Good morning. It's good to see
everyone. All right, we're going to be in 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3, and we're
going to start with verse 18 and read to the end of the chapter,
verse 22. 1 Peter 3, 18. Remember, this is the Gospel
in verse 18 here, very clearly laid out for us. For Christ also
hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that
he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit. by which also he went and preached
unto the spirits in prison, which sometime were disobedient, when
once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while
the ark was a preparing wherein few, that is, eight souls were
saved by water. The like figure whereunto even
baptism doth also now save us, not the putting away of the filth
of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God.
By the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven
and is on the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers
being made subject unto him. So we saw last time that verse
18 is what feeds or nourishes verses 15 through 17. It's what
gives strength and life to those verses. And what we'll see this
morning is that it's necessary as well for what follows. And
that's true of the gospel, right? Everything that we hope in and
hold and stand upon and hold dear is all because of what Christ
did for his people. So everything that we believe
and do is all because of what Christ accomplished for sinners,
the just being put to death for the unjust. Christ, bearing the
sins of his people, putting them away forever by the death of
himself so that Christ, by the shedding of his blood, redeemed
us to God. We are now our Lords, we are
delivered from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the
kingdom of light of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so
that by His death in the flesh, He reconciled us to God. And then Peter adds this statement
at the end of verse 18, this is why I wanted to bring it up
again as well, is because it says that He was quickened by
the Spirit, quickened by the Spirit. So that what we'll see
this morning as we're looking at this message, that the same
quickening spirit, that same power that raised the Lord Jesus
Christ up from the dead is the same power, the same quickening
spirit by which Noah preached the gospel in his day and that
same power and quickening spirit by which the prophets prophesied
of Christ that should come and the sufferings that he should
suffer for the sins of the people and it's that same power and
spirit by which the apostles all preached the gospel boldly
in the face of death knowing that they could be put to death
for what they believed and what they confessed and it's the same
quickening spirit, that same power by which we preach the
gospel today and where our hope rests and stands. It stands on
Christ. So our title is Saved Like Noah. Saved Like Noah. In all three
divisions, we'll see the ministry of reconciliation that the church
has, the covenant of grace revealed and then baptized into Christ's
death. Let's look at verse 18 once more.
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust,
that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh,
but quickened by the Spirit. so that we understand, according
to this gospel, that we are set free from the bondage of sin
and debt, not by our own works, having nothing to do with our
works, but in spite of our evil works and the things that we
do in the flesh, Christ saved His people. He put away their
sins by the death of Himself, redeeming them by shedding His
own blood to purchase them and to bring them out of darkness
into His glorious light. And by that same power which
raised up Christ from the dead, which testifies, Him being raised
from the dead testifies to us that God is pleased with what
Christ did that God accepted the sacrifice that Christ made
of himself, so that we who hope in him are assured that we have
eternal life. We have salvation by the Lord
Jesus Christ. Alright, so each child of God
is given faith, raising them up from this first death, this
death that we come forth by nature. Every one of us, we preach and
declare, because this is what the scriptures teach, that every
one of us was born spiritually dead. There's no life in us,
no love for the true and living God. We might worship a God,
but it's the idol God of our imagination by nature so that
God must give us life and quicken us by that spirit so that we
hear what God is saying, that we have an interest in what God
is saying because He shows us what sinners we are, He shows
us the need that we have of the salvation by Christ and so Him
working in us, He gives us life so that we now hear and know
what He's saying, what He's declaring and we believe it. We stop arguing
against it and stop Thinking lightly of Christ and we thank
the Lord you've shown me what salvation is you show me my need
of Jesus Christ Thank you, and he and he gives us life and hope
in Christ So he's doing all that work in us. It's all by him not
by us so the life of by the Spirit of Christ, it's critical to our
salvation. We wouldn't be saved if we didn't
have life. And that's why Christ said, you
must be born again. And that's what he's talking
about. We come forth dead, naturally. We must be given life, a new
birth, by the Spirit of Christ our Savior. So, that birth Because
it's a spiritual birth, it means that we don't do it. We don't
do anything to save ourselves. We don't contribute to that work,
because all we can do is bring forth flesh, a work of flesh. It's God, who is spirit, who
must bring forth a work of the spirit. That's why I said, that
which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of
the Spirit is Spirit. He makes it very simple and plain
to us that we understand that our salvation, the salvation
of anyone who is saved, it's done, it's a spiritual work done
by the Spirit of God for His people. He gives them life. And
so we're reconciled to God by the death of Christ, and were
made alive unto God by the resurrection of Christ. That same spirit gives
us life, raising us up from the dead, here and now, to hear his
word and to believe his word. We are raised from the dead by
that power even now. And we know that we'll also be
raised from the grave as well in that final day, but it's a
powerful work of the Spirit going on in us right now who believe.
