Turn with me back to Genesis chapter six. On the first Sunday of this year, we looked at the first story in the scripture, which was the story of Adam and Eve. We skimmed the first three chapters of Genesis looking at that story. On the second Sunday of this year, we looked at the second story in the scripture, which was Cain and Abel. And that story was covered in the first 17 verses of chapter four. And on the third Sunday of this year, which is today, I feel led to look at the third major story in the scripture, which is the story of Noah.

Now, by this point, if you just scan your pages, you will see that many people, many names are being mentioned. But this is the next full account or full story that our Lord gives. And it begins by saying in chapter six, verse one, It came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, my spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh, yet his days shall be 120 years. There were giants in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men, which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth.

And we're not gonna spend time on that, but I'll just tell you that does not mean God changed his mind. That's what the word repent means, to change the mind. But there are many uses of the word, and this definition is not that. It means he consoled himself. He grieved in his heart and consoled himself. And again, I told myself I wasn't going to do this because I got to move. But when my children were born, on the day they were born, I knew they would sin against me. I already knew it. You know, our Lord's the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. But when that time came, it grieved him at his heart, he consoled himself.

Verse seven, and the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them. In Genesis one, when God made man and beast, and animals and all of creation, he said, behold, it's very good.

But the moment sin entered the picture, it ruined everything. It ruined man, it ruined beasts, it ruined all of creation. Everything and everyone became ruined by the fall into sin. And in our natural conditions on this earth, all of us are consumed with wickedness.

Man thinks there is some good in him, and here's the reason why. It's because man compares himself to other men. That's the reason why. You know, you still tell there's no good in anybody, and that's not true. People think there's some good in me, and that's because we're comparing ourselves to other men, but compared to God. We're just great wickedness.

Even men who you would, you know, in your mind think, well, that's a good man or a good woman. Mankind in his or her flesh is evil. Isaiah 1 verse 5 says, the whole head is sick. Jeremiah 17, 9 says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. 1 John 2 says, the eyes are full of lust. Psalm 26 says, the hands are full of mischief. Romans 3 says, the feet are swift to shed blood, only evil continually.

Somebody will say, yeah, but I do a lot of good stuff too. No, you don't. Not according to God. Not according to God. It may be good to man, but it's not good to God. Psalm 14, 3 says, there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Only evil continually.

Verse 8 says, but. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. All right, so here's the summary of the whole story. You ready? Before we ever even tell it. We haven't gotten into Noah, haven't gotten into the ark. Here's the summary of the whole thing before we ever even tell it. Man's works were evil. So man's works couldn't do it. It had to be God's grace. That's the summary, not works, but grace. That's the summary of the whole thing.

Now, was there any difference in Noah and any other wicked man on this earth? It said in verse nine that Noah was just, he was perfect, he walked with God. Was there any difference in Noah than any other man or woman on this earth? No, no. Noah was upright, walked with God in Christ because of Christ. Christ made the difference. There was nothing about Noah that was any different from any other wicked man on this earth. There is none that doeth good. What about Noah? No, not one, not one. That is what makes grace, grace. If Noah in himself were those things, then Noah would have found reward. Noah would have found works. It would say, but Noah found works because he was so good and so perfect and so, but he found grace. And that's what makes grace grace. Noah didn't earn it. Noah wasn't worthy of it. It was unmerited favor from God to one of his elect sinful souls. That's why grace is called grace.

The destruction of this world was a display of God's holy justice. He was good and right in doing it. And the salvation of Noah and his family and a particular chosen few of every type of animal was a display of God's holy mercy and grace. And this is what that grace, the grace of God, this is what it did for Noah. It provided an ark. That's what the grace of God did for Noah. With certain judgment and condemnation being determined on this entire world, the grace of God provided an ark.

And let me just tell you this, when we looked at Cain and Abel last week, the whole story was covered in 17 verses. The story of Noah is four chapters long. It's 97 verses. If we were going through Genesis verse by verse, it would take many messages to get through this story. But I want to look at this story in one message. So we're going to skim the high spots and see the big picture of the story, and we're going to leave all the little details and every nook and cranny for another day, okay? We're just going to get the overall view of this story. God provided grace for Noah, and that grace was in the form of an ark.

Now let's take just a quick minute and look at this ark, look at this whole situation here. Genesis 6, verse 14. The Lord said, make thee an ark of gopher wood, it's believed to be cypress. Rooms shalt thou make in the ark? and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of. The length of the ark shall be 300 cubits, the breadth of it 50 cubits, and the height of it 30 cubits. And if you want an idea of how big that is, when the service is over, walk down to the basement, down there to the door of the basement, and look at the corner of this building, okay, two stories. The width of it was half again as wide as this building. Take all of this, add it over there, that's how wide it was. The height of it was two times as tall as this building. And the length of it was four times as long as this building. It was a good size.

