Good morning. Open your Bibles
with me to Psalm 4. While you're turning, some of
you probably already got a seat blamed, but I'm sure happy to
see you here with us this morning, along with several others. Most of you probably heard Frank
has made it through his surgery okay. He's recovering. The nerve
pain, from what I understand, is gone, but now comes the recovery
part. So I pray the Lord will bless
him with a speedy recovery. Psalm chapter 4. Hear me when I call, O God of
my righteousness. Thou hast enlarged me when I
was in distress. Have mercy upon me and hear my
prayer. O ye sons of men, how long will
you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love vanity
and seek after leasing? But know that the Lord hath set
apart him that is godly for himself. The Lord will hear when I call
unto him. Stand in awe and sin not. Commune with your own heart upon
your bed and be still. offer the sacrifices of righteousness,
and put your trust in the Lord. There be many that say, who will
show us any good, Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance
upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my
heart, more than in the time their corn and their wine increased.
I will both lay me down in peace and sleep. For thou, Lord, only,
makest me dwell in safety. Let's go to our Lord in prayer. Our God and Father in heaven,
thank you for this day. Lord, we thank you once again
for this opportunity to gather as a people. Lord, we pray you bless us with
your presence here this morning. Lord, set aside the thoughts
and cares of this world, Lord, those things that so easily catch
our mind and distract us, and let us see Christ. Lord, we pray you'd be pleased
to be among your people here this morning, that you would
bless the preaching and hearing of your word. Bless us, Lord,
we pray thee for Christ's sake. Lord, for those of our number
who are in a time of difficulty, in a time of trouble, Lord, we
pray that you would comfort, strengthen, encourage your people.
Lord, we pray for our pastor, Lord, that you bless his recovery.
Lord, if it be thy will that you would return him to us quickly
to once again stand and proclaim the truth of thy word. Lord,
we pray for our young ones, how we thank you for these many young
ones you've blessed us with. Lord, we pray that you would
protect them, Lord, that you would hedge them about in this
world. Lord, how we pray that you'd
be merciful to them, that you'd save their souls. Lord, we thank You for, again,
Your many blessings, but above all, how we thank You for our
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, bless us to know Him. Again,
bless us this day with Your presence. Reveal more of the Lord Jesus
Christ to us through Thy Word. We ask these things in Christ's
name, amen. All right, for our special this
morning, Claire's sister Amber has come all the way up here
from Tennessee to sing a special. Lift up my eyes unto the hills
The winds come in my help My help cometh from the Lord Which
made heaven and earth He will not suffer thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord
is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee
by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee
from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going
out and thy coming in from this time forth. Thank you. I should say, I think she'd come
up here to sing, but I'm pretty sure she came to visit as well.
Open your Bibles to Hebrews 11 verse 7. Hebrews 11 verse 7. Here we read, by faith, being warned of God of things
not yet seen, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving
of his house, by which he condemned the world and became the heir
of the righteousness which is of my faith." Now, here we read
of Noah's faith, but the scriptures begin with grace. Grace. Turn back to Genesis chapter
6. We begin with God's grace by
which Noah believed. Genesis chapter 6 beginning with
verse 5. 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. And it repented the Lord that
he had made man on earth and it grieved him at his heart.
And the Lord said, I'll 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." But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Just thinking about this is kind
of what drew me to this verse. Even in all this wickedness,
Back there in Noah's time, even in all the wickedness that surrounded
him, we read the thoughts and the imagination, man was only
evil continually. But despite that wickedness,
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God has always had a remnant. God has always had a people reserved
for Himself, even in what we would consider the worst of times. In Romans 11, verse 5, we read,
Even so then, at this present time, there's a remnant, a remnant
according to the election of grace. Almighty God has a people
Isn't that in itself comforting? You know, you think again of
all the wickedness that goes on in our world that we see. Yet in all that, in all that's
going on in our world, God still has a people. God's still saving
His people. And though that number may be
small, God has a people. Despite the wickedness of our
generation, Almighty God has a people just as He did in Noah's
day. A people of His choosing. A people that He's promised to
save for Himself. A people that He will deliver. A people that He will reveal
His truth to in His time. A people out of every nation,
kindred, tribe, and tongue. people for Himself. And I want
us to see here three things this morning. Three things I believe
God revealed to Noah. Three things that I pray that
He will reveal to us. And the first is this. There's
a flood coming. Isn't that one of the first things
He revealed to us? There's going to be a flood. Judgment is coming. Judgment's coming to this world.
