Okay, once again, we could open
our Bibles to Genesis 6. The title of the Sunday school
lesson this morning is Salvation in the Ark. And this is a very,
very familiar story. I'm sure everybody here has heard
it, and probably everyone you know has heard this story. And I have to confess that if
you're looking for something new, you're going to be disappointed
with this. But the Lord has told us to search
the scriptures, for in them we see Him. So let's look at this
scripture one more time and see if we can rejoice in our Lord
Jesus Christ. I wanted to answer five questions
this morning with this message about Noah's Ark. Number one,
why did God send the flood? Second question, what was different
about Noah? I'd then like to look at how
Noah is a picture of Christ, then how the Ark is a picture
of Christ, and finally, how can we be found in the Ark? So if
the Lord would bless this to our hearing. First step, why
did God send the flood? So if we open to Genesis 6 and
look at verses 5 and 7, we can get that answer right from scripture.
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 the earth, and it grieved him in his heart.
So here we see the answer. The reason the flood was sent,
the reason the world was destroyed, was the wickedness of man. Man
is wicked through and through, not just outwardly, but every
imagination of his heart is evil continually. Our best thoughts
are evil continually. And I want to be careful here
when we read this and we see that it grieved the Lord and
that it caused God to repent. Those words are words that don't
jive with our understanding of the God of this Bible. God knew
man would sin. God knows everything before it
ever happens. God chose a people in Christ
that he was going to save from before the foundation of the
earth. Ephesians 4 wants as according as he had chosen us and him before
the foundation of this world. So here we have another example
that we see throughout the Bible where God's mind is so much above
our minds that we get off track. This is just using words that
we understand to try to express the mind of God that we cannot
understand, that God was not surprised by the sin of Noah.
He's not surprised by our sin. He knew it, and he purposed to
save some people through Christ before the foundation of the
world. And I want to also look at, well, someone might ask,
why has the world gone on since Noah? that this world is no less
evil than in the time of Noah. Men are no less evil, but it
seems the Lord continues to let it spin in the universe. And the only reason for that
is that God is a covenant God. If you look in your Bible, that's
pretty early, the story of Noah in the ark. This is a very early
picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's pointing men very early
in our history towards Christ, showing us that there is hope,
that regardless of how sinful we are, how evil we are, there's
hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. That God is keeping this earth
moving for the sake of his elect. And the flood, it's a fact. It's a historical fact, but it's
so much more than that. It's a picture of what's going
to happen. This world is going to be destroyed
again. Now, God made a covenant that it won't be destroyed through
a flood. That's why we have rainbows. That's why when we went to bed
last night and it was pouring the rain and the wind was blowing,
nobody was worried that this was the end of the world. but
it is going to be destroyed, but it is also going to continue
for the sake of God's elect until then. When that last sheep is
called into the fold, we're going to be, this world, this old world
is going to go away. It's going to be populated, a
new world with people who are like Christ, perfectly sinless
in Him, righteous without sin. So, The next question I had was,
what was different about Noah? Well, once again, let's look
at Genesis and see the answer to that. Let's look at Genesis
chapter six, verse eight. It says, but Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. This is the very first time that
the word grace was used in the Bible. There was nothing different
about Noah. He was a sinner, just like all
the rest of the men on earth, in his mind and in his actions. But God showed grace to Noah. We've often heard the definition
of grace is giving someone something that they don't deserve. Well,
what did God give Noah that in his own self he did not deserve?
Let's look at the next verse. Chapter nine, and these are the
generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect
in his generation, and Noah walked with God. Through his grace,
God made Noah righteous. He gave him a righteousness that
he could never earn of his own. He was made righteous in the
Lord Jesus Christ. You know, the religion of the
world gets these two verses reversed, doesn't it? We think that people
are righteous, and then grace comes next, because that's us
looking inward. But it's very clear in the Bible
that God showed grace on Noah, and then God made him righteous,
and he made him righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ. Only in Christ can a man walk
with God. Christ, he did everything that
the Father gave him to do. And in Jesus Christ, we're righteous. And it says, if we go to Genesis
chapter seven, one, I want to just look real quickly. And the
Lord said unto Noah, come now in all thy house into the ark,
for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
God saw Noah as righteous, and God doesn't see things that aren't.
He sees things we can't see, but he doesn't see things that
aren't. This isn't God overlooking his sin. This isn't God saying,
I'm going to do this and pretend that you're righteous. God actually
made Noah righteous. God sees things as they are.
