Go through Genesis 6. Last week
we looked at the instructions for the ark. And to everyone
around, here's this 450 foot long ark and 75 feet wide and
3 stories tall covered in pitch. It looks like a big black coffin.
That's what it looks like. That ain't attractive is it?
Come in here. What? It looks horrible. Looks like a death
trap, don't it? I thought of Isaiah 53. No one
believed Noah, did he? He sat out there and preached
and preached for 120 years and nobody listened to him. Isaiah
said, Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him
as a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground. He hath no
form nor comeliness, that when we see him there shall be no
beauty that we should desire him. There's nothing desirable
about that physical ark, was there? Ugly. He was despised
and rejected of men. Noah, you're crazy. That thing
ain't gonna float. It don't have a keel in it. A
man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. As it were, we hid
our faces from him. You know, for 120 years somebody
walked by that way to go to work hearing Noah preach. Did you
see that bird? Look over that way. Don't look
at him. He'll talk to you. Didn't have
nothing to do with it, did it? He was despised and we esteemed
Him not. Surely He hath borne our griefs and us in Him. We were in Him when He bore our
griefs. And carried our sorrows, just
like that ark floated up above those waters of wrath. Carried
us with Him. I want to look at that covenant
God made with Noah tonight. We speak of this everlasting
covenant, this covenant of grace, and I want us to see just a couple
of things about it. Maybe we can walk out of here with a little
bit of understanding of what that eternal covenant was. At first,
our text begins here in verse 17, Genesis 6, 17. We see the revelation of the
justice of God. He says, And 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. This message of judgment, God's
justice, that's a two-edged sword. The Lord speaks of His judgment
several times in this chapter. It's His to rightly execute as
He sees fit. And however He sees fit is right.
He's holy. And the preserving of His holiness,
the preserving of His glory rests solely in His hand alone. Aren't
you thankful? I'm glad I'm not the last line
of defense between God's glory being tarnished. There's no such
thing as that happening. And I'm thankful there's no such
thing as that happening. He protects His glory. He protects
His holiness. Turn over to Deuteronomy 32.
A few books to you right. Deuteronomy
32. You see here God's justice and judgment,
the good news, and our reaction to it. Deuteronomy 32 beginning
verse 35. The Lord speaks and says, to
me belongeth vengeance and recompense. Their foot shall slide in due
time, for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that
shall come upon them make haste. It's coming and it's coming quickly.
But there's good news though. There's good news after that
judgment. Look down in verse 39, Deuteronomy 32, 39. See now. The Lord said that, that's a
commandment. See now that I, even I am He and there is no
God with me. There's no one beside Him. There's
no one helping Him. I kill and I make alive. I wound
and I heal. Neither is there any that can
deliver out of my hand. And we rejoice to that. God's
people rejoice to that. We rejoice in His judgment and
we rejoice in His saving hand. Look down at verse 43. Rejoice,
all ye nations, His people! For He will avenge the blood
of His servants, and will render vengeance to His adversaries,
and will be merciful unto His land." What land is that? To
His people. He's going to be merciful to
His people. We see the Lord's justice. There's a pattern there. Christ told us that. We see His
justice. We're convicted of sin. And on
His command, And He commands it. We see that He's the one
that kills and makes alive. He's the one that wounds and
He's the one that heals. And on His command, once we're
made alive, once we're healed, that new spirit in us, we see
that nothing can separate us from His loving mercies. And
we rejoice in it. I can't mess this up. That sounds
kind of plain. That sounds kind of dumb. And
that's how I need to hear it. We're in His hand, His mighty
hand. Justice is settled. He's killed
us. He slew us with His Word and
He's made us alive in Spirit. He's wounded us. I feel like
I get wounded often. But boy, there's healing that
comes right with it. It's not left alone. And I'm
in His hand and ain't nobody can take me out of it. Well,
that's something to hear. Back in our text there in Genesis
6, Here's where the Lord speaks of it as justice and judgment
in Genesis 6. He says in verse 7, Genesis 6,
7, And the Lord said, I will, that's who does it, destroy man
whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and
beast and the creeping thing and the fowls of the air, for
it repenteth me that I have made them. And then the good news
comes. The gospel comes, verse 8. But
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Last time we saw
that after this judgment was determined, after that grace
was established, there was grace for Noah, then the Lord speaks
to Noah. Look down at verse 13. Here's
this justice and judgment again. And God said unto Noah, the end
of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with
violence through them. And behold, I will destroy them
with the earth. Then the good news. The news
of God's salvation comes. Verse 14. Make thee an ark of
gopher wood. He says again to Noah down in
17, that's where the beginning of our text is. And behold, I,
even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all
flesh wherein the breath of life from under heaven and everything
that is in the earth shall die. Judgment's coming, Noah. Once
again, Once again, judgment's coming, Noah. Did Noah ever say,
I got it? Okay? We've covered that point. We don't need to discuss that
point anymore. No. Noah's not dealing with an equal.
