A Message By Tom Harding

Q: What does the Bible say about how God saves sinners?

The Bible teaches that God saves sinners by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The process of how God saves sinners is foundational to the Christian faith and is beautifully illustrated in the story of Noah. Genesis 6 reveals that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, highlighting the sovereign grace of God which selects individuals for salvation despite their sinful nature. Salvation is not based on human merit; rather, it is a gift from God. Just as Noah and his family did not earn their place in the ark, individuals today cannot earn their salvation. It is through God's action that humankind can find refuge in Christ, the ultimate ark of safety against God's wrath.

Q: How do we know grace is necessary for salvation?

Grace is necessary for salvation as none can merit God's favor or escape sin's consequences without it. The necessity of grace for salvation is explicit throughout Scripture. It asserts that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and that the only means of overcoming our sinful condition is through divine grace. Grace alone justifies and saves, as Paul eloquently states, 'For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God' (Ephesians 2:8-9). Noah's experience shows that grace is not something that can be earned or deserved; it is given freely by God's initiative. Therefore, understanding and accepting grace is essential for anyone seeking salvation.

Q: Why is the ark important in the story of Noah?

The ark represents Christ as the only refuge and means of salvation for Noah and his family. In the story of Noah, the ark serves as a profound type of Christ, demonstrating that salvation is found exclusively in Him. God provided Noah with specific instructions for the ark's construction, which symbolizes Christ's unique role as humanity's Savior. Just as Noah had to enter the ark to be saved from the flood, sinners must also enter into fellowship with Christ to be rescued from God's impending judgment. The ark had one door, representing the singular path to salvation, which Christ confirmed when He stated, 'I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved' (John 10:9). Thus, the ark embodies the promise that God saves a specific group of people—those He calls to Himself.

Q: How does the covenant relate to salvation?

The covenant signifies God's sovereign promise to save His people through Christ. The covenant, as portrayed in the narrative of Noah, underscores the essential role of divine promise in salvation. In Genesis 6:18, God established a covenant with Noah, assuring him that his family would be saved. This reflects the greater covenant of grace seen throughout Scripture—in which God chooses and redeems a people for Himself. The New Testament reveals that this covenant is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, who mediates the relationship between God and His people. Through His blood, believers are assured of their eternal security and are brought into a covenant relationship with God through faith. This illustrates that it is by God's purpose and design that individuals are saved, affirming the biblical doctrine of election and divine sovereignty.

Q: What can we learn from Noah's faith in God?

Noah's faith exemplifies the response required for salvation: obedience to God's command. Noah's faith teaches us an essential lesson about obedience in our relationship with God. Despite a world steeped in wickedness, Noah acted upon God's command to build the ark, demonstrating profound faith in God’s promise of salvation. His actions were driven by his unwavering belief in God's word and nature. As he entered the ark, he exemplified the response of every believer: coming to Christ in faith and trust. This obedience is not a means to earn salvation, but rather the evidence of true faith. Furthermore, it illustrates how faith is often accompanied by action, showing that genuine belief manifests itself in our responses to God's commands and directives.