He's raised us up from the dead by His Spirit. So He imparts
to us and He abides with us, giving us life and wisdom and
joy in the things of Christ, because He reveals to us what
Christ has done for us by faith. Faith doesn't save us. Christ saved us. He's the one
who saves his people. Faith allows us to enter in and
see and behold and receive and accept and rejoice in what Christ
has done for us. It's faith, and that faith is
a gift of God. It's not a work that we do in
the flesh. It can't be, because that which
is of the flesh is of the flesh, and that which is of the Spirit
is of the Spirit, so only the Spirit gives that, and that work
of faith is a spiritual work given to us by the Spirit of
Christ. Howbeit, Christ said, when he, the Spirit of truth,
is come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak
of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak,
and he will show you things to come. shall glorify me for he
shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you so that you
know if you're speaking by the Spirit of Christ if you're rejoicing
and glorifying him if you're if you're talking about what
you've done for for for christian and that it's your faith that
saves you that's not the spirit of christ speaking that's your
flesh speaking because you're talking about what you've done
but the spirit the holy spirit glorifies christ and what he
has done so we'll talk about his work and how he saved us
and how he gave us faith and hope and joy and life in himself
the spirit talks of what christ has done the flesh talks about
what we've done for the Lord. So you can see which spirit by
which we're talking by. So our salvation is not by our
works, it's by the Lord Jesus Christ. It's nothing that we
do, it's everything that he has done. And so being moved by what
he's done, by understanding this and being shown what Christ has
done for us, we're moved by that. We're given life by that. And
so we want to talk about it and tell others about what Christ
has done. We want to declare that he is
salvation, that he's the one who's been provided to save his
people. It says in Acts 8, verse 4, that
the Lord allowed a persecution to come against the church. And
because they were persecuted, they went out. They were scattered
out from Jerusalem. And that's how the Lord used
that persecution to drive out the gospel and send it out into
the far corners of the world. And it says, therefore, they
that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. So there's a desire, there's
a heart for the people of God to preach that word. But it's
more than just that. It's a ministry that's given
to the church so that our ministry, the thing that we do here when
we come together is preach and declare the gospel of Jesus Christ.
That's why I spend time preaching what Christ has done because
that's our ministry. Our ministry isn't to entertain
It isn't to give you programs and to do nice wonderful things
for the community and build up the community. It's to declare
the Lord Jesus Christ because that's how the kingdom is grown.
That's how the Lord saves his people. It's by the gospel of
Jesus Christ. Paul said this, all things are
of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and
hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. so that Christ
reconciled his people, so we preach Christ and him crucified
because that's how God reconciles us to himself. That's our whole
mission in this world, is to preach and to declare what Christ
has done for us. So now we go forth by that power,
by that quickening spirit, that rays of Christ, we go forth in
the spirit of that power, preaching and declaring what Christ has
done and that he saves sinners. We declare that Christ was, you
know, he was judged in the body, being put to death in the flesh,
as it says there in Peter, but raised unto life, being quickened
by the Spirit. Paul said it very much the same
way that Peter says it in 1 Peter 3, 18. He says in Romans 5, verse
10, for if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by
the death of his Son, that's the same language, by the death
of Christ, by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled,
we shall be saved by his life. And there's that quickening spirit
that because Christ laid down his life for the sins of the
people and was raised again, we know that our sins have been
put away by Christ and we now live by that same power and that
same spirit. As Paul said in Galatians 2.21, that I am dead, I am crucified
with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life which, oh, but Christ
who loved me, gave himself for me, and the life which I now
live, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and
gave himself for me. I butchered that a bit, but it's
by Christ, it's by his life that we live. We're dead in this flesh,
we are already dead, and we live unto him by his spirit. All right,
now let's see this covenant of grace revealed. So by this quickening
spirit in us, we go forth preaching this word, having this ministry
of reconciliation. And Peter now shows us that that
same spirit, that quickening spirit that raised up Christ
from the dead, giving life to us in the Lord Jesus Christ,
was the same spirit that saved Noah and by which Noah preached
the gospel in his day to the generation that was alive In
his day, he preached and declared salvation by the coming Lord
Jesus Christ. It says there in 1 Peter 3, 19
and 20, by which also he, the quickening spirit of Christ,
went and preached unto the spirits in prison, those people dead
in trespasses and sins in Noah's day, which sometime were disobedient
when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah,
listen to the emphasis now, while the ark was a preparing wherein
few, that is eight souls, were saved by water." So first, what
we see here is that Christ is eternal. The Spirit of Christ
was alive and well and working back then in Noah's day. It wasn't
waiting until Christ came in the flesh. He is eternal. He was ever with God, always
and forever. There was never a time when Christ
did not exist, that the Son of God did not exist. Turn over
to Proverbs 8. Proverbs 8 and go to verse 22. And it says in Proverbs 8, 22,
this is this wisdom being spoken of here, and it's Christ. Christ
is the wisdom being spoken of here. He says, the Lord possessed
me in the beginning of his way before his works of old. I was
set up from everlasting from the beginning or ever the earth
was. Verse 32, Proverbs 8, 32. Now
therefore hearken unto me, O ye children, for blessed are they
that keep my ways. Hear instruction, and be wise,
and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth
me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.
