Please turn in your Bibles to the book of Genesis chapter 6. Genesis chapter 6. We've begun a series of sermons on what are called the types of Christ. And we have defined the type of Christ as a person, event, a ceremony, or a place in the Old Testament Scriptures which foreshadow and correspond to the person of our Lord Jesus Christ and the blessings of his kingdom in the New Testament. The type is found in the Old Testament which foreshadows Christ. The anti-type, the fulfillment, is found in the New. This morning we began to look at different people who are types of Christ, and the first one we considered was Adam. And Adam is explicitly called a type of Christ by the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 5 and verse 14, where Paul speaks of Adam, who was a type of him who was to come. But not all types need to be called types, and many are not. This evening we come to the second person who is not actually called a type, but who actually is in the events and the circumstances of his life, and his name is Noah. So this evening we look at ways in which Noah is a type of our Lord Jesus Christ to come. The first thing we say tonight is that Noah was a type of Christ by the name that was given to him. By the name that was given to him. We read here in Genesis chapter 5 and verses 28 and 29. And Lamech lived 182 years and became the father of a son. Now he called his name Noah, saying, this one shall give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord has cursed. The name Noah means rest or comfort or consolation. And his father Lamech spoke by prophecy of the Holy Spirit and gave his son this name believing that his son would bring the rest, the comfort and the consolation that was needed. Now Lamech lived in the ninth generation from Adam. And Adam was still alive. In the time of Lamech, it is very possible that Lamech and Adam knew one another and that they worshipped together at the entrance of the garden where men would call upon the name of the Lord and the Garden of Eden was still there with the cherubim and the flaming sword. Perhaps Adam was there as well, gathered in the presence of the people, and it is certain that Adam passed on the words of the curse that God had made in the Garden of Eden, Genesis chapter 3 and verse 17. Cursed is the ground because of you, in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. So when Lamech gave The name Noah to his son, he quoted the very words of the curse. He said, this one shall give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord God had cursed. And if the words of the curse had been passed on from Adam, then surely the words of that first promise of the gospel had been passed on as well that the seed of the woman would come and he would be the Savior and he would bruise the serpent on his head and deliver them from the curse and so Lamech had hope in this coming Savior as he named his son. Adam was the first man to die from the curse. To dust you shall return. Others had been murdered by other men, but Adam was the first to die by the curse. And Lamech was 56 years old when Adam died. And then Adam Lamech's grandfather was Enoch, the great prophet, and Lamech was 113 years old when his grandfather Enoch was taken up into heaven. We see Enoch back in verse 24, that Enoch walked with God and then he was not for God took him. And so it was a proof of a world above, an eternal world of eternal life. And so all of these things, the labor and the toil of the ground, and the curse of death and the world above and the increasing wickedness of the line of Cain, all of these things produced a groaning in the soul of Lamech as he saw the sorrow and the pain and the grief of sin. And out of his faith in the promise of God, in the seed of the woman who would come, Lamech, in his hope, gave this name to his son in hopes that he would bring the rest that was promised. He called his name Noah, saying, this one shall give us rest from the work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord has cursed. But whatever rest and whatever comfort Noah brought, it only foreshadowed in a small way the perfect and the eternal rest which could come only from the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. Come to me, he said, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart and you shall find rest for your souls. And so Noah was a type of Christ first by the way by the name that was given to him. But now as we proceed there are three ways in the life of Noah by which we may see Christ as the fulfillment of the circumstances of his life, Noah as a type of Christ to come. And those three ways are by the ark, and by his sacrifice, and by the rainbow. So in the first place, Noah was a type of Christ by the building of the ark. Noah lived in a very dangerous and fearful time in the history of the world. There were no functioning governments which punished and restrained sin. Men seemed to roam and rule by their own might and strength. The Lord looked down upon the human race from heaven, and we see what he saw in verse 5 of Genesis chapter 6. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And then we see the outward working of that human sin down in verses 11 and 12. Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God and the earth was filled with violence and the Lord looked down on the earth and behold it was corrupted for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. Sin had grown to its highest point and the cry of sin had reached into heaven And God's wrath was greatly provoked. And he warned Noah of a coming flood and commanded him to build an ark for the salvation of his family. And there are several ways in which we see the building of the ark as a type of Christ to come. First, It was an act of God's grace and mercy to sinners. It was an act of his pure grace and mercy to sinners. We see in verse eight of this chapter, but Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was no different than any other of his day. He was born in sin, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and left to himself, Noah would have gone the way of the evil world, and he would have perished with them. But in the sovereign favor and in the sovereign grace of God, grace came upon Noah in regeneration, in a new heart by the Holy Spirit, and Noah was saved in the same way as we are today, not by any goodness in him, but by the grace of God alone through Jesus Christ. What Paul said to the Ephesians in chapter 2 was as true of Noah as it is of us today. But God, being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. Noah found favor and grace in the eyes of the Lord. Then we see down in verses 13 and 14, Verse 13, then God said to Noah, the end of all flesh has come before me. For the earth is filled with violence. Because of them, behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood. You shall make the ark with rooms and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. Verse 13 is a warning. of the righteous judgment of God upon the human race for their sin. It's as if God said, I have created man in the beginning, holy and upright, but look at what he has done to himself. The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. And behold, I am about to destroy them on the earth. If the story had ended with verse 13, God would have remained holy and just in his destruction of the entire human race. But verse 14, verse 14 is an act of his free and sovereign grace and mercy undeserved for the human race. In providing a way of escape for sinners, from the flood that will come, the flood of His wrath. He says in verse 14, make for yourself an ark of gopher wood. My holy wrath is about to come, but I give you a way of escape. I give you a way of safety and deliverance. Make for yourself. I am making this way. Make the ark. And it is the same for us today. There is a day of judgment. There is a day of wrath that is to come. But God in His sovereign grace and mercy has made a way of escape and a way of mercy and a way of deliverance for us. What we have not deserved, He has sent His beloved Son into the world to the death of the cross as a way of escape from His wrath that is to come. John chapter 3 and verse 16, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in him, whoever believes in him should not perish when the end comes, but have eternal life. Romans chapter five and verse eight, God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us much more than having now been justified by his blood. We shall be saved from the wrath of God that is to come. A second way in which the building of the Ark was a type of Christ to come is that it was a time of God's great patience with the human race. We see this in chapter six and verse three. Then the Lord said, my spirit shall not strive with man forever because he also is flesh. Nevertheless, his days shall be 120 years. The wrath, the holy and just wrath of God was kindled in heaven as he looked down upon the sins of men. But in his great patience and in his long suffering, he restrained his wrath here for 120 years. And he sent Noah, as Peter says, as a preacher of righteousness to warn them of the coming judgment of God. And in 1 Peter 3, Peter tells us, Peter speaks of when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah during the construction of the ark. The patience of God kept waiting as Noah was preaching the judgment and offering the way of salvation. It was a time of the patience of God Christ calling men through the gospel to repent and to turn to him for mercy for 120 years until finally the patience of God came to an end and his spirit ceased to strive with men anymore and the great flood came and swept them all away. It is the same for us today. We are living in a time of great patience. We are living in a time of God's long suffering with the human race. His wrath is being stored up in heaven. He has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness. Every eye will see him. Every knee will bow and confess Jesus to be Lord. It will be a day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. And it will be the beginning of the eternal world. And every man and woman will be sent into heaven or into hell forever. And God has told us so many things in his word about that day. Ample warning has been given. so that no man will have excuse and every mouth will be closed and all the world will become accountable to God. But until that day comes, we are living in a time of patience, extended and prolonged divine patience and mercy of God as the gospel And the way of salvation is being preached to all the nations. God is calling men everywhere to repent, to return to him for mercy in his beloved son who is so willing to forgive sins and to receive anyone who comes. Whoever comes to him, he will in no wise cast him out. This is the gospel that is being preached in all the world. For 120 years, Noah preached. The door of the ark was opened. Finally, the Lord closed the door, and the great flood came. And today, the way of salvation, the door of salvation is opened. Jesus said, I am the door. And he said, strive to enter by the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. And once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock, saying, Lord, open up to us, he will answer and say to you, I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, you evildoers. The apostle Paul says, we urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain. Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. We are living in a time of extended divine patience with this world until the end comes, just as in the days of Noah. A third way in which the ark was a type of Christ is that it was a place of perfect safety for all who entered it, a place of perfect safety for all who entered. The ark was very carefully planned by God in its details. We see this in chapter 6 and verse 14. He says, verse 14, make for yourself an ark of gopher wood. You shall make the ark with rooms and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. And so God tells Noah the particular type of wood that was to be used, gopher wood, which was resistant to any water logging. And the Lord tells him in the following verses the length, the breadth, the height of the ark. There shall be three decks, the lower, the middle, and the upper decks. He tells them where there is to be a window and the door. And Noah had to build the ark just as the Lord commanded him. And then the Lord promised in verse 18 and 19. He said, but I will establish my covenant with you. And you shall enter the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. And so the Lord promises here a covenant with Noah. An oath-bound promise that as he and his family, they enter the ark, they will find protection. The great flood will come, but they will have safety in the ark. And in that ark, God will keep all of them alive. And then the flood came in chapter 7. And we read what happened, chapter 7, verses 11 and 12. Verse 11, in the 600th year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the 17th day of the month, on the same day, all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened, and the rain fell upon the earth for 40 days and 40 nights. It was a violent eruption. of torrents of water upon the whole earth. The fountains of the earth, water within the earth, the fountains of the earth were suddenly burst open with water. And then the floodgates of the sky poured down their rain for 40 days and 40 nights. And then we learn what happened to the ark in verses 17 through 19. Verse 17, then the flood came upon the earth for 40 days and the water increased and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth and the water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth and the ark floated on the surface of the water. And the water prevailed more and more upon the earth so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered. So there was this irresistible fury of the waters of the flood. And there was this progress that we see here. The flood came in the beginning of verse 17 for 40 days. In the middle of verse 17, then the waters increased. And when the waters increased, what happened? They lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth. And then in verse 18, now the waters prevailed. And the ark floated on the surface of the waters. And in verse 19, the water prevailed even more above the highest of all the mountains. And the ark continued to be lifted up and float on the surface of all the waters. There was perfect safety in the ark. The whole human race perished outside in the vengeance of God. And they were buried in their watery graves. But all who were within the ark were sheltered. There was wrath. There was death outside the ark. There was peace. There was life within the ark alone. And so it is with Jesus, who is our ark of safety, He is the one who shelters us and who will shelter us when the wrath of God comes on the last day. The heavens and the earth will be shaken and men will faint with fear at the expectation of what is taking place. And men will cry out for the rocks and for the mountains to cover them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb. But he will say to those who believe and follow him, come, you who are blessed of my father, enter into the joy of your master. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. When that day comes, the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God, there will be no condemnation. There will be no condemnation upon those who are in Christ Jesus. He will come. He will deliver us from the wrath of God to come. There is perfect safety. There is perfect safety for all who come to Jesus. And he has promised that he will lose not one of us, but he will raise us all up on the last day. We see here in chapter seven and verse one. Then the Lord said to Noah, enter the ark. That was the command. Noah, you and your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before me in this time. Noah, you must enter the ark. And for us, we must believe in the Lord Jesus. We must believe in the Lord Jesus to be saved. There was a divine protection over that ark throughout all the terrible and fearful days of the flood and the tumults of the waters. And there is an even greater power of God over us during all the tumults of the waters of our lives. to bring us safely to the eternal kingdom. God designed every room in that ark, every deck, and everything that was needed for Noah and his family and all the creatures. And so God has designed our salvation and every room filled with all the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ and everything that we need for our safety and for our salvation. There is one room that is filled with righteousness and justification. There is another room that is filled with mercy and the forgiveness of our sins. Another with the gift of the Holy Spirit and sanctification. Another with adoption and the love of God. There is another room filled with the promises of prayer and the throne of grace, another with eternal life and the inheritance to come. Jesus is our ark who has been designed with divine wisdom to meet every need we have as sinners. The ark was lifted up, he says. It was lifted