Verse 16, he said, a window shalt thou make to the ark? And in a cubit shalt thou finish it above, 18 inches, foot and a half. And the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof, with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

And behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of water upon the earth to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life from under heaven. And everything that is in the earth shall die, but with thee will I establish my covenant. And thou shalt come into the ark thou and thy sons and thy wife and thy sons' wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark to keep them alive with thee. They shall be male and female, of fowls after their kind, of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee to keep them alive. and take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee, and it shall be for food for thee and for them.

Thus did Noah according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Chapter seven, verse one, and the Lord said unto Noah, come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Verse four, for yet seven days will I cause it to rain upon the earth, 40 days and 40 nights, and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

He said, you come in here, it's time to come in. You're going to sit here for seven days. After seven days, it's going to rain for 40 days.

Verse 11, in the 600 year of Noah's life in the second month, the 17th day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up and the windows of heaven were opened and the rain was upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights. Verse 16, and they that went in went in male and female of all flesh as God had commanded him and the Lord shut him in. And the flood was forty days upon the earth, and the waters increased and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

Verse 21. And all flesh died. that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man, all in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. And every living substance was destroyed, which was upon the face of the ground. Both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of heaven, They were destroyed from the earth and Noah only remained alive and they that were with him in the ark. And the waters prevailed upon the earth in 150 days. That's five months.

Chapter eight, verse one, and God remembered Noah and every living thing and all the cattle that was with him in the ark and God made a wind to pass over the earth and the waters assuaged. Started going down, verse 13. And it came to pass in the 600 and first year in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked and behold, the face of the ground was dry. And in the second month on the seventh and 20th day of the month was the earth dried. And God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark, thou and thy wife and thy sons and thy sons' wives with thee. Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, that they may breed abundantly in the earth and be fruitful and multiply upon the earth. Chapter 9 verse 1, and God blessed Noah and his sons and said unto them, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. Verse 8. And God spake unto Noah and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you, and with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, of every beast of the earth with you, from all that go out of the ark to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood, Neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, this is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you for perpetual generations. I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass 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 the water shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud and I will look upon it that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, this is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. And then the next few verses say, Noah sinned against God. As soon as the covenant was established, it immediately says, the next thing says, Noah sinned against God. Look at verse 28. And Noah lived after the flood 350 years, and all the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died. Now, this ark that God put Noah in, everybody likes to call it Noah's Ark, the title of this message is God's Ark That He Put Noah In. This ark is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't have time to turn, we don't have time to turn anywhere anymore, that's all the turning. But 1 Peter 3 verses 20 and 21 tell us that this account of Noah in this ark is a figure along with baptism. They are a picture is what it means of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. That's what this is. And we're gonna spend the rest of our time now acknowledging the comparison of the ark to Christ. I feel like this is more of a Bible study. It feels like a college lecture to me. I want to encourage you to, I'm about to really move here and it's just going to be fact after fact after fact. I hope it's a blessing, but I believe we'll all say amen. We're gonna just compare, show the comparison of the ark to Christ, and then we're gonna close this message by seeing God's grace to Noah regarding this ark. All right, here we go, you ready? Number one, this ark is a spiritual picture of Christ in that It was the only salvation that there was on this earth. That was it. There was only one way of life. You had to be inside that ark. And Christ is the only physical, spiritual, eternal salvation that there is on this earth. He is it. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. Acts 4 verse 12 says, there is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved. Jesus Christ alone, not my name, not your name, Jesus Christ alone. That's number one.

Number two, not only was the ark all that was provided, And I've thought about this so many times. We've already read where Cain went to the city of Nod and he built the city of Enoch. We know there were many cities. We know that there were many places. God didn't say, okay, I'm gonna have an ark built in every city. It was one ark for the whole world. One ark for the whole world. And this is the second thing. Not only was the ark all that was provided, The ark was all that was needed. It was all that was needed. The ark was big enough. The breadth, the length, the height, the depth. There was plenty of room for everyone and everything in this world. that was purposed to be inside the ark. The door of that ark was wide open for seven days. Anyone who wanted to go in could have gone in.

All right, now let me tell you this. This is the greatest definition of election that we will ever see. This is it right here. There's no better definition of election. If you want to really understand what election, God's election is, here it is.

