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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.
Are You Secure for Eternity?
Series Word Filled Ministry
Jesus said 'I am the way, the truth and the Life...' In the record of Noah and the Ark there is a beautiful portrait of this verse! There was only one Ark...not many. God called Noah to that place of safety just as He calls sinners to Christ - a place of safety.
In this message on salvation from Genesis 6&7 you will see salvation is Divine, a Perfect Rest, Deals with Sin, Gives us a New View, is by Invitation Only, is Exclusive, and is Eternal.
Christ is our 'Ark' and is our salvation from the condemnation and penalty of sin. May your faith be in the One who is the Way, Truth, and Life!
| Sermon ID | 910081259522 |
| Duration | 53:08 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - PM |
| Bible Text | Genesis 6; Genesis 7; John 14:6 |
| Language | English |
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