up above the waters. Jesus Christ has been lifted up to the highest place of heaven And there he has power for us to bring us safely, to protect us. There is eternal safety for all of us who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. It seems there was no rain that fell before the flood on the earth. Genesis chapter two and verse six tells us that there was a mist that used to arise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. And so men would mock Noah as he built the ark and he spoke of the coming rains of judgment. It was all foolishness to them. What a foolish thing for a man to build an ark when rain would come and flood the earth, but no rain had ever been seen. And so the gospel, the word of the cross, is foolishness to the men of this present world. but it will be the only place of safety when our Lord Jesus Christ returns from heaven. So the first way in which we see Noah as a type of Christ tonight is in the building of the Ark, and the second way is in his sacrifice, which is what we find in chapter eight. And we'll read verses 18 through 21. Chapter eight and verse 18. So Noah went out and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. Every beast, every creeping thing and every bird and everything that moves on the earth went out by their families from the ark. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma. And the Lord said to himself, I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth, and I will never again destroy every living thing as I have done. The waters of the flood have subsided. The ark is rested on the mountains of Ararat, and Noah and his family, they leave the ark. And the very first thing that Noah did when he left the ark was to build an altar to the Lord, an altar of worship and sacrifice to the Lord, where he could offer burnt offerings, offerings of consecration, offerings of dedication of everything that he had to the Lord. Surely there were many things that Noah could have done first when he left the ark. But first, before all other things, he needed to worship the Lord. And so he built this altar dedicated to Jehovah, and he offered burnt offerings on it. And as the smoke ascended up into heaven, it is as if the Lord smelled the soothing aroma A most soothing, pleasing aroma it was to him. Verse 21 tells us the Lord smelled the soothing aroma, or it could be translated the sweet savor, a very pleasant aroma to the Lord in heaven. He was most pleased. He was satisfied and he found great delight in it because it was all a foreshadowing of his beloved son and the sacrifice that he would make when he came. An offering of atonement, a propitiatory sacrifice. Noah offered it in faith of the coming of Christ and his offering. God looked upon it in the same way and it was a soothing aroma to him. Noah sacrificed the animals upon that altar. Each animal was put to death and then offered in a burnt offering. And as Noah put each animal to death, he was in effect saying, this is what I and my family deserve because the penalty of sin is death. And we ourselves are sinners, and we deserve to die as these animals are offered to the Lord. There was much blood upon that altar, but it was all foreshadowing the blood of Jesus, who alone can forgive sins. It was a looking to the blood of Christ alone. The whole world had been destroyed. Every living thing had perished. The carcasses of men and beasts covered the ground. But Noah and his family were still alive, and they had escaped from the wrath of God. And surely Noah must have said to himself, what grace has come to me? What great mercy has been bestowed upon me? that all the human race has perished in their sin, but I and my family have been saved. And so it will be with us when the last day comes. The hymn writer says, when this passing world is done, when has sunk young glaring sun, when we stand with Christ in glory looking over life's finished story. When I hear the wicked call on the rocks and hills to fall, when I see them start and shrink on the fiery deluge brink, then, Lord, shall I fully know, not till then, how much I owe. Noah came out of the ark. He must have trembled. He must have trembled when he saw the entire world had perished before him. He must have trembled at the holiness, the great holiness of this awesome and powerful God. What shall we do? What shall we do, he said? How shall we stand before this great God? We must make a burnt offering. We must offer sacrifice. That alone looks forward to the taking away of our sin. Sacrifice of blood is the only way for us to stand in the presence of God, a soothing aroma to God in heaven as he saw those burnt offerings being offered. Because he knew all of his attributes would be glorified in the death of his beloved son to come. His love would be displayed. His wisdom and salvation would be manifested. His righteousness upheld. His justice would be satisfied. His holiness would be appeased. His salvation would be accomplished, and his beloved son would glorify him as never before and never afterwards in the death of Christ upon the cross. And so the father was well pleased, and he delighted, and he smelled a soothing aroma in the sacrifices of Noah. As one man said, in ourselves we are a most foul stench to God because of our sin. But when we are washed in the blood of Jesus, we are a most fragrant aroma to him. We notice in verse 20 that Noah took of every clean animal and of every clean bird He took not of the unclean, but of the clean. Because the clean must be offered for the unclean. And Noah was unclean and so he needed to offer the clean in the place of himself, the unclean. And so it is with Jesus. He is the one who is ultimately clean above all others. And he was offered in our place who are so unclean. The