taking out of this world of those who belong to him. And so the first age ended with a flood. Only eight people were saved in the arm, Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their three wives, and the waters of the flood rose until everyone in the earth perished. Now, sometimes people wonder whether or not that flood was universal. Well, I believe that that flood was universal. I believe that it wiped out everything upon the face of the earth. People say, well, but how could it be universal? After all, we can take all the water that there is in the earth, and we can measure it, and it wouldn't be enough to cover, while it would be enough to cover some mountains or some hills, but it wouldn't be enough to cover all the hills and the mountains that there are upon the face of the earth. But we must remember, my friends, that before the third day, when the earth was in the chaotic condition, the entire earth was submerged in water. There was no dry land to be seen. And on the second day, of which we want to speak tonight, as the earth, because we believe that the earth was in that flooded, overwhelmed condition, evidently what had happened when the original creation was brought into that chaotic state is that the sun was withdrawn from the earth, and the result was that all the waters that were in atmospheric clouds above, in the clouds above, all these condensed, and the result was that they precipitated down upon the earth, and the result was that the entire earth was submerged in water, and it was enveloped in vapors into which, on the first day, the light shone in. Not, of course, as clearly as we have it today, because we have the atmosphere, we have also the sun in its proper relation to the earth, but nevertheless in such a state that it was possible to be said of it that light was. But, here on the second day, we have brought before us an atmosphere brought into being that separated the waters which were above from the waters which were beneath. Notice what it tells us here in the sixth verse, and God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament, and it was so. And God called the firmament heaven, and the evening and the morning were the second day. Now, this word, firmament, is really and truly, Hebrew scholars tell us who have looked at the original of the word in the Hebrew language, it is really an expanse, an expanse of space, an expanse that separates, as it were, the waters beneath from the waters which are above. Now, we know that is the present state of creation. We are thankful for the waters that there are above the earth, as well as the waters which are in the earth. We know what a tremendous, what tremendous miracles are wrought before our eyes day after day, and miracles that are wrought that we cannot see. What a miracle it is when rain comes down from heaven. I was just reading in the book of Job today, and it was speaking about, Behold, God is great. How great is God? Well, where is the greatness of God to be seen? It says in the 37th or 38th chapters of Job that he is great, he maketh small the drops of rain. My, he maketh small the drops of rain. You know, it's wonderful that water comes down to us in that form, comes down so gently. Sometimes we have a terrific rainfall in a very short time, and when that water comes down with such terrific force, and with such tremendous volume, what a terrible catastrophe it works upon the face of the earth. But God, in many cases, he causes the rain to come down so gently that instead of destroying the plant, and dividing the earth, and causing great gullies in the earth, it comes down gently, it waters and ministers to the plant so that it can take it in. Well, here we have the waters above separated from the waters beneath by the atmosphere. How much water there is in the oceans of the world? Salty water would be very easy for us to drink. We couldn't drink it and live on it, but every day a miracle is being performed as the sun is drawing that water from the salty sea, and as it draws it by means of evaporation, while it draws it up into the heavens and purifies at the same time, the winds take it and they send it to the place where it is to be dropped, and then gently it falls upon the face of the earth. In the January issue of the Reader's Digest, they have a very interesting article about the water shortage. Where is the water shortage? And this writer brings out some interesting points about the water, and one of the points that he impresses that causes the water shortage is, he impresses upon the reader how that in certain spots in the United States, as well as in other parts of the world, as much as one-fourth of a body of water is evaporated within a period of a year. I'm speaking of large bodies of water, so that we know that there are tremendous volumes and bodies of water in the heavens above. God introduces, or brings in in the second day, the atmosphere a new element, a new power to affect life on the earth, and thus sets forth for us the second age of human history. When after the flood, as we see in Genesis chapter 9, God brought in something new in men's relations with one another, as well as his administration of their affairs. What did God institute? Well, notice what it tells us here in Genesis chapter 9, and verse 4. It says, But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat? And surely your blood of your lives will I require. At the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man, at