For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favor
of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me
wrongeth his own soul. All they that hate me love death."
All that hate Christ and reject Him, what they're saying is,
I love death. want death, and that's exactly
what they'll get. They'll receive death, eternal death, because
they rejected the only one that God has provided to save his
people. So the Spirit of Christ was active
in the days, you know, before the flood among the sons of men. As he said in Proverbs 8 31,
my delights were with the sons of men. So he was already active
in and working and instructing his people even in that day before
the flood. The second thing that Peter is
saying here is that the wisdom and righteousness of Christ was
declared to those people. They heard the gospel by that
quickening spirit working and moving in Noah. So it says there,
by which also he, the quickening spirit of Christ, went and preached
unto the spirits in prison, which sometime were disobedient, when
once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah while
the ark was a preparing. So Noah, being moved by that
same spirit, that same spirit that moved in the prophets in
their days, who were prophesying of the coming Christ and the
suffering that he should suffer when he came, that same spirit
was in Noah. Just as it says in 1 Peter 1,
10 and 11, of which salvation the prophets have inquired and
searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come
unto you, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of
Christ which was in them did signify when it testified beforehand
the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.
So Noah, being filled with that quickening spirit as well, just
as we are today, him having that same spirit of Christ in him,
he was a preacher of righteousness. He declared righteousness by
another, by the Lord Jesus Christ. It said, turn over to Genesis
6, because we'll look at that, but while you're turning there,
It says in Hebrews 11, 7, by faith, Noah being warned of God
of things not seen as yet, right? It had never rained on the earth.
It just had a canopy of water around it. It had never rained
on the earth. These things were never seen, but he moved with
fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by the which
he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness, which
is by faith. So God warned him of things not
yet seen. They didn't know what was coming,
but he moved with fear, started preparing that ark, and they
all mocked him, and they said, you're crazy, I don't know what
you're doing. There's nothing coming. Everything's
going to continue as it always has, and there's nothing to fear
or worry about. And it's the same thing that
people say today. What are you talking about? There's not going
to be a second coming. Everything continues as it always
has from the beginning of time. But they forget that the Lord
destroyed the earth once by a flood, And just as he said, he'll destroy
it again, yet so as by fire this time. But in Genesis 6, 3, it
says, And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with
man, for that he also is flesh, yet his days shall be a hundred
and twenty years. So during that time of a hundred
and twenty years, Noah faithfully worked on that ark. declaring
and preaching righteousness so they could see it and they could
hear what he was doing and yet they didn't believe or receive
what he was saying or what he was doing. Now third, we see
how that God was revealing to the church his covenant of grace
at this time. He was revealing his covenant
of grace And he's showing how that God is long-suffering and
endures with the wicked while he's saving and bringing in his
people under this gospel. Saving them by the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Look there in verse 8, Genesis
6, 8. It says in Genesis 6, 8, but
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. So the Lord warned Noah of things
not yet seen of things to come of the destruction of the world
and then in verse 17 we read and behold Genesis 6 17 and 18
behold I even I do bring a flood of waters 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 I will
establish my covenant thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy
sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee." You know that's
the first time we ever read of grace and a covenant is tied
to this man, Noah. That's the first time the word
grace appears and the word covenant appears in the scriptures and
it's both with this man, Noah. He received that covenant of
grace. He was covered by the blood of
Christ even before Christ came. So that same spirit that teaches
us was teaching him what his hope is, that it's in Christ
and that he understood this ark pictured his salvation in Christ
just as Christ is an ark to us. He's our salvation. He's the
one in whom we come before God and are saved and delivered from
the wrath to come. So, Noah was instructed and warned
of God and he revealed to him that coming wrath and judgment
that was coming upon all people. It's like his salvation was entirely
because of what Christ did. For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, that just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.