Good morning, everyone. It's
good to be back with you again. I want you to turn your Bible
to Genesis chapter 6. Genesis chapter 6. We're looking
at a portion of scripture from Genesis chapter 6 and chapter
7. Now, right away when you turn
over there, you who are familiar with the scripture, You know
the story here, don't you? You've probably heard several
messages in Bible studies from these two chapters about Noah
and the flood, Noah and the ark. But I see in reading these two
chapters, we see a very, very particular picture. of how God
saves sinners. I'm interested in that, aren't
you? I'm interested in how God Almighty can be a just God and
Savior. I'm interested in how God saves
sinners because I'm a sinner. Thy nature born in sin, shaping
in iniquity. You've got the same problem I've
got. Born in sin, and we need a Savior. We need an ark. We
need a Redeemer. We need a refuge. Who is the
Lord Jesus Christ? Now, the Old Testament is a glorious
book, just as all Scripture is given of God. And the Old Testament
tells us and shows us who Christ is all through here. We see the
Lord Jesus Christ in picture, type, and promise. The Old Testament
says someone's coming, someone's coming, and that one who is coming
is the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we see the
Lord Jesus throughout the Old Testament in type and picture
in three different ways, three different types. The first thing
we have, we see him in instituted types, instituted types. Now, can you think of some instituted
types? of Christ in the Old Testament,
instituted types. How about the day of Passover?
That was instituted of God, and it's a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Instituted types. The day of
Passover, or the Passover, or the Day of Atonement, that was
instituted by God. How that high priest, Brother
Henry, went in into the Holy of Holies. sprinkled that blood
on the mercy seat. That was instituted of God, and
that's a type and picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, who didn't
enter into the holy place made with hands, but into heaven itself,
to appear in the presence of God for us. So we see him throughout
the Scripture in instituted types, Passover, Day of Atonement. We
also see the Lord Jesus Christ pictured throughout the Old Testament
in what we call personal types. Can you think some of these?
Moses, the prophet of God. Moses was a picture of Christ,
a personal type of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is that prophet. Remember
Deuteronomy 18? How about Aaron, the Lord Jesus? Aaron is a picture and type of
Christ who is our priest. The priest intercedes for us
before God. So Moses is a type of Christ,
Aaron is a type of Christ, and David, you get all of them, prophet,
priest, and David was God's king. God's king in a very good picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we see you have instituted
types. It's time to teach you something here this morning.
Instituted types, personal types, and then thirdly, what's the
third type? The third type is this, providential types. Providential types. Can you think
some of the providential types of crime, how he's pictured in
the Old Testament. How about the rock that was smitten
in the water came out the exodus of Israel out of Egypt that they
were providentially brought out by a mighty deliver and all that's
a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ that brazen serpent lifted up
the bread from heaven. All these things are providential
types of the Lord Jesus Christ. So if you got those three instituted
types, personal types, and providential types. Now, in this story here,
in Genesis 6 and 7, under which category does that fall? Under which type does that fall? Well, it's a providential type
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That ark was designed and purposed
of God for refuge. And in this story of Genesis
6 and 7, this providential time, now the flood happened. It's
not fiction, it's fact. How do I know that? Do I need
a scientist off somewhere and studying the rocks and the bugs
in the mountains to scientifically prove? No, God said it happened. That's sufficient, isn't it?
God said, let it rain. God told Noah to build an ark. We know it so because God said
it. God said it. Now, in this story,
we see several things illustrated, several truths illustrated. We're
going to look at five things in the pattern, in the picture
of how God saves sinners in just a moment. In this story we see,
what do we see? We see several things revealed,
don't we? We see the wrath of God, the wrath of God against
sin. You've got Genesis chapter 6,
down at verse 5. Now look what it says, And God
saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Now, the first thing we see right
here, the judgment and wrath of God came upon sin. God saw. Now, men may look, like
you read in Psalm 36, men may flatter themselves and say, well,
I thank God, like the Pharisee, I'm not like you. I'm just a
little bit better. But here's the problem. God saw,
and God looks on our heart, and God says that all have sin that
comes short of the glory of God. And to flatter ourselves and
to say that we don't fall under this category is wicked in every