the hand of every man's brother, will I require the life of man. Whoso shedeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he man. Now, here we have the principle of government introduced. Where did government come from? Why do some men have the authority and the power to rule over others? Have you ever asked yourself the question, well, where did government come from? Why do some people have the right to rule over others? Sometimes even to take the life of another person. Where do they get the authority? Where do they get the authority to come into a person's life and break up his life? Take this person, perhaps, who is setting up his life, and suddenly the United States government says, well, we want you for our service. Yes, but I'm married, and I've got a job, and I've got a family to raise. Yes, but we need you for our service. And without hesitation, they take him, and they'll break up a life. They'll break up several lives. Where do they get that authority? Where do they get that power from? Up until the time of the flood, there was no government. As far as we know, up until the time of the flood, every man was his own ruler. Every man did just what he pleased. In fact, when we turn to the fifth chapter of Genesis, we find that one man said, well, came to a man because of something that he did, but he says, if anybody does anything to me, well, I'll do twice as much to him and to his. We find that men were, as it were, self-willed, and that's what brought violence into the earth. I think it is very significant that today we're living in a day when people are despising government, when even so-called religious leaders are telling people, well, if you don't want to obey the law, if you think that a law is bad, why then you just disregard that law. You violate that law, and many of these religious leaders are leading people in defiance of the orders of government, because they set themselves up as judges as to what law they think is good, and what law they think is bad. Here we find that God gave into the hands of man the authority of government. God gave into the hands of man the authority to take a fellow man's life on what condition? Whoso should have man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he man. I know there are people today who don't believe in punishment, but I want you to notice that here God said, Whoso should have man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he man. And the farther men get away from God's word, the deeper the difficulties that they get into. The people say, well, after all, is that verse consistent with the Christian profession? Do you think that a person in this Christian age should have his life taken from him? Let us turn to Romans chapter 3. What is to be our responsibility toward government? Notice what we have Paul teaching in Romans chapter 13 and verse 1. He says, Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. Now notice when Paul was writing this to the Romans, they didn't have a very pleasant form of government over them. The Roman government was an enemy of Christianity. The Roman government commanded that they should worship the emperor whom they considered deity. Something, of course, against which Christians took a stand, and for which they were martyred during the early days of the Christian testimony. Rather than worship the Roman emperor, or worship according to the Roman's religion, they lay down their lives for their faith. If government commands us to worship someone else beside the Lord, even to worship it instead of the Lord, or above the Lord, by then of course we must take our stand for the Lord, and the time comes when we must obey God rather than obey man. If the government commands us to do something immoral that is contrary to the moral laws of God, why then we must take our stand for that which is right, and that which is moral and clean in contradiction to that which is evil? But on the other hand, we are to recognize that every soul is to be subject unto the powers that be. That is observing the speed limits too, as much as possible. You know, I remember one time riding with a brother, and he came to a stop sign. When he came to the stop sign, he slowed and looked this way and that, and then he stopped. He was going right on driving. And I said to my brother, I said, that was a stop sign there. He says, well, he says, you know, he says, I was keeping the spirit of the law. He says, I wasn't obeying the law itself, but I was keeping the spirit of the law. And I thought, didn't say anything, but I was thinking about it, and I'd come to the conclusion that it wasn't the spirit of the law, but it was the spirit of lawlessness that he was really and truly acting out. When you see a sign and see it S-T-O-P, it means stop. Not just slow down, but stop. You might say, well, what's the use of a sign being there? It shouldn't be there in the first place. Well, stop anyway. Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake. And so, the first responsibility of a Christian is to be subject. In other words, we are to obey the powers that be. Whosoever therefore resists at the power, resists at the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive to themselves judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Will thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. Did you ever think of that policeman as being a minister of God? Did you ever think of that legislator as being a minister of God? Do you think of the governor as being a minister of God? Do you realize that he's just as much a minister of God as the gospel preacher, or the Bible teacher, or any other one who would seek to serve the Lord in a spiritual way? He is a minister of God. He is a servant of God to thee for good. Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is the minister of God to thee for good, but if thou do that which is evil, be afraid. For he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore, ye must needs be subject not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also, for they are God's ministers attending continually upon this very thing. So, we are not only to be subject, but we are to pay our taxes as well. Pay ye tribute also, for they are God's ministers. Render therefore to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. Such is the Christian's responsibility and obligation in regard to government. And so, God gave Noah and all his descendants who would be in the place of authority, he gave them authority to rule over their fellows. Well, what do we find? We find that Noah couldn't even rule over himself. Isn't that the way it often is? Men who are in places of authority, they often can't even rule themselves, and we find that God had told men that they were to be fruitful, multiply, bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein. God told them to scatter abroad upon the face of the earth. When we come to the 11th chapter of Genesis, what do we find? We find instead of obeying God and scattering abroad upon the face of the earth, instead it tells us here, it came to pass as they journeyed from the east. Now, the east is where the light is, but they turned their backs upon the east. They turned their backs upon the light. How that reminds us of what happened in the church age. God told his disciples to scatter abroad upon the face of the earth, to preach the gospel to every creature, but what happened? One of the first things that happened is they turned their ways to the word of God. If you doubt that, all you have to do is read some of the church early fathers. Read about Polycarp, and Clement, and a number of these men. Why, before the apostles were even gone, these men had turned their backs upon the word of God. They had erected a bishop in the place of Christ. They had brought in into baptism as a way of salvation, instead of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They brought in so many different things, gradually turning their backs upon the word of God, and here's what they did. They turned their backs upon the light. They left the high places, and they came to a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. And it says, they said one to another, go to let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. They said, go to let us make brick. Now, you know how a brick is formed? Very simple. You take the clay, and you begin to fashion it and form it. And then you take that brick, and you put it into an oven, and you heat it. And then after it's been heated and baked, you bring it forth, and men build their buildings with it. And that's what they began to build this great tower of, of these bricks. They had brick for stone, and men are doing that at this church age too. They're raising a great religious edifice that's made of bricks, made of bricks. They take a child when it's eight days old, and they cast it, they christen it. And then a little while later, when that child begins to walk and can understand, they begin to catechize it. They begin, as it were, to form it. And then they, as it were, put into the oven. They put it to a, to a test through a time of questioning. How many of you talk to them about whether they're saved or not? Well, I think I'm saved. Well, why do you think you're saved? Well, I made my confession of faith. When did you make that confession of faith? Why, after I was catechized. After I was catechized, why, then I went before the board, and they asked me questions. And when I answered those questions, why, they made me a church member, and I became a communicant. I was brought into the church. I think I'm on my way to heaven because I've had that experience. Brick or stone. And my friends, that's not what God's church is made of. God's church is made of living stone. And God gets these stones out of the quarry of sin when the gospel, like the dynamite of God, is brought to bear upon a heart and a conscience of an unfaithful person. I wonder if there's ever been a time in your life when the gospel reached you, when you were troubled about your sins, when God spoke to your heart and to your conscience, when God awakened you to your need and to your danger, and you saw that the way you were, you were lost with all of your religion, with all of your good works, you could never save yourself. That it's not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to His mercy that God saves us. I know when the gospel reaches us and awakens us and convicts us and brings us to the Lord Jesus, and you know I'm more persuaded than ever in these days of easygoing profession, in these days of such superficial Christianity, when so many parrot-like say, I believe, I believe, I believe Jesus died on the cross for sinners, I believe that Jesus rose again, I must be saved. Yet they have never had a personal experience with God about their sin. They've never had a personal feeling with God about their sin. They've never had the sense