All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn back to Genesis chapter 7. Genesis chapter 7. The Lord has promised that he
was going to send judgment upon the earth because every thought
and imagination of man was only evil continually. And that time has come. The Lord
told Noah in verse 1 of chapter 7, come thou and all thy house
into the ark. And the scripture declares in
verse 5, and Noah did. according unto all that the Lord
commanded him. Now I'd like to begin back where
I left off, verse 16. The scripture says that in the
seven days, it was seven days, the Lord told Noah, seven days
the rain is going to start. And all of the animals that Noah
was commanded to bring into the ark. Now they begin to come and
it says in verse 16, and they that went in, went in male and
female of all flesh as God had commanded him. The scripture
declares that Almighty God is God in heaven and earth. And he rules over man and beast. God, Elohim, God Almighty. He rules over the wind, he rules
over the water, he rules over the animals. God instructed ravens
to feed Elijah daily. And they did. God gave a voice
to Balaam's ass and it spoke with reason. You know, this donkey asked Balaam,
why did you hit me? And Balaam spoke back. God made that animal speak. God
prepared a great whale to swallow Jonah. And for three days and
three nights, he was in the belly of that whale. And when Jonah
made this declaration, salvation is of the Lord, the whale vomited
him up upon the shore. And almighty God directed these
animals to get into that ark. appointed the animals that would
get in, seven pair of every clean and a pair of unclean. And they
went in as God commanded him. But when it came to Noah and
his family being in the ark, finding safety and security,
the scriptures declare that it was the Lord who shut him in. We took note of that but I'm
going to elaborate a little bit on it. God commanded those animals
to get in and the Lord shut him, that is Noah, his family in. Noah had no way of doing it.
That door was three stories tall, covered all stories of the ark
and God who told him, you come into the ark. The Lord was in
the ark. The Spirit of God precisely reveals that it was Jehovah,
the covenant God, who shut the vessel of his mercy into that
ark. Now here we behold the divine
truth of love of the Lord for his people, electing mercy. who took and moved upon that
vessel, that object of His affection, put Him in and shut Him in, closed
Him in, put Him in securely into the ark. He was shut in by the
Lord who loved Him and saved Him. It was the Lord, capital
L, capital O, or Covenant God dealing with Noah. It said, come
thou in, verse one, end of the ark, for thee have I seen righteous
before me in this generation, ever viewed in the person of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he was going to be with Noah
in the outpouring of that flood. The Lord was there. The Lord
was with him. Jehovah, electing father, redeeming
son, regenerating spirit. Jehovah was with him. Oh, the faithfulness of him who
says to his people, I will never leave thee. I will never forsake
thee. Noah was shut in with him who
is the fullness of the Godhead, shut in where no evil could reach
him. So here we see the truth of the
Lord's word, John 10, 28. I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. That ark was a picture of all God's elect
being in Christ, secure in Christ. Noah could no more get out of
that ark then those who are eternally loved of God Almighty can remove
themselves from the Lord Jesus Christ and be lost. It's like
those ten wise virgins that picture the entire elect, the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ. There were ten wise and ten foolish
virgins, you remember. And those ten wise virgins had
sufficient oil for their lamps. That was the distinguishing marks
of those ten wise virgins. What they had was a picture of
them possessing the Spirit of God with their profession. That
lamp is the light of their profession in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
they had oil for their lamp. Picture the Spirit. Possessors
of the Spirit of God. And when the bridegroom came,
the announcement went out, bridegroom's here. And come to the marriage,
bridegroom's here. And all of a sudden, ten foolish
virgins, probably they didn't have any oil. Picture of those
professors of religion that do not possess the spirit of God.
And they said to the ten wise ones, give us some oil. They
said, no, we don't have enough for you. There's enough only for us. You're
going to have to go get your own. And as they were gone, the
bridegroom came, the wise virgins were brought into the marriage,
and the door was shut. Ten foolish came back. Let us
in. No. The door shut. The door shut. The Lord shut Noah in at truth. of being shut in to
Christ, held by the Lord of Glory, revealed in Revelation chapter
3. Revelation, I'll just read this
to you. Revelation 3, 7, to the angel of the church in Philadelphia,
write, These things saith he that is holy. Holy. Almighty God. Holy God. Holy Father. Holy God-Man Mediator. He who is unchangeably holy. the righteous servant of Jehovah,
the one whose meat it is to do the will of the Father that sent
Him to finish the work. He that is true, true alone,
and apart from Him, all is a lie. He is the truth. Scripture says,
He that hath the key of David. That truth was set forth in Isaiah. Amazing, Isaiah 22. Isaiah chapter 22, verse 20 to
23 is what I'm gonna read. In the scripture, setting forth
this truth. Isaiah 22, 20, it shall come
to pass in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim, the
son of Hilkiah. And let me just say this right
now. Let's just look past. the man, Eliakim, and look to
the one of whom Eliakim is a type, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's
do this. As you come to pass in that day,
I'll call my servant, Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah. I will clothe
him with thy robe. strengthen him with thy girdle.