Brother Henry said that in one of the messages I sent out. We
deal with equals, won't we? We'll negotiate with an equal.
That's a holy God he's dealing with. That's the only place everybody's
going to bow and worship is to the throne of a holy God. and
take or leave somebody else, a little G-God or an idol, eh,
we can go down there next week. I'll ask Him for forgiveness
later. You see a holy God, if He reveals Himself, if He commands,
see you, boy, you'll hit your face in worship and be thankful. For the unbeliever, this is all
repetitive, this is boring, I've heard this before, but it's much
needed. They need to hear a warning.
And they need to be rebuked and they need to be told to repent.
Christ is the ark. Get in Him. You need Him. Look
to Him. But for the believer, we agree.
We have this seal that God is true in us. And we're encouraged. We don't know what that's going
to look like when the Lord comes. He comes. We ask for Him to come.
Man has no idea. A bunch of them think they do
and they're wrong. They're dead wrong. They don't know when, how, or
where. But He's coming and we ask, Lord, come. Make haste. Come, Lord. And we don't know
what that looks like. Noah didn't know what rain was
going to look like the same as nobody else knew what rain was
going to look like. But he said, Lord, come. That's your judgment.
I agree. Amen. Execute, Lord. Honor your
name. That's what he's saying. We don't
fully enter into that here in this world, but the day will
come. God told us so, and I believe
it. When we're no longer in this
body of death, when sin is no longer around us, we don't know
what sin is. We're perfect and holy always,
all throughout. And the Lord's going to make
a judgment. And we're going to praise Him in all things. Loved
ones will go before Him. People we give our life for.
We love. And He'll judge them. And that
would crush our flesh. That'd crush me if I was to have
this mind I have now. But boy, it'll bring rejoicing
in that new creation that He gives. That's unfathomable, boy. Amen, Lord. Good. Well done. will rejoice in sanctity."
Well, that's pretty rough on Noah, but the Lord reveals His
covenant, His good news to him. Look at verse 18. But with thee
will I establish my covenant. and thou shalt come into the
ark thou and thy sons and thy wife and thy sons' wives with
thee." The Lord spoke to Noah and he said, I'm going to establish
my covenant with you, your offspring, your household, your seed. They're
going to benefit and they're going to enter in with you. He
has a covenant. He's going to speak to Noah.
