I'm sure you will forgive me
if we do not get very far this morning, because this was such
a blessing. I've been thinking about just
this one verse for two or three weeks now. Verse 1 says, And
God remembered Noah and every living thing and all the cattle
that was with him in the ark. God remembered Noah. And there's so much space in Scripture devoted to
the flood. And that's for a reason, because
it was a horrible, terrible thing, a show of God's wrath against
man, against sin. God literally Most people don't
believe this story, but we do. And we know that God is going
to do the same. That the same heavens and earth
that are now kept by the power of God will melt away with a
fervent heat, Scripture says. Our Lord said, as in the days
of Noah, didn't He? So shall the coming of the Son
of Man be. These are the last days. My parents and I were talking
about this at the breakfast table the other day. And we all should
be talking about it more, so much more, as we see the day
approaching. These are indeed the last days.
And you look around, you read, you observe what all is going
on in this present evil world. It is just like the times when
our Lord says, look down, said the whole earth had corrupted
His way. And the thing that characterized
it more than anything, He said, was violence. Full of violence. So God in a
great violent act, wiped it out. And so this underscores, this
just makes what we're doing right now, life or death, that we must
be in Christ, who this ark represents. We must be. There were scoffers
and mockers back in Noah's day, but they quit scoffing when that
rain started falling. And it says they didn't know
until the day that the flood came. And Scripture says things
like this, that they are without understanding. Though the heavens
declare His glory, the firmament show of God's handiwork, the
wrath of God is clearly revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness, the judgments of God, yet man doesn't consider,
doesn't give it a thought, just doesn't give it a thought. Earthquakes, diseases, pestilence,
famine, you name it. He just keeps sending it and
people don't give it a thought. Don't give it a thought. We do.
By the grace of God, we do. Who maketh us to differ? And
at the time of that ark, few souls were saved. Few. That ark
and Noah are Christ. Noah is Christ. He represents
Christ. The ark represents the Kingdom
of God. We must be in His Kingdom. Like I said, we may not get past
this one verse because it is life or death. Everyone in this
room right now is not in Christ. I want you to notice with me
how many times it says this in chapter 6. Let's go back to chapter
6, verse 18. He says to Noah, I will establish
with thee, will I establish my covenant, and thou shalt come
into the ark, your sons and your wives. He's talking to Noah who
represents Christ. The covenant of God is with Christ
and those in Christ because of Christ. Verse 20, he says in
the last line, and you will bring in of every sort, shall come
unto thee to keep them alive. Christ said, I am come that they
might have life. Chapter 7, verse 1, God said to Noah, Come thou
and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous
before me in this generation. The only man God ever saw as
righteous. And the only way we can be, the
only way God sees us is in Christ. In Christ. Verse 3, he said,
You are going to keep seed, verse 3, the last line, you are going
to keep seed alive upon the face of the earth. Christ came, he
said, that they might have life. Look at verse 7. Noah went in, his sons and wife,
and his sons, wives with him into the ark. In the ark. Noah
in the ark. Verse 9. He went in, two and
two, unto Noah into the ark. Sounds like a broken record,
doesn't it? This is the record, Scripture says. And what it says
from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22, this is the record that God
hath given unto us eternal life. And this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. And what we do have Whatever
it is a man or a woman or a young person has, you're going to connect
real quickly. Real quick. Verse 15 down there. They went in under Noah into
the ark. Verse 16. God shut him in. Well, whoever
was with him was shut in too. You see that? And verse 23 of
chapter 7 says, God destroyed every living substance. on the
earth, but Noah only, the last line, Noah only remained alive
and they that were with him in the ark. How many times does
God have to tell us this? Apparently over and over and
over again. This is not just a Bible study.
That's why I don't like to call it a Bible study. It's a message
of life or death. We all need to give diligence
to make our calling and election sure. We all, starting with me,
need to make certain that we're in Christ. Paul said, I'm not
there yet, but this is one thing I'm going to do. I'm going to
press to mark the prize of the high calling of God in Christ.
