Genesis chapter 8. Several months ago I wrote an
article about comparing and contrasting sheep and goats, and it seemed
to be very well received. And so there might be an article
coming between the raven and the dove. I did most of the laid
work already, so I hope the Lord will give it to me for this weekend.
We've been going through Genesis, and we've seen that ark. It's
just been brought through the wrath of God. His justice, His
judgment. And it was lifted up on those
floodwaters. And if you could see the waters,
that was possible. The higher the waters went, the
more exalted that ark was. God will show us what we are. The waters that we earned, the
wrath and judgment that we've earned, as we see that growing,
as we're growing down, That's how man grows. I can't put it
no plainer than that. Unless I got a hold of somebody
and just shook them. We grow down. And if we see ourselves
and what I earned and what I deserve today, much less 41 years leading
up to now, I see him, his blood sacrifice he played for me, more
exalted, more lifted up. He must increase and I must decrease. God is going to do a work in
us. That's how it's going to go. All of Noah and his family, all
those animals, all those fowl, all those creeping things, everything
that was in that ark, the Lord shut them in. He drew them in
there. He shut them in and he sealed it with pitch. It was
waterproof. It's a picture of Christ atoning
blood for those in Him. His blood covering our sins,
making it whiter than the snow. How could blood make something
whiter than snow? He said so. I believe Him. He said, I've
removed your sin as far as the east is from the west. Boy, I
just can't ever get over that. You go north far enough, you
hit the North Pole, and as soon as you take one step, you're
going south. You go east and you keep going east. And you
ain't started going west yet. It's infinite. It doesn't touch.
That's how far they've been removed. And we're protected by that blood
from those waters of judgment. Those that he's died for, there
ain't one molecule of H2O going to get through it. It ain't going
to touch you. The ark absorbed it all. The only thing that made
a difference between Noah and the rest of the world, everybody
else, millions, was that Noah found grace in the eyes of the
Lord. God was gracious to eight people,
Noah and his family, and everyone else perished under the wrath
of God. The only thing that distinguishes
is God's grace, His grace. That ark rested on the mountains
of Ariat, there in Turkey. And it says there in Genesis
8 verse 6, And it came to pass at the end of forty days that
Noah opened up the window of the ark which he had made, and
he sent forth a raven Which went to and fro, went forth to and
fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Something
else goes to and fro, seeking whom he made vow. That raven
never came back to the ark. It didn't come back to the ark.
Some old writers say it rested on the outside of the ark. It
might have sat on top or it sat on the sides or something. But
I thought about this a good bit this week. You imagine all those
waters and it wasn't like the Bahamian Shelf in spring. This
wasn't Grand Bahama. That wasn't clear blue lovely
lagoons. There was nothing but carcasses
floating. Millions of dead, bloated carcasses floating in that water. Debris from people's homes floating
in that water. Stinking things. Debris. Look like those videos, that
tsunami you can watch in Japan. It's just carnage. Carnage. Those ravens, they feed on flesh.
dead flesh. When it left that boat, I don't
want to dwell on the raven too long. We're going to look at
the dove, but we need to know something about the raven. When
that raven left, it eats dead flesh. And it had plenty to eat. It could eat anywhere. Well,
I could take a little bit of good stuff from here, and I could
take a little bit of good stuff from there. It was fine. It didn't need that ark, and
it was happy to get out of that ark. It was free from the ark. Just right as rain. I'm a bird.
Flat flap. Thought it was just fine. Raven
is where we get the word ravenous. Ravenous. That means hungry.
Never satisfied. This doesn't really apply. I
just thought it was nice. You know what you call a flock of ravens?
A murder. A murder. That's all they look
for is death. An easy meal. And they can eat
anything. Our Lord told us, this is speaking
of the man by nature. man's religion, self-righteousness
by nature. Our Lord said, Beware of false
prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly
are ravening wolves, ravenous wolves. They consume everything
they can. They can't get enough, and they can eat anything. Speaking
of those false prophets, Isaiah wrote, His watchmen are blind.