I will commit thy government into his hand. He shall be a
father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of
Judah, and the key of the house of David will I lay upon his
shoulder. So he shall open and none shut, and he shall shut
and none shall open. This is a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Has the keys. Life, keys, keys
of heaven, keys of glory. Here is the Lord Jesus Christ,
the key holder, the absolute Lord and treasurer of the spiritual
house of David, of whom David is a type. He opens, no man shuts. He shuts and no man opens. And
Scripture declares that the one who has the key is the one who
is all-powerful, unlimited access to all that the key opens or
shuts. And here we're talking about
salvation. We're talking about being in Christ. We're talking
about being found in the city of refuge, the cleft of the rock. How do men get in Him? God puts
them there. God keeps them there. God sustains
them there. All power is given unto me in
heaven and earth, the Lord said. He justly and sovereignly rules
over all creation. Providence, salvation. Ezekiel chapter 18 verse 4, Behold,
all souls are mine. In the light of creation, all
are the Lord's. And the soul of the father, so also the soul
of the son is mine. And the soul that sinneth, it
shall die. You know, being the property of Almighty God, He
has the right to deal with men as He deems fit. He's got the right to save one,
show mercy. He's got the right to leave a
man to himself and punish him according to the guilt that that
man has incurred. He shows mercy to whomsoever
he will, and whomsoever he will, he hardens. He has the right
to open unto any man the revelation of himself. He has the right
to open a heart like he did Lydia's when Paul was preaching. He has
the power and right to be silent. concerning the revelation of
himself as he was toward Pharaoh, who justly perished in the Red
Sea. He's got the right. Salvation is of the Lord. And
if he's pleased to be silent to any man, he's God. Oh, the safety and the mercy
of God to be shut in by the Lord. No possibility of being outside
the ark and kept there by the power of God. Now just stop for
a minute. May the Lord just give us just
a thought, a thought. If I'm in Christ, I'm in Christ
by the grace of God. I am what I am by God's grace.
The Lord shut him in. And then back in Genesis chapter
seven, verses 17 to 20. And the flood was 40 days upon
the earth. And the waters increased and
bear up the ark. And it was lift up above the
earth. And the waters prevailed and
were increased greatly upon the earth. And the ark went upon
the face of the waters, and the waters prevailed exceedingly
upon the earth. And all the high hills that were
under the whole heaven were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the
waters prevail, and the mountains were covered. how assuring it is to read that
while the storm of God's wrath surrounded the ark and those
obviously in it, the ark kept them afloat. Forty days and forty
nights of God's judgment The revelation of what the law demanded
for man's rebellion. And the ark bore the judgment
that Noah and his family deserved. And they lived. A beautiful picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ upon Calvary's tree. I said before,
when he died upon the tree, Paul said, I was crucified with him.
All God's people were with him. When He died, we died in Him.
When He was buried, we were buried with Him. When He rose, we rose
with Him. Ascended, we ascended with Him. I've said so many times, these
things are so high, but they're so. And we believe Him, and we
trust Him. And the waters increased and
prevailed, and the ark with the vessels of God's mercy within
were lifted up. Lifted up toward heaven, going
upon the face of the water. And the scripture says that the ark went, verse 18 I was
looking for, went upon the face of the waters. I thought about
it, it had no rudder. It had no means of navigation,
naturally speaking. The Lord moved it. And are we
not going through this world providentially? In the ark of
our blessed Savior, led by His Spirit, the guide, ordering the
steps of good men, ordered. Where did the ark go? Wherever
God put it to go. It was going to rest on Mount
Ararat in the next chapter. How did it get there? God put
it there. God knew where Mount Ararat was. The waters lifted up that ark
and the ark went upon the face of the water. That brain was
bearing down and in this world we're going to have tribulations
but be of good cheer. We're in the ark. Pitched outside
inside. The Lord has overcome the world.
We're in it. But I was looking at this in
that passage we just read, 17 to 20. It says, in all the high
hills, verse 19, all the high hills that were under the whole
earth were covered. 15 cubits upward did the waters
prevail, and the mountains were covered. I don't doubt for one second
that when it started raining, people immediately started realizing
we may have made a mistake. You give it just a little bit,
and then they know they made a mistake. The door is shut to
the ark. God has shut the door. No man
can open it. And now the water is starting
to come up. It rained 40 days and 40 nights,
and it kept rising and rising. Eventually, it lifted up the
ark. The ark was sitting on the ground. And the next thing you
know, the ark is starting to move. Well, by this time, water's
everywhere. And the hills, the first thing
they're going to do, they're going to go for the hills. We've
got to go to high ground. We've got to get to some safety. And then the high hills were
covered. Well, then the next thing, verse
20 says, 15 cubits upward did the waters prevail and the mountains
were covered. I don't doubt for one second, Mark, that everybody
that could be on that land was on the peak of that mountain.
