A shelter in the time of judgment. In the time of judgment. Noah
built the ark as God commanded him to. All things were now ready. The appointed time for the flood
has come. And all whom God would save must
be brought into the ark. They must come into the ark and
find shelter, safety, refuge, because God is about to destroy
this world. It's hard to imagine, I know
it is, we have God's word on it, or we could never conceive
this, but it's hard to even in our minds imagine that God at
one time destroyed this whole world. all flesh, everything
that had breath. The ground you and I stand on
out here was underwater. At one time it was underwater.
God flooded this whole earth, I think it was something like
20 feet or something like that, above the highest mountain. on
this earth. Mount Everest, is that the highest? Or Mount McKinley, I don't know
which one's the highest, but whichever's the highest, God
flooded this earth, I think it was like 20 some feet above the
highest mountain. And all flesh died. That was not in the earth. What
a picture, what a picture. All whom God would save must
now be brought to the ark because the flood, the flood that God
said to Noah that he was gonna flood the earth, it cannot come,
it cannot happen until all whom God's gonna save, Noah, his family,
and the animals, until they are safe in the ark. You remember
Lot and Sodom? The angel said, we can do nothing. We can do nothing until you,
I'm gonna paraphrase, until you are safe. Until you have been
brought out of this place that God's gonna destroy. And when
Lot left Sodom, when Lot left Sodom, the fire from heaven fell
on that place and burned it up. And the day that Noah, his family,
and the animals entered into the ark, the very day, judgment
fell. Judgment fell. The first thing
we have here in verse one is the call of grace. Sometime of
the day when you go home, sit down and read this chapter. Just
sit down and read it over again. But we have here the call of
grace. God called Noah and all that were with him into the ark,
and the Lord said unto Noah, come thou and all thy house into
the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
What we have here is a divine call of God, we have an effectual
call of God, we have a gracious call of God, and we have a particular
call of God, right here. And only those that were effectually
called went into the ark, no one else went in. Now, I have
no doubt After the door was shut, and it started raining, and it
started pouring the rain, and it says the dips were broken
up, I have no doubt people wanted in that ark. I have no doubt there's people
hanging on to that ark, outside of it. But there's no salvation
on the outside of that ark. It's on the inside of that ark.
Nothing on the outside. Everything on the outside got
swept away. But what we have here is a divine
call, a factual call, gracious call, and we preach the gospel
and we're called to, but the power, the power to bring men
and women into a living union with the Lord Jesus Christ is
of God. It's of God. I preach the gospel.
But the power to save, the power to bring men and women, bring
sinners to Christ, to seal them up in Christ, It's of God. No man has that kind of power.
And no one entered the ark that was not called into it by the
power of God. No one. God called Noah to come
into the ark. You notice that? He said, and
the Lord said unto Noah, come thou into the ark. He didn't
say go into it, did he? God did not say, Noah, go into
the ark. He said, Noah, come thou unto
the ark. God was in the ark. God was in
the ark. The scripture says God was in
Christ. Reconciled the world unto himself. God was in Christ. When God calls
a sinner, he's calling that sinner to come to Christ, to believe
on Christ, to look to Christ. Because that's the only hope
he has, Christ. And Noah's righteousness is mentioned.
God says, thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
In all that mass of sin, God saw Noah as righteous. Noah stood out like a diamond
on a black background in that generation. Noah didn't conform
to his generation. Noah walked with God in righteousness
no matter what his neighbor was doing. It didn't matter. Noah
walked with God in righteousness. I thought about this as I was
writing this out. That's what righteousness imparted. Righteousness imparted will do
for you. Righteousness imparted will enable
you to walk with God. and righteous nature imparted
by God will enable you to walk with God as Noah did, just as
he did. Righteousness on paper only will
not enable you to do that. Just being righteousness imputed
only without a righteous nature imparted will not enable you
to walk with God. The righteousness of Christ is
imputed when we believe on Christ. But in the new birth, in the
new birth, there is a righteous nature born of God. And that's what enables you to
walk with God. That's what enables you to walk
with God. And how did Noah, how did Noah obtain such righteousness?