God saw Noah as righteous. And it also says he walked with
God. Let's not make any mistake about
this. If a man is born again in the Lord Jesus Christ, his
walk is gonna be different. Now, don't look to yourself and
think, oh, I'm such a sinner still. Don't worry about that. Your walk is going to be different.
You've got a different desire. You have a desire for the Lord
Jesus Christ. You have a desire to know God.
You have a desire to stop the sinning that you know you can't
stop. We're going to fall. We're going to turn away. We're going to chase some tasty
tuft of grass. The shepherd's going to pull
us back. He's not gonna let us go. And our walk, our bent, our
general direction in life is gonna be towards the Lord Jesus
Christ. Okay, so the third question I
had was, how does Noah picture Christ? And once again, I wanna
be careful here. When we look at men as a picture
of Christ, we have to remember that they're men. Noah is as
sinful as any man that ever lived. And we'll see, you know, if you
continue reading, you'll think, why did he do that? Well, sad,
right? So it's not a perfect picture
of Christ. However, in building the ark, Noah does picture the
work of Christ for salvation for his people. So let's look
at that. In Genesis 6, 13 through 16,
let's look at the building of the ark. 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. Make thee an ark of gopher wood.
Room shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within, and
without with pitch. And in this fashion, which thou
shalt make of it, the length of the ark shall be 300 cubits,
the breadth 50 cubits, the height of it 30 cubits. A window shalt thou make to the
ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above, and the door
of the ark shalt set in the side thereof with lower section, and
third story shalt thou make it. This work that Noah was given
to do is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in eternity
past was given a people to save. Noah in this picture is the God-man,
Jesus Christ. He's the only man that was ever
given a work to complete for spiritual salvation. So we can
see this is a very, very clear picture of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Work was given for salvation. And as the land slave before
the foundation of the world lived to work out the righteousness
required for and died to pay the debt for his people. So So Noah was given work as well. I wanna read just a few scriptures
that go along with that. Luke chapter two, verse 49. This
is Christ saying, and he said unto them, how is it that ye
sought me? Wist you not that I must be about
my father's business? He had work to do. Hebrews 10,
nine through 10. Then said he, lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified
to the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. So
that we see that in building the ark, Noah is a picture of
Christ. I wanna continue our reading
in verse 18 of chapter six. 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. Here we see a picture
of the covenant that God established with the Lord Jesus Christ in
eternity past. God establishes a covenant with
Noah that he and his family will be together in the ark and that
they will survive this flood, that they will continue to live.
Even so, God the Father made a covenant with the Son of God
in eternity past that all those who God gave him would be together
with him in glory. John 17, 24. I'm sure you all are familiar
with this. John 17 just seems to be one of my favorite passages
of scripture. But 1724, the Lord says, Father,
I will that they also now has given me be with me where I am.
that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me, for
thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. We see in the New
Testament, Christ praying for the fulfillment of this picture
we see in the Old Testament, to be with him in glory. Let's look next at verses 19
and 20. And of every living thing of
all flesh, Two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark,
to keep them alive with thee. They shall be male and female.
Of fowls after their kind, of cattle after their kind, of every
creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall
come unto thee to keep them alive. Here we see a great picture of
Christ drawing his people to him. We see first that God tells
Noah to bring them. Then in the next verse we see
that they shall come. This is an excellent picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ who draws his people to him, and
yet they're made willing in the day of his power. John 6.37 says,
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. They were given to
Christ, and Christ drew them to himself, but then they were
made willing. They came to him. We see that
again in Genesis 7, verse 9. There went in two and two unto
Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded
Noah. God commanded Noah, but they
went in. They went in two and two. They
went into the ark, unto Noah, into the ark. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the only person that we can go to for salvation. That's
how Noah is a picture of Christ. You know, we think about that
all the time. How in the world did Noah get
all these animals into the ark? You know, I can't even get my
cats to come to me, right? Two of every animal in the world
came into that ark. It could not have happened without
God giving them that will. They were drawn and they were
made willing. As it says in Psalm 110 verse
3, thy people shall be made willing in the day of thy power and the
beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning thou hast
to do in thy youth. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. Then in verse 622, let's just
finish this up with Noah. Thus did Noah, according to all
that God commanded him, so did he. No man ever, but the God-man,
Christ Jesus, ever did everything that God commanded them. This
is such a clear, clear picture of Christ. Christ accomplished
the work that the Father gave him to do. just a few scriptures
to show that. John 6, 38 through 39. For I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all
which He hath given me, I should lose nothing, nothing, but should
raise it up again at the last day. John 17, four again. Christ is talking about His finished
work. I have glorified Thee on earth. I have finished the work
which Thou gavest Me to do. So here we see Christ did the
Father's will in all things. Even when He was praying in that
garden in great drops of blood, He sweated great drops of blood
just at the mere thought of our sin that was going to be made
His. He said, nevertheless, Not my
will, but thine be done. One more thing. Remember earlier
we said that this world is still here because God is a covenant
God. God made a covenant with Noah. That's another picture
of how Noah is a picture of Christ. God made that covenant with Christ
in eternity past that his people would be saved through Christ.