They're all ignorant. They are all dumb dogs. They
can't bark, sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yay, they
are greedy dogs. That's the same word. Ravenous
dogs, which can never have enough. And they are shepherds that cannot
understand. They all look to their own way,
everyone for his own gain from his own quarter. They look out
for self. Raven, die of those outside of
Christ. And they're happy about it. that
death that's outside of him. That's what they feast on. In
verse 8 it says, and also he sent forth a dove from him to
see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground.
But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot and she
returned unto him into the ark for the waters were on the face
of the whole earth. Then he put forth his hand and
took her and pulled her in unto him into the ark. Brother Darwin
Pruitt preached a wonderful message from us about 11 years ago. Go
listen to it. It's a blessing to be a blessing
to you. But I want to look tonight just
at this dove, just at the dove. You imagine Noah standing there
and that only window and him seeing that dove he'd released
come back to him and he reaches his hand out and that dove lights
on him and he pulls it into the ark. In the Scriptures, the Holy
Ghost is described as a dove. When our Lord was baptized, there
in Matthew 3, it says, He was baptized, went up straightway
out of the water, and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him,
and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting
on Him. Back in Genesis 1-2, it says,
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the
face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved. God the Holy Spirit,
God the Holy Ghost moved upon the waters. You know what that
word moved means? It brooded. Some of y'alls kept chickens. What's a broody hen do? It sets
on eggs, don't it? That dove brooded on the waters. Moved on the waters. And God
said, let there be light. And there was light. This dove
is a picture of the Holy Spirit of God who speaks and brings
life to the soul. Comes to God's children and speaks
to them in power. Convinces them of their sin.
Singular. The singular fiber of our being. And He convicts us of Christ's
righteousness. He preaches us low in Christ.
That's the only one he talks of. I got accused of not having
the Holy Ghost. And I said, why's that? You don't
ever bring it up? I said, well, because he's going to tell you
of Christ. Somebody talks about the Holy Ghost all the time,
they ain't got it. They don't know nothing about it. They're
unknown. They're dogs that can't bark and they're raving us. But this dove's also a picture
of the believer who's been born again by that spirit, who has
a spirit of God in him. A sinner that was dead in sin
but was given life was quickened. This is a picture of us. A picture
of God's people. What a thought. I say things
sometimes. If I can just grasp slowly, one
sentence at a time. God has given His people a divine
spirit. A holy nature. I could chew on that for two or
three years. I've got plenty to eat on, don't I? Not of flesh
and blood, not of the will of men, but born of the Spirit.
When you think of a dove, okay, I want to look at several points
of doves, just facts on them. When you think of a dove, you
think of a small, timid bird, don't you? It don't make a lot
of noise. Magicians hide them in their
pockets for a whole magic show, and they pull it out the end,
you didn't even know it was there. Just a quiet little bird. Peter
described this, about this meek spirit of a believer, a timid
spirit. He says, "...the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which
is in the sight of God of great price." Great price. That's the
work of the Spirit. Paul told us that in Galatians
5. He said, "...the fruit of the Spirit." Here's what this
produces. It's dovet lots on men and women as God directs,
as He commands, as His will is accomplished. They come to them.
You're born of the Spirit. Born anew. Here's what it produces. The fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness. It's
like a little dove. Temperance. And against such
there is no law. There ain't no cats on it. You
want to love, go out and love all you want. You want to be
a long sufferer, you go suffer as long as you want to. Have
at it. People say, I want to serve God.
Here's your chance. Go for it. Our Lord spoke, and He said,
Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide
you into all truth. For He will not speak of Himself,
but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will
show you things to come. He shall glorify Me. for he shall
receive of mine and shall show it unto you." What's that spirit
going to teach us? What's he going to show us? That
dovet lights on men and women. Paul wrote to the church at Philippi
and he said, let this mine be in you, which is also in Christ
Jesus, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, but made of himself no reputation, took
upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness
of men. Almighty God became a man. What condescension. And being
found in fashion of a man, he humbled himself and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. I want to be as meek as a dove. We are taught the meekness of
the dove. That's what the Holy Spirit comes
to us and teaches us. Makes us like Him, like Christ. And Him
and the Father and the Spirit are one, aren't they? Three in
one. Because we're given this earnest
of our inheritance. That's what the Spirit's called.