Oh, that I might win Christ and be found in Him. I want to be
found in Him. Chapter 8, verse 1 says, And
God remembered Noah and every living thing, and all the cattle
that was with him in the ark. God remembered Noah. And in remembering
Noah, He remembered everything, even the cattle that was with
him in the ark. Now, I want you to think about
it again. Who was in that ark? Who was in that ark? Everyone
that God chose to be in that ark. Everyone that God chose. You know, anyone could go in
that ark that wanted to. The door was open. The door of
that ark was open. Seven days after it was finished.
Showing that, come on. Whoever wants to. Whosoever will. Come on. Anybody that wanted
to could go in. What's the problem? They didn't
want to. Christ said this, didn't He?
You will not come unto Me that you might have a plight. And
then He went on to say, No man can come unto Me except the Father
which hath sent Me draw him. And he that cometh to Me, all
that the Father giveth Me shall come unto Me. And he that cometh
to Me will shut him in. You and I, those of you who have
come to Christ, those of you who are in Christ by faith, you
didn't come of your own free will. You came by the sovereign
grace and power, sovereign electing grace of God. Of God are you
in Christ, who of God is made unto you everything. Life. That's
who was in that ark, called and chosen. How did they get there? God brought them in there. He
sent Noah. God sent Noah out to round them
all up, and he did. He rounded them up. It sounded
like Noah went out single-handedly and brought every single animal
into that ark. I believe he did. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to pass. Christ came to this earth to bring in his
people. They were not in that ark, Noah,
neither Noah. Noah's wife? We mentioned Noah's
wife, didn't we? You don't know anything about
Noah's wife, do you? I don't either. We don't know anything
about how tall she was, or what she looked like, or what she
could do, anything. We don't know anything about
her. All we know is that she's Noah's wife. That's the only
thing that matters, wasn't it? Shem, Ham, and Japheth, we should
find out something about them, especially Ham. What a sinner
he is. But nobody was in that ark for
their righteousness' sake. They were not in there for their
righteousness sake. That's what Titus 3 says. Not
for works of righteousness that we have done, but according to
your mercy you have saved us. They were in there because God
brought them in there. And God, it says, remembered
Noah and every living thing with him in the ark. Noah. Noah is a picture of Christ.
Salvation is for Christ's sake. You know that? It's by Christ,
and it's for Christ's glory. It's for His glory. It's for
His name's sake. God remembered Noah. We're going
to look at how many times, several times, God says He remembers
something. But do you remember what they were doing in the ark?
Remember? They were resting. They didn't
need to do anything because the ark was finished. They didn't
need to add anything to it. The ark was finished. We come
to Christ and He finished the work. We rest in Him. All they
had to do was rest and feed the animals and encourage one another. You remember how we looked at
their conversation when they were in the ark? What they must
have talked about. That's what we're talking about
now. We keep talking about these times. They talked about how God had
mercy to them. Oh, how long did it take them
to get over the fact that they were the ones saved? They weren't any better. They
all felt like they weren't any better than anybody outside.
But God, rich in mercy, had them in that hour. They never got
over that. They might have lost sight of
it every now and then in that year that they were in it. But
not for long. They talked about the fear of
the Lord. God is holy in them. God will
punish sin. We look at Christ crucified.
We know. We believe. We see. God will
punish sin. The world doesn't have a clue
about that. They don't consider that it was
God that put His Son on that cross. Why? Because God is holy. Because God will punish sin.
He'll either punish us or He'll punish Christ for us. They talked
about many things. They talked about the new earth.