God said, I'm going to destroy the earth and everything in it,
every living thing in it. And don't you know that Noah,
Noah must have told the people that. While he built that ark, the
old writers say it probably took at least a hundred years for
him to build that ark. I don't know how they know that,
but that seems reasonable to me. That's a pretty big, that's
a pretty big structure. A hundred years. And in that
time, while they were building that ark, I'm just confident
of this. Men would stop by and say, no,
what are you doing? Down here on 13th Street, there
was a, by the coffee place there, they've had a fence around that
and they've been building it for quite a while. Every time
we'd drive by, I'd just about run into somebody because I'd
look over to see what's going on over there. And finally they
hung a sign up, said they're building a desk up. Naturally,
we want to know what's going on, don't we? And I don't doubt
for a minute people ask, Noah, what are you doing? And Noah,
the Scriptures tell us, Noah was a preacher of righteousness. Noah was a man who told the truth. I don't believe for a minute
he held back the truth of what the Lord had revealed to him.
In 2 Peter 2 verse 5, God spared not the old world, but saved
Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in
a flood upon the world of the ungodly. Preacher of righteousness. Noah preached that which was
just and right. He told the truth. He declared
the truth. And he said, listen, God's going
to judge the world. God's going to judge the ungodly,
those who are openly wicked, and those who hide behind a cloak
of religion. God is going to judge this world.
Judgment is coming. We declare the same thing. Judgment
is coming. Our Lord in Matthew 12, He said,
I say unto you, every idle word that men shall speak, they'll
give an account thereof, in the day of judgment. Acts 17 31. We read he hath appointed
a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by
that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he's given assurance
to all men and that he raised him from the dead. God is going
to judge this world. And listen, it's going to be
a righteous judge. Not the way we judge, we judgment. How many times have we judged
folks and just been completely, completely off base? Either deceived by their outward
appearance or maybe we made a judgment and we were just completely wrong
about it. That's not how God judges. God judges righteously. Noah proclaimed judgment is coming
and apparently, Not many listened. Not many listened in our day,
it wouldn't seem. Beyond Noah and his family, no
one believed what he was saying. We read eight souls were saved. God told Noah, he said, I'm going
to, I'm going to destroy the earth and I'm going to destroy
everything in it. Turn over to second Thessalonians
with me. 2 Thessalonians 1 verse 7. Paul writing to the Thessalonians,
look at verse 7. He said, to you that are troubled, rest with us. When the Lord Jesus
Christ shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels
in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and do not obey the gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you see that? Judgment. Judgment is coming to this earth.
Second, God is going to punish sin. Almighty God is going to
punish sin turn back to Genesis 6 Look at verse 17 Here we read and behold I Even
I 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. The Lord says here, He said,
I'm going to make a flood of waters. I'm going to destroy all flesh. Everything that's in this earth
is going to die. Men ask, men ask, is that fair? Is that fair? Can Almighty God,
can He really do that? Job said this over in Job 12,
he said, speaking of God, he said, in whose hands? Whose hands
is the soul of every living thing and the bread of all mankind? We're in His hands. We're all
in His hands. Hath not the potter power over
the clay to take that one lump of clay and make one vessel a
vessel of honor and another of dishonor. Maybe men ask this
question to Noah. We hear it in our day. Is God
really, is He really going to punish sin? Will He really punish
sin? You know, the God that most men
preach, I could see why they would ask that question. Because
most men are saying this, God loves everybody. Look, you see
it on the bumper stickers, smile. God loves you. Why would men
not doubt that phrase? But my friends, the God of the
Bible, He's going to punish sin. The Scriptures declare this,
the wages of sin is death. Give to God's eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord. In James 1 verse 15, when lust
hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin Tom Hardy, S-I-N,
sin. When it's finished, bring it
forth dead. Is God going to punish sin? Look
to the cross. Look to the cross to see that
answer. The Lord Jesus Christ, He had no sin. He did no sin. He was perfect before the law
of God, but when He was made to be sin, When He bore our sin
in His body on the tree, when He was made a curse for us, what
happened? God slew Him. God killed His
Son. He that spared not His own Son. The penalty of God's broken law
demands death, even when it's found on His only begotten Son. Salvation and deliverance from
the penalty of sin demands death. That's why Christ must die. He must die as our surety, as
our sin offering, as our substitute. Let me ask you, do you believe
that? Do you believe God's going to punish sin? There are those who don't. No doubt Noah was mocked in his
day by those that passed by. There he is building that ark,
450 feet long, 75 feet wide, 45 feet tall. Ridiculed, no doubt
in my mind he was ridiculed and mocked. But Noah, despite that
he was a preacher of righteousness, he continued to declare the truth. He declared what God had revealed
to him. That message, that declaration,
judgment is coming. My friends, judgment is coming,
and God is going to punish sin. And then third, oh, we can't
lose sight of this. There's one place of safety,
one refuge, and that was the ark. Noah preached to his generation. Turn to 1 Peter 3. 1 Peter 3, look beginning with
verse 18. For Christ, verse 18, for Christ
also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that
he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, quickened
by the Spirit, by which also he went and preached in the spirits
of prison, which sometimes were disobedient When once the long-suffering
God waited in the days of Noah while the ark was preparing,
that time that passed there, God waited, wherein few, just a few, all
but some, right, eight, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even
baptism doth also now save us, not to put in away the filth
of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Baptism, it's a picture,
it's a picture of Christ, His death, His burial, His resurrection. When a believer is baptized,
they're saying, this is what I believe, this is who, this
is who I believe, this is who I'm resting in. The Lord Jesus
Christ who has gone into heaven is on the right hand of God,
angels and authorities and powers being made subject to Him. Noah preached to his generation. But men, just as they do in our
day, refused to hear. They refused to believe. They
refused to repent. They refused to enter into that
ark. Same thing they do in our day.