Paul tells us that in Ephesians 1. We cannot find peace, just
like this dove in ark. We can't find peace, we can't
find comfort in this world. It ain't possible. It ain't possible. You are not your own. You are
bought with a price. There's a new nature in you,
if you're the Lord's. If you ain't, you're a raven,
and you go squawk, squawk, and flap, flap, just like another
bird. Look just like a dove, but you
need anything. That dove found no rest. That
new man, that new dove in us, it groans. It gets weary. Gets weary like a little tiny
bird flying over a massive... That's not a sea bird. That's
a land bird. flying over open water. It gets
tired and weary and it groans. Paul wrote to us in Romans 8,
he said, but ourselves also which have the firstfruits of the Spirit.
We have the Spirit. The Lord's done a work in us.
Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption
with the redemption of our body. I'm waiting for this life to
be over. I'm looking for Him. And we don't know how to pray
when we get like that. Most people find that as an insult.
You don't know how to pray. Paul said he didn't know how
to pray. That man labored more than them all. More abundantly
than them all. Well, what am I supposed to do
then? We're just babies. We're babies in Christ. The most
grown man in Christ ever walked this earth is a baby in Christ.
We're children. It says in Romans 8, 26, But the Spirit itself
maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Boy, aren't you thankful. Aren't you thankful somebody
provided for that poor little meek dove. Doves are meek and
humble creatures. They're not peacocks. They don't
have long tail feathers and strut around and show their pretty
colors and let everybody see them. They just fly around. A dove found no rest for the
sole of her foot. She groaned, she travailed, and
she returned to the ark. She returned to Christ her rest. The only place you will ever
find rest is in that ark. Not outside of it. Everything
outside of the ark is dead. Everything outside the ark, it's
rotting. It's bloating. Stinketh. It's been dead more than three
days. It's more than stinketh. It's exploding. There's no food
out there to sustain you. There's no comfort out there,
and there's no rest. Christ's that ark. That's what
we've been looking at in there. There's no rest outside that ark for
that dove. He said, come unto me all you that labor and are
heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me for I'm meek. I'm meek. I'm lowly in heart
and you shall find rest for your souls. Boy, this ain't a cat
nap. That's soul rest. Soul rest. That's peace. Your
soul, apart from Christ, is in unrest. Those outside of Christ,
their soul is at unrest. Now they may dope it up and dole
it down with the drugs of this world. Power, fame, video games,
attention, whatever. But your soul is at unrest and
you know it. You know, I ain't got a magic ball and I can go
up to anybody and I can say, I know your soul is at unrest
if you're outside of Christ. There's no rest for it. Only the Lord
can give you that rest. Not this world. Not the dead
flesh. Not that dying religion that all that stuff represents.
Only Him. Only Him. He's the only rest
we have. I saw that dove flying around seeing a log floating.
And she probably went and thought, I could land on that. It ain't
water. And it was bobbing and she's coming in to land and the
thing's moving. There's no foundation to it.
He says, rolling and bobbing in the water. I've got to keep
flying. I can't rest there. There ain't
no rest here. I'm not equipped for this. David
told us in Psalm 116, he said, Return unto thy rest, O soul.
He's praying for his soul. He said, For the Lord hath dealt
bountifully with thee. There's a stock full ark right
there. Get to it. Get to it is what
he's saying. He said in Psalm 55, and I said,
Oh, that I had wings like a dove. For then would I fly away and
be at rest." Only the Lord's people desire
to be with the Lord. I don't expedite the process. I'm not
looking forward to that. Whatever kind of waters are not
Jordan for me. But for the Lord to come. We're in the last days. He said this generation ain't
going to die until He comes. I don't know when it is. A fool
looks for it. A charlatan looks for it. Because he said no man
can know. But we expect Him. We have a hope. The Lord will
come today. What if He comes tonight? Buddy, wouldn't that
be something? What if He took me home tonight?
