It's truly been an honor for
me and for Glenda to be with you. We've enjoyed, truly, time
with our kids, but it is a joy to be with you, God's people. I thank the Lord for you. I'm
gonna ask you to take your Bibles and turn with me to the book
of 1 Peter. 1 Peter. Chapter three, and I want to
try to deal with the passage of scripture as we just sang,
make the message clear and plain. Be plain. Make it, preach it, swear God's
people hear it and by the grace of God understand what you're
saying. I'd like to deal with this passage
of Scripture, 1 Peter chapter 3, verses 19 to 22. And this is a passage of Scripture
that the Spirit of God moved upon the Apostle Peter to pen
concerning the event which we read a few minutes ago, when
Almighty God sent the flood upon this earth. Peter declared concerning
the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ in verse 18 of 1 Peter
3, says, 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. Almighty God, according to the
scriptures, and I won't read it, you know the truth of it,
and I'll just state it for sake of time. The Lord saw, back in
the book of Genesis, chapter six, verse five, he saw that
the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thought of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord, not
that God changes because God doesn't change, but the Lord
providentially was going to change the way that he was dealing with
men. And God was going to send judgment
upon this earth. He was going to destroy man. But according to Genesis chapter
6 in verse 8, the scripture says, but Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Almighty God was pleased to show
mercy and grace to a man who was just like every other man. God Almighty was going to set
forth His mercy, he told Moses, when Moses asked the Lord, said,
show me your glory, show me your magnificence, show me, and this
is what the Lord said, I will have mercy on whom I'll have
mercy. And so the Lord told Moses, Noah,
back in Genesis chapter six and verse 14, he said, make thee
an ark, make an ark. The Lord was going to give man
120 years and Noah set forth to do exactly what the Lord told
him to do. Now, in 1 Peter 3, in verse 19
to 22, the Spirit of God setting forth, as I read in verse 18,
that the Lord's suffering wants 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. And then verse 19 says, by which
also he went, and preached unto the spirits in prison." Now,
the Spirit of God who quickened Christ from the dead, the Lord
Jesus Christ being made flesh, He who was without sin had a
human spirit, a human body, a human spirit. And the Lord Jesus Christ
died one time laid down his life one time, and by one sacrifice
for sin, the scripture says, has perfected forever them that
believed. And his human spirit that was
ascended up unto the Father, into thy hands, commended by
spirit. The spirit, the Holy Spirit of
God, quickened his natural body and he was raised from the dead.
One sacrifice for sin. Now, that truth is what we're
gonna look at in this passage of Scripture. And it's going
to be in the form of a picture, a type, a shadow, a setting forth
of the glory of salvation being found in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, the same Spirit, Holy Spirit,
that quickened the Lord Jesus Christ, the man Christ Jesus,
that same spirit was the spirit back in the days of Noah. It
went, the scripture says, and preached unto the spirits in
prison. So here we see the work of Christ
himself by his spirit, the same spirit that raised him from the
dead when Noah was building the ark. The scriptures declare that
the Holy Spirit went and preached to that generation that was then
in existence, in the days that the ark was being built, and
God having instructed Noah, you build an ark. Our pastor just read it in Genesis
chapter seven, and the scripture says, and Noah did that which
was commanded him of the Lord in Hebrews 11, seven, it says,
by faith. Noah, being warned of God of things not yet seen,
moved with fear. He moved with reverence, 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 the basis of Noah's faith
was God's word. God spoke to him, warned him,
And Noah moved, he moved with reverence and respect. He believed
that almighty God was going to do just exactly what he said
he was going to do. And Noah, according to 2 Peter
2.5, was a preacher. He was a preacher of righteousness
and he preached the word of God while he was building this ark.