the same way Abraham obtained it, the same way you and I obtained
it, by grace through faith. The just shall live by faith. It was imputed to him by faith
when he believed God. Noah was justified before God
by the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ even before the
world began. Christ is said to be the lamb
slain before the foundation of the world. And then in time, he was born
of God. He believed God. And that was
imputed to him for righteousness. That is the righteousness of
Christ. And the evidence of this, the evidence of this is that
he walked with God. He walked with God righteously,
honestly, and he walked before men the same way, the same way. And then it says all the animals
that God would save were called into the ark. In verse 2 and
3. Those animals... Those animals would not naturally
go into the ark. But they did. They did, didn't
they? Do not underestimate the power
of God to call sinners, no matter how far gone they may seem to
be. Don't underestimate God's power to save. He said He called
all types of animals here. And those animals were made willing
in the day of God's power. In the day of His power. Just
as every sinner whom God saves will be made willing in the day
of His power. There was a time you and I were
not willing to be saved. We were not willing to come to
Christ. Christ said in one place, you will not come to me that
you might have life. That applies to every one of
us at one time or another. At one time or another, we were
not willing to come to Christ for life. And then one day, the gospel,
God sent the gospel in power. He sent it in power. And we became
willing. willing to come to Christ, willing
to bow to Him, willing to sit at His feet. Who made us willing? God did. God did. And all types of animals were
saved in the ark, just as the Lord saves all types of sinners
in Christ. Sinners from every background.
You notice it says there, creeping things. He even brought the creeping
things into the ark. When I read that, I thought,
now that really opened the door for me. Creepy things. Things that you and I would squash.
You and I would step on. God brought them into the art
and kept them alive. God did that. And then judgment
declared once again in verse four, he said, you had seven
days, and I'm gonna cause it to rain upon the earth for 40
days and 40 nights, and every living substance that I've made
will I destroy from off the face of the earth. God gives plenty
of warning to sinners to flee from the wrath to come. Noah
was about 120 years in building this ark. I'm telling you, every
stroke of the hammer, every time he drove a peg, He was declaring
judgment's coming. Judgment's coming. But they paid no attention. They
paid no attention whatsoever. But Noah, in the midst of his
generation, in the midst of all that sin and all that unbelief,
Noah obeyed God. And Noah did according to all
that the Lord commanded him. But Noah did what the Lord commanded
him. There wasn't a cloud in the sky
that never had a raindrop. And yet he believed God was going
to flood this earth and kill everything on it. And it says,
Noah did according. That's faith. That's what faith
is. That's what is living by faith.
is doing according as the Lord has commanded. Christ said, if
you keep my commandments, then are you my disciples indeed. And after that, Noah went in. Verse 7, and Noah went in, his
sons, his wives, and his sons' wives into the ark, because of
the waters of the flood, and then all those beasts, all those
animals, All those animals went in. Noah went in. Had he not gone in, had he just
built that ark? Had he just built it? I heard
Scott Richardson preach a message on this one time, and he brought
out an interesting point that I'd never even thought of. He
said, no doubt Noah probably employed some people around there
to help him build that ark. But only Noah went in. His family. and those animals that God called. There's no salvation outside
that ark. There's no salvation outside
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything outside it drowned.
Salvation is only in, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Believing
some things about him will not save you. That's what the biggest part
of what you call Christianity in this country. They believe
things about Him. The salvation is being in Christ.