I'd hate that for my family and I'd grieve. On this earth I would. I feel like the Lord still has
something to do. I'd hate it for you. But I could be with Him. I could
be with Him. We look for His return. That's
the Spirit of the Lord in you. When you want to be with Him.
If I could, I'd fly to my rest, Christ, right now. If I had the
wings of a dove. There's no comfort and rest here.
I was able to enter into Romans 8. We've read this so many times,
but boy, it's just so good to look at. Romans 8, verse 1. It says in Romans 8, 1, There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the law of sin and death. for what the law could not do,
and that it was weak through the flesh, God sending down,
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin,
condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law
might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, not
after this world, not after our desires, but after the Spirit.
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh.
That raven can't take its eyes off of what it desires. It minds
the world. It minds religion. It minds titles. It minds the high seats in the
synagogues and the fancy garments and look at me. But they that
are after the spirit, the things of the spirit. We're going to
put you in a Greek toga. You're going to live in a tent
and we're going to give you Christ. That's great. We get to eat every
night and that'd be wonderful. Let me be with Him. I'll mind
the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded. That's
where we get that word care in, too. To be carnally minded is
death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Peace, rest. Life and rest. Life and peace. In that ark,
in Christ, it dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily. That's
what it's pictured with. You think about him walking with
those on the road to Emmaus, and it says he opens the Scriptures,
and he told of himself throughout the Scriptures. Boy, we're pretty
early on in Genesis, and that's a long walk. Can you imagine
hearing a master preach himself in the ark? Oh, what a message. What a sermon. That ark dwells
the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him.
In Him, you're complete. We know that, don't we? God's
people know that. They ain't looking for something
else to add on. You don't need nothing else. I want to grow
in grace. I want to grow in understanding.
I want to grow in love. I want to grow in those fruits of the
Spirit. But what is needed for me to be in the presence of a
holy God? Nothing. Christ isn't. There's rest in
that. That's our rest. That's our comfort.
Not in self, but in Him. A dove feeds on seeds and green
things. It eats fresh grass, leaves and
things, and eats a lot of seeds. That's it's nature. That's it's
nature to eat those things. That raven was sent out and it
didn't come back because they can eat anything. They eat roadkill.
Rotting flesh. And that smell that it eats,
it doesn't offend it. It smells like dinner. Something
good is cooking. I can eat over there. That dove
couldn't eat those things. Dove couldn't tolerate it. It
had no appetite for those things. Same as the children of God,
they feed on Christ. The scriptures tell us we must
eat his flesh and drink his blood. That's our only source of life.
Him. That's our only source of satisfaction.
What can fulfill me? What can give me hope? Feeding
on Him. It's Him or nothing. We don't
have an appetite for anything else. We're offended by all else
but Him. And we rejoice in Him. He's our
only food. He's our only hope. The Lord
offended those folks there in John 6. And it says, from that
time many of His disciples went back and walked no more with
Him. Just like that raven. They left and they didn't come
back because they got something else to sustain them. They left
and didn't come back. And Jesus said to the twelve,
will you go away also? You gonna stay gone, dove? And
Simon Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words
of eternal life. There's no life apart from Him.
That dove knew that too, about that ark, didn't it? And it got
so far out and it got tired there wasn't enough, it beat feet right
back, beat wings I guess, right back to that ark. Everything
that dove needed was in the ark for the believer. Everything
that you need are in Christ. Everything. We aren't going to
eat the things of this world. We're not going to be filled
up by the things of this world. We're not going to be comforted, have a warm
tummy. It's going to be in that ark. It's going to be in Him.
Doves like to be close to spring waters, fresh water sources.