God's election kept no one out of Christ. Nobody. The door to that ark was wide open for seven days, which that's a representative number of the entire span of human life on this earth. A day is a thousand years. We don't have time to go into that. But the door of that ark was wide open for seven days. Anyone who wanted to go in could have walked right in. Noah was a preacher of righteousness. That what he's saying was, there's one way, there's one hope, there's one salvation, you need to be in this ark.

Anyone who wanted to go in could have walked right in. Not one soul went into it except for the souls that God purposed to go into it. That's how it is with Christ. God's election into Christ excluded no one. When I first heard about election, I remember thinking, but what if I walk up and I just, I want to be in Christ so bad. And he's like, no, I didn't elect you. That's not a possibility.

God's election in Christ excluded no one. It didn't have to exclude anybody. No one was willing to come. No one. Had God not elected particular souls in Christ, not one soul would have been saved. Had Noah not found grace, Noah wouldn't have been saved. No man, well, let me say it this way, man will come to his own religion, man will come to church, man will come to the law, man will come to his self-righteous works, but man will not come to Christ alone unless God purposes, elects, calls, and draws that man or woman to Christ by himself.

All right, number three. That ark had one door. That's it. Look at this building. Look how many doors we have in this building. That ark had one door. One man said the giraffe and the snail and everything in between had to use the same door. Same door. They all had to go in the same way. That's Christ. He said, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture.

Number four. There was one window. And it was not in the side of the ark. It was on top of it. And it's because the window was not given for the purpose of seeing out. It was given for the purpose of seeing in. It was given so light could come in. And that's Christ. He said, I am the light of the world, the light from heaven that lightens. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness. Man, but shall have the light of life, that's Christ.

Number five, that ark was covered inside and out in pitch. Inside, not just on the outside, inside and out with pitch, which physically is tar. But the actual concordance definition of that word, you look it up in your Bible dictionary, your concordance, this is what it says. The price of life. Redemption price. The ransom. The satisfaction. That ark was covered inside and out with redemption's price. The ransom. The satisfaction, that's Christ. The atoning blood that was on the inside of him was shed, it was poured out to pay the ransom price to cover us, to atone for us. What the word atonement means, it means a covering. It made satisfaction for us. The Lord God said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you and you'll live. I will not bring this judgment on you because the judgment was brought on another for you. And that's Christ. He was wounded for our transgressions. He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. The chastisement of our peace was on him. With his stripes we are healed.

When that rain, R-A-I-N, of judgment came down on every soul on this earth, it also came down on Noah. It came down on his wife, it came down on his three sons, and their three wives, and all the animals. The judgment of God rained down on everyone and everything, no exceptions. There was not a spot in the earth, half again as wide as this and four times as long as this, that it was like a rectangle. Rain just didn't fall there. Rain fell on every living soul on this earth. No exceptions. But for every soul and every animal that was inside the ark, the judgment stopped at the ark. It was just beating on the roof of that ark. Just beating on them. You know, we've had messages on this before, years and years ago, that people talked about what happened when the rain fell, how violent it was, and such on and so forth. We don't have time to go into that today, but God's wrath on man's sin. was just pummeling Noah and pummeling his wife, and his three sons were just receiving God's wrath and judgment, and it stopped at that ark. And here they are up under that ark. And he just, oh, he just, oh, oh, and it stopped at that ark. All that judgment stopped at that ark. Every soul under the pitch covering of that ark was saved alive.

Number six. Not one thing died inside that ark. Now listen to this. They were all inside that ark for a little over a year. They sat in the ark for seven days. The Lord said, go in and you sit here with the door open for seven days. They sat in the ark for seven days. It rained for 40 days. The water stayed on the earth for 150 days. And then it started going down. It took two and a half months before they saw the tops of the mountains. Then Noah waited 40 days before he sent a bird out of the window to see what was out there. He sent a dove or a raven once every seven days. He would send it, and then it couldn't find anywhere to land. It'd come back, and he'd wait seven days. And he did that until the bird didn't come back. When the water was finally all gone, Noah stayed in the ark for almost two months. to let the ground dry and harden. That comes to, you know, men smarter than me say that it comes to roughly 378 days, depending on how you read it, 370 to 378, a little over a year. And in all that time, not one thing died inside that ark. How? They didn't have refrigerators, they didn't have freezers. I don't believe Noah planted a garden somehow under that 18 inch square window. And the reason is because chapter 6 verse 21 says the Lord told Noah to bring all the food needed into the ark.

But even if Noah did grow a little garden right there, lions cannot eat vegetation. I googled it. Only if they need to get sick for medical reasons, they'll eat that and it'll make them, they can't eat vegetation. Koala bears almost exclusively eat eucalyptus leaves. They cannot eat grains. Anything other than a leaf, they cannot eat a grain. How do they keep the leaves from withering? I don't know, I mean, Where do you get that much specialized food and how do you keep it from going bad?