imagination. Now, you get a hold of that.
Look what that says there. Every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only Just not once in a while. Continually. Now, that's what God says of
all men everywhere, and to deny this problem. We have a problem. What was it on that Apollo mission
when they read your back and said, Houston, we have a problem? Now, they did. They had a problem,
didn't they? My friend, we have a much more grave problem. We've
sinned against God. All this, all of it, the young
ones, old ones, is that, is there anyone excluded from that? Now,
unless you descended from a monkey, maybe you don't have the problem,
but I descended from Adam, and in Adam, what happened? Adam
all died, and Adam all sinned. Now, that's the stark reality
of all men, and we see that illustrated here. And what Judgment came. You read chapter 6 and chapter
7. We'll just look at a few verses here in a little while. But you
read through these two chapters, and you see over and over again,
God said, Judgment. Judgment. The waters came. The
flood came. Judgment came. My friend, God
is too holy to look upon sin with favor, even at Calvary.
Calvary and the Lord Jesus Christ crucified is a display of God's
love, isn't it? Now, don't doubt about that.
God so loved that he gave his only begotten son. It's a display
of God's love. But what else does it display?
It displays our sin problem. Our sin was laid upon the substitute,
and when God found sin on his son, and he's guilty by imputation,
when God found sin on his son, what happened? Wrath! He cried out, My God, my God,
why is that the secret? Wrath fell upon him. to substitute
Y. S-I-N. And that's what we see
right here in this story. God's judgment against the wages
of sin is death. Did Noah and his family, did
they deserve any better than the rest of that nation and world
that perished in the water? Did Noah and Ham and Shem and
Japheth, did they deserve any better? Did they merit that ark? Did they deserve to be in the
ark? Well, they sure didn't. Does Noah fall under this category,
that every imagination and thought of his heart was only evil continually? Does that include Noah? It sure
does. It sure does. That's why God
provided the means to save him, the ark. And that ark here is
a very very plain picture of our secure, safe refuge, who
is a person. Salvation in that day, in that
time, in that picture, salvation was in that ark. He didn't say, go and survey
the ark, see who else is in the ark. We're going to see them,
and he said, come into the ark. Salvation was in that ark. And my friend, if you don't hear
anything You hear this, salvation's in Christ, in the Lord Jesus
Christ, who did not fail, who honored God in every aspect of
God's salvation all the way through, all the way through. Now, here's
five things, and I'd encourage you to write these down if you're
a notetaker, but I think it'll help you because it's so plain. It's so plain how God saves sinners,
and this is something that we all need to know, because I have
a sin problem. I'm no different than all Noah's
neighbors. Sinful, laden with iniquity. Isaiah said, from the crown of
my head to the tip of my toe, S-I-N. Can you identify with that? Do
you know anything about that? He said, if we say we have no
sin, we're liars. We don't know God. Matter of
fact, we call God a liar because he said we've sinned against
him. We've sinned against him. Now, here's the first point,
how God saves sinners and starts with the grace of God. Where
else could we start? Look at verse eight, Genesis
six, verse eight, but, but. That's a word of grace right
there, B-U-T. But God, who is rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were
dead in sin, hath quickened us together by grace. Are you saved? What does it say? That Noah earned
grace. Noah deserved grace. Well, that's
not what it says there, is it? Noah found grace. That is, he
didn't merit it. God gave him grace. Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. God's grace made Noah to differ. There is a remnant according
to the election of grace. Salvation is all of grace. It's
the grace of God alone. Noah had the same fallen nature,
the same guilt before God, or he would not have needed grace,
would he? Now, it says, and notice the
verse 9. I put this outline in the paper
here at Pikeville when I preached this message, and someone wrote
back to me and said, look at verse 9. He said, these are the
generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect. Perfect. Now, don't forget how
he was perfected. Look what it says in verse 8.
Noah found grace. He wasn't perfected in his own
nature by his own deeds. He wasn't perfected because of
all the work he did. He had to be perfected, being
justified by the grace of God, freely justified by the grace
of God. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Now, Noah didn't earn it or merit
grace at all. You know, this is the first time
the word grace is used in Scripture. Remember the law of first mention?
I know you pastors talked about that, the law of first mention.
When you find out how a word is first used in Scripture, it's
that way generally all the way through Scripture. So that means
that in the beginning here that God saved Noah by grace, and
