I just want you to think briefly about the fact that the Bible is a supernaturally constructed revelation from God that corresponds from one end to the other with the same message. And very often, the Old Testament events are mirroring and paralleling the New Testament picture. So when Jesus Christ declared that he was the way, the truth, and the life, And when he also said that in his father's house, he was making many mansions, or resting places, or as one translator put it, many nests. A nesting place, kind of like where a little vulnerable creature can come and flee. He says, I am doing that for you. there would most likely be an Old Testament corresponding picture. And of course, that is the flood of Noah and God's ark of salvation. So let's take a journey there tonight, if the PowerPoint works. I can talk if it won't, but what do you think? They're scratching their heads up there. OK, well, I'll tell you about it. The scriptures, first of all, are a divinely inspired book, which cover us. There we go. They're coming. Which have 66 different books written over 2,000 years by over 40 authors. In chronological order, these are probably the order of the books as they were written, with Job being the earliest, all the way down through, of course, the Revelation, and John, and Jude, all the way at the end of the New Testament era. There were 40 plus authors coming right there and then it took place over a 2,000 year span of time. But in all of that, God engineered it. Two things we discover immediately about the Bible. First of all, the book you hold in your hand tonight with this message of Jesus being all we need for our security and salvation is the way, the truth, and the life is part of an integrated message system. God did not merely throw together a whole bunch of stuff like a bunch of essays from the third grade class that someone sewed together. But rather, God, through 66 separate books, penned by 40 different individuals He hand-picked for the purpose. It's not like a lot of people writing stuff and the Lord says, oh, let's take a few of these. God specifically picked the character, the person, the location, even the type of work they did to use them over about 2,000 years to send His message. That had its origin from outside of our time and space, I might add, domain. God revealed himself from where he is to where we are. As I said this morning, the designer and builder, the creator himself, entered the hijacked plane, as it were, of our planet and rescued us. But he came from outside of where we are into and was incarnated where we are. There's one integrated design. The New Testament, as many of you have heard, is the Old Testament concealed. And the Old Testament is the New Testament revealed. And if you think about that, when you, and we are going to be emphasizing in the next four weeks, each of you making a plan for getting through this book. I'm going to be speaking to you about CDs of the Bible, tapes of the Bible, chronological Bibles, narrated Bibles, one-year Bibles, everything. But for you to think about whether or not you will make it your your focus in the next year or so to get through God's Word. As you do so, you'll find when you read the New Testament, all the way through it, you'll find all of those pictures that were concealed in the Old Testament. And when you read the Old Testament, as you're going to see tonight, it reveals some of God's great truth in the New Testament. We're going to focus just on one little section, the book of Genesis, which we've been trudging through for the last few years. We went through the creation accounts. We went through, remember, Paradise Lost, and then the world that perished right here, and then the flood of Noah. We're going to revisit the flood of Noah tonight just briefly. And by the way, for those of you that are wondering, we will pick up here and keep going if the Lord tarries. Otherwise, we'll cover it in heaven. those two little sections. Let's look at a panorama of history. If we were to draw a line and look at the Old Testament, the Old Testament basically covers about 6,000 years. Unless God is trying to deceive us, if you read the Old Testament, in fact, the entire Bible, you cannot conceive of a time period of more than approximately six years. Starting with the creation, the fall of man, which was a very closely knit event, there's a period of time of maybe a thousand plus years to the flood, the time of Abraham, that's the book of Genesis, that little section right there. Then we have what we call the nation of Israel from when God fulfilled His promise to Abraham in the multiplication of them in the time of Egypt. And then all the way through the exile is all the rest of the Old Testament. Then we have the 400 years of silence between the end of the Old Testament and the New Testament, the cross of Christ. And yet, future, the New Testament points toward, right here, the dispersion. In fact, that's what we're reading. You want to put your kids to sleep, read them the book of Ezekiel. And we're reading through Ezekiel. And my children ask me so many questions. And so much of Ezekiel and other prophets are talking about God sending the children of Israel after the little 40-year period after the ministry of Christ, when the temple was destroyed and Israel was dispersed. All of those prophets are talking about the judgments that are going to be upon the nation Israel until Israel is restored and God picks up with them again. That's a panorama of the Bible. But let's look at the Bible from a different perspective. The Bible is a constant picture of redemption, starting with the tree in the Garden of Eden when the serpent spoke to Eve which I mentioned this morning, was not a positive event. It was the downfall of the human race. And the seed of the woman in Genesis 3 was promised to destroy the effects of the curse of sin. Then Noah