The new earth. And so do we. Well, now look
back at chapter 6. Look back at chapter 6. It says,
God remembered Noah and those that were with Noah in the ark. Look back at chapter 6. Verses
6-8, read this again, it repented the Lord that He had made man
on the earth and it grieved Him at His heart. No, God doesn't
repent. He's not a man that He should repent. That means change
His mind. No, no, no. But God is speaking
in a way that we can understand, as if to say, I wish I had never
made Him. I wish He had never been born. Ever heard somebody
say that? that grieved him at his heart,
and the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from
the face of the earth. Man and beast and creeping thing,
fowl's ear, it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord." God destroyed man. He destroyed the world, all but
Noah and his family. He really did. And he populated
a new earth. After this flood, God populated
a new earth with Noah and his family. A new race of creatures. We're going to look at that,
how that every single human being came from Shem, Ham, and Japheth. That is from Noah. A new race
of creatures in a new earth. What's that? Christ is the firstborn
among many brethren. After it's all over. God purposed,
God has a kingdom, God has a new race of creatures all created
by Christ and in the image of Christ. And He has made or is
making or will make, I don't know when, but a new earth, a
new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness and a people just like Jesus
Christ. And God wiped out the memory
of the old earth. He wiped it out of His memory.
He said, I've had enough. And He wiped it out of His memory,
per se. And He's going to do the same thing. He said, you
rejoice in that. And He's going to wipe it out
of our memory too. Isaiah 65 says, you rejoice in that which
I create. I'm going to create a new heaven
and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered
or come to mind. God's going to wipe it out. He
calls this place this present evil world. And those that can't
see it, and those that love it, He says, you'll be destroyed
with it. That's how serious it is. Well,
like Noah, God sent Christ to this earth, firstborn among many
brethren, to gather His people, to make a new race, to create
a new earth someday, to populate with his people. But he wiped
out the earth from his memory. I want you to think back. I want
you to think on this earth, planet earth, what history you know. Think back on it. Tell me what
comes to mind. When you think back on the history
of this planet, what comes to mind? Are there good things?
Do you think about good things? Or do you think of all the wars
and rumors of wars? all the destruction, all the
misery, the dark ages, the barbaric people, and on and on it goes.
There's not much good to think about, is there? Think about it. What comes to
mind? History. Our present news. When they're going to talk about
this present world, what do you see? What's in the newspaper? What do they report? What's on
TV? What's in the newspaper? Nothing
but violence. Nothing but evil. Nothing but
sin and corruption. That's what this world is. And
God says, I'm going to wipe it out of my
memory. You think back on your life.
It was Jacob. When he was an old man, he said
to Pharaoh, he said, the years of my life have been few and
evil. Trouble. I've had nothing but
trouble. And mostly with me. I live in
a present evil world and I've got an evil man living in me.
And I'd like to forget it. I'd like to just wipe it out
of my memory. And start all over again, wouldn't
you? Without sin. Well, God says, that's exactly
what I'm going to do. And then nothing will ever come
to mind again. Come quickly, Lord. And we say
that, we really do, we look forward to it, except for those who are
not in the ark yet. And that's why we keep pressing
this. That's why I like Noah. I'm kind of like Noah every time
I preach. Get in the ark. Get in the ark. It's soon. Don't you know people
got tired of hearing that hammer? Would somebody tell him to quit?
He did stop. One day it stopped. And Noah went in the ark. And then that door shut. I'm
sober. It's not a fairy tale. It's the
truth. Boy, I want to be in that ark,
don't you? I want to be in Christ. If you look back at the history
of mankind, it starts in Genesis 3, and he goes from bad to worse. Right? Man goes from bad just
in three chapters, Amy, from Genesis 3 to chapter 6, God says
that's it. Then start in Exodus with the
people of God, those who seem to be the people of God. Chapter
12, you start with the people whom God has had great mercy
upon, great grace upon, revealed Himself to them, gave them all
the advantages and all that, brought them out by miraculous
deliverance, and they went from bad to worse until two people,
only two over the age of 20, went into the promised land.