the last man that will ever be redeemed, the last sheep, the
last elect when he's called, it won't be any other way than
by the same way that God saved Noah and his family. The grace
of God. Well, shut up to the grace of
God. the free, favor and sovereign, powerful, effectual, redeeming,
eternal, sustaining grace of God. Nothing more, nothing less. No found grace in the eyes of
the Lord. You're the only reason for grace.
Can you think of a reason for God to be gracious? The only reason for grace is
grace. You know that? That's what it
says over here in John chapter 1. Turn over there. John chapter
1. The only reason for grace is
grace. The law was given by Moses. Grace
and truth came by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look at verse 16.
John 1. And of his fulness have all we
received grace for, grace because of grace. You see that? Grace
for grace. The only reason for grace is
the grace of God. Remember what Paul said to the
Corinthians? By the grace of God, I am what
I am. Who made you to differ? Who made
Noah to differ in that day? Why did Noah and his family perish
with the rest of the world? The grace of God made the difference.
What do you have that you didn't receive? How did you receive
it? By grace are you saved through
faith. That is the gift of God, not
of works, lest any man should boast. It is God who saved us
and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose. God marries his purpose and his
grace together. His purpose and his grace, they
go together. They work hand in hand. God's
eternal purpose and his sovereign grace. So in this picture of
how God saves sinners, the first thing is this, the grace of God. OK, let's move on. Secondly,
we see this. Down in verse 14, we see the
ark of God. Now, God uses means, means to
accomplish his eternal purpose. When you start talking to people
about God's eternal decree and God's predestinating grace, People
have a tendency to forget that, and unbelievers would charge
us, well, if God's predetermined everything, if God's decreed
everything, then why do we preach the gospel? Why do we send missionaries
all over? Why did Christ die? God predestinated
all things, and that cannot be changed. Never forget that God
has also predestinated the means to accomplish his righteous end. And God had to have an ark. Would
Noah have been saved in this day without the ark? No. His
grace provided the ark. You see there? God uses means. God calls out his people with
the preaching of the gospel. These are the means that God
has ordained. The Lord Jesus Christ had to
die as our substitute to put away sin. Although he was a lamb
slain in God's eternal purpose and counsel, yet in the fullness
of time, what happened? God sent forth his Son, made
of a woman, made under the law, to redeem us who were under the
law, who were cursed by the law. You see, God uses means, and
in this picture here, we see the Ark here as the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ, or as Christ himself, the Ark. Look what it says here. He gives
a very brief description of this magnificent vessel. He said,
Make thee an ark of gopher wood. Now we get right back to that
wood business again. It's special wood. It's special
wood. And I think this wood here is
a picture of Christ and his humanity. He was a man like unto us, but
not with any sin. Special wood, designated wood. He had no sin, knew no sin, and
did no sin. Making an ark of gold for wood,
rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and thou shalt pitch it
within and without pitch." Seal it up, seal it up. And this is
the fashion which thou shalt make of it. The length of the
ark shall be 300 cubits, that's 450 feet. The breadth thereof,
50 cubits, 75 feet, and the height thereof, 30 cubits, 45 feet. A window shalt thou make to the
ark, and in it a cubit shalt thou finish it above, and the
door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof, with lower,
second, third stories shalt thou make it." Now, very simple, straightforward
instruction. God provided the ark, the ark
of God. Now, this ark here is a picture
of Christ in several ways. We could take the whole time
and just work on this arc right here. I'm sure that Pastor Paul
has preached from this. But the arc here is a picture
of Christ in these few ways, these five ways. The only means
of salvation in that day was what? That arc. God told one
man to build one arc. He didn't tell all the men everywhere,
now you build a boat the way you think best, and you build
a boat over here the way you think is right, and you go this
way and do what you want. If you want to build it that
way, you just go ahead and build it that way. No, specific instruction
to one man to build one ark. Now here's the point, and I think
you know where I'm going, don't you? There's just one way of
salvation. Our Lord said, I am the way,
the truth, the life. No man. Any part of no you don't
understand? Huh? Well, I ask my boys all
the time. Any part of no that you don't
understand? No man comes unto the Father
but down through me. No man. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the only way of salvation. There's one ark. One ark. built by God's design, by God's
purpose, by God's decree. God gave Noah all the material,