In Genesis 9, 9 through 17, God establishes a covenant with Noah
and his seed that he will not destroy the earth with another
flood. That's between God and Noah and every living creature
that is with him. That's a wonderful picture of
the covenant that God made the Lord Jesus Christ, that all his
people will be pursued in him, will be righteous in him, will
be sinless in him. So I want to look now briefly
at how the Ark pictures Christ. And I'm sure you all are very
familiar with much of what I'm about to say. We've heard these
things time and again, but as I said earlier, I want to just
take some time to look at this again. and to ponder and to think
about our Lord Jesus Christ and the beauty of these pictures
that we have in this Old Testament and the New Testament commentaries
that we have and see Christ. So the very name, Ark, is a picture
of Christ. Now, we may not Think of that,
because in our minds, this story is so familiar, and it's so out
there in the world, and you see children's nursery painting,
you know, wallpaper with the ark, and we see this big boat.
So we think, when we hear the word ark, we think boat. But
that's not what that word means. The word ark, think of the Ark
of the Covenant. The word ark means a chest, literally
a treasure chest. It's where someone puts their
treasure. And let's turn real quickly to
Psalm 135 verse four. So an ark is a treasure
chest. What is God's treasure? Let's look at Psalm 135 verse four. For the Lord hath chosen Jacob
unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure. Those supplanters, those dirty
Jacobs are made princes of God, the treasure of God being placed
in that ark. That treasure chest is a place
of protection and security. You know, you don't put your
treasure in a shoebox. You put it in a secure place
where you know it's going to be secure, where you know it's
going to be preserved. So I thought that was interesting
that the very word ark means treasure chest, and we are God's
treasure put in that chest, put in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then
the physical construction of the ark pictures Christ. We read
it earlier in verses 14 through 16. That ark was made of gopher
wood. Does anybody here know what gopher
wood was? I'm going to say you don't, because nobody knows definitively
what gopher wood was. A lot of people think it was
cypress. Cypress was abundant in that area. Cypress floats. Cypress is resistant to rot.
It's very strong. So a lot of people have theorized
that gopher wood is cypress. And that would be a good picture
of our Lord. It's very, very strong. It resists
the rot of sin in this world. But the fact is, we don't know
that it was Cyprus. What we do know is that the term
gopher wood was written right here in Genesis. This is the
only place in the Bible we see the term gopher wood. This is
the only place in Hebrew writings we see the term gopher wood.
That gopher wood had one purpose. It was to make the ark. that
represents the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ. God was made man. He was given a body for that
one purpose. That body only showed up one
time that God made the Lord Jesus Christ. His purpose was to save
God's people. We can theorize all we want.
People cannot believe that God was made man. But that gopher
wood is just a great picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that wood, that flesh, endured
the wrath of God. When that rain came down, that
wood fell on the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ. He, on the
cross, paid our debt. That's just an amazing picture. It was pitched within and without.
Pitch. What's pitch? Pitch is the sap
of trees. It's like pine tar. It's literally
the blood of the tree. And it was pitched within and
without. And I don't think I'm making a stretch to say that
that sap represents the blood of Christ. In fact, that same
word is translated elsewhere in the Bible as atonement or
covering. It was pitched within and without
the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. That ark, that wood, that flesh
wasn't enough without the pitch. Without the pitch, the wrath
of God comes in. Without the blood, without the
sacrifice, without the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, without
that body being put to death, There is no remission of sin.