was rescued in our portion tonight when God preserved the promise line. He called Abraham and said, through him, all the nations of the world would be blessed. God narrowed down the focus from all of Israel down to the tribe of Judah. And Genesis 49.10 says, the scepter will not depart from Judah. But the lawgiver will come through him. Then the dynasty of David out of Judah, remember, out of the least of the tribe of Judah came this little short fellow. Remember, contrasted to tall Saul was little short David. And he had a dynasty that would last forever. And the child through his dynasty would be born in Bethlehem on a virgin birth. promised way back here, the seed of the woman. And so we go from the tree up here, where Satan, the serpent, deceived the woman, to another tree in another garden. And the whole thing is all about the cross of Christ. So you can say the whole Bible is all about the scarlet thread of redemption going from cover to cover. And Jesus Christ can be found in every part of this book. Well, let's go to the flood of Noah and God's ark of salvation. A little bit about Noah's Ark. We studied many months ago. First of all, Noah's Ark was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, 45 feet high. About the size of the Titanic, if that means anything to you. One and a half million cubic feet. It would hold 522 standard size railroad cars. Next time the railroad goes by and you're counting the cars, you can think about that. An average railroad car can hold 240 sheep or animals that size. So there would be on the Ark, 125,000 sheep equivalents That means easily 18,000 species of animals. How many of each animal did God send? He said seven each of the clean animals and two each pairs, that is, of the unclean animals. The flood, just the bare facts that are the backdrop, it rained 40 days. Also there was volcanism or volcanism. The fountains of the deep erupted as we saw last week in Mount St. Helens. The water prevailed over the earth 150 days. The ark, held its passengers for over 370 days. They went into the 371st day, that's five months of floating, seven months sitting on the side of the mountain as waters receded. Now, let's talk about the implications of the ark, because remember the Old Testament conceals often some New Testament un-understood, and remember what Peter said, he said, the prophets that wrote the Old Testament searched diligently what they were writing. They did not fully understand. Here's one of them. Look at the details. Next time, in fact, if you read through the Bible this year. I hope you'll notice some of the details. The Bible counts out the days of the flood. On the 264th day, raven number one was sent out, or the first bird was sent out. Dove number one was sent out seven days later. Seven more days later, dove number two. It returns in chapter 8, verse 10 with a branch. Seven more days later, dove number three is sent out. And then, after another period of 29 days, Noah removes the covering of the ark. And then, after 57 more days, with over one year and one week total, in chapter 8, verse 14, it says, they got out of the ark. You say, big deal. It is a big deal. When did the flood end? If God supernaturally engineered this book, if God's spirit breathed out, if every word of God is pure, if this is an inspired book, Why did God give us all those details? Well, here's something interesting. Genesis 8-4 says, and the ark rested, that's a very significant word, in the seventh month and the 17th day of the month upon the mountains of Ararat. Well, let's look at the calendars in the Bible. There's a civil calendar, which is their initial calendar, which they had up until the time of the Passover event. And that started with Rosh Hashanah, which we just had in September, if you read your calendar with Jewish holidays. There was also a religious calendar that God instituted in Exodus 12.2. So prior to Exodus 12.2, there was an old calendar. After Exodus 12.2, there's a new calendar. And the Lord said, this month, the month of the Exodus, shall be to you the beginning of the month." So God did a quick changeover of their calendar and actually they began to have two parallel columns when they thought. They thought in the civil year, kind of like our fiscal year and our calendar year, and none of us have trouble with that if you're in business, and so they didn't have any trouble with the civil and religious calendar. Let's look at those calendars. Basically, here are the months of the year. In the old calendar, which would be the calendar that Noah was talking about when God had him keep his diary of the events in the seventh month of the old calendar year, which is the month of Aviv, or it would be A-B-I-B, but we would say Aviv, or Nisan, which became the first month, the beginning of the religious year. So when we're talking in Genesis about the ark resting, it was in the seventh month which was the first month, which is the month of Nisan. What difference does that make? Well, when did the flood end? It ended in that month, on the seventh month and the seventeenth day of the month. What else happened on that day? Well, Jesus Christ was crucified on the fourteenth day of that month. He was in the grave three days. He rose on the 17th day of that month. And so if you look at the calendar, the day that Noah and his family walked out of the ark was the new beginning for planet Earth. Now look at this. God's new beginning on the planet Earth for Noah and his family was on the anniversary of an event that only in God's mind had already happened. He was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. But in God's mind, it was in anticipation of our new beginning in Christ. For when He rose from the dead, He purchased our hope our redemption, our secure salvation, and He became our new beginning. So tonight I'd like to talk about Jesus Christ, our ark of safety, our