He preached in word and deed, and being a preacher of righteousness
here in this passage of Scripture in 1 Peter 3, said that it was
the Spirit of God. that was preaching to those souls
or spirits in prison, that there was those that were listening
to Noah preach, and he was preaching to those that were in prison
in the bondage of sin, trespasses and sins, and those that then
died and now are in the prison of hell. Now, that is proven
in verse 20. It said, 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." Now, here the Spirit reveals the rebellion
of man that was held generally among all except for those that
the Lord was pleased to show mercy while Noah preached to
them. He preached during those 120
years God was going to send a flood. In 120 years was said to be the
long-suffering of God who waited in the days of Noah while the
ark was preparing." Now here's the foundation of what we're
looking at. We know what happened historically,
and now here's the Spirit of God revealing to us what was
being said while Noah was preparing that ark. So while Noah prepared
that ark, I read many men and they were saying how long they
think that Noah actually took to prepare the ark. Personally,
I personally believe it took 120 years for him to prepare
the ark. And they'll say, well, it was
probably because he had a lot of men working with him and probably
many men. From what I can tell, what is
revealed in the scriptures, it never mentions that anybody ever
helped Noah build the ark. Someone says that's impossible,
nothing's impossible with God. To be honest with you, if I can
just share my thoughts with it for just a second, I think personally
that it's the most glorifying thing to the Lord Jesus Christ. He laid down his life. He secured
salvation. He tread the winepress of God's
wrath alone. It was him. Nobody helped him.
Someone says, what do you believe? I believe Noah built the ark
by himself. Somebody said, well, it took
120 years to do it. And I said, you're right. That's
right. I believe that it's the most glorifying thing to Almighty
God in that picture that Noah himself, that's all it ever says,
Noah prepared the ark, Noah built the ark, never mentioned anybody
else. And that's why I'd like to stay on this thing. But here's
the truth. In the days of the building of
that ark, the Holy Spirit was actually the one preaching. Now he was using the mouth of
a man. and nothing has ever changed. He pleased God through the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Now here, while this
ark was being prepared, Noah, without a doubt, I'm convinced,
he was preaching from the mouth. But every time that he hit a
nail, a peg, whatever it was, pitching, he was preaching. The
Spirit of God was preaching through him. And the result of Noah's
preaching was all according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of Almighty God. The results of the preaching
was according to God's purpose. The scripture says, wherein few,
We're in few, that's what verse 20 says. Verse 20, which sometime
were disobedient. Verse 19 said, he went and preached
to the spirits in prison, which sometime were disobedient, which
once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while
the ark was a preparing, we're in few. That is eight souls were
saved by water. Eight souls, that's what I've
entitled this. Saved by water. If somebody were to ask me, do
you believe in salvation by water? I said, well, according to what
Peter says right here, according to what Spirit of God meant,
which is what I'd like to deal with for a minute. being saved
by water? Yeah, I believe it's exactly.
But let's see what, let's make it clear and plain. Let's find
out what is the Lord saying. Now here's what I'd like to take
just a moment and consider the true meaning of what the Spirit
of God means when he says that eight souls were saved by water. The word by. is a word that we
need to definitely make sure we understand. That we're saved
by water. The word by here, and I always
encourage the folks at Katie, I say get a concordance, get
a concordance and look it up. Whenever somebody stands up and
says something, be like those at Berea. and search the scriptures
daily and see if these things be so. So I would encourage all
of us here, and everybody that's watching this program right now,
get a concordance. Because I know how they can,
man by nature, you know what he'll do? He'll rest the scriptures.
And he'll take that scripture that's saved by water, and they
say, there it is, prove you're saved by water. What does that
mean? The meaning of the word by is
actually through, through, through the channel of or by the act
of water. Now, whenever Noah prepared that
ark and it was concluded, and this is where Brother Gabe picked
up reading, and Noah entered the ark, He went into the ark
and the scriptures that we just read out of Genesis chapter seven,
it spoke of the wrath of God, the water that was poured out. The Lord poured out that water,
the floods, the heavens were open. The water came out of the
earth, and water covered the earth. Now, whenever the water
was poured out, what did that water set forth? The wrath of
God. The wrath of Almighty God. Man
is born, as we looked at this morning, he's guilty. Man is
a sinner, including Noah. Noah was a man like all of us. He was born in trespasses and
sin and deserved in himself the just punishment of his rebellion. That's what he deserved. But
remember, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The Lord
was pleased to show mercy to Noah. as he does to all the vessels
of his mercy and compassion. Noah was a man that was placed
within the ark that the wrath of God would not consume him.