Not the waters of judgment. They're not a sea bird. They
can't drink salt water. They can't drink corrupt water.
They're a little tiny bird. They're small. They can't handle
much. They've got to have clean water.
Psalm 46 says, there's a river. The streams whereof shall make
glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the
Most High." Christ is that well of life. He's that living fountain. That's what they have to have.
Doves are monogamous. They mate for life. When they
have a little dove husband and a dove wife, they don't depart
from each other. And when they don't have one
of them close, when they lose sight of their mate, or they
lose their mate, They mourn. A little tiny bird mourns. You
know that? There's somebody that's got a
grant somewhere for more money than I've ever made in my life to
go study that, but doves mourn at the loss of their mate. You
consider that. Noah sent this dove out. If he
sent it out, where's its mate? It's in the ark, isn't it? It's
in the ark. That's where her husbandman is.
Christ is our husbandman. He's our head. He's the head
of our house, the head of our body. And when we aren't near
Him, when His people aren't near Him, we grieve, we mourn, and
we desire to be with Him. There's times I feel like the
Lord hasn't spoke to me in a long time, and I mourn. I want to
hear Him. I want to hear my Lord. Revelations
2 says, do the first works. Remember your first love. He's
your first love. We want to get back to that,
don't we? That's what we do every week here. We go into the world.
We fly out. And our hearts, they find no
rest. And we mourn. And we return to the preaching
of the Word. And we return to the assembling of the saints.
That's what we need. Hezekiah said there in Isaiah
38, I did mourn as a dove. My knives fell with looking upward. He said, I can't look up. Oh,
Lord, I'm oppressed. I can't even look up. I can't
find you, Lord. I mourn just like a dove lost its mate. Undertake
for me. Do the work for me. Keep me. When a child of God doesn't feel
the presence of the Lord, we mourn. And He's always with us. He said, Lo, I am with you always.
But we don't see it. We don't know it. We can't perceive
it. We can't understand it. We can't get a hold of it. That's
what David told us in Psalm 77. He said, Is His mercy clinging
on forever? Doth His promise fail forevermore?
Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath He in anger shut up His
tender mercy? Selah. Oh, I'm thinking about
that. Pause on it. I think He's left me. And then
David said, And I said, This is my infirmity. He ain't going
nowhere. His promises haven't changed.
He's got to change or not. Well, what's the problem? The
problem's with me. I do you young folks good. You
grow up in the world and you think everybody in the world's
got a problem but you. Well, the problem might just be you.
That's offensive, isn't it? I do you some good. Keep you
employed. David said, This is my infirmity,
but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most
High. I will remember the works of the Lord. Surely I will remember
thy wonders of old. Lord, you haven't changed. You've
kept your people of old. You're keeping them today, and
I'm a fool for not thinking you'll keep them if you're pleased to
have us tomorrow. When you're away from Him, your
one desire is to be with Him. Doves are monogamous and doves
are like sheep. They like to be in groups of
other doves. Doves don't congregate with every
kind of bird there is. They're not out there with woodpeckers
and peacocks and cockatoos and everything else. They like to
be with doves. Isaiah said, what? Who are these that fly as a cloud?
You ever seen birds flying and it looks like one big bird? It
looks like a swarm of fish, doesn't it? The Lord brought them from
the ocean, so he knows what he's doing, but it looks like a school
of fish going, and it's a bunch of birds. Isaiah said, who are
these that fly as a cloud as the doves to their windows? They
stay together. Ravens, they're unclean fowl.
Doves are clean. And they're putting those Ark
2 of every unclean animal and 7 of every clean animal. They
had friends in that Ark. There's a group of doves in there.
There's 14 of them. Noah's dove that found no fellowship in the
dead world she was flying over. She didn't find any fellowship
with those ravens that stayed out there with her. That was
feasting on dead bodies. They didn't hang out and spend
the night and congregate. And we're going fellowship. There
ain't no fellows in the same ship. You left the ship. You
won't have nothing to do with the ship. Same were fellows in the
same ship. Boy, I tell you what, that gets
my blood boiling sometimes. I'll reel it in. She longed for the fellowship
she had in that ark. The fellows in the same ship.
