Genesis chapter 8. Genesis chapter
8. The ark is rested on the mountain
range of Ararat. Noah has sent a raven and a dove
out to see if the waters were abated off the face of the earth. Now in all scripture There is
no clearer and miraculous picture and type of salvation for unworthy
sinners than the revelation of Noah's delivery being found safe
within the ark, which sets forth the substitutionary death of
the Lord Jesus Christ. I was telling some before the
services, I've heard Brother Henry make mention of what I'm
about to tell you, but I looked it up today just to see, and
it's nothing but speculation, men trying to see and figure
the genealogies and the lines, and how many people were there
on the earth at the time of the flood? There were between 750
million and 4 billion people, they guesstimate, at the time
of the flood. One man found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. One man. A man like all the others. A man that was born in Adam,
a man who was a sinner against God, and God chose to set His
affection on Noah. And because of His affection
set on Noah, His wife and His three sons and their wives were
in the boat also. Now the Scripture says, in verse
13 and 14, In the 601st year, in the first
month, 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 7th and 20th day of the month, was the earth dried. According to chapter 7 and verse
11, in the 600th year of Noah's life, in the second month, 17th
day of the month, the same day, all the fountains of the great
deep broken up windows of heaven were opened up. Noah was 600
plus years old when he went into the ark, when God opened up the
fountains and the windows of heaven. And in the 601st year plus, now the time
is approaching where the Lord is going to permit Noah to leave
the ark. So Noah has been in this ark
about a year. And the earth, the scripture
declares that we just read, had been drying. Now the word in
In verse 13, it says, and the waters were dried up from off
the earth, and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked. And then the 14th verse says,
the second month in the 7th and 20th day of the month was the
earth dried. Those two words are different
words about dried. Verse 13 says, the waters were
dried up. But what it means is that there
was earth, you could see the dirt, but it was marshy. That's what the word means. It
was dry but marshy, with moisture. So it wasn't habitable yet. It was just like a marsh. Just
if you were walking through a marsh, it'll hold you up, sort of. But you could sink too. But then,
about a month later, looked out and the earth was without moisture. That's what the second word means.
So two different words there. And the scripture is setting
forth how, we talked about last time, that the faith of Noah
was tried and proven to be of the Lord. The Lord knew better
when Noah should leave the ark, if it would have been left up
to Noah. And I'm just thinking off the
top of my head, this is not found in scripture. I don't doubt that
there were probably questions, you know, what do you think,
how long do you think it will be, or something like that. The
Lord had not said anything to Noah. And therefore, Noah had
no liberty whatsoever to leave the ark. The Lord's timing is
right. The Lord's timing is good. The
Lord's timing is perfect. So therefore, we're taught through
this man. Wait on the Lord. Wait. Noah had the command of God to
go into the ark. The Lord told him when to go
in, so he must wait for the command to go out. So again, in all of
our ways, we trust Him. We acknowledge His wisdom, we
submit to Him while we walk in this earth, knowing He's going
to direct our paths. We know that. Well, verses 15
to 19 says, and God spake unto Noah, saying, this is the first
word in a year. Last time the Lord said something
to him, he said, come thou into the ark. Now the Lord's going
to speak to Noah, and this is what he says, 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 cattle, every creeping thing
that creepeth upon the earth, that they may breed abundantly
in the earth and be fruitful and multiply upon the earth.
And Noah went forth. His sons and his wife and his
sons' wives with him, every beast, every creeping thing, every fowl
and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth after their kinds.
They went out by families in the margin. It was orderly. It was an orderly exit. And so they went forth out of
the ark. Now here's the first word. First word, God speaks after
a year. The Lord has said in John 10.27,
my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. So here the Lord in whose eyes
Noah had found grace, Noah being placed in that ark, he heard
the voice of the shepherd. David said the Lord is my shepherd.
Until the shepherd moves, the sheep don't move. When the shepherd
leads, the sheep move. And so the Lord, who now said
come into the ark, now says go forth from the ark. And hearing
the voice and the instruction of the Lord, Noah went forth
out of the ark as a sheep following a shepherd. Now that's an amazing
thing to me. what faith that Noah would leave
that ark. That was by faith. He believed
God. He looked out and he saw now
that the ground was dried without moisture. The last time he saw
ground that looked like that was just before the flood started. And Noah beheld something of
the devastation that was wrought upon the earth. And now the Lord
says, leave the ark. Go out of the ark. That's it.