It's bad. It's a whole lot worse than I
can make it appear to be. And so are we. This is why this
verse means everything. But God remembered Noah. He remembered
Noah. He remembered Noah. Several times
God says He remembered some things. Thank God. Go with me to Genesis
19. Genesis 19. Several times it
is recorded that God remembered something and some people. This is the next time it says
that God remembered someone. In Genesis 19, now, Lot was in
Sodom. Boy, we're in it, aren't we?
Is there any doubt in your mind that this is Sodom? If the Lord had not left us a
remnant, we would have been like Sodom a long time ago. And now
they're declaring they're seeing like Sodom, and God says, It's
over. He destroyed Lot, as in the days
of Lot, as in the days of Noah, as in the days of Lot. Who's
listening to this? Brother David Pledger wrote my
dad recently. He said, I feel like Isaiah. He said, who has believed this
report? Who's believing? Is anybody listening? The Lord says that, as in the
days of Noah, as in the days of Lot. Yet men and women and
young people can just do exactly what Sodom did and not give it a thought. God
says, I've warned you. I've sent my prophets, rising
early, telling you over and over again that every generation kept
sending them and sending them and sending them, and you didn't
listen. Oh, my. Lot was in Sodom. And Scripture
says he was righteous. He sure didn't seem like it,
did he? Why was he righteous? Because God said so. Because God had mercy on him.
The Lord being merciful on him. God dragged him out of Sodom. Laid hold on him. He'd have stayed
right there. His wife did. Well, look at this. In Genesis 19, Abraham was Lot's
uncle. And Abraham loved Lot. And Abraham prayed for Lot. Abraham
prayed for Lot. Remember the Lord told Abraham
he was going to destroy Sodom? And he interceded for Sodom. He said, Lord, if you find 50
righteous, 30 righteous, You know who he was thinking about,
don't you? He wasn't thinking about Sodom. He was thinking
about Lot. He was thinking about Lot. That's who his affection
was for. Lot's family. Maybe some others
that he knew there. But look at chapter 19, verse
29. It says, it came to pass when
God destroyed the cities of the plain that God remembered Abraham. That's the next time it says
God remembered. God remembered Abraham and did
what? Sent Lot out. If God hadn't made a covenant
with Abraham, if Abraham hadn't been the friend of God, God spoke
to him face to face like his friend, and Abraham interceded
for those inside of him. God remembered Abraham and brought
Lot out. God remembers Christ. Listen
to all these times it says God remembers. It says God remembered
His covenant with Abraham. God remembers His covenant with
Christ. Everybody whom Christ, was in Christ, whose names are
written in that Lamb's Book of Life, they're coming out. They're
going to be in the ark. God remembers His mercy and truth. God remembers His covenant forever. He remembers His covenant forever.
Psalm 136, verse 23 says this, Thou hast remembered us in our
low estate. Listen to this. You know this.
Psalm 103. The Lord knoweth our frame. He
remembereth that we're dust. He remembers. Then there's that
story I was going to have you turn But let me just tell it
to you. There's a story of a harlot in Jericho. And the Lord sent
two spies into that land to spy out the land. And they revealed
themselves to that one harlot named Rahab. And she hid those
spies. She feared the Lord. She believed
what they said. And she took them into her house
and hid them And she said to them, she asked them, she besought
them, would you have mercy on my house, my father, my mother,
my children, those in my house? When you come, you're going to
destroy this place. You're going to destroy this place. Would you
have mercy on my family and me? Would you? And they said, we'll
do it. They said, this will be the token. This scarlet line,
you tie it into your window, and when we see that line, we'll
spare you and everybody in that house. Well, some time went by.
Time went by. And then it was time. And Joshua
said, blow the horn. We're going to wipe out Jericho.
It's time. Trumpet. Sound the trumpet. We're going
to destroy Jericho. But hold on. I remember something. He said, first thing, go in and
get Rahab and everybody in her house and bring them out. And he destroyed the whole city,
but brought out one harlot. He remembered. He didn't forget
it. He remembered his promise. They saw that token, and everybody
that was in that house came out in spirit. Oh, my. Do you remember
anything else where somebody talked about remembering? Huh? There was a chief of center.