That's what she wanted to get to. Last year we couldn't meet
and we had live stream. And I'm so thankful for that.
I'm tickled to death. That was good for us. It hurt. It was painful. And we had learned
some trials through it. We learned some things through
those trials. But I'm thankful for it because it revealed my
heart's desire was to be with God's people. I wanted to be
with those that love Him. I can't hug a TV set. I can't
hug an app on an iPhone. I can come up and hug you. I
can shake your hand. I can pat you little ones on
top of the head when you walk by. I can see that. I'm a dove. I like to be around other doves.
That's good. That's needed. Just like sheep
want to be with sheep, doves want to be with doves, and children
of God want to be around other children of God. He's knit our
hearts together. That's what unites us. That's
what gives us that singular heart we looked at this morning. It's
a love for Him. Love for Him. That Spirit that
landed on us. Same Spirit. One Spirit. That faith we have.
It's one faith. It's His faith. That husbandman
we have. Same husband. What about his
kindness? Is he better than you to me?
Same love. Same love, isn't it? You can't
substitute being in service with listening online. You can't substitute
being in service with listening to a tape or watching a video.
And I'm an auditory learner. I hear things. That's how I learn.
And a video works best for me. You think I do better listening,
but a video works best because it's closer to reality. But the
only thing it'll do, that's like fast food. You eat enough of
it, you die. You starve to death. You'll be stunted in growth and
you won't grow none. But to be with His people. A
Hebrew writer said, not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together
as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another. That doesn't
mean teaching and henpecking. You know that? You know what
exhorting means? Calling near. Come. Come on. I missed you. And so much more as you see the
day approaching. That day is approaching. Mine
is 41 years closer than it used to be. It might be tomorrow,
but as my grandpa said, it won't be as long as it has been. If
you look through eternity past, or the span of my life, it ain't
gonna be as long as it has been. And that's not just about going
to church, forsaking the assembly of the saints. It's about fellowship
with the Lord's people. People go to church all the time.
A guy stopped me at the gas station and said, you coming from church?
How was church? Didn't know what to answer him.
I ain't coming from there, I'm going there. And it ain't a building,
it's a people. It's God abiding in a people.
And then people getting together and lifting Him up. Wanting to
hear from Him and exalt Him and love Him and love His people.
Thank Him. And it's a God. Not a God. It's THE God. Not man's vain imagination. That
raven, it can settle down and rest anywhere. Not a believer. They cannot do anything without
the love of their Lord. We're lovesick. Go read Solomon.
Song of Solomon 2.5. It says, I'm sick with love.
That means I'm lovesick. Heartbroke. First love. I'm in love. And the closest
thing we can be to our Lord in this earth, I can't be with Him. I can't see Him. I can't hug
Him. I can't touch Him. But it's to be with each other. To be
with His people. You want to feel forgiveness. I want to feel
forgiveness. I've got a lot that needs to
be forgiven. I need to be around the people who have been forgiven.
I want to be around no condemnation. I can't stand somebody judging
me. Some of y'all that way. You like people judging you?
I don't like it. I need to be with the Lord's
people who have no condemnation. All their judgment has been taken
away. That's a comforting people. You don't get in a bragging match
about sin, but I have faults. I don't mind you seeing them.
Because your thoughts have been forgiven, ain't they? I don't
mind telling it like it is. What's it going to do? Base me?
Good. Look at him. Look what he did for us. I'm
nothing. He saved me anyway. A wretch like me. You want to
be covered? You want to be covered, your
nakedness covered? Be with them. You want to have someone that's
long-suffering and bear your burdens? The best place to be
is somebody that's experienced it. A person that ain't had their
burdens bore can't bear your burdens. A person that the Lord
ain't been long-suffering with can't suffer long with you. There's no fake in it. Some can learn the right words
for a season. And that season can be very long.