Is Christ in me and me in Christ? That's what it is. Is Christ
as my life? He is my life. I don't have life
apart from Him. He is my life. Salvation is a
real living union. I can't tell you how many times
I heard this under my pastor Henry. How many times he said
this over the years. It's a real, and he stressed
it so much, it's a real living union with Jesus Christ. That's
what it is. You can believe all the right
doctrine you want, but unless you and I are in the Lord Jesus
Christ, we have no hope. Just as I said on the radio message
this morning, Christ is our hope. He's not a part of it. He's all of it. I don't have
any hope apart from Jesus Christ. None whatsoever. And now the
next verses 10 through 12, God's judgment falls on this human
race. You look in verse 10, and it
came to pass. If God said it, you can mark
it down, you can stake your life on it. If God said it, it will
come to pass. It will come to pass. And it
came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood
were upon the earth. It says, the fountains of the
great deep broke up and the windows of heaven were opened there in
verse 11. and rain was upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights,
exactly, exactly as God said it would be. You reckon we ought
to take God at his word? You reckon we ought to get into
the word of God and read it and take God at his word? No priest to his generation for
many years that judged what was coming, but they didn't take
him seriously. You remember a lot when he went and talked to his
sons-in-law? That God was going to destroy it and it says that
they just, they laughed at him as one that mocked. They just
thought that was just ridiculous. Ridiculous. Foolishness. God's gonna burn this place up?
That's foolishness. People hear that and they think
that's just foolishness. That's what they thought. That's
what they thought, until the flood came. Until judgment fell. And the flood came when all were
safe in the ark. When all of God's children, when
all that God was gonna save, when they were safe in the ark.
That's when judgment came. It says in verse 13, In the selfsame
day, entered Noah, Shem, and Ham,
and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah and his wife, and the
three wives, and his son with them into the ark." That same
day, judgment fell, but not, not until
they were safe in the ark. This world is gonna stand until
God saves that last child. When God calls that last sheep,
and that last sheep is saved in Christ, that's when judgment
will fall on this earth. That's when it'll fall. That's
when God will finally put an end to all this. Noah went in, he went into the
ark with his sons and his wife. He went in first and then all
the others went in. Noah didn't stand outside. You've
seen in Hollywood how they make the movies and Noah in the ark,
he's out there directing traffic. It's like he's a traffic director,
you know, getting them into the ark. Noah went in first. And then the others followed. He doesn't have to direct the
traffic. He walked in first, because the
power of salvation, of being in Christ, is of God. Is of God. But he went in first,
and the rest followed. No woman was dragged into the
ark. No woman was dragged into the ark. Every woman, every animal went into the ark willingly.
Went in there willingly. Then in verse 14 and 15, listen
here. They all went into the ark, and
then he comes to the beast here, and he says, and every beast
after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and the creeping
thing, every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth after his
kind, every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. And
you get down to verse 16, and they that went in, went in male
and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him. Now listen,
this is so important. And the Lord shut him in. And the Lord, I saw this on one
of the Hollywood movies, I can't remember which one the show,
but he was cranking that door up. It shows Noah cranking the
door up. He wouldn't do anything like
that. It says the Lord shut him in. The Lord shut that door. The Lord sealed him up in Christ. That's so, don't overlook that. The Lord shut him in. God called
Noah and all that were with him into the ark, and when the last
one went in, God shut the door. God shut it. It is written in
1 Corinthians 1. Of God are you in Christ Jesus. That's how I ended up in Christ.
of God are you in Christ Jesus. God the Father gave Jesus Christ
a multitude of people and He shut them up in Christ. Noah didn't shut himself in nor
did he shut the door. God did. Now here's an important
point I want you to get. We who preach do not shut men up in Christ.
That's God's work. Now listen, listen. We may shut
men up to Christ. That's what I do when I preach.
I shut men up to Christ. But it's of God to shut men up
in Christ. I can shut you up to Christ,
to God's mercy, to Christ as the only way of salvation. But
it's the work of God to shut you up in Christ. That's of God. And then here's something else
that just ought to make, it ought to make us, especially those
of you who know the gospel, you believe God, God has given you
good evidence that He has saved you. And this is just to me, it just
makes the hair stand on the back of your neck. The door of mercy
was shut. It was shut. There's a time when the door
of mercy is shut. Only God knows that time, I don't. But when he shut that door to
that art, that was over. He didn't open it back up. Here
comes someone running down the street. And he opened the door
back up. No, it was shut. And we should. And God's judgment, we need to
realize this, God's judgment is real and God's judgment is
final. You know, and the scripture says,
there'll be many who'll say, Lord, Lord, have we not preached
in your name? Have we not cast out devils in
your name? And have we not done many mighty
works in your name? Have we not done that? And all that the Lord is going
to say, Depart from me. I never knew you. He's not going
to stand there and argue with you. There's not going to be
an argument going back and forth with him. He just says no. He just says depart. And when
he says depart, this is chilling to me. When he says depart, you
have to depart. There's no changing. The scripture
of Solomon said, as the tree falls, so shall it lie. There'll be no change. There
will be no change. And the flood, verse 17, and
the flood was 40 days upon the earth, and the waters increased
and bear up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth. The
flood came just as the Lord said it would. But right in the midst
of all that judgment, there's a monument to God's mercy. There's a testament to God's
mercy. It says it bears up the ark.