of a guilt that drove them to the Lord Jesus Christ, and had a real heart experience with Him. And the result is, altogether too many are lacking something. Yes, they can give you all the answers, but there's no life, there's no spiritual power, there's no spiritual desire, they're just as much at home in a movie as they are in a gospel that accompanies what you do have. You better begin examining yourself and ask yourself the question, have I really and truly had a real experience of God's salvation? You may be nothing but a dead brick raised in the gospel hall, gone to Sunday school, listened to the message until you are influenced by it, and a time comes when you make a profession, and yet you've never had a real experience with the Lord, never a real deliverance that brought you life through a vital living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. God's church is composed of living stones. Men's organization like Babel, they tell us that Babylonian tablets which have been found call this Babylon, which is the gate of God. How many are just like that? They think the church is the gate of God, but the church is not the gate of God, it is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the gate of God. The Lord comes down and sees this tower that they're building, whose top may reach unto heaven. Were they trying to get to heaven by their works? Were they trying to reach into the very paradise of God by their works? We say how foolish to think that they could raise a building as high as to get them into heaven. But my friends, why should it be more foolish than what people in America are doing today, who think if they go to church, and if they try to live according to the rules of the church, why that will get them to heaven? These people were working to get into the heavens, just like many people today are working to get into heaven. Oh, how they're working, how they're praying, how they're striving. Friends, work can never get us into heaven. God comes down, God sees what they're doing, he says now nothing will be restrained from them, he says go to, let us go down and confound their language. Now notice the first verse, it says, the whole earth was of one language and of one speech. What does that mean? It means just this, the whole earth was of one sound, that is one language, one sound, and those sounds they conveyed the same meaning wherever they were heard. What was the language that men spoke prior to the Tower of Babel? You know, there have been a lot of different ideas about that. I just finished reading a book that was written by a very learned professor in Baylor University, and his idea was that what they spoke prior to the Tower of Babel was a very primitive language. Well, I don't believe that. I believe that the language that they spoke, what language was it? You know, it's funny when you work amongst people that are strongly nationalistic, how they seem to think that their language is the language of heaven. I used to work amongst the Finnish people up in northern Michigan, and the funniest thing about it was why, you know, anything that was put forth in Finnish, it could be something that they could stand against if it was done as spoken in English. For instance, they were dead against going to the movies, but if a movie came from Finland and was spoken in Finnish, why, of course, then they would flock to the theater by the droves. That sanctified it. Why, Finnish, that's the language that's going to be spoken in heaven. That's the language of heaven. I've heard some Scottish people have the same idea, that Scottish is the language that was going to be spoken in heaven. What was the language that was spoken prior to the time of Babel? What was the language? We don't know. I don't believe the language is upon the face of the earth. One of the best illustrations I've ever heard of it, that has helped me, is like the illustration of a beautiful round mirror, a circular mirror. That's like the language that was spoken prior to the Tower of Babel, and suddenly that mirror fell to the ground. A piece of it was given to some people that were the Spanish. Another piece was given to some, they were the Germans. Another people, the Swedes. Another people, they were the Scotch. They were the Gaelic. They were the Soho. All the languages together, they form parts of that one original language, in development, of course, what man spoke in the very beginning. Babelou, in men's eyes, the gate of God, becomes Babel, confusion under the hand of God. And the result is that nations are born, because when God divided their tongue into tongues, the result was, for the first time, we have nationality. The very fact that men speak different tongues is the proof of man's sin. You know, sometimes you have people denying that they're sinners, and yet they wear clothing all the time to cover their nakeds, because of sin. They speak different nationalities. Why? Because of sin. Eventually, each one is going to die. Why? If the Lord doesn't come, because we're sinners. On every hand, we go to our work in the morning, and we labor all day. My, what a job it is to get up in the morning, and to think, I've got to go to work today. Why? Because of sin. On every hand, man is surrounded by the tokens and the proofs of his sin. Why not then flee to the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone can save from sin, who can secure for you and me the eternal blessing of God? Shall we bow our heads?