He spoke to Noah again there in chapter 9. We'll turn over
there. Chapter 9, verse 8. Genesis 9, 8, it says, And God
spake unto Noah and his sons with him, saying, And I, behold,
I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after
you. Over in Genesis 17, let's look
there, the Lord spoke to Abraham. Genesis 17, 7. I forgot to warn
you, I had it at the top of my notes. We're going to turn a
little bit tonight. Keep us awake and be good for us. Genesis 17,
7. And I will establish My covenant
between Me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations
for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to
thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and
to thy seed after thee, the land whereon thou art a stranger,
all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I
will be their God. He says down through there, verse
19, the Lord spoke again to Abraham, Genesis 17, 19. And God said,
Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed, and thou shalt
call his name Isaac. And I will establish my covenant
with him for an everlasting covenant. with his seed after him. And
then it says in verse 18, or verse 20, not with Ishmael, but
in verse 21, but my covenant will I establish with Isaac,
which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next
year. Isaac wasn't born yet. He still
had a year to go. He may not even be conceived
in the womb yet. There's a while left. That covenant with Isaac,
it was declared before Isaac's birth. How's that? Christ was
the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. All these covenants, it's revealed
to us, but it was made before time. Before our physical birth,
before the birth of this globe, it was made. in Him. To each
of His children here in the Old Testament, the Lord makes His
covenant within. He makes it, it's His, and He
makes it with His children and their seed. What's that seed
they're talking about? Paul told us plainly in Galatians
3.16, didn't he? He said, Now to Abraham and his
seed were the promises made. He saith not unto seeds as of
many. Paul was big on singular and
plural too, wasn't he? He said, I'm studying these things.
The Lord showed him something. He said, not as seeds as of many,
but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. That's who these
promises are to. Revealed through Him in us. Because
of Him for us. That's what those covenant promises
are. David in his last words told us. He said, although my
house be not so with God, yet He hath made with me Well, it's a good place to be
brought. My house ain't according to the way God says. My house
is not so with God. Well, that's the first thing
we confess. Regardless of myself, in spite of myself, yet He hath
made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure Well, I don't know about that
one part. You don't have to know about that one part. It's ordered in
all things. He made it and it's His. It's ordered in all things
and it's sure. Brother Fred Evans said that
the other day. He said, you're blessed. I may not feel blessed.
It don't matter if you feel blessed. You are. A lot of times I don't. He said, for this is all my salvation
and all my desire. Every bit of my salvation is
tied up in Him and He is my desire. That's who I want. It's a covenant
God made with His Son for a people, for and to every one of His sons
and daughters individually. His bride, His body, His church
to be saved in Him and made just like Christ for eternity. It's
individual. Peter told us of being born again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed by the
Word of God which liveth and abideth forever. God makes the
covenant in Christ individually to His people. It's sitting on
a billboard somewhere. This ain't a document we can
go Google and read. This is individually. It comes
to His people. A lot of people say, well, that's
not fair. I don't think that's fair. For
120 years, righteousness was preached in Noah's day. A holy
God was exalted. His justice was declared. His
salvation was declared. It was right there for him to
look at. Talk about a picture. You can go stand in it. It's
not a complicated riddle. It's not a puzzle. It's got to
be figured out. It's simple. Brother Darwin Pruitt
brought this out. He said that door was left open
for 120 years. Election's not a closed door.
I've been told that a lot in my life. You're all house and
no door. A three-story door laid open
for 120 years and nobody wanted nothing to do with it. Yet there's room. Like that master
that sent his servant out. Go get all them poor people downtown.
Nobody show up in my dining. He said, I got everybody to get
a hold of. Yet there's room. You know how I know there's still
room? I'm alive. This earth is still spinning.
The Lord hasn't come back yet. I don't know who's His to go
in there. I don't know who's made that
covenant of grace before with time. I want to everybody I can. To
everybody who won't look the other way as I'm walking by.