No mention ever again of the ark. I was thinking how easily it
is for all of us, but for the grace of God. Do you realize
how much comfort and safety was found in that ark for Noah? everything
else died outside that arc. That arc was stability for a
year. That arc was safety. And it would
be very tempting to just stay close. Just stay close. Now this is the natural man.
This is that struggle that we have. As an old man, new man
in every believer. And we're going to struggle We're at best men. It's just
like that ark, if Noah was not careful, would become an idol. He'd start putting his trust
in that ark. I'm going to go, I just want to be able to see
it, if I can just see it. You remember when the snakes
were biting, the fiery serpents were biting the children of Israel
in the wilderness? And the Lord told Moses, I want
you to take a piece of brass and I want you to make a snake
in the symbol of what was biting the people. And that serpent
was a, it was a picture first of all of sin that was biting
the people, but that was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ being
made sin for his people. High and lifted up as Moses lifted
up the serpent, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
and God delivered them. All you had to do is look at
that serpent and they were healed. And after a while they had that
serpent and they were worshipping, they were offering sacrifices
to that piece of brass. That piece of brass was made
by Moses. That's when Moses was leading
the children of Israel and the king Hezekiah took it and destroyed
it. And he called it a piece of brass. It's a piece of brass. So Noah
couldn't put his trust in the ark, but he was going to have
to put his trust in the God of that ark. The God that had used
that ark as the means. But that ark wasn't his safety.
God was his safety. God was his deliverer. So let's
learn. We must be careful not to let
the means of God's deliverance be that which we set our eyes
upon. He told Noah, he said, I want
you to go forth and you bring all those animals, all those
creeping things, all those fowl, you take them out with you, every
one, take them out as you're going out. And the scripture
sets forth that Noah went out of the ark, and verse 20 says
this, and Noah built an altar unto the Lord. What a wonderful account is given
of this man coming out of that ark. And the first thing that
he did, being led of God's Spirit, He thankfully and obediently
sought first the glory of God and His righteousness. The first
thing he did when he came out of that ark, he had been in that
ark a year, he had not heard God speak for a year, the Lord
had preserved him, and he comes out of that ark worshiping the
Lord. seeking God's honor before His
own convenience, His own pleasure, His own comfort. Carnal man would
imagine man first. I've been in this ark a year. I'm out of this ark. I am on
terra firma. I'm standing on the ground and
the first thing that Noah did was he worshipped God. He didn't look to build a house.
He didn't start looking for something to eat. He built an altar. The scripture says in Matthew
chapter 6 verse 31-34, therefore take no thought saying what shall
we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knoweth that you have
need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom
of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you. Take therefore no thought for
the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of
itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Is that
not the most blessed promise? What a promise! Noah came out
of that ark and I understand, in my mind, I understand it. We've got to get a shelter. We're
out here, we're out in the open. We've got to get something to
eat. We've got to get some provisions. Everybody start rounded up. No.
He built an altar. And the scripture says He built
that altar and He took of every clean beast, of every clean fowl,
and offered burnt offerings on the altar. Now, I don't know
how many different clean, four-footed beast there were, the cattle,
the sheep, all that God had designated clean. Or how many clean fowls? I don't know how many designations,
how many different species, I don't know. But the Scripture says
He took of every clean beast. and every clean fowl and offered
burnt offerings. How long did He offer them? Until
He had offered all of them of that species. And what, again, what faith,
what faith. There were seven pair, there
were seven pair of clean beast and clean fowl. One pair of unclean. And seven pair of clean. And a pair was taken and offered
unto God. Again, the carnal mind would
think, don't you think it would probably be more prudent? Let's
let them kind of multiply. And kind of get a little backlog. And doesn't that sound natural?
I mean, to our natural thinking, that's how we think. You know,
let's get a little buffer in here. He got off that ark and
he built an altar. And he offered burnt offerings.
And that burnt offering It was specific offering for the Lord
only. Man got none of this. Some offerings the priest could
have to eat, they could share, but the burnt offering was totally.
Turn to Leviticus chapter 1. Leviticus 1 verse 3-9. Here was the law. Before the law was even given
through Moses, concerning the burnt offerings and how they
were done. God impressed this man. God taught this man something.
He offered. God supplied what he needed. He taught Noah something about
sacrifice. Sacrifices had been offered.