Peter being moved by this gospel, it's just amazing how the person
that he thinks about as the example of grace and salvation by grace
is Noah. He gives Noah as the example
of that covenant of grace being given to the people of God. Because all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. So even Noah had to be saved
in his day. He had to be saved by the grace
of Christ. And all those others not being covered by the blood
of Christ perished in their own sins. But Noah was justified
freely by his grace. through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. To declare, I say at this time,
his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of
him which believe it in Jesus. So even Noah was saved by the
grace of God shown to his people in the Lord Jesus Christ. So
while Noah was preparing that ark, God was forbearing with
the sins of the wicked people. God had already determined that
he was going to destroy all flesh in the earth. He was going to
wipe it out and destroy it in a flood. And we see this, how
God's long-suffering impatience, Peter writes of it in the second
epistle, in 2 Peter 3, 9, he says, the Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness. Right? They think
that everything's going to keep going on the way it's always
gone, because that's all we've seen in our short little lives.
Everything just goes on a certain way. We haven't been upset and
thrown into turmoil and see that things do change. They don't
know, there's no guarantee that we're going to have things stable
the way that they are today, but the Lord is long-suffering
to us-ward, that us-ward being the church, all his people whom
he's elected and chosen from before the foundation of the
world, he's patient, he's long-suffering with the wicked so that he's
showing us mercy and patience until we're all brought under
the blood of Christ and redeemed, until we come into, we're born,
once physically and then that we're born spiritually by His
grace and His mercy. He's long-suffering to us. We're
not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
so that, just like in Noah's day, he patiently waited until
that ark was finished by Noah, and then the judgment came. If
you're still in Genesis 6, you can just turn over to Genesis
7 and see this. It says in verse 13 that in the
self-same day that Noah and his family entered the ark, that
exact same day that he went into the ark and the Lord shut the
door, it says all the fountains of the great deep were broken
up and the windows of heaven were opened. so that the Horde,
he was just waiting until the ark was finished. And then he
brought in Noah and his family, closed the door for them, and
then the fountains broke open with water gushing up and the
rains fell from the heavens and a great flood came on the earth
and covered the whole earth and killed everyone that was alive
there. And Peter says there in 2 Peter
3.10, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in 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. And that,
what he's saying is just like what our Lord said, I believe
it's in Matthew 24, where it says that just as in the days
of Noah, so shall it be in the end of the world. That they were
just given, Now they were marrying and giving a marriage, they were
eating and drinking and everything seemed normal. And then the floods
came and wiped them all away. And so that's what he's saying
is that in the end, it's going to be that same way. And that's
why as the church, we preach and declare the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's not just about having a better life as this world counts life. And what this world says is success
and riches. It's about knowing the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that's why there's an urgency.
because we don't know the day or the hour. It's going to come
as a thief in the night. We're not going to know. We're
going to think everything's normal, everything's fine, and yet it's
going to come upon us suddenly. But it'll be well for the righteous,
those who hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, those who are covered
by His blood. Whatever comes upon us, it'll
be well for us. Because even if we die, even
if we take this body of flesh off and die, it's okay because
then we're going to be clothed with that heavenly body and we're
going to have an eternal joyful life where our treasure is, where
moth and rust don't wear it away, where thief doesn't break in
and steal it. It's all there because Christ is our inheritance
and he's not going anywhere. He's there for his people and
he'll provide for us. So just remember, that's why
we preach Christ. That's why we have this ministry
of reconciliation and not just about making people feel good
and entertaining people and doing things that are to no eternal
or spiritual profit for our souls. So we want to declare Christ
and preach Him plainly and clearly. All right, our third point here,
baptized into Christ's death. So once more, It says there at
the end of verse 20, 1 Peter 3, 20, the very end, it says,
eight souls were saved by water. So we see in the salvation of
Noah that, you know, the judgment of God fell upon the whole earth. It affected every single soul
that was in the earth. The whole judgment of God came
down on the earth, including Noah. But God provided propitiation. He provided the means of salvation
for Noah and his family. He provided that ark for them. So the ark was the thing bearing
the wrath of God. And the ark was bearing and holding
up Noah and his family, but bearing and feeling the wrath of God
from the flood below and the rains above. And so that if you
can hear it, Noah and his family died. They perished in that whole
flood. When everyone perished, they
perished too, being buried in that ark, right? And the wrath
of God came down upon them. They were all impacted and affected
by that. Now the wicked, they faced the
judgment of God alone outside the ark. They had to face that
judgment with no ark, no protection. But Noah and his family faced
the judgment of God in the ark. So the ark bore that punishment,
bore the wrath of God there. And then when the storm passed,
the waters abated, the ark came to rest there on Mount Ararat. After the waters receded enough,
then the doors opened. Noah and his family emerged.