There is no covering the blood Christ had to die. And that blood kept one drop
of God's wrath from everyone within. Nothing came through
that blood. It was a total, complete, effectual
covering. There was one window. in the
ark, and it was above all, all the light that they had while
they were in the ark came through that one window. That signifies
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the one light of the world, and
he is above all. In John chapter nine, verse five,
Christ says, as long as I am in the world, I am the light
of the world. That window, that one window
for light represents our Lord Jesus Christ. There was one door. Christ himself tells us that
he's the one door for salvation. John 10, verse nine, he says,
I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved. We have to go through the door
of the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. And that door was
in the side of the ark. You're probably picturing that
spear thrust in the side of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's where
salvation was found. Out poured water and blood, water
to cleanse, blood for the sacrifice for sin. It's that double cure
that we sing about in Rock of Ages. And there were three floors
in that ark. Three floors, yet one ark. That represents the three, Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. That one, one purpose, the salvation
of sinners. There was no steering or oars
in that ark. There's no sail. There wasn't
anything that man could do to steer that ark for salvation. Man was put inside that ark,
and they were saved by the ark through nothing, no work of their
own. They didn't steer to the first
sight of land they saw. They didn't row. They didn't
put up a sail. Salvation is completely through
our Lord Jesus Christ. We're dependent on him for salvation. Now that doesn't mean there's
no work to be done. Noah was a busy man. Noah had to feed those animals.
There was work to be done, but that work was in the ark. That
work is in Christ. And what was the work that he
did? The same work that Christ told Peter to do. Feed my sheep. Feed my sheep. Preach the word.
Tell sinners about salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the work that we have to do, and it's not for duty. It's not for salvation. It's
for love. It's one sinner telling another
sinner, look to Christ. Look to Christ. I'm like you. I'm a sinner. There's nothing
I can do to save myself. But look to Christ. Seek to be put in the Lord Jesus
Christ. The ark was the one way of deliverance.
There's only one way. that man could be delivered,
that man could be saved, and it was to be found in that ark,
to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ is the one way for salvation. When the water came down, everything
that wasn't in the ark was overwhelmed, it was drowned. That water stood
above even the highest mountains, and yet that ark was above all,
it floated above that, and it provided salvation for God's
people. Only those found in Christ will be spared from the death
to come. All those who are not in the
Lord Jesus Christ are going to be destroyed. That ark was big
enough for all who came. You know, a lot of people I think
that election limits God, but it doesn't. Everyone who came
to that ark, it was big enough for them. And everyone that comes
to the Lord Jesus Christ, he will in no wise cast out. His
love, his grace, his mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ is big
enough for all who will. Whosoever will come will be saved. And only those chosen by God
would enter the ark. In 2 Peter, verses two through
five, it says, Noah was a preacher of righteousness. As we talked
about earlier, as he was building that ark, that was testifying
that the wrath of God is coming. The wrath of God is coming. You
need to be in this ark. That ark was, it was completely
built and stood there for seven days before the rain came. All
those animals coming to the ark, going into the ark, but only
the ones that were drawn by God came. There were all the other
people that were around, none of them came. It was big enough
for any that came, but only the ones that God drew to himself
would go into that ark. As we talked about again in John
6, 37, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Come to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Come to him and he will not cast
you out. And then finally, those who came
were sealed in the ark. They didn't pull the door shut.
God sealed them in. just as the Holy Spirit seals
us in the Ark of our Lord Jesus Christ. We're preserved there,
not of our own will, not of our own doing, but God who drew us
is gonna seal us in that Ark, and we're secured in the Lord
Jesus Christ. That when male and female of
all flesh, as God had commanded them, and the Lord shut them
in, Not only does that irresistible call of election cause people
to go to Christ, but the power of God keeps them there. And then, as I said earlier,
that ark was lifted up to endure the wrath of God. That signifies
our Lord Jesus Christ being lifted up on that cross. He was given
a name above every name, that at the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that
he is Lord. That ark had the preeminence. It was above everything in this
world, and that's a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. Okay,
so we've talked about why we needed that ark. We've talked
about what makes Noah different, the grace of the Lord. We've
talked about how Noah can represent a picture of Christ and how that
ark is a picture of Christ. But here we come to the final
question, the question, how can we be found in that ark? How
can we be in the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, let's turn to Hebrews. Chapter 11, verse seven. For the answer to that, let's
let's look at the the New Testament commentary on this scripture. Hebrews 11, verse seven. By faith,
Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved
with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by the
which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness,
which is by faith. It's through faith that we can
be found in the Lord Jesus Christ, that we can be found in the ark.