Cain and Abel were offering sacrifices. But the Lord taught him. Look
at Leviticus 1, verses 3-9. In his offering, or if his offering,
Be a burnt sacrifice of the herd. Let him offer a male without
blemish. He shall offer, let me correct
myself right here. I said he offered up a pair, he offered
up one. He offered the male of that clean. I said that pair
and that wasn't right. Let him offer a male without
blemish. He shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the
door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord.
And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering
and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him,
for recovery. And he shall kill the bullock
before the Lord, and the priest Aaron's son shall bring the blood
and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is
by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. He shall
flay burn off and cut it into his pieces. The sons of Aaron
the priest shall put fire upon the altar, there shall lay wood
and order upon the fire. And the priest of Aaron's son
shall lay the parts the head, the fat, and order upon the wood
that is on the fire which is upon the altar, but his inwards
and his legs shall he wash in water, and the priest shall burn
all on the altar to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by
fire of a sweet savor unto the Lord." So here was the law of
the burnt offering, mail without blemish. It was to be offered
willingly to make an atonement, to make a covering for the sin. It was to be killed before the
Lord. Here is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. and His voluntary
obedience to lay down His life for the sheep. The Father who
gave Him His will, the Father who gave the Lord Jesus Christ
the Father's will. This is the will of the Father.
All that He's given me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up
again at the last day. And so here is this burnt offering. that Noah is offering of every
one, all the clean beasts, the clean fowl, and he took that
which was the Lord's. Again, we say, well, there was
only so many there. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. And Noah, therefore, serving
the Lord with the little that he had, exhibited that work of
faith and that labor of love. Let's remember, nothing given
unto the Lord is given amiss, is waste, or not profitable. The Father has given His only
begotten Son, will He withhold any of our need. Noah himself,
he worshipped God, he honored God's Lamb, and he trusted in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we're not offering today
burnt offerings. We don't offer burnt offerings,
but what we do is we sacrifice or we give sacrifices unto the
Lord of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips
giving thanks to His name. We give thanks. Thanks. There were ten lepers One day,
they cried out unto the Lord, for the Lord to have mercy upon
them. And the Lord instructed those ten lepers to go and show
themselves to the priest. And whenever they were going
along the way, they were all healed. And the scripture says
that of those ten lepers, One of them came back, who was a
Samaritan, and glorified God, giving him thanks. And the Lord acknowledged his
thanks. He said, were there not ten lepers? And this one alone has returned
to give thanks unto me. Here's what Noah was doing. He was offering unto the Lord
that which is acceptable unto the Lord, that which the Lord
has given, His only begotten Son. And in the giving of this
sacrifice, Noah was thanking God. Thank you. Thank you, Lord,
for your deliverance. Thank you for your mercy that
you've shown me, my family. Thank you for keeping us in the
midst of this flood. All the people outside died and
we're inside this. And he offered that burnt offering
and the scripture says in verse 21, and the Lord smelled a sweet
savor. The margin says a savor of rest. And the Lord said in his heart.
Now you know if this is not proof of the inspiration of these scriptures.
The Lord said in his heart. How would we have known what
the Lord said in his heart if the Spirit of God had not put
it in this book? The Lord said in his heart, I
will not again curse the ground anymore for man's sake, for or
though. is the word, though the imagination
of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I again smite
any more everything living as I had done. Now the Lord had
smitten the earth for man's sin. He was displaying his absolute
justice. in dealing with sin. He poured
out judgment upon the earth and He destroyed everything outside
the ark and preserved all within the ark, revealing that He shows
mercy to whomsoever He will show mercy. Whomsoever He will, He
hardeneth. And by the ark bearing the guilt
and the force of His justice, He revealed in that delivers
his covenant mercy to save his people in the person of his blessed
son. And then God said in his heart,
he said, I will not destroy the earth anymore by a flood. I'll destroy it one time. He poured out his wrath on the
earth in a flood one time. One time. Setting forth the efficacy
of the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
scripture says, you know that ark is a picture of Christ, Noah
and those within are a picture, a type of the church And when
God poured out that wrath, that storm upon the earth, that ark
bore the brunt, bore the rain and the storms. It bore it. And those within were safe. God
did that. He said, my heart, I'm going
to do this one time. One time. For by one offering, He hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified. That's Hebrews 10.14.