just for the unjust. And he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in him. We notice as well that he had to make a great many sacrifices. We see in verse 20, he offered of every clean animal and of every clean bird. Many sacrifices Noah had to offer. but we have need of only one sacrifice in our Lord Jesus Christ. Like the Old Testament priest, Hebrews chapter 10, who had to offer time after time the same sacrifices which could never take away sin, but he has offered one sacrifice for sins for all time and has sat down at the right hand of God. By one offering, he has perfected all those who are sanctified. We find the same language of the Lord smelling this soothing aroma in the book of Ephesians in the New Testament, Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. And verse 2. Paul writes, walk in love just as Christ also loved you. and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. Christ, he says, Christ also loved you. To the Ephesians and to us who were dead in our trespasses and sins and who were living according to the course of this world, Christ still loved us. And out of his love, he came into the world and he gave himself up for us. He gave up his glory in heaven, he gave up his comforts, he gave up his joys and all of his pleasures in heaven, and he gave them up for us who were sinners. And how did he give himself up? As an offering, as an offering and a sacrifice to God upon the cross for our sins. We might ask the question, he gave himself up for us, But how far and to what extent was he willing to give himself up? Were there limits? Were there boundaries as to how much he would give of himself for us? Did he say, this far I will go and no further for guilty and lost sinners. There are limits to what I will do for them. No. No, there were no limits to our Lord Jesus Christ because of his love for us. He went to the cross, and he hung upon the cross as an offering and a sacrifice to God in heaven. And when God the Father saw that sacrifice, it was like a fragrant aroma. to him once again. It was a sacrifice of a complete, eternal propitiation, an atoning sacrifice to take away all of our sins so that he could say, I have no more wrath against my people. I have only mercy. I have only peace for them by the blood of Jesus. The sweet aroma of Noah's sacrifice was a type of Christ in his death upon the cross and it came to its highest fulfillment as he offered himself a sacrifice, a fragrant aroma to God. And then the last way in which we see Noah as a type of Christ is by God's rainbow in the sky. God's rainbow in the sky back in Genesis chapter eight. Back to Genesis and chapter eight. In verse 21, after the Lord smelled the soothing aroma of Noah's sacrifice, the Lord said to himself, the Lord said, within his own heart, he made this promise. that even though man's heart had not changed and he was still evil, that he would never again curse the ground on account of man. And then he made a covenant with Noah and all of his descendants after him to the end of time in Genesis chapter 9. And we'll read in Genesis chapter 9, verses 12 through 17. Genesis chapter 9, verse 12. And God said, this is the sign of the covenant which I am making between me and you and every living creature that is with you for all successive generations to the end of time. I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come about when I bring a cloud over the earth that the bow shall be seen in the cloud. And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth. And God said to Noah, this is the sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth. So here we have what is called a covenant of grace, of common grace, with all the human race. And it is the reason why the world continues even this night. That God has promised that he will never again destroy the earth with a flood as he did in the time of Noah. And he gives a sign of the covenant, which is the bow. In verse 13, he says, I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of a covenant between me and the earth. We call it the rainbow because it comes after the rain. And the sun shines through the rain, and the bow of colors is formed in the sky. And in verse 14, he says, and it shall come about when I bring a cloud over the earth. a cloud which in the time of Noah was something so full of wrath, so threatening and fearful to the human race, the clouds that brought the rain and the great flood and the destruction. He says, when I set a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud. to assure men that I will never again bring rain like I did in the flood. And I will never again destroy the earth in that way. So the rainbow is a sign of God's kindness, his great patience, a most pleasant and cheerful work of God. a bright and beautiful spectrum of colors across the sky as an offering of peace and safety to the human race. Bows are used in warfare. And the arrow is placed on the string, and it is fired from the bow against one's enemy. But this bow, this bow has no string, And this bow has no arrow. And this bow faces away from man and only upward toward the heavens. It is a sign of the kindness and the peace and the patience of God. And the rainbow is mentioned in only two other books of the Bible. And we want to look at those very briefly. The first is found in the book of Ezekiel, chapter one. in Ezekiel 1. In Ezekiel 1, Ezekiel sees a vision of the throne of God and we read the last three verses of the chapter, verse 26. Now above the expanse that was over their heads, there was something resembling a throne. like Lapis Lazuli in appearance, and on that which resembled a throne high up was a figure with the appearance of a man. the appearance of a man. Then I noticed from the appearance