new beginning. Jesus came out of the grave at the exact same day on the calendar as Noah and those who survived the flood by God's grace came out of the ark. There are only three groups of people in the flood time. There was, first of all, those who perished in the flood. That was all the world. Secondly, those who were preserved through the flood. That was Noah's family. And finally, those who were removed prior to the flood, as in Enoch. So there are just three groups of people back then. Now, there are also three groups of people. There are going to be those who will perish in the flood, the tribulation coming yet in the future. Secondly, those who will be preserved through the flood or the tribulation, which the Bible details as the remnant of Jews in 144,000. And then, if there is parallelism, which I truly believe there is, then there will be those that are removed prior to the flood, the flood in this metaphor being the tribulation. And that will be the church. And what I see in the scriptures is in the Old Testament a picture of what's gonna happen revealed in the New Testament and that is that they're gonna be three groups God's working with he's destroying one group those who will not repent he is preserving a family through just like he preserved the family of Noah through the flood but there was a group that didn't go through the flood and didn't get flooded on and that was Enoch who was removed prior to the flood who was God's prophet and God's witness to the earth Are you witnessing on the earth? Are you a part of his church? Are you a part of his church who God already has told us what he wants us? I hear people all time saying, Lord, show me your will. He's already revealed it. Most, 99% of God's will is right here in the book. And it says, all of his believers will be going into all the world. I meet people all the time. They say, well, I'm just waiting to see if it's the Lord's will that I go out and serve him as a missionary. You're supposed to be serving him as a missionary today. He's already revealed that to you. in his word. It's just where, and how long, and when. It's not if. And so we should be those who are, until we're removed prior to the flood or the tribulation, that we are his good and faithful servants. Well, the Ark of Safety. What does that mean? The Ark was a place of security because the designer and architect himself was present in the Ark with its occupants. The record speaks volumes, as we read in Genesis 7-1, that God was inside when he invited them in the Ark. Genesis 7-1 says, And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark. God called to them from inside the ark and invited them to come up the ramp and come into the ark. For I have seen righteousness before me in this generation in you, Noah. Well, are you secure tonight in Christ? Notice the security of the occupants of the ark. Evidently, the ark had no sails, no oars, no motor, no engine, no rudder, and no pilot house. God himself directed the course of this great ship. Genesis 614 says, just make an ark of gopher wood, or probably cypress wood, some resinous wood. And make rooms in the ark and cover inside and outside with pitch. But he didn't say, make a sail, get a compass, and figure out where you're going so that you can chart it on the map. God says, when you come to me, I take control of your life. I will guide, direct, protect, care, provide everything you need, and bring you safely. to the goal I have for you. Are you secure?" While the door was open, anyone and all who believed God's Word could come in. I'm talking about the ark. The ark. The door stood open for a long time. Noah preached for a long time. Noah preached to the world that God's judgment was coming and he preached in front of a great big ark of safety. And anyone who even moderately took him seriously would have probably thought about, I guess I should go up that ramp. So anyone who believed God's word coming through his servant could come in. But once the door was shut, no one else could come in. That's how we deal with this growing movement in the church of universalism and of this idea of people getting a second chance. And I'm not even going to tell you how many people that write forwards for a lot of books that we buy from England are starting to believe in this. Either they become annihilationists, which means people burn up in hell. hit the fire and are gone. And so it's kind of like you just miss heaven, but you don't have any torment. Or else they become universalist, which means they believe that everyone will get a second chance, and everyone except maybe Genghis Khan and Hitler and maybe Osama bin Laden will not make it to heaven. But no one else can come in, God says. And if you look at the Old Testament picture, the ark shows the exclusiveness of salvation and the fact that there was only a time you could hear his voice and then if you harden your heart there was no second chance. However, there is one little phrase in Genesis which is often overlooked. It is the record that when the door was shut not only could no one else get in But no one inside could get out again. You say, what's that about? Well, half the church believes you can lose your salvation. Not our church, half of Christendom. Well, Genesis 7.16 says, so those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him, that's Noah, and the Lord shut him in. See, if you get in, God is in charge of the security part. You know, He's one that keeps us. Now unto Him who is able to keep us from falling and to deliver us safely in His ark of safety to heaven. There was only one way. If we were to conclude this little overview of the ark, it would be this, that there was only one ark. God did not provide a fleet of ships in Noah's day. They were just lined up, whatever kind you liked, whatever appealed to you. There wasn't a fleet of ships. God didn't