The Lord shed His blood once. And in the shedding of that blood,
eternal redemption and satisfaction to the demands of God's law for
His people have been given. And the Lord declared He'll never
smite the earth again with a flood, though the imagination of man's
heart is evil. from his youth. That's what he
said. Look at it. The Lord smelled a sweet savor,
verse 21, said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground
anymore for man's sake for, or if you have a marginal, though
the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. In regeneration
there is a new nature imparted. There's a new man put in. That
old man is still there. Noah was still a man that had
an old man just like we have an old man. We who believe have
an old nature just like with a new nature. There's two men
in us. And so though, the Lord says,
though the imagination of men's heart is evil from his youth,
I'm not going to destroy the earth. again with fire. So regeneration doesn't remove
the old man. We struggle, as long as we're
in this earth we're going to struggle. But though the Lord
will never smite the earth again by water, soon he's going to
destroy it by fire. 2 Peter 3.10 says, But the day
of the Lord becomes the thief of the night, in which the heavens
shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are
therein shall be burned up. So, here's what the Lord has
done in closing. He has declared His justice through
the flood. He has shown His mercy in delivering
Noah and his family through the flood. Christ has been exalted
through the type of the ark never to suffer again. And though man
in his old nature remains in that believer, there's a promise
of God for faithfulness to save his people from their sin. We're
going to go through this world, we're going to have this old
man with us until we die, and when we die we're going to be
changed. This corruptible is going to put on incorruption.
This mortal shall put on immortality. There's going to be a change,
but we're going to struggle with it. But God has given a promise,
a promise to His people. Verse 22 says, While the earth
remaineth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter,
day and night shall not cease. Now if you want to know the promise,
if you want to see the promise, that Almighty God is a just God,
He's a merciful God, He's a just God and a Savior. His Son has
borne the guilt of His people and has sustained the wrath of
God on their behalf and God will never do that again. He died
one time for sin. God's going to save them. He's
going to save them. He's going to call them out of
darkness in time and He's going to save them. Now if you want
to see the evidence of God's promise, I'm going to save my
people from their sin. This is what I've done and I'm
going to give them a sign. If you want to see it, look outside. Look outside. See how the sun's
kind of starting to go down a little bit? It's going to keep going
and after a while, it's going to get dark. And if the Lord remains in the
morning, it will start coming up again. And we're going through
right now, we're going through a season called summer. And yesterday
was the longest day of the year. And every year on that day is
the longest day of the year. And the days now will start getting
a little shorter. starting today, and before you
know it, cool winds will start blowing and you'll say, boy,
I tell you what, if you don't notice that the leaves are changing
a little bit, it'll be fall. And the next thing you know,
it'll be winter. And it'll come right back around
and it's going to be the same way every year and this world
is not warming up This is not global warming. Man's not going
to govern it. I can tell you right now, he's
not going to manipulate it and clean it up. God's going to keep
it. Here's the promise. While the
earth remaineth, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer,
winter, day and night shall not cease. Last scripture. Turn with me to Jeremiah 33. Jeremiah 33 verse 19 to 21. Now I want you to listen to this
promise. I'm talking about, you know,
we just say, well, you know, it's just getting, you know,
it's consistent, it's consistent, it's consistent. I'm telling
you, How much quicker? Just about a minute difference
every day. Little bit, little bit, little
bit. Then we have the time change. But it's consistent, consistent,
consistent, consistent. God has made a covenant called
day and night covenant. Listen to this. Jeremiah 33,
19 through 21. And the word of the Lord came
unto Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, If ye can break my
covenant of the day and my covenant of the night, that there should
not be day and night in their season, then may also my covenant
be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son
to reign upon his throne. and with the Levites, the priests,
and my ministers. The Lord said, if you can change
the consistency that I've set up with the day and the night,
and we won't, if you can change that, then also can my covenant
be broken. But if you don't have any power
to change the seasons and the days and hot and cold and winter. If you could rearrange them,
then you could also rearrange God's covenant too. But it ain't
gonna happen. This is the promise that Almighty
God has given. Man looks around and he doesn't
even realize what's going on. But when we look outside and
see these days starting to get shorter, And we see the sun come
up, and the sun go down, and we see the seasons. Remember,
remember, this is God speaking to His people. He said, my sheep
hear my voice. You hear that voice? You hear
that? Here it is, the sun's going down.
God's speaking. And here's what He's saying.
I'm not going to leave you. I'm not going to forsake you.
I'm going to keep you. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. And I'm going to give you a day and a night and a day and
a night and a season and time. And he said, it'll be that way
just consistent. It's consistent as my words consistent. You don't change. I pray God
bless this to our hearts for his glory and our good. Amen.