And further; Noah is described, in the verse following the text, as “a just man and perfect in his generations.” His faith, as we have already intimated, was not, like that of many professors of religion, a mere outward and formal assent; it resided in his heart, as well as in his understanding; and shewed itself in his disposition, his character, and his life. Believing in the goodness of God, he loved Him; in the power and justice of God, he feared; in the infallible truth and authority of God, he obeyed. With an enlightened reason and conscience, he studied the duty of ordinary life; his duty to God and man; and he performed it faithfully. “He was perfect in his generations;” not that he had attained unto absolute, positive perfection; for that is impossible to any mere man, in his fallen condition; it was only “the man Christ Jesus,” the incarnate God, that was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners;” {59} but Noah, in the midst of a “disobedient and gainsaying people,” was sincere and upright; he lived in no wilful or habitual opposition to his God; he had that degree of perfection, which is the mark and fruit of genuine faith; and shews, that the frail creature is brought into a state of acceptance with his Creator. He engaged heartily in the cause of religion; there was nothing in the world, which he was not ready to renounce for it; there was no ordinance, nor command of God, which it was not his unbending purpose to obey; desirous was he “to serve Him, in holiness and righteousness all the days of his life.” And therefore it is yet further said, that “he walked with God;” {60a} “setting the Lord (as David speaks) always before him;” {60b} living in a perpetual sense of the divine presence; acting as under the continual observation of that Almighty Being, who was acquainted with all his ways; and whose word was “a lamp unto his feet and a light unto his path.” {60c} He walked in communion with God, by his life and conversation, as well as by faith, and meditation, and prayer; and he preached to a “backsliding and stubborn generation,” by his example as well as by his word.