say, hey, you got your choice. All roads lead to heaven. It was the only ship available. There are religions without number on this planet, but there's only one way of salvation. Jesus said, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in. Only by me, I might add, shall he be saved. John 10, 9. I am the way, Jesus said. I am the truth, you must believe. I am the life, you must live. And no one can come to the Father and be in the Father's house, which is a place of blessing, the place of joy, the place of security, except by me. Well, what are the lessons of the ark? There are seven. Genesis 6, 13 and 14 teaches us, first of all, a very powerful lesson that salvation is divine. Secondly, the last part of verse 14, and we're going to go through these quite in depth tonight, salvation is perfect rest. Thirdly, salvation always has to deal with sin. And even in the Ark, there is a clear teaching about the atonement and the necessity of sin being dealt with. Fourthly, salvation gives us a whole new view on life. And we need that. Fifthly, salvation is by invitation. And that's why we should not despair. We are only told to go into all the world and to give out the good news. And it says God will give the increase. Salvation is by invitation, not from us, but from God. We just go out and declare as God's herald His invitation and His Spirit. draws, and works, and convicts, and breaks when needed, and does the work. Next, salvation is exclusive. And that's what we were talking about this morning. And it bothers people, especially in our pluralistic world. But God is exclusive. And finally, salvation is eternal. And that's what Genesis 7.16 teaches us. Well, let's go through these one at a time. Salvation is divine. It says in Genesis 6.13, and God said to Noah, the end of all flesh has come before me. The earth is filled with violence through them. And behold, I will destroy them with the earth. And then, after indicting the whole world and saying, I'm going to destroy the whole world, God divinely proposes a plan. And he says, make yourself an arc of gopher wood. Now, when I was a little boy, I, of course, always sat in the front row in church and listened intently. And I remember when my pastor taught on this 40 years ago, he says, you know what gopher wood is? He said, I learned about that when I was in seminary. He said, it's that wood that burns so fast you always have to go for more. Well, I thought that was cute. It must have been pine, but it isn't. Actually, it's a resinous wood. which would have been useful for a boat, the first boat on the planet. And so it was that type of wood. But the emphasis of Genesis 6.13 and the beginning of 14 was that salvation, that is saving the world that's going to be destroyed, saving the inhabitants of the planet that God was going to offer this haven to, he thought of it. And we always have to think of it. We did not think of this plan. God thought of it. God proposed it, invented it, designed it, enacted it, and He is accomplishing it. So salvation, from cover to cover in the Bible, is divine. The Ark pictures the provision of salvation in Jesus. The Ark, like salvation, was planned by God, not invented by man. Religion is invented by man. Salvation was planned by God. An interesting verse that Jesus gave, and remember, starting in chapter 13 of John's gospel, is Christ's legacy, his last words to his disciples before the cross. And in his last words, he was preparing them for everything they needed. In chapter 14, which we're going through now, he talked about heaven and his father's house and the comforter coming, and in 15, the vine and the branches. And then at the center of chapter 15, he makes a very dramatic statement to his disciples, which was, first of all, to them, but applies to us also. He says, you didn't choose me. Yes, you decided you were going to follow me. But he said, you didn't choose me. I chose you, which shows the divine plan of salvation. And I ordained you that you, As it says in Ephesians 2, we're ordained unto good works and bring forth fruit, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain. Another emphasis on the divine nature of salvation is the ark not only saved mankind, but also the creatures within it. There weren't just eight people on board. See, remember the Old Testament looks in these pictures forward to truth they didn't even understand that the Spirit of God was putting in there. the creatures, all the two-by-twos, were also saved. Just as Christ's death will one day deliver not just us, but the universe, creation, from the bondage of sin. Remember it says in Romans 8 that all of creation groans right now. It's groaning because it wants to be delivered from the destructive decay, the entropy, the wearing down of the universe as the laws of thermodynamics are really the laws of sin. That sin is wearing down this universe and all these effects that God has put in the physical universe. But notice further the faith of the occupants of the ark. And I mentioned this earlier, but if you believe in a divine salvation, the New Testament puts it this way, as you therefore receive the Lord, so walk in him. You know, we totally receive salvation by faith. And we proceed to live by sight, don't we? Our lives. Look at this. Because their salvation was divine, they didn't worry about the fact they were getting into a boat with no sails. No way that they could self-direct it. No way they could speed it up. No way they could turn it their way. No way they could know what was going on. If you look at the ark, they didn't even know They didn't even know where they were going. They didn't know where they were. They didn't know where they'd been. They didn't know when they got there until God told them. And he finally got to take the top off and open that little window and let the raven and the doves out. They only had God Himself to direct