He was in the ark and the flood that came out must come because
God is just, God is a just God. He's a just God and a savior. And that flood came out because
God is a just God and must deal with sin. The wages of sin is
death. Why did everybody outside the
ark die? Because that's what was due. That is the just due of sin. And so whenever the flood came,
The wrath of God was expended toward men, including Noah. But Noah was in the ark. Noah was in the person of the
Messiah. And that wrath that Noah was
due with him being in the ark, it sets forth. This is a picture. This is a type. This is an exhibition. of that which Almighty God did
for Noah, but not only Noah, it's what he has done for all
of his people in the person of the blessed Savior. That wrath that was due Noah,
Christ, in that ark, pictured in that ark, bore it. And by
the water of God's judgment, being poured out upon the ark,
that which pictured the Savior. Noah and all like him found in
Christ was saved. He was saved by water, that is
by the water being poured out on the ark. He was saved through
the ark bearing the brunt of it. He was saved. So when it's
saved, he was saved by water. He was saved by the grace of
God bearing the judgment of Almighty God. Had judgment been poured
out upon the Redeemer, I mean, I'm sorry, the judgment being
poured out upon the Redeemer, and the justice of Almighty God
being actually plunged into the person of the Lord Jesus, the
one who laid down his life for the sheep, that his sheep would
never perish. In him, they were saved. Saved because he bore their guilt. So the water of the flood being
sent from God upon the ark, a picture of our substitute and redeemer
and Messiah, because of God's wrath against sin being emptied
in him, those souls, those eight souls that were in him actually
experienced salvation. They were saved by or through
the act of that water being poured out. on their substitute. So here's the picture. The ark
was a picture. It was a declaration. It was
a preaching. Whenever Noah entered that ark,
and his wife, and his three sons, and their wives, Noah was preaching,
or the Spirit of God was preaching through Noah. They were declaring
something. Their salvation only in this
ark. God is going to send judgment. He's going to send judgment.
The only hope is going to be in this ark. And whenever that
flood came, all false securities, I'm going through the book of
Genesis and Lord willing, the next one I get, start talking
about that water fell for 40 days and 40 nights. And water
started rising and started rising. And it says, and all the hills
and then all the mountains were covered. What it was saying was
this, all false hope and false security was found to be useless. There was salvation only in that
ark. And those souls that were in
that ark were saved by or through or through the act of that water
hitting the ark. That's the only way they were
saved. It wasn't the water that saved them. It was the water
falling on the ark by which they were saved. I could have said
this or the scripture could have said it, but it would say the
same thing. They were saved by wrath. Saved by wrath? They were saved by the wrath
of God falling on the ark. They were saved by the grace
of God, by God's wrath, God's water, God's judgment hitting
the ark and the ark safely holding them in the midst of it. And
then the scripture says in verse 21, here's the passage right
here that I want us to grasp hold of for just a second, because
here we're gonna be looking at something, another picture. That ark was a picture. That
ark was a type. That ark was a figure. It's preaching. The declaration of what we just
read in the book of Genesis, that's the proclamation of salvation
by the grace of God. You take that ark, the construction
of that ark, those eight souls, few souls were saved. You see
particular grace. You see salvation by God's grace,
God's purpose, God's will. But then there's another picture.