were basically resurrected. They came forth unto life again. After everything was destroyed,
they came forth alive and well, because they were protected there
in that ark. So I say that so that we see
more clearly verse 21, where he says, 1 Peter 3, 21, the like
figure, whereunto even baptism doth also now save us, not the
putting away of the filth of the flesh, right? It wasn't about
cleaning up Noah's flesh, this flood at all. It was about the
wrath of God being poured out and Noah being delivered or saved
in the ark. And so our baptism in Christ,
it's the answer of a good conscience toward God. Noah moved in a good
conscience toward God by preparing that ark as God instructed him
to do. He believed God. He trusted that what God was
showing him and teaching him was true. And he saved him and
his family by going into that ark and condemning the rest of
the world. Because they didn't. They didn't believe. They didn't
hear or go into that. And it says, but it's the answer
of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. So that we are saved in Christ. And that as Christ died, We who
opened him died with Christ. We already suffered under that
wrath of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. And as God raised him
up, so we shall be raised up unto life in our Lord Jesus Christ. So Christ is the one who bore
that wrath just like the ark. He bore the wrath of God for
his people. And we who are in Christ have no fear of the judgment
of God that's coming. we were made alive, we were protected
by Christ. He did that work for his people
to bring us unto God. As it says in John 3.33, one
of my favorite verses, he that hath received his testimony hath
said to his seal that God is true. We're confessing, Lord,
you say what you're going to do in your word, I believe you,
and you provided salvation for me. I can't do it by my works,
you provided salvation, and I believe it. I believe that Christ is
the salvation that you've provided, and we enter into Christ by that
faith that he gives us, trusting in him, that it's not by our
works, but the works that Christ himself did. So all were baptized
in that watery grave, all die, but our death is in Christ, so
that just as Noah was saved by the ark, we're saved by the ark
of Christ. We're saved by him, protected
and delivered in him. Paul wrote to the Romans in 6
verses 3 through 6, Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized
into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we
are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even
so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been
planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also
in the likeness of his resurrection. And that's our comfort, brethren,
that as Christ has been raised from the dead, we know we shall
be raised from the dead also. First Peter 3.22, who has gone
into heaven and is on the right hand of God, angels and authorities
and powers being made subject unto him. Even so, as Christ
was raised from the dead, we who hope in him shall be raised
from the dead to eternal life and peace and joy with our God
forevermore. So if you don't know the Lord
Jesus Christ, if he's not your hope, but you've heard the word
today and you see that you're a sinner and that you believe
God, that judgment and wrath is coming upon this world and
upon all for their sins. When we are raised up individually,
we'll have to stand before God and answer for the things that
we've done. We know that it's not by our
works of righteousness, but God provided salvation in His Son,
Jesus Christ. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pray and have hope in Him. If you do, it's because He's
shown you your sin, it's because He's given you that faith and
that hope in Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and you shall be saved and delivered from your sins. Hope in Him. the only salvation, just as the
ark was the only salvation for anyone in that day, Christ is
the only salvation for his people in all days, every day, and this
is the day of salvation. All right, let's pray. Our gracious
Lord, Father, help us, Lord, because you know that we're but
flesh and weak and unable, Lord, to declare this gospel as it
needs to be declared, as it ought to be declared. Lord, you're
worthy of all praise and adoration and glory. Lord, help us to lift
up Christ in this ministry of reconciliation which you've given
to your church. Help us, Lord, to declare boldly
and clearly and plainly that Christ is all and that he is
salvation provided of God for his people. Lord, we pray that
you would Give life to your people. Put it in our hearts, Lord. Help
us to hear it and to believe it. Lord, seal us for yourself,
for your glory, for your kingdom above. Lord, we pray for your
mercy and peace that is in your Son alone. We pray this in Jesus'
name, our Lord and Savior. Amen.