provided it. God gave him the wisdom to build
it, the skill to build it. And I don't know, and correct
me if I'm wrong, and maybe your pastor can help me here, but
I don't read of another man that was hired. I don't even read
of his family that helped him construct this ark. Salvation
is of the Lord. He purposed it. He designed it.
He planned it. He's the architect. He's the
designer. He's the provider. Only that which God provides
will God accept. One ark. One boat. The only means
of salvation. And secondly, it was this. This
ark was sufficient to save all that God purposed. It was sufficient to save eight
souls. It was designed to save those
who God determined before the foundation of the world to save.
And the Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient and the effectual
Savior to save His people. None of His sheep will perish.
They can't. Thirdly, the Ark had one door.
One door. Now, you can come in this building
by several doors. You can get in here several ways. in Christ, and he said, I am
the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved. He's the door, the only door,
the only access, the only entrance into salvation is Christ. He's
the door. And something else about this
ark had one window, or one winder, however you prefer. One winder. They say winder up in Pike County,
where I'm from. but one window. Only revelation of light into
this ark was through this one window. What does that tell us? The only revelation of the glory
of God is seen in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said,
I'm the light. If you know anything about salvation,
you'll see it in him. It'll be revealed in him nowhere
else. Something else about this ark, this ark preserved all that
were within. It was pitched within and without. And my friend, the believer is
sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. None will perish for whom Christ
is our refuge. None. They can't. The glory of
God won't permit it. the redemptive blood of Christ
won't permit it. He said, of all that the Father
has given me, I lose nothing, but raise it up again at the
last day. Now, he got the first two, the
grace of God. OK, secondly, the ark of God,
the means God uses. OK, you've got that. Thirdly,
is this. Had to be a covenant. Chapter
six, verse 18, look over there. Chapter six, verse 18, but with
thee I know this, with thee, with thee will I establish my
covenant, and thou shalt come into the ark because of this
covenant, thou and thy sons and thy wife and thy sons' wives
with thee." Why did Noah enter into that ark? Why were his sons
saved? Because of a covenant, a covenant. The mercy and salvation Noah
experienced was because of this covenant. David on his deathbed,
remember he said, although it be not so with my house, God
hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things,
and it's sure. This is all my salvation and
all my hope, all my desire. Any mercy and grace any sinner
receives from God is because of the covenant of grace in Christ
Jesus that ordained a multitude of sinners to salvation. Paul
says, we are bound to give thanks to God for you, brethren, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you for salvation. That's covenant
mercy. That's the mercies of the covenant
God. Christ died for those people
that were given to him because of this covenant. You remember
the story of David and Jonathan? I love that story. How David,
before he was anointed by Israel as king, him and Jonathan were
out in the field that day, and they made a covenant. And Jonathan
said, David, if I die, promise me, swear to me, let's enter
into a covenant, into agreement, that if I die that you'll have
mercy on my family. I know you're God's And when
you're enthroned and anointed as God's king, promise me that
you'll have mercy because of this covenant by my family."
And you remember what happened. Jonathan and his daddy, King
Saul, were slain in battle. And on that day that the nurse
of a young boy, Jonathan's young son, Mephibosheth, took up that
boy and went to flee for the son's life, he fell and was lying
in And when David was enthroned in 2 Samuel chapter 9, we read
of it, when David was enthroned, he said, Is there any left of
the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's
sake? And there was. Old Mephibosheth,
he's not much. He's crippled. He's ruined, and
that's a picture of us. How is he ruined? He's ruined
in a fall, and that's how we're ruined. We're ruined in Adam.
Dead, crippled, can't walk. Mephibosheth couldn't walk to
see David. But what did David say? That's
him. Go get him. Bring him here to
me. On Mephibosheth fell on his face,
did reverence before the king. Said, I'm your dog. I'm a dead
dog. You see, in that day, the former king's house and family
was wiped out. But there was a thought in his
mind that, I'm coming to David's house and he's going to kill
me. That's why he said, I'm a dead dog. I'm as good as dead. And he said, you're going to
eat bread at my table all the days of your life. Covenant mercies. My friend, God saves his people
because of a covenant made with the Lord Jesus Christ in eternity. And this covenant that David
had with Jonathan was purposed before it was ever given to Mephibosheth. And the covenant made and struck