The worst fellow who ever lived on planet earth. He lived his
whole life in nothing but violence and sin. A thief and a murderer. And he's on the cross being crucified. He's as
good as dead. But God revealed to him in his
dying hour that that man hanging beside him was dying for him,
paying for his sins. And he looked at that man and
he said, Lord, looked at the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, You're
coming into your kingdom. It's all over for me, but You're
coming into the kingdom. It's just the beginning. Lord,
remember me. And he did, didn't he? He did. Wonder of wonders. The
Lord will remember every person in Christ and forget all their
sins. He said, their sins and their
iniquities will I remember no more. Why? Because he remembered
Christ. He remembers his covenant. You
see why I couldn't get past this verse? I've had it on my mind
for weeks now. The Lord remembered me. Willie,
if I keep trusting Christ, if I'm found in Christ, trusting
Him, the Lord will have mercy. He promised that. That's my only
hope. That's my only hope. You know
that? I'm not going to be able to say,
I've done better, I've quit this, I've quit that. If I do quit
something, it seems like something else comes up, Until the day
we die and we're going to say, Lord, I wasn't any better whatsoever. Lord, remember me for Christ's
sake. Remember the blood. Let the blood
be propitiation for my sinful soul on the mercy seat. Lord,
I've broken every law. I'm not one whit better than
the day you found me. In wrath, would you remember
mercy? He delights to show mercy. And
God remembered Noah. Well, just briefly look at these
verses because I don't want to just skip over them. In closing,
chapter 8, Genesis 8, verse 1 through 5 says, God remembered Noah and
every living thing and all the cattle that was with Noah in
the ark. That's a picture of Christ. It was in the kingdom
because of Christ. And God made a wind to pass over
the earth and the waters a sway. Wind has always represented the
Holy Spirit in Scripture. God's people are kept by the
power of God and they're led by the Spirit. They're kept by
the Spirit of God. They're preserved by the Spirit
of God. They're led by the Spirit of
God. And those things that destroyed
the world, that is the water that destroyed the world, the
Holy Spirit keeps us from being overcome by it. We think we are,
but no. He said, sin shall not have dominion
over you. He said it won't. We think it
does, but he says, no, it won't. Why? Because if you be led of
the Spirit, none of the law, but you're under grace. Holy
Spirit, like that wind, keep the Lord knoweth how to deliver
the godly from temptation. See, I'm not godly. God says
you are if you're in Christ. Huh? No, you're not godly in
yourself, but if you're in Christ, you are. So he sent the Holy
Spirit to protect his people. Read on. The fountains also of
the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped. The rain from heaven
was restrained. God sends all these things, His
wrath upon this earth. The world doesn't see it. The
world perishes by these judgments of God. Nobody in the ark did
it. Nobody in the ark perished because
of those things. They were centers just like everybody
outside the ark, weren't we? Including Noah. In that sense,
he's not crying. But Noah, just shortly after,
we're going to see that he's a center. But those waters, that
judgment of God didn't come nigh then, did it? And God's wrath
is assuaging. Verse 3, And the waters returned
from off the earth, and tenderly at the end of a hundred and fifty
days the waters were abated. And the ark rested in the seventh
month, the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains
of Ararat. There's going to be an end of
all this strife. There's going to be an end of all this sin.
There's going to be an end of temptation and trial and that
right soon. Verse 4 says, The ark rested.
We're going to rest forever in Christ someday on the mountain. And it says in verse 5, the waters
decreased continually until the tenth month. The tenth month,
on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were
saying. I see the tops of the mountains. I see the tops of
the mountains. Don't you? Like Stephen of old. Look, Stephen said. I see the
Son of Man standing at the right hand of God, and so do we by
faith. It's almost over. Oh, may we
be found in Christ, because God remembers Christ and his covenant
with Christ, and he will remember mercy for all those that are
in Christ.