Word is going to get out. People quit talking to me at
the post office I guess. God never predestinated anyone to
hell. Sin. Willfully rejecting God and willfully
not believing God. That's what sends men and women
to hell. They will not come to the lot that their deeds may
be proved. They will not have this man reign
over them. And the means that he's left
after he's come and ascended on high, you can take that italics
out, they will not have this reign over them. His word, his
preachers, his scripture, it won't have nothing to do with
it. We all in our unregenerate state, we fully rejected the
Lord God from our birth. His Christ, His salvation, His
preachers of righteousness until the Lord brings His eternal grace
right to where we are. Noah didn't find grace on another
continent. The Lord brought it right to
him. He put it where it could be found. Until He works in us
and gives us life, until He plows the ground He purchased and He
plants His seed in it and He waters it and gives it life,
Then we see this covenant of the seed of the woman. Now we
see this covenant of Christ being the seed. Now we see that that
is His glory. For Him to die. For this covenant
to be with Him. Him to go into the ground. Him
to rise again. That's His glory. That's why
He comes. Turn with John chapter 12. John 12, we'll begin verse 23. And Jesus answered them, saying,
The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat, that's a seed,
fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die,
it bring forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall
lose it." I like the way things are going. Everything's just
fine. Okay. Have it your way. You love your
life. Well, now, I just can't go to church there. So-and-so
is mad at me. I gotta go over here, keep mommy happy or whoever.
You love your life. You're gonna lose it. And he
that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto eternal
life. This world's not my home. Well,
the country's gone bankrupt. We're upside down. It's all coming
in. Kevin, you got cancer. You're
gonna die tomorrow. Good. I hope it's easy. I don't want
to feel pain. Wonderful. What's the worst outcome
for 99.999% of the people walking around this world is the best
outcome for God's people. It's finally time for the Lord
to take me on. Good. We that desire Christ's life,
His seed, His covenant, He has given us a new heart to desire
those things. and being born of His incorruptible
seed, we will sing His praises for all eternity." Not our own.
I didn't plow my own ground. I didn't plant my own seed. It's
not heirlooms that I saved over from Grandma. It's His doing,
and we'll praise Him for it. It says in Isaiah 59, As for
me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord, my spirit
that is upon thee and my words which I have put in thy mouth.
Because He put that heart in us. He put His words in our mouth.
Shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed,
nor out of the mouth of thy seed seed. Whoever I preach to and
the Lord saves, and they grow up and they become preachers
and they preach and the Lord saves them. It's the same seed
throughout. It ain't going to change. He keeps them. Nor out
of the mouth of thy seed seed saith the Lord from henceforth
and forevermore. That grace is a sustaining grace.
A whole lot of people used to believe the gospel, but there's
some people the Lord keeps, because they're His, and He keeps them
until the end. And His Word does not depart
from their mouth all the way to the end, because He sustained
them. He's kept them. It's a covenant of grace. It's
in Christ. It's before the world was. It's the same covenant that
is made by God to each of His elect children. And it's an everlasting
covenant. It's a sure covenant. It's an
eternal covenant because of the source of it. Who wrote this
article? We have a constitution in this
nation, and people just would... I put my life on the line fighting
for it. Well, we got a constitution.
It's a piece of paper. It'll stand as long until a match touches
it. Until somebody walks in there and takes it and crumples it
up Bo's way. That's man's covenant. That's what that is. It's man's
covenant. It's God's covenant. It is. He makes it and it's because,
or surely is because of who fulfills it. You don't have a contract
to do nothing. You've got a contract and I'm
going to build a house. Well, you better show up. They
better come work on it, ain't they? You know exactly what I'm
talking about. There's some expectations there.
Somebody's got to fulfill that. You've got a contract. Somebody's
got to fulfill it. Who fulfills God's contract that He gave and
He makes? Back in our text here in Genesis 6. The covenant for each of God's
children, it's going to be fulfilled by one and only one person. Look here in Genesis 6, 18. But
with thee will I establish my covenant, and thou shalt come
into the ark thou and thy sons and thy wife and thy sons' wives
with thee. And of every living thing, of
all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark,
and keep them alive with thee. They shall be male and female. Remember that ark's a picture
of Christ, but Noah's a picture of Christ too, isn't it? Turn
to Revelation 7. Revelation 7 verse 9. He told
Noah, he said, All flesh, two of everything. And you will take
it in there. Revelation 7, 9. After this, I beheld and lo,
a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations,
and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne,
and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in
their hands. Paul wrote to us and said, For
as many of you have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ,
there is neither Jew nor Greek, There's neither bond nor free.