within the Godhead was purposed before we ever experienced these
covenant mercies of God in Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the surety of the covenant. He's the guarantor of the covenant. He's the surety of an everlasting
and better covenant. established upon bare promises.
Christ is the surety of the covenant. He's the mediator of the covenant.
One God, one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ
Jesus. He's the sacrifice of the covenant,
isn't he? He's the sacrifice of that covenant,
that grace shepherd of the sheep, God brought him forth from the
dead, that grace shepherd of the sheep through the blood of
the everlasting covenant. And he's the Lord of the covenant,
too. He's Lord of the Covenant. God has given him power over
all flesh, and he should give eternal life to as many as the
Father has given him. He's Lord of the Covenant. He
lords over this testament, this covenant, to save his people. OK, you've got the first three,
the grace of God, the ark of God. Had to be a covenant. God
made a covenant with Noah. What comes next? Chapter 7, verse
1. You see that? And the Lord said
unto Noah, oh, it's a particular call, isn't it? It wasn't the
all men everywhere, although there is a general call when
the gospel is preached, but the general call is never a saving
call. It is the irresistible particular call of the gospel
that he said, my sheep, hear my voice, I know them, and they
follow me. And the Lord said unto Noah,
Come back. You come to me. You see, God
was in that ark. You come, Noah, come thou. You
see, we, by faith, come to the Lord Jesus Christ. By the call
of God, Noah, come thou into the ark. I have seen, watch this,
for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
How does he seem righteous? By the grace of God, in Christ
Jesus, perfected by the Lord, our righteousness. You see, Noah
and his family must come into the ark. Now, notice over in
chapter 7, verse 7, when God said, Noah, come thou into the
ark, in verse 7, and Noah went in. Noah went in. Did he have any choice in the
matter? God, when he speaks, he speaks
as king. David didn't ask Nephitisheth
if he would like to come. He said, go get him, fetch him,
bring him, he's mine. And God calls us with an irresistible
call. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of God's power. And Noah went in. Noah went in,
verse 13, in the south's same day. and heard Noah, Shem, Ham,
Japheth, Noah's wife, and the wives of the three boys. I had
to come here. Why? Why did they come? God provided
the grace of God, the ark of God, the covenant of God, and
the call. He said, Come. Come. Come. God is not trying to save
all men everywhere. That's not in this story, is
it here? I was talking to someone recently, and they were talking
about this message in this story to someone, and they said, well,
Noah was going around all over trying to get people to come
in the ark. I don't read that anywhere here.
I went back and double-checked it several times, and see if
you can find it. No, it wasn't around. Won't you
please come with me?" No, he built the ark. God gave the command,
and his people came in. His people came in. You see,
God's not trying to save all men everywhere. God is calling
out his sheep and revealing to them that salvation is in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this personal call, this
call was a call from God. It was powerful. It's a powerful
call. It was a personal call. He said,
Noah and your family, you come. You come. Remember what he said
to Lazarus? Dead and smelling, dead and stinking. Lazarus, come out. Remember what
he said to Zacchaeus? Come down. He's personal. Personal. He knows his sheep by name. He
calls them by name. Zacchaeus, Matthew, follow me. Did he? Sure did. Zacchaeus come
down? Sure did. Lazarus come out? He
sure did. Must work, huh? Must work. I tell you, the call of the gospel
is irresistible. You can buck that and fight that
all you want. I hope you don't, but I know
preachers who hate the gospel do. False preachers who hate
the gospel do. But thank God for the irresistible
call of God. Noah, do you happen to know,
was happy to go in that ark? Oh, man. Boy, he entered that
ark willingly. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. How does God make His people
willing? I'll tell you how. If you read
the rest of that verse in Psalm 110, verse 3, He says, in the
beauty of holiness from the womb of the morning. I tell you how
God irresistibly draws his people to himself. He shows himself
as altogether lovely. And you say in your heart, with
a new heart given by God's grace, I must have him. I must. I must have him at all expense.
I must have him at all cost. Whatever it cost me, I must give
him that ark. It's lovely. Come thou into the ark. He didn't
tell Noah to survey the ark, inspect the ark. He didn't say,
Noah, go and see who else is in there. There's some of your
friends in there. Then you come on in, too. He said, Noah, come
in the ark. Go thou. He didn't say, go thou. He said,
come thou into the ark. God was in that ark. Here's the last point, five things. You got the first four, right?
Isn't it just so plain and simple? I mean, it's just, this is the