Over in Acts 3, every soul that will not hear that prophet shall
be destroyed from among the people. By nature, we will not believe. Our Lord, speaking to the Jews,
He said, you believe not because you're not my sheep. You're not
mine. Men will not repent. They will
not come to Christ. Our Lord, speaking in John chapter
5, He said, you will not come to me that you might have life. Oh, but Noah, Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. Noah believed God. And when that
ark was complete, before that first drop of rain fell, he willingly
entered into that ark. He heard God. He believed God. He obeyed God. Look at Genesis
chapter 7. Look at verse 1. The Lord said unto Noah, Genesis
7, verse 1. 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. And then look at verse 5. Noah
did according unto all that the Lord commanded him. Noah was
obedient. Noah obeyed God. And then if
you look over at verse 16, they went in. They went in, male and
female of all flesh, as God had commanded him, and the Lord shut
him in. He placed Noah and his family
in that ark, and he kept him in that ark. He shut him in. Noah did according to all that
the Lord commanded him. Listen, God has an everlasting
covenant of mercy. A covenant He made in Christ,
declaring the salvation of His elect. A number, though it seems
small to us at times, a number which no man can number. The
Lord Jesus Christ calls them His sheep. And rightfully so,
because we're His, aren't we? We must be His. A people given
Him by the Father, redeemed by Him, called by the Spirit of
God to Him. And the Lord says of this then,
this is what He says of His sheep, all that the Father giveth Me
shall come to Me. There's no doubt Noah's going
to enter into that ark. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Noah and his family were brought into that ark in
Him. Listen, He says, all that the
Father giveth Me shall come to Me. and him that cometh to me,
I will in no wise cast out." Isn't that what we see in Noah
and his family? They heard, they believed, they
came, they entered into that ark, that one place of safety,
that only refuge. By faith, they ended up. Can that picture anything but
the Lord Jesus Christ? Charles Wesley wrote this, have
I none, hangs my helpless soul on thee." We rest in Christ and
Christ alone. Listen, we rest in Him. We believe Him. We're held by
Him, by His love, in His love. We read this, nothing can separate
us from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ our Lord. Boy, there's a lot of things
that catch our mind and discourage us. But listen to this list here.
He says, not tribulation. Tribulation is not going to separate
us from the love of God. Not distress. Not persecution. Not famine. Not nakedness. Not peril. Not sword. None of
these things. Paul said, I'm persuaded. that
neither death, not even death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor things present, nor things to come, nothing, nothing shall
separate us from the love of Christ. Not height, not depth,
not any other creature. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Just like
Noah, in that ark. When God shut him in, he's safe
and secure. You know, I wonder when that
rain beat on that ark, no doubt, just like us, had some
fears and some doubts. But my friend, he's safe and
secure. He and his family are safe and
secure in that ark. God shut him in. God kept him
in. And listen, Just like Noah was
in that ark, we, his people, are in Christ. We're in Him. Listen to what the scriptures
say. This encouraged me. Listen, we have faith. Where
do we have faith? In Christ. There's no condemnation. Where? In Christ. We have life
in Christ. We're sanctified in Christ. We're made wise in Christ. We rejoice. What do we rejoice? We rejoice in Christ. We triumph
in Christ. We're made a new creation. We're
made new creatures. Where? In the Lord Jesus Christ. We have liberty. Where's that
liberty found? In Christ. We're one. We're one
in Christ. I was thinking about this. I've
got some brothers and there's things that we disagree on. But
nothing changes this, the fact that end of the day we're still
brothers. We're one. We're one. God's people
are one in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we will be, listen, presented
perfect in Christ, in Him. Paul said
this, he said, Salvation's in Christ. That I may win Christ
and be found where? In Him. Not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ. The righteousness which is of
God by faith. Why would we want to be found
anywhere else? How could there be refuge anywhere
else other than in the Lord Jesus Christ? And in Noah's day, he warned those people. He preached
to those people. He commanded them to repent and
believe. Men would not. Would not enter
into that heart. Turn to John chapter 10. Let's begin with verse 24 of
John chapter 10. Then came the Jews round about
him. They said unto him, How long do you make us to doubt?