There's no slaves and there's no masters. There's neither male
nor female. What was Noah supposed to take
in that ark? You get them. You bring them. You do what I
tell you and bring them in by twos. Bring them in male and
female. There's no difference and there's no exclusions made.
There's no doctrine and door for the rich and the poor or
the learned and the unlearned. It's the same. For you all are
one in Christ Jesus. We're all one inside that ark.
And if you be Christ, then you are Abraham's seed. What was
that seed he's promising, that covenant? If you're in Christ,
then you're Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. People talk about, I had to look
it up, covenant family, like if I pray and my kids don't ever
have to hear the word of God, but somehow they're miraculously
saved and then my grandkids, I'll just pray for them before
they're born and they'll be saved too. That's nonsense. Ain't no lineage
in this. God said if you believe Him and
you're in Christ, nothing avails everything. Ain't nothing that
distinguishes anybody. We're the same. We're in Him.
And you're Abraham's seed. And if you're Abraham's seed
in that covenant promise, that eternal promise in Christ, then
you're heirs. Heirs. Sons of God. Oh, that's
something. We think of them big rich folks
we've got floating around in front of these billionaires. You know
what? I'm their son. They swapped me
at birth. Well, I'd stand up for a little
straighter and take his cheap tie off and give me a new tie. That'd
change some things, wouldn't it? Well, if our feeble little
minds could enter into something like that, think of the Almighty
God. That's how we're made sons to God. That's something. All
of these are in Christ our Ark. They're brought there by Him
because He sought them out and He saved them. He said, I came
to seek and to save the lost. And what do they cry? Look here
if you're still in Revelation 7, verse 12. Here's the response to that saying,
Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be unto our God. forever and ever. Amen. His glory is being the substitute
for His people. He said for this hour He came
to glorify the Father that the Father would glorify Him. And
He went to that cross alone. He did the work alone. Brother
Joe Terrell preached on that this evening. He came to die. He came to lay down his life
for his friends. As that ark was there, it was
made to withstand the waters of judgment. He was made a man
and then made a curse for his people. All that he did alone. Just as
Noah built that ark alone, just as Noah brought every animal,
male and female, didn't make a difference. He brought them
all to the same place, didn't he? And after the three arks,
He had one. He brought them alone. It says
in Hebrews 1.3, when He had by Himself purged our sins, Isaiah
63, He said, I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the people
there was none with Me. That's who did it. Why does Noah
have to bring these animals in by himself? Why does the Lord
draw us to Himself? By His power alone. It's for
His glory and our good. That ain't complicated, is it?
Why is this eternal covenant of grace that God made that's
the same for every one of His children? What's that for? My
good and His glory. Now back in our text. See what
verse 19 has to say. Genesis 6, 19. Why does He do all this? What's
the reason? He's got to do this alone. He
has to be the covenant maker. It's His seed. It comes from
Him. Why does it have to be that way?