It can be a long season. They can get a little checklist
in their head, and they know just the right things to say,
and they know just what they ought to say. Well, this is what
everybody else says, and I know this stuff, and they've learned
it, but you can't fake it. It'll come out sooner or later.
If there's a wolf in sheep's clothing, them clothes are going
to wear out sooner or later, and that natural fur is going
to come out. You can tell the difference. 1 Corinthians 13 says, charity,
love, suffereth long, and is kind. It envies not, it doesn't
balk itself, it's not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly,
seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoices
not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth. It bears all things,
believes all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Love, charity, never faileth. Man's love will fail. What man
calls love is going to give up. It's going to wear out. It's
going to run thin, and it will be like that raven. Finally,
that raven may stay in that ark a long time, sitting there on
a windowsill, and one day it's going to get mad, it's had enough,
and it's going to take off, and ain't coming back. God's love,
that He puts in the heart of His people, it don't fail. And
it may not be the prettiest thing on earth. We've still got the
old man with us. That old man don't know nothing
about this. There's a war going on, but that new man in us, it knows
how to love. How could this be? The love of God was inside of
that ark. And those in it know His love. Those He's revealed
Himself to. They see what a wretch they are,
what they deserve. And they see that they're in
Him. They see they're safe. They can't see the outside of
the ark. They don't understand what all the waves are. They don't
know how many rooms are inside of that ark. They don't even
know what level of the ark they're on. They know they're in it. They've seen
the blood. and they know his love. It was
love that did it. Doves are often attacked by bigger
birds and their only defense, I love this, was to fly away.
It ain't got big claws like the raven and the eagles. It ain't got a big sharp beak.
It's only thing is to skedaddle. That's its defense. Run, flee. That raven probably went after
that dove. A lot of other birds pick on them. That would have
been a fresh meal for her, wouldn't it? Oh, I like dead meat, but
right there's one still warm. That'd be a warm meal. And it
could devour that dove. And it's only hope, the only
hope that dove had was to fly as hard and as fast as it could
to the Ark. When that dove got to the Ark,
she had her own dove coat. I spent a lot of time researching
doves the last couple of days. That means a dove house. They
got their own name. I thought, isn't that special?
Your house has its own name." The Lord said, I've got to prepare
a place for you. It's specific, per person. And she had food, she had warmth,
she had shelter, she had protection, and she didn't have to worry
about anything. She just had to flee to the ark and all was
well. There was rest for her foot in
that ark, in all provisions. David said, my enemies would
daily swallow me up. For they be many that fight against
me, O Thou Most High. What time I am afraid, I will
trust Thee." That dove flew to the ark. No one. It was scared
to death. No one. As soon as I get to that
ark, I can trust it. I trust that ark, and it was
flying to it. You put that ark, you put in that ark, you put
in Christ. If we're in there, if we're in
Him, if we're put in Him, what do we have to be afraid of? Nothing. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Our old man's scared to death of everything. It's a nervous
Nelly. And it can't do nothing but fret and worry and pop its
knuckles. What about this? Yeah, but we gotta be aware of
that. You ain't got nothing to be afraid of if you're with him.
This world, the ravens are buzzing around and they're full of fear.
You make a shocking and a fearful headline in the news or online
or whatever these things are, and people are going to click
on it, they're going to download it, they're going to watch it, they're
going to do anything. Oh, what's that? Well, maybe I ought to
watch it. If you're with Him, there's nothing to be afraid
of. But He says, what time I'm afraid, I'll trust thee. There's
going to be times we're afraid. We ought not fear, but we're
going to be afraid. We're going to be scared at times.
But it's not without hope as the hopeless. We trust Him. We trust Him. Every time I get
afraid, do I trust the Lord? Is He worthy of trusting? You
bet He is. He laid down His life for me.