the course of the ship. Ephesians 1.4 reminds us of that divine aspect of our salvation. It says there, just as He chose us, in him before the foundation of the world. What does that mean? You know what? Paul didn't fully understand it. None of the church fathers fully understood it. And definitely the thousands of books I have don't fully understand it. They've written immensely, voluminously, and I think too muchedly on it. But it just says the fact that he chose us. God initiates salvation. Before the foundation of the world, he is sovereign in salvation. But this is the part he does say you can understand, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Paul put it this way. He said, I might not understand this whole thing, but I wasn't disobedient to the heavenly vision, he said, about God's call of salvation to him. If you and I are obedient to God, we will, with all of our being, long for holiness, follow after holiness, without which no one will see the Father. You won't get to the Father's house without holiness, the Bible says. And so truly, born again, chosen ones of Christ will be holy and will seek to live out this imputed righteousness of Christ. He puts His righteousness on us so that we are blameless in His sight. And so we don't use that as a cloak to sin all the more. We use that as a reason and a motivation for us to live in expectancy of His return. That's divine salvation. Well, secondly, salvation is perfect rest. It says in Genesis 614b, make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark. Now, that is interesting. That word is, in Hebrew, often used for nests, or stalls, or cubbyholes, or whatever you want to think of, a nice cozy little place. And so salvation in the ark is a nest concept. What does the next verse say? God's plan. said to construct many resting places in the ark. So what did Jesus say in John 14? He calls all who come to Him in their weariness to find rest for their souls. Remember, in my Father's house are many resting places? What did Jesus say in His ministry? Well, in Matthew 11, He says, come unto Me. This was Christ's salvation offer. Because remember, salvation involves perfect rest. Remember in the Old Testament, Isaiah says that the wicked are like the restless sea. They're always foaming, and they're always... In fact, that's one of the dangers young people today have with the music of restlessness of our culture. You know, young people say, oh, if it has Christian words, it doesn't matter about all the rest. Did you know that the music of today is producing restless Christians? Have you ever met a teenager that can't listen to their tunes? It bothers them. They are restless. They are peaceful. God says salvation produces rest for our soul that needs nothing to maintain it. There's some people, I have people all the time say, oh we can't come to that church, the music isn't upbeat enough. I have to have upbeat music. I say, oh really? What would you do if you were in prison in Siberia? How about waiting in the catacombs to be butchered? Would you make it there? You didn't have your MP3 player to keep you juiced? You see, the Bible says, if we come to Christ and are laboring and heavy laden, He will give us rest without any external element or substance or medium. But we who come to him take his yoke upon us and learn from him. And he teaches us because he is gentle and lowly in heart. And if Jesus is gentle and lowly in heart in teaching us, then salvation brings a rest to our lives so that a believer is characterized by gentleness and lowliness. That is a humble, submissive, responsive, yielded type of life. That's what Christians are like. They have yielded the control of their life, the future of their life, the direction of their life to the Lord. And they find then rest for their souls. And the Lord says this, when you're truly having my salvation, I give you a perfect rest, and you do not find what Christ wants to be hard. You find it an easy yoke. You want His yoke. Jesus said, in my Father's house are many resting places. John 14, 2, in my Father's house are many mansions. Not the old-fashioned songs about, I'm going to have a big mansion, on whatever. It's talking about rooms or resting places in our Father's house. And the Lord says, if it weren't so, I would have told you, because I'm going to prepare that resting place, because salvation is a perfect rest. I'm going to get yours ready. Well, are we really ready for heaven? Let me read you one of my favorite testimonies. This was Dr. Harry Rimmer, one of my favorite authors. I read every book he ever wrote that I can still buy. This is what he said to Dr. Charles Fuller, a great Bible teacher on the radio. He wrote him a letter. He said, next Sunday, you've announced on the radio you're going to talk about heaven. I'm interested in that land. I have held a clear title to a bit of property there for more than 55 years. What he said is, I was born again 55 years ago. I didn't buy it. What a testimony. It was given to me without money, without price, but the donor purchased it for me at tremendous sacrifice. I'm not holding it for speculation, since the title is not transferable. It's not a vacant lot. For more than a half a century, I've been sending material out of which the great architect and builder of the universe has been building a home for me. A home which will never be remodeled or repaired, because it will suit me perfectly, individually, and will never grow old. Termites can never undermine its foundation, for they rest upon the rock of ages. Fire can't destroy it. Floods can't wash it away. No locks or bolts will ever be placed on its doors, for no vicious person, as it says in Revelation 21, will ever enter that land where my dwelling stands. It's now almost completed and almost ready for me to enter in and abide in peace eternally without fear of being ejected. There is a