that we're all familiar with. We read of the history of the
ark and we enter into that and we're thankful for it. We're
thankful for that beautiful picture. But here's, there's another figure. And the reason I know this is
because the scripture says there's another figure. It says in verse
21, the like figure. Well, that must mean that the
figure we just looked at concerning the ark was a figure. It was
a picture. It was a proclamation of truth
that there's salvation in Christ alone. He said, I'm the way,
I'm the truth, I'm the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. Picture the ark. Now here's a
like figure. Here's another type. Here's something that answers
to the same type that we just considered. Just like the Ark
was a declaration of salvation in Christ alone, Peter was moved
by the Spirit of God to say, now here's another picture, one
that is of the same type, just as the Ark was a picture of deliverance
from the wrath of God being in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here,
we see another picture called baptism. Baptism. And now, when the Spirit of God
is revealing that there's a divine resemblance between Noah being
in the ark and a believer today being baptized They both speak
of being found in Christ and saved by the grace of God by
Him. They say the same thing whenever
men are baptized. Now, what does believer's baptism
picture? What is believer's baptism a
figure of? It's a figure. It's a figure,
it's a type, it's a picture of the truth that when Christ died
upon the tree, that all of God's elect were in him. Whenever Noah
and his family were in that ark, that's a picture, that all of
God's elect all chosen in Him before the foundation of the
world are secure from the wrath of God only in the Messiah, the
Lamb of God. That's what that ark pictured. Why did God build an ark? Because
it set forth the glory of His Son. Now whenever the Lord Jesus
Christ hung upon the cross at Calvary, The Apostle Paul says,
I was crucified with him. Old Brother Scott used to say
this. He said, wherever God puts a man, that's where God keeps
a man. God don't change. Nothing changes
that God does. Chosen in him before the foundation
of the world. And whenever man fell in Adam,
he never fell from being in Christ. He's always been in Christ, and
God kept him in Christ. All of God's elect, when the
Lord Jesus Christ died on the tree, all were with him. Now this is a great mystery. Here we are, sitting here, and
being found in Christ, glorified according to Romans 8.30. The Lord glorified us. I don't
understand this truth, but I believe it. And here's the setting forth,
that whenever he died on the tree, and all of his elect being
found in him, he being made sin for us, who knew no sin, under
the judgment and justice of Almighty God, Just as that water fell,
as that flood fell upon that ark, the judgment of God fell
upon the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he cried, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And the Lord answered that
in Psalm, for thou art holy, you're holy. And that rain that
fell is the same picture and type set forth in baptism. Whenever we behold baptism, whenever
He died, He hung there suffering the wrath of God, not for Himself.
We were there found in Him. And when God's judgment fell
upon Him, it fell upon us too, in Him. Did the water fall upon
Noah and all in him? Yes. But there was one big difference
between them and everybody else. They were in the ark. The soul that sinneth is gonna
die and Christ was made sin for us. who knew no sin, and the
judgment of God fell. And we being in Him were just
like those eight souls in that ark. And when He died for us,
when He was buried, He was buried for us. When He arose, we arose
in Him. His rising was the declaration
of our justification before God, justification that took place
before the foundation of the world. We've always been justified. What does that mean? No charge,
no charge. We were delivered. being found
in him from God's judgment. And Noah was saved from God's
judgment again because he was in the ark. And now baptism. The actual immersion of our bodies
into the water is not what saves us. The water is not what saves
us. We're not saved by the physical
water in which we're baptized, but rather it pictures. It's
a type. Verse 21, the light figure. Understand
what baptism is. It is a figure. It's a type. It's declaring something. Noah
being in that ark declared something. What? Salvations of the Lord.
Baptism declares something. What? Salvations of the Lord. When we're immersed into that
water, that water that does not save us has no efficacy of itself. What it pictures is that we were
buried with him by baptism unto his death. What we're confessing
is that we are identified with him in his death, that when he
died, we died in him because we confess by faith that he died
for us. That's what we're saying. When
we're raised out of the water, We behold in that glorious figure. It's a figure. It's a type of
what we believe. We're saying that in figure and
type. Again, that water has no ability
to save us. We're saved by the grace of God,
but we're identified with him in his resurrection. When he
came out, we came out. He being accepted of God, we're
accepted in the Beloved. And now we set forth, just as
that it wasn't the water itself that fell on that ark, it wasn't
that water that was the salvation of Noah and his family again. Noah was saved by the grace of
God being found in the ark itself. Whenever we talk about salvation,
I want you to look at this 1 Peter 1, verse 18, 19. Now listen to
these scriptures. 1 Peter 1, verse 18, 19. I realize that many will read
those scriptures and they'll say, well, it's water. It's the
water that saves us. This is what scripture says.