What's our benefit? We know it's glory. We just saw
that. Let's see our benefit, our good. Genesis 6, 19. And
of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt
thou bring into the ark. Why? To keep them alive with
thee. God uses men And He uses means. He uses His preachers and His
providence to call out His people, but it's His doing. It's not
those men's doing. We're His workmanship, aren't
we? It's God doing it alone, and He receives all the glory
for it. Why? So we could be alive. We could
be with Him and have life. In this covenant, this covenant
of life, this covenant of grace, cross covenant, all the provisions
for this covenant are already made. For all those in the ark,
It's all prepared by Christ alone. Look here in verse 20. Of the
fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every
creeping thing, of the earth after his kind, two of every
sort shalt thou come unto thee to keep them alive. If anything
is a living thing, any Jew, any Gentile, bond-free, if they're
going to be kept alive, they must come unto the Lord Jesus
Christ. and there will be full provision,
there will be sufficient grace for them. Look at verse 21. And
take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt
gather it to thee, and it shall be for food for thee and for
them. Everything that nobody went hungry,
they didn't do a year long fast. There was full provision inside
of that ark. Material needs. Our Redeemer
provides all of our material needs that we have, whether we
think so or not. If it's provided, it's provided
by Him. He said in Matthew 6, Therefore
take no thought, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we
drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed? That's what the Gentiles
seek after. He said, For your heavenly Father
knows you have need of all these things, but seek ye first the
kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you. The Lord will send His Son to save my soul. I think He'll keep me stocked
up in bread and water. I think I'll be fine. I think
He'll keep me in rain jackets if I'm in a rainy climate. I
think He'll keep me in the shade in Southern California, won't
you? What about our spiritual needs? Paul said, what shall
we say to these things if God be for us? Who can? Who can be
against? That's a self-answering question. Nobody can. Who can? He that
spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
I not freely with him also give us all things? Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? There's an accuser of
the brethren out there, isn't there? A foe I'm not capable
or equipped to handle. He can't lay a charge to God's
elect. It's God that justifies. That's why. It's His covenant.
He fulfilled it. Satan can't touch you. Who is
he that condemneth? You can't do that. David, you
can't eat that showbread. Jose, you can't marry at Harlot. Abraham, you can't be like your
pagan mommy and daddy and take your baby child up a mountain.
We know you're going to throw him off. I can't believe he'd
do something like that. Who's going to condemn you? It's
Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. What wraps all that covenant
up? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ. That's a
loving, gracious covenant, isn't it? What is supplied in Christ
our ark? All things freely given. There's
no charge in the ark, and there's no condemnation. That's what
Paul told us. No charge, no condemnation. He
says, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus. You're in that covenant. You're
in that ark. The one that's God's and He made it. In Him is full
provision. It was fulfilled. Every jot and
every tittle. God told Noah to do. That's what
was performed. Christ provided all of our wisdom. I think I know something. If
I know anything that's worth knowing, He gave it. He's our
righteousness. He's our sanctification. And
He's our redemption. And that work is fully finished.
Ain't nothing to add to it. Look here in Genesis 6 verse
22. Genesis 6 verse 22. Thus did
Noah, according to all that God commanded him, so did he. Every jot and every tittle, the
smallest parts of writing in the Hebrew language of that law
has been satisfied. Everything that the Father's
required, He commanded His Son, that's required for us to be
in His presence, in His holy perfect presence, completely
done and finished by Christ. When He said it's finished, that
means it's finished. The judgment's set, the covenant's
made, it's fulfilled by Christ, Him coming, Him living, Him being
punished, Him dying, and Him rising again. And that's just
exactly what happened. Christ did according to all that
God commanded, so He did. According to the scriptures.
That's our gospel, isn't it? How Christ died according to
the scriptures. Those aren't idle words. Every jot and every
tittle. We earned eternal death willingly. We inherited it from Adam, we
earned it by ourselves, willingly. But the eternal covenant of God's
grace, in and through Christ, performed by Him, sustained by
Him, was, is, and shall be performed for His people. Noah and Arthur
are just a plain picture of that covenant of grace. The same one,
the same covenant, made individually to each member of His body. This
covenant, Old Brother Pruitt said this, it's confirmed in
the heart, it's confessed with the mouth, it's demonstrated
in baptism, and it's manifested in the daily walk of God's elect.
