side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt
thou make it. And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of
waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is
the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing
that is in the earth shall die. But with thee will I
establish My covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark,
thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives
with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two
of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them
alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls
after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of
every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of
every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and
thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food
for thee, and for them. Thus did Noah; according to all
that God commanded him, so did he.'--GENESIS vi. 9-22.

1. Notice here, first, the solitary saint. Noah stands alone 'in his
generations' like some single tree, green and erect, in a forest of
blasted and fallen pines. 'Among the faithless, faithful only he.'
His character is described, so to speak, from the outside inwards.
He is 'righteous,' or discharging all the obligations of law and of
his various relationships. He is 'perfect.' His whole nature is
developed, and all in due symmetry and proportion; no beauty
wanting, no grace cultivated at the expense of others. He is a full
man; not a one-sided and therefore a distorted one. Of course we do
not take these words to imply sinlessness. They express a relative,
not an absolute, completeness. Hence we may learn both a lesson of
stimulus and of hope. We are not to rest satisfied with partial