If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered him. He said, I told you and you believe
not. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness
of me. But you believe not. Just as they did in Noah's day.
Just as they do in our day. Men, believe not. He said, because
you're not my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep,
hear my voice. I know them, they follow me.
I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish.
Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. The Father which
gave them me is greater than all. No man's able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. We're one in Christ. just as
God and the Son are one. One in Him. And this flood, this
ark, it's not a made-up children's story, is it? But listen, it's
a story for His children. It tells us the only way of deliverance
is the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way of deliverance from
the judgment of God against sin is in Christ. It's a picture. It's a picture of Christ. John
3.35, The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into
his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.
But he that believeth not the Son, he shall not see life. But the wrath of God abideth
on him. Only one way of deliverance. You know, the whole world and
everything in it drowned. Only those who were in the ark
were safe and secure. That water stood above the highest
mountain. Turn back to Genesis one more
time, Genesis chapter 7. Beginning with verse 17. 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 Lord Jesus Christ was lifted
up and the waters prevailed and were increased greatly upon the
earth and the ark went upon the face of the waters and the waters
prevailed exceedingly upon the earth. 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 that moved upon the earth, both of fowl and cattle, the beast of every creeping thing
that creepeth upon the earth, and every man. No house, no tree, no building,
not even the highest mountain. There was no place to flee. There
was no refuge but one. And that was the ark, the only
refuge. And listen, your idols can't
save you. Our ceremonies, man's ceremonies
cannot save him. Men talk about their denomination.
That can't save. Religious service cannot save. Only one thing can save you. There's only one refuge. Rock
of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Any refuge apart from the Lord
Jesus Christ is a false refuge. It's no refuge of all. The Lord
Jesus Christ is Thee only Savior. In John 14, 6, He said this,
He said, I'm the way, the truth and the life and no man cometh
to the Father but by me." Peter in Acts 4, speaking of Christ,
he said, neither is there salvation in any other. There's no other
name given among men whereby we must be saved. Turn with me
to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53. Look at verse 4. Our refuge. Look at verse 4. Surely He hath
borne our griefs, carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem Him
stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But He was wounded
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we're healed. All we, like sheep,
have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Look down at verse 10. Yet it
pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he'll see his seed,
he'll prolong his days. The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. He'll see the travail of his
soul. Almighty God shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. For the sins of his people. Therefore
I'll divide with him a portion with the grave. He'll divide
spoil with the strong because He hath poured out His soul unto
death. He was numbered with the transgressors. He bared the sin
of many. And He made intercession to the
transgressors. He made intercession to His people
as our Redeemer. That's the message of the Scriptures.
Christ, our Redeemer, the only Redeemer, the sufficient Redeemer. Turn with me to just a couple
more scriptures here. First over in 1 John 5. 1 John 5. Look at verse 10. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath
made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave
of his Son. This is the record that God hath
given unto us eternal life. This life, it's in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not. These things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you might
know that you have eternal life. You may believe on the name of
the Son of God. One way, one way of deliverance. That ark was big enough, big
enough for all who came. It was a safe refuge to survive
the flood. Just one way. Just one door into
that ark. And listen, that ark brought
all on board safely, safely through the flood. Didn't lose one. Turn with me to John chapter
six. Beginning with verse 37. All that the Father given me
shall come to me. Him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. I came down from heaven not to
do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. This is
the Father's will which has sent me that of all which He hath
given me. I'll lose nothing, but raise
it up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on
Him may have everlasting life, and I'll raise Him up at the
last day." And the Jews, when they heard this, they murmured,
because He said, I'm the bread of life which came down from
heaven. They said, is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose
father and mother we know? How is it that He said, I came
down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and
said unto them, murmur not amongst yourselves, no man can come unto
me except the Father which hath sent me draw him, and I'll raise
him up at the last day. It's written in the prophets,
they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that heard
and hath learned of the Father come unto me. He'll not lose. He'll not lose war. Well, judgment
is coming. Sin is gonna be punished. Third, one refuge, one place
of deliverance, one place of safety, and that's in Christ,
in Christ alone. Amen. God be pleased and bless
his word. You're dismissed.