way it is. This is the way it is. Now, the
last thing is this. The preservation of God. Did
the boat hold water? Did the boat float? Was Noah and his family secure
and safe? Well, let's read here. Verse
15 of Genesis 7, And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two
and two, all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. And they
that went in, went in male and female, all flesh, as God had
commanded, as God commanded him, and the Lord shut him in. God shut him in. Now look down
at verse 23, Genesis 7, and every living substance was destroyed
that wasn't in the ark, which was upon the face of the ground,
both man and cattle and creeping thing and the fowl of heaven.
And they were destroyed from the earth and Noah only remained
alive and they that were with him within the ark. Did it work? Did God's plan work? It sure did. God preserved Noah and his family. And you know what? Noah's safety
and Noah's security didn't depend upon Noah. Noah wasn't a seaman. There had
never been a sea. Noah had never been an experienced
captain of the ship. There had never been a captain.
Noah's safety and security didn't depend upon Noah's ability to
navigate the sea. He was a navigator. If anything,
he was a farmer. You see, it didn't depend upon
Noah. What did it depend upon? God, God's purpose, God's grace,
God's covenant, God's call. You see, it's the same way in
salvation. Salvation is dependent upon the Lord Jesus Christ. It
doesn't depend upon my ability. I don't have any. It doesn't
depend upon my skill. I don't have any. What does salvation
all hand and depend upon? Upon another, the substitute
who is sufficient. He has the ability to navigate. He has the ability, he's able
to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him. Is there
any department in which the Lord Jesus Christ is lacking? I don't
know of any deficiencies. He's the almighty God, able to
save, able to keep you from falling. We're kept by the power of God.
You reckon God's ark, the Lord Jesus Christ, will land us safe
on heaven's shore? Absolutely. There wasn't one
drip of water. There wasn't—and the water here
is a picture of the wrath of God—there wasn't one drop of
wrath inside that ark. God was in that ark. There is
now no condemnation to those who were in the ark, in the Lord
Jesus Christ. safe, safe, safe. Who can lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? Who is he that condemneth
his Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again? Who is even
at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us
now? I close with one question, and
guess what it is. Are you in that ark? I think about that. Are you standing
around the arc, surveying the arc? You're wondering, well,
is that arc real? Is Christ real? Is Christ crucified? Is that going to work? My friend,
enter in. Don't stand and look. Survey. Inspect. Believe him. Isn't that how Salvation is received
not by doing. Salvation is received by believing. I tell you what I do. If you
look within your heart and say, well, I'm not in that ark. I
tell you what I do right now. I'd ask God to give me faith.
F-A-I-T-H. F-A-I-T-H, faith, forsaking all,
I trust him. I trust him. Ask God to give
you faith to receive Christ, who is salvation. And I pray
the Lord will bless that word. Go back and read that story and
think of those five points again. and see if that's, you know,
all Scripture is given of God, and all Scripture is given for
our learning. I hope we've learned something
this morning. I think I have. I hope you have. I hope God has
taught us something. He's the teacher. He's the teacher.
He's the lesson, too. He's the lesson. Let's stand
together, and we'll be dismissed in prayer. our time together and time of
worship and study the word of God and pray the Lord will bless
you in the days to come. Come to Pike County sometime.
Pike County, Kentucky. Come and visit us sometime. You're
welcome. You're welcome. Let's sit back
and pray. Lord, we look to thee. We ask for your mercy, covenant
mercy. We thank you for this time together.
We pray that you will bless your word. Your word is the seed of
life. Of your own will, you have begotten
us with the word of truth. Bless your word to the hearts
of everyone here. Lord, we pray for our friends,
those who have come today to hear your gospel, that you would
bless it to their heart. We ask for those who are carrying
heavy burdens and trouble. that you would cause us to look
to thee and teach us that your grace is sufficient. In the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, we give thanks. Amen.

A Message By Tom Harding

What does the Bible say about how God saves sinners?

How do we know grace is necessary for salvation?

Why is the ark important in the story of Noah?

How does the covenant relate to salvation?

What can we learn from Noah's faith in God?

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A Message By Tom Harding

What does the Bible say about how God saves sinners?

How do we know grace is necessary for salvation?

Why is the ark important in the story of Noah?

How does the covenant relate to salvation?

What can we learn from Noah's faith in God?

Sermon Transcript

About Tom Harding

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