valley of deep shadow between the place where I live in California and that to which I shall journey in a very short time. I can't reach my home in that city of gold without passing through this dark valley of shadows. Remember a few weeks ago we talked about the Good Shepherd? I'm not afraid because the best friend I ever had went through that same valley long, long ago and drove away all of its gloom. He has stuck by me through the thick and thin since we first became acquainted 55 years ago. And I hold his promise in printed form, the book we read every day and feast on, that he will never forsake me nor leave me alone. He will be with me as I walk through the valley of shadows, and I shall not lose my way when he is with me. I hope to hear your sermon on heaven next Sunday from my home in Los Angeles, but I have no assurance that I shall be able to do so. My ticket to heaven has no date marked for the journey, no return coupon, and no permit for baggage. It's an interesting thought for us. Got to send it ahead or it won't get there. Yes, I'm all ready to go, and I may not be here while you are talking next Sunday, but I shall meet you over there someday. Jesus Christ said, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. For I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh to the Father but by me." Well, salvation thirdly deals with sin. It says in Genesis 6.14, this beautiful Old Testament truth that was concealed back there in this ark construction. It says, cover it, that's the ark, inside and out with pitch. Now that word is interesting for this reason. The word pitch is the same as the word atonement. In fact, it is the same word. It's kaphar. It's just that the translators chose to translate it as pitch, because of the usage in that verse. But all the other times in the Old Testament, that word is a word for atonement. And it's the word kaphar, which is the first of 70 times this word is in the Old Testament. And each time, it's translated atonement. So there is no other place, this whole description of the Ark is saying, in the universe to hide from the penetrating wrath of God. And what is God's penetrating wrath? All the bombs are falling and the cruise missiles. And if you've been listening to the news, all the speculation, the different world news services are talking about the terrorist war going on that started at noon today. Why'd they start it while we were in church, I wonder? But we look at all of our penetrating bombs that are going on, and we don't think about the fact that God has said that his wrath will seek out and find and eternally in holiness be consuming endlessly sin wherever he finds it forever and you know what the worst condition anybody could be dying and going out into eternity with sin attached to them because that means that God's sin-seeking missiles are going to be bombarding that person eternally. That's what hell is all about. It is the holy wrath of God which will be constantly consuming and burning and judging sin wherever it's found. So you have two choices. Either accept the one who compressed eternity of God's wrath against sin in his own body for you and me on the cross or else we bear it ourself. Either you pay for your own sin forever, or you let Jesus pay for it in six hours. I mean, that's the gospel right there. And people who die with their sins still attached to them will forever pay for it. And what the Bible says is, there is only one place in the universe to hide from the penetrating wrath of God. His sin-seeking missiles will find you and me if our sins are not taken care of. And that one place that takes care of it is under the covering Kafar, atonement, pitch, salvation that deals with sin, the covering of Christ's blood. The question tonight is, are your sins beneath the blood of Jesus Christ? Are they removed? Is salvation dealt with your sin as it did with the ark? Matthew 121 promises this, and she shall bring forth a son. Remember that scarlet thread of redemption I showed you a while back that started in the Garden of Eden and ended in the Garden of Gethsemane? Here's the promise through the Virgin that His name will be called Jesus, for He, that's the promised Redeemer, will save His people from their sins. Remember the Bible says if you've never been saved from sin, you've never been saved from hell. God's covenant with the nation Israel. That's what God wanted to do. And that new covenant extends, praise God, to us. The new covenant. That's what we celebrated this morning. Well, the pitch was to cover and protect the ark. And it's interesting, as the bulrushes sheltered Moses. That's another time that word. Remember when Moses was going to be put out into the Nile River, it says they pitched bulrushes on the outside and put Moses on the inside. Well, as the pitch in the bulrushes sheltered Moses and the Ark of the Covenant It says that the Ark of the Covenant kephard the stone tablets. It's the same word. Put together, Jesus Christ is the Ark that shelters us from God's wrath, like Noah, from Satan's attack, like Moses in the Ark of Bulrushes, and the Law's condemnation. You see, Jesus covers us from everything. God's wrath, That was pictured in the ark of the flood. His wrath was destroying all the people on the earth. And only those who hid inside the atonement of the ark missed the wrath. And just like Moses, Satan was attacking him, trying to destroy all the male children to destroy the covenant God made that the Redeemer would come through Israel. That's why Pharaoh was killing the baby boys, not because he was anti-Semitic. He was just Satanic. and also the law's condemnation. The mercy seat, the reason why in the Old Testament ark they had to sprinkle blood on that was the law was underneath the mercy seat and God would judge them for their sins unless there was a sprinkling of blood to cover and atone for their sins. Well, the