The flood represents the wrath of God. It killed every living
thing. And it says here, it bear up
the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth. Christ said
this in the Gospel of John, if I be lifted up, I will draw all
men at night unto me. And here we see the ark taking
the flood of God's wrath. Noah's inside. His family, his
wife, his sons, and his daughter-in-laws, and all those animals, they are
inside that ark. And outside of that ark is the
flood of God's wrath. And that ark is taking every
bit of that. It's taking every bit of the
wrath of God. It's taking the same wrath that
those people perishing are taking. The same wrath. The waters, it said, prevailed.
God's wrath prevailed. God's wrath increased greatly
upon the earth, and the ark went upon the face of the waters. Under all that wrath, the ark
did not sink. Christ, under the wrath of God
for my sins, did not sink and perish, but he floated right
up on top of us. right up on top of it, right
to the very end. You know that had he not, he
said, I commend my spirit to the Father. You know, if he had
to command his life to leave? Into thy hands I commend my spirit. And he gave it up. He gave it
up. He gave it up. No man takes my life from me. I lay it down at myself and I
take it up again. There on Calvary's tree, our
Lord is bearing the wrath of God. And just like that ark that
floated right on top of that water, it didn't sink. It didn't
sink. It didn't go under. Neither did
our Lord. Neither did our Lord. He didn't
perish under our wrath right now. He's seated at God's right
hand. That's where he is. And note the scope of God's wrath
in verse 19 through 22. 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 and all flesh died
as God said it would. How many millions of people You reckon more upon the earth.
This is what's astounding to me. All those millions of people
might have been a billion. There's like 1656 years had gone
by since the creation of Adam. How many people perished in that
flood? How many generations wiped out?
is wiped out. All flesh died that moved upon
the earth, both of fowl, cattle, beasts, creeping things, and
every man, all of whose nostrils was a breath
of life, and all that was in the dry land died. It died. You believe that? You
believe that? I do. I do. I believe God flooded
this earth just like he said he did. I believe he killed everything
on it except that which was in the ark, those who were in the
ark. I believe that. People can think
I'm silly. It doesn't matter. What does it matter what men
think of us, really? What matters is what God thinks.
It's what people think of me, it really doesn't matter. You
know, when you and I ever, if we ever become impressed with
God, nothing else would be so impressive. Nothing else will
impress us that much. Not when you really become impressed
with God Almighty. With God. All died as God said they would.
They're coming. There is coming another judgment.
We have it in God's Word. We have God's Word on it. There
is coming another judgment wherein all who are not in Christ are
gonna die. They're gonna perish. Except
this time it's gonna be by fire and it's gonna be final. It'll be final. Everything that
sin has touched will be gone. There won't even be a shred of
existence of it. Every living substance, it says
in verse 23, was destroyed, which was upon the face of the ground,
both man and cattle, the creeping things, all of them. But now
listen, listen, listen to this. In verse 23, the last part of
it. Noah only remained alive and they that were with him in
the earth. That's the gospel. What a deluge there was yet.
Out of all that wrath and darkness, there's life. All in the ark remained alive. There is life in the crucified
one. There is life in Jesus Christ. And the waters prevailed upon
the earth 150 days. God's judgment prevailed until
all were dead outside the ark. A complete, complete wipeout. Judgment will come one more time.
And it will prevail. And when God shuts the door of
mercy, it'll never be open again. And my last thought when I was
putting these together was, my soul, look to Christ. Look to
Christ. He is God's salvation for sinners
like me and you.