Noah believed God and looked to that ark for salvation. He
looked to that picture of Christ for salvation. He looked to Christ
for salvation, knowing that he had nothing to recommend him
to God himself. We have a fuller revelation than
Noah. We've got this entire scripture,
the revealed word of God. Everything God has to say to
men is right here. And we just read the New Testament. How do
we get in that arc? By faith, by believing God, by
believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, by looking to him. We have no
other hope for salvation. If we believe as Noah believed,
we will be found in him. So how can we be given that faith? We know that faith is a gift
from God. Well, there's three things that I want to look at
just briefly of how we can be given that faith. And the first
one is to do what you all are doing right now. And that's to
sit under the gospel. We've been blessed. Setting aside
this morning and this... I shouldn't even say that. It
doesn't matter what I am, how weak I am. I'm no more weak than
Frank. If the Lord gives you hearing,
gives me hearing, if he blesses this to our hearts, my failing
and mumbling and stumbling doesn't matter. But we've been blessed
through the years with faithful pastors and preachers who preach
the word to us, who point us to Christ, who cause us to look
away from ourselves and to look to the one source for salvation,
and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's the first thing that
we can do is we can make sure that we sit under the gospel.
And, you know, when we, talk about our children. That's one
of the things that we pray is that they will choose, that the
Lord will cause them to want to, to have that desire as they
go out into this world to seek the gospel, to go somewhere where
they can sit and they can listen to the gospel, where they can
have the Lord Jesus Christ preach to them every week. So that's
the first thing that we can do. A couple of scriptures that support
that. Romans 10 verse 14. How then can they call on him
in whom they have not believed? How do we believe? How shall
they believe in him whom they have not heard? And how shall
they hear without a preacher? 1 Corinthians 1 verse 21. For after that in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, We can't tell God, we
can't know God through our wisdom. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Second thing we can do is we
can pray. Our Lord gave us an example of
that. He himself, our Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ, he prayed for those who would believe through the
men he sent out into the world to preach the gospel. John 17,
again, 20 and 21. Here's the example of prayer
that our Lord gives us. Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.
that they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in me, and
I in Thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world
may believe that Thou hast sent me." Prayer, pray, Lord, put
me in Christ. Father, I have no other hope. There's nowhere else for me to
go. I can't run to the highest mountain. I need to be in Christ. So what do we pray for? Pray for faith to believe. Pray
for the grace from God to give us that faith. Ephesians 2 verse
8, For by grace are you saved through faith, and not of yourselves. It is a gift of God. Faith is
a gift of God's grace. But just because it's a gift,
Doesn't mean that we can't and doesn't mean that we shouldn't
ask for it. Pray for it. God, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. Show me my
need. Cause me to go to Christ. Cause
me to cling to him. And that's not a work for salvation.
That's praying is not a work. It's a confession. that we have
no hope outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, though our Lord
said, He told us anything we ask of the Father, He'll give
it to us. Anything we ask of His name in
the Father, He'll give it to us. What does that mean to ask
in the name of Christ? It means to ask for the sake
of who Christ is, and what he's done for his people. It means
to ask, acknowledging who you are, a needy sinner, and what
Christ has done. It means to ask, confessing in
your heart the names of the Lord. Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will
provide. Jehovah Rapha, the Lord that
healeth thee. Jehovah Nissi, the Lord our banner. He's the one we look to for deliverance.
Jehovah Shalom, the Lord is peace. Peace in your heart in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Jehovah Shana, the Lord is there. Wherever we turn, the Lord is
there for us. Jehovah Sitkanu, the Lord, our
righteousness. He's the Lamb of God, slain for
sinners. He's the ever living I am. So ask God for the faith to believe. Ask God to show you your need.
Ask God to show you Christ in the Bible and give you a love
for him. Ask God to give you your refuge,
your shelter, protection and life in the Lord Jesus Christ. One other, one last thing to
talk about. We need to pray for that for
ourselves. Lord, give that to me. But don't ever stop praying
for your loved ones, for your neighbors, for your children.
That's something that this church does. It prays for our children. There's nothing wrong with that.
God's not going to save them for you, right? Not just because
of your relationship with the Lord. He's not going to save
your children. But he said to ask. And you know, the Lord had
mercy and grace on Noah, but he saved his whole family. His
whole family was in that ark. Let's ask the Lord to save our
loved ones.