ark saved them from the judgment. Christ The Ark saved Noah and his family from the judgment of the waters. Christ, if we get in His Ark, saves us from the wrath to come on our sin. 1 Peter 3, 18-22, in the New Testament, remember the Old Testament concealed this truth, but the New Testament reveals it. 1 Peter 3 connects the Ark with the resurrection of Christ. Isn't that interesting? It was on the very same day, wasn't it? according to the Bible. And Peter says, the waters buried the old world, but raised Noah to a new life. Interesting. Well, 1 Thessalonians 1.10 says that as our salvation deals with sin, we wait for the Son who God raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. Our salvation deals with sin, not by forgetting about it, not by ignoring it, but by actually dealing with the sin. When you and I are saved, our sins are removed. Not just our sins from before we were saved, and not just our sins at the moment of our salvation, but Christ Payment covers from cover to cover from our birthday to our death day. He removed all those sins You say well, what about 1st John 1 9 if we confess our sins? Yes, what about 1st John 1 9 the New Testament is written in Greek Greek is so precise You can tell when an event happened. You know, it says in 1st John 1 9 if you and I are characterized by present active indicative Ongoingly confessing our sins. God is faithful and just to already have once and for all forgiven us You don't get forgiven every time you confess. We're not Catholics, Romanists. You and I were forgiven of all sins the instant we were saved. Past, present, future. What happens when we confess our sins? Number one, we demonstrate we're truly born again. Number two, we get the cleansing effect that keeps our fellowship with God. You see, what our sins do is not keep us from heaven. That's dealt with in the cross. They keep us from the blessings of heaven, which is fellowship with God. And when we grieve the Holy Spirit and quench the Holy Spirit, we don't even feel saved. That's why we're supposed to be characterized by confessing it. It keeps us humble, it keeps us hating sin, and it keeps us in communion with God. But it doesn't forgive our sins. Jesus Christ has already forgiven them. And that's why it says in 1 Thessalonians 5.9, God didn't appoint us to wrath. But to obtain salvation, there is yet a future aspect of our salvation. Because we've been saved from the penalty of sin, all of our sins, past, present, and future. We are right now living, and if you are living in step with the Spirit, you are saved from the power of sin. There is no sin that has dominion over any of us who are walking in the power of the Spirit. Yes, we still are sinful, but we are not dominated any longer by any sin. And if you are, you should question the fact of either you're not walking in the power of the Spirit or Christ has never set you free. Because the future aspect of our salvation is that we will someday be away from the very presence of sin forever. Well, the last part, Jesus Christ, our only place of safety, is our only place of safety. As death threatened all in Noah's day, so we're all guilty of sin. The ark was the only place of safety from the coming wrath, so Jesus is the only Savior. Salvation gives us a whole new view for life. It says in Genesis 6.16, another little note. Remember, every detail in the Bible is important. And salvation not only deals with sin, but it gives us a whole new perspective on life, and that's this. God said to Noah, you shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above. He made him do a window way up high and set the door of the ark on its side. The door was on the side. The window was above. It's very interesting. Probably it was some kind of a raised latch window. We look at all these baby rooms decorated in arks and they have all these windows like portholes. Probably not. There was probably a ridge for air, but probably this window was above, as it says. What's the significance? A window above. They were to look toward their deliverer. and not be looking out the window at the wrath and the judgment going on. Can you imagine how disheartening it would have been to see all those bloated bodies floating around, bumping against the ark, and all the volcanoes erupt? I mean, they would have needed some kind of counseling or something. as the pillar and cloud in the wilderness drew their gaze above did you ever notice that God led the children of Israel not by painting yellow brick roads you know for them to to go like this but he had a look up like this at a pillar and cloud there is a there is purpose for the details of the Old Testament. God made Noah, look up. God made the children of Israel, look up. And it says in Colossians 3, if then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above. Get your marching orders from above, where Christ is. That's where you look, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above. Don't be so enmeshed in the stuff on the earth that Most people I know that are discouraged and downhearted, are worrying about all this stuff, about how I'm going to make ends meet, and how I'm going to pay the bills, and whether or not they're going to fire me or not, or whether or not my body is going to hold out, my health, and if I'm going to get infected with that, and whether or not the terrorists are going to get me, and I can't fly an airplane anymore, I'm scared to death, and I won't go in high-ride, and they're just looking down instead of looking up. As we saw last time we were together, my life and your life is not in the hands of the medical professions, or the terrorists, or some germ. It's in God's hands. And to have the benefit of that, set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. Get the new view salvation offers. Salvation next is by invitation. God invited Noah and his family into the