«　WEEK 5　DAY 4　»

　　Gen. 6:8 But Noah found favor in the sight of Jehovah.

　　John 1:16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

　　Satan was glad to hear that God was going to destroy man from the face of the earth, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. That turned the situation and changed the age. Hallelujah, God was not defeated! In the midst of apparent defeat, there was victory through a man who found grace in the eyes of the Lord. That was the turning point. If you read history along with the Bible, you will see that in every generation, when Satan has done his best to damage the situation to the uttermost, there has always been one man or a few people who found grace in the eyes of God and who became the ones who turned the age. Remember the history of Israel. Although they degraded lower and lower until they reached the bottom, there was, much to the surprise of the enemy, a young man named Daniel …There in the book of Daniel it says, “But Daniel” [1:8]; here in Genesis 6:8 it says, “But Noah.” At the bottom of man’s fall, there is always a “but.”

　　The church was produced with God’s life to express Him in this New Testament age …The present situation is sufficient to show us how much the church has fallen and deviated from God’s proper goal. But do not be disappointed. Though Satan has done his best, God still has a way to carry out His original purpose. Among all the defeats, God today has raised up local churches to change the age. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 388-389)

　　The flesh is Satan’s masterpiece…Satan is…in our flesh. The flesh is the meeting hall of Satan, sin, and death. These three great enemies continually meet together in the hall of our flesh, and their meeting is never dismissed.

　　Grace is God Himself enjoyed by us and helping us to face the situation of the flesh … If it were not for the flesh, probably God would not have to give us so much grace… According to Hebrews 4:16, we may find grace to meet our timely need. What element causes us to need grace? It is mainly the flesh … As I passed through all the human experiences, I came to realize how much we are in the flesh. Although I do not like to be in the flesh, the flesh is here. Once I got mad at the Lord and said to Him, “Lord, why don’t You take away my flesh?” Eventually He showed me that, in a sense, I needed the flesh, for the flesh is the very factor that compels me to come to the throne of grace. I cannot do anything with this flesh. All I can do is go to the throne of grace. Although there is nothing that we can do, yet there is somewhere that we can go—the throne of grace.

　　The flesh is the very presence of the devil, and grace is the very presence of God. In order for us to face the presence of Satan, we need the presence of God… Although the flesh is the presence of Satan, over and against it we have grace, which is the presence of God… Do you think that you can deal with [Satan]? Forget such thoughts… Although Satan is greater than we are, God is greater than Satan. God is the greatest. Since Satan is here with us, we need God to be present. We have to say, “Lord, You know Your enemy is right here. You have to come and stand with me against him.” When God comes to us and stands with us, that is grace.

　　God is sovereign and wise. He knows that if He were to take away the flesh, probably very few of us would be desperate to seek His grace. In His sovereignty and wisdom, He leaves the flesh here, knowing that, in a sense, it is useful to us. DAY and night the flesh helps us turn to the throne of grace. When we are matured, that is, when we are raptured, we will be able to turn to the flesh and say, “Little flesh, your time is over. You may leave now.” Before the maturity of life, in a sense we need the flesh, not to damage us, but to force us to come to the throne of grace. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 379-381)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msgs. 27-29