1 Peter 1 verse 18, 19, for as much as you know, that you were
not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold. Let me ask you this. Let's just
be honest about it. Is there coming a time when this
earth is going to be burned up and all things in it? Is God
going to send judgment upon this earth and burn it up by fire. When he does, what's gonna be
burned up that's in this world? Everything. Everything that's
of this world. Do you think the physical water
in this earth is gonna burn up, is gonna be burned up? You think
God's gonna burn up the physical water then do you believe the physical
water in this earth would be then considered a corruptible
thing? The physical water. For as much as we know that we
were not redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver and gold
from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot. Saved by water, the physical
water itself? No. But by the precious blood
of Christ. 1 John 1.7. 1 John 1.7. But if
we walk in the light, As he is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ,
his son, cleanseth us from all sin. Do you realize the blasphemous thought that is set forth by our old
carnal nature our old man when we set forth that water physical water saves us do you
realize what is being said against the blood of Lord Jesus Christ
when men make that statement now the reason I know for a fact
that Water, physical water, is not what puts away our old nature. It's because the Spirit of God,
in the remaining part of verse 21, says it's not. I wouldn't
make a statement like this unless I could back it up, Stan. The
scripture said, I'll start in verse 21 again, the like figure,
where into even baptism, doth also now save us." Well, they
say, well it says baptism saves us. It just said that baptism
is a like figure of Almighty God who saves us, but the Spirit
of God in His wisdom set forth an answer before men even could
speak against this passage of scripture, he gave a blessed
revelation of what it doesn't mean. The Spirit of God moved
upon Peter to say, 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. I know for a fact that physical
water does not put away the filth of the flesh because the Spirit
of God says it does it. What can wash away my sins? Nothing, according to the scriptures. Nothing but the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Titus 3.5 says it's not by works
of righteousness that we've done. Men will say, be baptized and
the baptism will save you. Titus 3.5 says no, not by the
works, not by the works of righteousness that we've done. Here's the answer
of a good conscience. Verse 15 of 1 Peter 3 says, sanctify
the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer
to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is
in you with meekness and fear. What is that answer of a good
conscience? Verse 21, last part of verse
21. Here it is, but the answer of
a good conscience toward God is by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ, he's alive. Here's the answer
of a good conscience. When he died, he died for me.
He said, I lay down my life for the sheep. That ark says the
same thing baptism says. All his people found in him,
the wrath of God poured out And he satisfied God's demand for
justice, for righteousness. And being found in him, we profess
in this picture, in this type, it's a picture of what we believe. When he died, we died in him. When he was raised, we were raised
in him. And salvation is by the grace
of God. Noah was saved by or through
that water being poured out upon Christ. We are saved by the grace
of God being found in the ark himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. And when the judgment of God
fell upon him at Calvary, He finished the work, and when He
died, He paid our debt, all that were everlastingly loved in Christ.
When He laid down His life, He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. I'm laying down my life for those in me. I'm laying
down my life for those found in me, those for whom I've everlastingly
stood as surety. And that's the answer of a good
conscience. God's people, Do not trust physical
water for salvation. Again, I said that's salvation
by the works of man. Titus said no. But 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. an old writer named C.H. Macintosh. I don't know if you
ever heard of him. Bob, I know you do, you have.
Mr. C.H. Macintosh made this comment
on 1 Peter 121. He said, it's impossible to express
the wisdom of God's spirit to place in check the evil use of
the blessed ordinance of baptism. Carnal man is ready to give glory
to physical water through the avenue of man's self-righteous
works for salvation rather than salvation by the grace of God
through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said
baptism is an ordinance. of divine institution and is
therefore deeply significant. But when men place the figure
or the type to be of more value than the substance pictured by
the type, the Lord Jesus Christ, we have missed the simplicity
and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Almighty God saves his people
by grace, through faith in him who was pictured in the ark. Being found in him who hung upon
that cross and laid down his life for his people, for the
sheep, died buried, raised for them, ascended for them, ever
living to make intercession, and we express our faith in Him
when we're baptized. Baptism is a picture. It's a
type. Water doesn't save us. Salvation
is of the Lord.