of his loins and upwards something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it. And from the appearance of his loins and downward, I saw something like fire, and there was a radiance around him. As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking." So Ezekiel here, in this vision of the throne of God, he sees Jesus with the appearance of a man. And he is glowing like glowing metal. and there is fire all about him, and there is a radiance surrounding him as the appearance of a rainbow. The fire, the symbol of his justice, but the rainbow, the symbol of his kindness and patience. It is the glory of our Lord Jesus on his throne. And it is like John's vision in Revelation chapter one. And just like In John's vision, when Ezekiel saw it, he fell on his face as if he was a dead man. And he saw the glory of Jesus, the rainbow surrounding him. The last book of the Bible where we see the rainbow is in the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter four. In Revelation chapter four, Verses 1 through 3. Revelation 4 and verse 1. After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice, which I heard like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things. Immediately, I was in the spirit, and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and one sitting upon the throne. And he who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance. And there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald. in appearance. So here is the throne of God and of the Lamb. And John sees these precious stones, a jasper stone, a sardius, an emerald. They are all symbols of the majesty and the glory and the holiness of God. And there is a rainbow, there is a rainbow that is around the throne. A symbol of his mercy and his patience appears now around the throne of God in heaven. to tell John that the judgments that are about to come throughout the rest of this book, in all those judgments, he will not forget his mercy, and he will not forget his patience with the human race. One last time we see the rainbow is in Revelation chapter 10. Revelation chapter 10, and verse one. And John says, and I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven. clothed with a cloud and the rainbow was upon his head and his face was like the sun and his feet like pillars of fire. Now some have said that this is our Lord Jesus Christ who is spoken of here. But then most have said no, it is not Jesus because he is never spoken of as an angel in the book of Revelation. So if we regard this as a mighty angel, we are told here that he came down out of heaven from the throne of God sent by Jesus Christ and no wonder he has a rainbow upon his head because he is the messenger of Christ, of mercy to the church and to sinners and the door of mercy is still open to the end of the world. The rainbow is the symbol of God's patience and peace in Jesus. So what we learn here in Revelation, is that the rainbow that was first seen in the days of Noah and the rainbow that has been seen ever since by every man in this world, it continues in heaven around our Lord Jesus Christ to show us that he is still the willing and patient savior of sinners. After the flood, Noah left the ark. It was a whole new world. The old world had perished. It was the beginning of a new world and the beginning of the human race once again. And in the same way, when Jesus returns from heaven to this world, he will make this world all new again. It will be the new heavens and it will be the new earth. And there will be the world filled with all of his who have been saved by his grace. and it will be a new creation. And there will be no rainbows in that world, because there will be no clouds, and there will be no rain, and there will be no sun, because the glory of God will illuminate, and the light of that world will be the Lamb. The flood came very suddenly. A warning to the unconverted. The flood came very suddenly. When men were eating and drinking, giving themselves in marriage and marrying, caring about their lives as if no end would ever come, suddenly the Lord shut the door of that ark, and the floodgates were opened, and the fountains burst, and it was the end. What terrible panic came upon sinners on that day. And Jesus tells us that just as it was in the days of Noah, so it shall be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, and then finally the end came. Today is the day to come to Jesus to be saved. And for us who are believers, What this means for us is that we should live as those who are ready for that great day to come. Peter says, what sort of people ought you to be? What sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, knowing that all these things will be destroyed in that way? We should be looking for and hastening the coming day of God. And he says, be diligent to be found by him. in peace, spotless and blameless. That should be the goal of our lives, to live as those who are preparing every day, looking to hasten the great day when Jesus will return from heaven and bring us into that new world of eternal life. Let's pray together. Father and gracious God in heaven, Thank you for the glories of our gospel, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you that he gives us perfect safety, protection, and hope. There is no condemnation for us who are in our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, help all of us here to know Jesus. Help everyone who does not know him to look to him and find his mercy. And may we all prepare, and may we be diligent to be found in peace, spotless and blameless when he returns. Lord, help us, give us the grace and the strength that we need, and send us your Holy Spirit to help us in all these things. We thank you in Jesus' name, amen.