I'm His. I'm alright. Now give me five
minutes, I might be afraid again. That's why we look forward to
this life being over, be with Him. That body of death being
gone. That fear being gone, seeing Him as He is. That dove flew
as hard and as fast as it could, and it grabbed for Noah's outstretched
arm. Here it come. Noah had a finger
out. That little bird landed on it.
First thing I thought of was whenever Peter wanted to walk
on the water. Lord, bid me come to you. But when he saw the wind
was boisterous, he was afraid, same as David was. He saw him
ravens flying around. That's his wind, wasn't it? He
scared to death. And he began to sink and he cried,
Lord, save me. Just like David did this morning.
Help Lord! Save me! Save Lord! And immediately
Jesus stretched forth his hand. He didn't wait. He didn't have
to check some boxes and accomplish some things. Well, you know,
you've got to grow a little bit more, Peter. He immediately stretched forth
his hand and caught him and said unto him, O thou of little faith,
wherefore didst thou doubt? Run to him. That's what I'm getting
at. Fly to him. Flap your wings as hard as you
can. It's life and death. Run to them. Doves are harmless. Our Lord said, Behold, I send
you forth. He was equipping his ministers to go out. I send you
forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Get some scratches on
you. That's just fine. He'll be with
you. Be ye therefore wise as serpents. I got the serpent part down pat.
I can cut with the best of them. I got sharp fangs. And harmless
as doves. Be ye wise as serpents and harmless
as doves." A dove's harmless. The Spirit of God makes a person
harmless, makes them gentle. And the Spirit of God is not
mean. That's why it's made harmless. That's why it's made gentle.
He's not a mean spirit. You know who some of the meanest,
back-biting people on earth are? Ravenous, religionist ravens,
religious ravens, the self-righteous, they think they've done something
to earn God's favor. And no, it cuts you down to heartbeats.
The very ones that profess to be so godly and to be so hunky-dory
all the time, and boy, I know some, they're the same ones,
I mean, it'll cut your heart out. They'd kill you if they
could. You go to a big mansion, on a hill. We know this worldly
wise. Worldly wise, we understand that. This proves that. You go
to a big mansion on a hill and you say, I'm starving to death.
Can I have a sandwich? You're going to get booted. Get out
of here. Get a sandwich, get a job. Kick
at you, won't they? You find a homeless man downtown. And he says, buddy, I'm starving
to death. And he says, I only got one slice of bread, but you
can have half of it. It proves over and over, don't it? One
thinks they've earned something. One's still holding on to something.
The meanest snakes you've ever met in your life. They ain't
harmless. The Spirit of God makes a person a peacemaker, not a
warmonger. James told us that. He said,
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable,
gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits,
without partiality and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness
is sown in peace of them that make peace. be peaceful. I've been a stiff-necked and
back-biting generation. I do everything I can to be harmless
and not just lash out like a serpent, but that spirit of God is a peaceful
spirit. You can't fake it. Doves and
pigeons, they're related. I didn't look it up and I don't
remember all up to genus and species and all those things.
They're cousins. They're about the same thing. Doves and pigeons,
but I remember them homing pigeons. I think they're extinct now.
They'd send them out used in World War II even. Holman pigeons,
they remember where they're born and that's where they fly back
to. Just like a salmon going upstream. Wherever that thing
was born, that's where it goes home to. That's where it goes back to.
When you're born of God, if you're His, if that spirit of the doves
landed on you and gave you life, and you come into trouble, you
come into trial, you come into heavy burden, Burden, not a discomfort. A burden, well, a discomfort
too, but I mean, you just pinch down. You're getting chased by
ravens. You may fly in circles for a little bit. You may zigzag. You may not be in a straight
line, but you will fly to Him. You will fly to Him. And if you're
weary, if you have no rest, fly to Him now. Fly to Him now. Our souls will not find rest
until it rests in our God. There's nowhere else that has
rest. Rest can't be found anywhere
else but in Him. Come to Him. Run to Him. Land on Him. Cry
out to Him to save you. And just like Peter, immediately
his arm would be outstretched. Same as Noah. Same as that bird
landed on him.