That's proof. You can read a verse of that
as long as I preach from it. How can you know somebody's God's
elect? It's pretty clear. It's confirmed in the heart. They
know it. It's confessed with the mouth. They can't say nothing
else. They can't go against that. They know it to be true. It's
sealed in their hearts. It's demonstrated in baptism. They
obey their God. And it's manifested in the daily
walk of God's life. Turn over to Hebrews 10. I'll
let you go. This covenant of grace, it's not a legal document
that people can point to. It's not something that's just
recited. It's not something that's memorized. It's personal. It's personal to each one of
us. Hebrews 10, we'll begin in verse 12. It says, But this man, after he
had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, he bore the waters
of wrath, just as that ark did, he sat down on the right hand
of God. That ark landed on dry ground.
from henceforth expecting till his enemy be made his footstool."
What's that last M that's going to be destroyed? Death. For by
one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. By his one offering he's made
holy forever the people that are set apart that have this
covenant made by God for them from eternity past. Here's it made to us personally.
Here's where it gets personal to us. Verse 15. Wherefore, the
Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. For after that, he said
before, this is the covenant that I will make with them. After
those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts
and in their minds will I write them. People can take stuff and
just make such a mockery of it without knowledge, without understanding.
See, God's going to put His law in you. He ain't talking about
that Mosaic law or the Levitical law. That's the law of Christ. What's going to be in somebody?
Law of mercy, law of grace, law of love, law of truth. That's
what's going to be put in our hearts. And that's what we put
in our minds. I think about that. I want more of it. I know His
love. I know Him. I want to know Him
more. The Lord's been merciful to me and I beg for mercy. He's
been gracious to me and I said, Lord, be gracious. Be more gracious
to me. I've been long suffering. Suffer longer, Lord, till I'm
home. Paul wrote, For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law
of sin and death. All those things that's in my
body I am now. We're free from it. We're present with it. They
don't have a hold on us no more. They don't have the bit and bridle
in our mouth like it used to. Christ freed us from that. And
death, death is coming for us all, but we won't fear him. He's
conquered death. That's the last thing. Once he's
conquered that individual and his people, either all at once
when he comes or one at a time as he takes us home, we're with
him. Right then we're with him. Verse
17, here's the result of that covenant being given to a sinner.
And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now
where the remission of these is, where there's a remission
of sins, where it's really happened, not we think it has, not something
we're reciting on a wall, where this covenant of grace is coming
to somebody and those sins are truly forgiven, there is no more
offering for sin. If there's anything left to do,
Anything else that's required, it's not according to the covenant
that God makes. It might be according to a covenant
a man made that's got God spelled out all over the covenant, but
it ain't His. The one He makes ain't nothing
left to do. He's took care of our sins, put it away as far
as the east is from the west, and there's no more offering.
The only thing required to enter into that ark was to go through
the door. You didn't have to pack a bag. You didn't have to
bring a toothbrush. Walk through the door. When Noah and his family,
they went into that ark, everything was already there. Because Noah,
a picture of our Christ, he's provided it. He's prepared us
a place. And they didn't bring anything with them. By the faith
given to them, the faith given to Noah, to his wife, his boys,
and their wives, they entered. Faith that God gives, it enters
Christ, our ark. Look here in verse 19, "...having
therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath
consecrated for us through the veil that is to say through his
flesh." The very thing we're entering is the very thing that
saved us. We enter Him, a person, and it's a person that saves
us. It's a person that gave that covenant, it's a person that
sustains it, that fulfilled every jot and tittle of it, and it
comes to us personally and says, I'm bearing you witness. I did
it. We say amen. And now we can come
boldly, we can enter into that holiest of holies. We can come
boldly to His throne of grace. Why? Because Christ did it. It's
His covenant. He saved His people. All right,
next week, Lord, we'll look at Genesis 7, verse 1. I was hoping
to get to it tonight. For 120 years, that general call
went out, Noah, preach righteousness. But now, here in chapter 7, by
the grace of God, it effectually goes out. It says, And the Lord
said unto Noah, Come. He didn't say go. War is a lot
there. Come thou and all thy house into
the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
That's a summation of it.