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Matthew 11:28-30
John 14:6
Matthew 11:28-30
John 3:16
John 1:7
1 Timothy 2:5-6
Luke 11:13
John 5:39
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Matthew 4:10
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2 Timothy 3:15
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Psalm 51:5
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Hebrews 7:25
John 16:12-14
Acts 17:5
Romans 8:1
Luke 23:42-43
Genesis 6:5
Jeremiah 17:9
1 Timothy 1:15

The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.

The book of Genesis, Chapter 6, Verse 5 NIV

1. What is said of mankind immediately before this statement?
   "They were the heroes of old, men of renown." (Verse 4)
2. What is meant with these words?
   These were man of great energy and ability, the supermen of mythology.
3. What does our verse say of them?
   Their wickedness was great
4. What does this show us?
   That mankind can be great in their own eyes, but God can have a different perspective.
5. What is said about the Lord in this verse?
   The Lord saw man's wickedness.
6. What is meant with "The Lord saw"
   That God sees - he will not lightly pass over wrong-doing.

The Extend of Wickedness

7. What does wickedness mean?
   That which breaks apart or destroys.
8. What is meant by the word "great"?
   That wickedness abounded, there was very much of it.
9. What else are we told about the wickedness?
   "That every inclination" etc. was evil.

The Seat of Wickedness

10. Where do these wicked thoughts come from?
    They come from the heart.
11. What is meant by the heart here?
    The centre of understanding, affections and will.
12. What does this verse teach us about mankind?
    That wickedness has corrupted the human nature.
13. What three words show us that the corruption is complete?
    "every," "only," and "all."
14. Does this mean that no good thing can be done by humans?
    Only that nothing perfectly good in God's sight can be done.
15. What verse following shows that there were degrees of evil, not every one was equally bad?
    verse 9: Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time.
16. How is this possible if "every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time"?
    In the eyes of God Noah was a sinner with no single perfect desire or thought, but in comparison with others he was upright, and he walked with God.
17. What can we learn from this?
    Although our hearts are evil, sinful, we still are responsible to walk with God. Only when we walk with the God who can forgive our sins, we can be called 'righteous.'

Text Thirty One

Adapted from:
"The one hundred texts of the society for Irish Church Missions."
T.C. Hammond, Dublin. 1939