They're all there. There's thousands of them. And they're everywhere. And the
water's coming up. And eventually, some of them are going to have
to start floating away. And those last ones, 15 cubits above it. And everybody died. Eventually,
everybody died. The scripture declares that all
types, all places of false refuge in this world is going to be
proven inadequate. Every place that men think that
they're going to be able to make it to safety, God's going To
show that place of refuge to be nothing. Every explanation,
when men stand before God. You know, Matthew 7, we looked
at it so many times. Here's the hills and the mountains
that get covered. Here's the hill, here's the mountain,
right here. We prophesied your name. I'm standing on a mountain, a
hill, a high mountain, a high hill of hope. I prophesied. I preached in your name. I stood
in pulpits. I led people to Jesus. I got
them down on their knees. I went through the Roman road
with them. I cast out devils in your name. I did many marvelous
works in your name. And all of those hills and all
of those mountains are going to be covered in the wrath and
judgment of God. And all men died. All the places of hoped safety
were covered. Verse 20, 21. And all flesh died
that moved upon the earth, both a fowl and cattle, a beast Every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, every man, all
in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the
dry land, died. Oh, the end of all who believe
not on the Lord Jesus Christ. There's one place of safety.
There's one ark. There's one city. Outside of him, wrath is promised
and wrath will be sent. All outside that ark, the scripture
said, died. All places where men are being
told that you have to do something in order to be saved, is a high
hill and a mountain that's going to be covered in the judgment
of God. First John 5.12 says, He that
hath the Son, that is, he that hath the Son
by faith, hath life. For He is life. I am the way,
I am the truth, I am the life. He that has the Son has life.
He is life. And he that hath not the Son hath not life. Verse 23 says, And every living
substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground.
Both man and cattle, creeping things, fowl of the heaven, they
were destroyed from the earth. and Noah only remained alive,
and they that were with him in the ark. Can it be proclaimed too much
that in him was life? That's John 1.4. The Lord Jesus
Christ, who created all things, is the fountain and the giver
of Himself. Life. Creature life, spiritual life,
eternal life. All men, those who are the Lord's
in covenant mercy and those who know Him not in mercy are actually,
naturally walking around in this world sustained by Him who is
life. Life. All life that you see,
that the Lord Himself is life. That tree right there is alive,
being made by and kept by and sustained by God Almighty. Life. You say, well it's just
coming out. In Him is life. He's life. Apart from Him is
death. So we, we, we, all men are walking
around by the good pleasure of Almighty God. Oh, but those who
have been called out of darkness, sin, and unbelief, who know Him
by faith, those who are kept by the power of God through faith,
are alive spiritually. Everybody's alive physically
if they're walking around, naturally speaking. There's a natural life
of man. But when that new man is put
there, that man is life. Christ in you, the hope of glory,
alive in Him. But apart from Him is death. This truth was vividly displayed
in the flood. Oh, may the Lord be pleased to
draw His own unto Himself. In verse 24, in the waters prevailed
upon the earth a hundred and fifty days. Of all that can be
said, concerning the conclusion of the record of the flood, nothing
is more sure than in the midst of this deluge, Noah and his
family was preserved as the water prevailed upon the earth. From the time that it started
raining until that ark rested on Mount Ararat, Five months. Chapter 7 verse 11 says, in the
600th year of Noah's life, second month, second month, second month,
17th day of the month, same day where all the fountains of the
great deep broken up, windows of heaven opened. Second month,
17th day, it started raining. Chapter 8 verse 4 says, and the
ark rested in the seventh month on the seventeenth day of the
month upon the mountains of Ararat. Five months from the time it
started raining until that ark rested. Now they didn't get out
of the ark just then, but the water was receding and it rested. Five months. 150 days. A span of time in which
nothing that was separated from the ark could possibly sustain
life. And as in the days of Noah, when
the Lord is pleased with the time of reckoning to commence,
in the day of the Lord, in that day when Almighty God sounds
that trumpet, the trumpet God's gonna sound, the dead in Christ's
gonna rise, Paul said, we'll meet Him in the air, we'll all
stand before God in that day of judgment. He that hath the
Son. He that hath the Son. He that
believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. What does that mean? It means
He has no confidence in His flesh. He's not trusting Himself. Lord,
save me like Peter said. Lord, save me. Lord, save me. Save me or I'm going to perish.
Lord, if I have You, I have life. He that hath the Son hath life.
He that hath not the Son hath not life. The wrath of God abides
on him. May the Lord be pleased to call
out his own. Keep him for Christ's sake and
for the good of that vessel of his mercy.