Here's the answer. God preserved it. Everything inside that ark was kept. While everything outside of that ark perished and died, everything inside that ark was kept by the power of God. That's Christ. Outside of Christ, there's nothing but wrath and judgment and condemnation, but in Christ is every keeping, preserving, blessing from God that can be bestowed. And it's because all of God's love is in Christ.

Now listen to this, this is the truth. Here's the seventh, number seven, seventh comparison. All of the love of God toward this world was in that ark. All of the love of God that was possible to come to this earth, all of it was inside that ark. There was not one drop, not one raindrop of love outside of that ark. But inside that ark, it truly could be said, smile, God loves you. That's Christ. Not one ounce of God's love is outside of Christ. But in Christ is the fullness of it, the fullness of God's love, the fullness of God's peace.

For one whole year inside that ark, I don't believe a dog attacked a cat, or a lion attacked a zebra, or an elephant stepped on a mouse, It was peace, it was love, it was plenty, it was safety, it was comfort, it was contentment in every way needed. You say, Gable, I mean, how do you know that? Can you imagine trying to keep all of those animals inside the ark for seven days while the door was wide open? Some of these animals are exclusive to certain parts of the world. It took Noah 100 years to build this. Some snails may have started snailing 100 years before this. It may have taken a turtle 100 years to get to, I don't know. Maybe the lions had to travel for two years to get from South Africa to wherever Noah was.

But can you imagine all these birds, two of every kind of bird? The door is wide open. How you gonna keep the birds in? How you gonna keep the cats from running? All of them sat there. Perfect contentment. They all came. Sat, waited. No trouble, Noah and the eight of them weren't scrambling, grab it, grab it. No. Total, complete contentment. It was all for everything inside that ark. That lion was so content. That Tasmanian devil was so content. I've seen a hyena, I don't care for those things. That thing was so content. All sufficiency, I have everything I need.

We know it was all sufficiency because every single person and thing inside that ark made it safely through the whole judgment. All sufficiency, everything needed, all of them made it through alive. And that's the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The judgment of God's people took place on the cross of Calvary. that reigning judgment, the cross of Calvary. And because Christ arose from the death of that judgment and ascended to his throne on high, that's how we know we made it through safely. We made it through alive, alive with him.

And God gave Noah, he gave his family, he gave those animals a token of his covenant. And every time they saw it, they were reminded of his promise that he would never do that to them again. One judgment, that's it, no more. The token was the rainbow. And that's Christ. Every time we see Christ, we are reminded of the fact that there was one judgment, and it's over, and it's never coming again. Never coming again. It's finished, it's done, forever, settled in heaven. Go and be free.

When it was done, he said, Noah, open the door and send him out. You say, go and be free. Come in, out, go find pasture.

Now, you know me, I'm a 28 minute preacher. It's been 40 minutes. What do you wanna do? You want me to show you the grace of God to Noah concerning this ark? You wanna stop? We'll just have an exception here, okay? It'll be brief, it'll be brief. But I think you will, I think you'll enjoy this.

Okay, that's how the ark pictures Christ. That's how the ark is a picture of Christ. Let me leave you with this. You think about this, okay? This was God's grace to Noah concerning the ark. That's how the ark is a picture of Christ. And this is God's grace to Noah concerning the ark. I have four of them.

Number one, Noah was told about the ark. He heard about the ark from God. Listen. Not every soul on this earth was or is told about the Ark. Have they not all heard? But I'm talking about in the heart. I mean really heard. I mean really heard. Number two, Noah was caused to believe on the Ark. Not every soul then and not every soul now believes on Christ the Ark. Religion is not Christ. If a soul is caused to believe on Christ by himself, it's great grace.

Number three, Noah was made willing. to enter into the ark. You know why he went in there? He wanted to go in there. You know why the animals went in there? They wanted to go in there. He wasn't dragging horses into the ark. How many people do you imagine came and looked out of curiosity, but never had a heart to enter in? How many people?

Number four. Genesis 7 verse 16 says, God shut the door on him and sealed him in. Noah did not shut the door, God shut it. And sealed him in so that he couldn't get out even if he wanted to, he didn't. But even if he wanted to, he could not get out of that ark. And that's what the grace of God does for all of his people. His Holy Spirit seals them in, sealed into Christ. To where, thank God, you can't get out. You just can't get out. Oh, I hope I don't fall out. Oh, you can't get out. God shut the door. God sealed you in. What grace, what grace. Lord, let us find this grace in Christ. Amen.