Now, it is of the deepest moment that my reader should clearly understand the aim, the character, and the result of this union between "the sons of God" and "the daughters of men." There is great danger, at the present day, of compromising truth for the sake of union. This should be carefully guarded against. There can be no true union attained at the expense of truth. The true Christian's motto should ever be--"maintain truth at all cost; if union can be promoted in this way, so much the better; but maintain the truth." The principle of expediency, on the contrary, may be thus enunciated:--"Promote union at all cost; if truth can be maintained as well, so much the better; but promote union." This latter principle can only be carried out at the expense of all that is divine in the way of testimony.[11] There can, evidently, be no true testimony where truth is forfeited; and hence, in the case of the antediluvian world, we see that the unhallowed union between the holy and the profane--between that which was divine and that which was human--only had the effect of bringing the evil to a head, and then God's judgment was poured out. "The Lord said, I will destroy man." Nothing less would do. There must be the entire destruction of that which had corrupted God's way on the earth. "The mighty men, and men of renown," must all be swept away, without distinction. "All flesh" must be set aside, as utterly unfit for God. "The end of _all_ flesh is come before me." It was not merely the end of _some_ flesh; no, it was all corrupt, in the sight of Jehovah,--all irrecoverably bad. It had been tried, and found wanting; and the Lord announces his remedy to Noah in these words, "Make thee an ark of gopher wood." Thus was Noah put in possession of God's thoughts about the scene around him. The effect of the word of God was to lay bare the roots of all that which man's eye might rest upon with complacency and pride. The human heart might swell with pride, and the bosom heave with emotion, as the eye ran down along the brilliant ranks of men of art, men of skill, "men of might," and "men of renown." The sound of the harp and the organ might send a thrill through the whole soul, while, at the same time, the ground was cultivated, and man's necessities were provided for in such a way as to contradict every thought in reference to approaching judgment. But, oh! those solemn words, "_I will destroy!_" What a heavy gloom they would necessarily cast over the glittering scene! Could not man's genius invent some way of escape? Could not "the mighty man deliver himself by his much strength?" Alas, no: there was one way of escape, but it was revealed to faith, not to sight,--not to reason,--not to imagination.