ark. Genesis 7-1 says, And the Lord said to Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark. For I have seen righteousness in thee before me in this generation. The first time come is in, this is the first time come is in God's word. And it appears over 500 times in the rest of the Bible. It was an invitation. Salvation is an invitation. Not go, a command, but he was invited to come. It also implies coming to be where the Lord was. Salvation is coming to the Lord where he is. The ark was a place of security because the designer and architect himself was present inside with the occupants. Some verses, John 6.37, all the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out. John 6.44, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. Remember, it's an invitation. It's divine. God initiates it. And I will raise him up at the last day. Remember the pitiful words of the disciples, Lord, save us, we perish. They had not yet learned the lesson that when Jesus is in the ship, it can't sink. I know a lot of people say, oh, my life is sinking. Oh, if you're in the boat with Jesus, it can't sink, you know? When God invited Noah and his family into the ark, they were safe. And once they were in, God shut them in so that they were secure, as we'll see in verse 16. Salvation is exclusive. Next. The ark pictures the provision of salvation only through Jesus. There was one door, not many. The animals and Noah's family didn't have multiple entry points. They weren't loading the ark from every side for rapid entrance. There was only one pathway to safety, as the Old Testament tabernacle in Exodus would later be constructed at God's direction with only one door. So the ark shows there is but one way to God. So there was only one way of salvation, there was only one ark, and there's only one door in the ark. Jesus said in John 10 verse 9 that I quoted this morning, I'm the door of the ark, you might say. By me, if anyone enter in, he'll be saved. John 14.6, again this morning, Jesus said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No one, nobody gets into this ark except through me. Acts 4.12, the apostles carry on this exclusive message, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Could it even be that the door in the side of the ark was pointing to the pure side of Jesus? by which we boldly come to the very heart of God, no matter how guilty and how ruined we are by sin. Interesting thought. There was only one ark. God didn't provide a fleet of ships. God didn't say you can have your choice. It was the only ship available. There are religions without number, but there's only one way of salvation. There's only one way of salvation. There's only one door of the ark. Finally, salvation is eternal. Because the Lord shut them in the ark, it pictured the provision of security in Jesus. Remember that the ark was pitched in the inside and the outside in Genesis 6.14. Make thee an ark of gopher wood. Room shalt thou make in the ark, and thou shalt pitch it within and without. That means those inside were totally paid for and those outside were totally in the judgment and God secured the outside ones from attacking those inside and those inside from falling out. As long as they were hidden in the watertight walls of the ark, so are we in Christ. Colossians 3 says, you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Noah didn't have to protect himself. He rested in the protector. 1 Peter 1.5 says, we are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Finally, Everybody that went in the ark and every animal came out safely. No one was lost. It says in Genesis 8, 19, And Noah went forth, and his sons and his wives, and his sons' wives with him. And every beast, and every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatever creepeth on the earth after their kind, went out from the ark. Did you know that not one animal died? Not one bug died. Not one bird died. Not one worm died. Wish the snakes would have died. But nothing died. Because God says everything that comes in to His ark of safety is eternally secure. So all who enter survive. None were lost. None perished. God preserved them all. And perfectly that portrays our Lord Jesus. While the door was open, anyone and all who believed God's word would come in. But once the door was shut, nobody else could come in. However, there's one little phrase which I remind you, which we overlook. Not only was once the door shut, you couldn't get in, but once they were in, God shut them so that they were secure. Hebrews 7.24 says, because he continues forever, he has an unchangeable priesthood. He is able to save us to the uttermost who come to God through him. He always lives to make intercession for us. And as Jude, our Lord's brother, said, now unto him, that's Jesus, who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. The flood and God's ark of salvation. The question tonight is, are you in? Let's stand and thank the Lord for our great and secure salvation. Father in heaven, I thank you for giving us such a beautiful picture, how firm a foundation has been laid for us in you, O Christ. You are the rock. You are our refuge. You are the arc of safety. And through your body, which was pierced through for our iniquities, we come through you the door and find refuge from the wrath of God against our sin. I pray that we would see that your salvation is divine and that your salvation deals with our sin And your salvation gives us a whole new view on life. We look up and not down at our problems and the world around us. And your salvation provides for us an eternal, secure hope. And I pray that all of us would live in that security, hating our sin, loving our Savior, and living for His glory till you come or call. Thank you, Jesus, that you're all we need. Thank you that you're our way to God. In your precious name we pray. Amen. And God bless you as you go.