I invite your attention this
morning to the book of Genesis chapter 8. It will be our starting
place. Genesis chapter 8. Genesis chapter
8, we'll begin reading in verse 1. And God remembered Noah, and
every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the
ark. And God made a wind to pass over
the earth, and the waters assuaged. The fountains also of the deep
and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven
was restrained. The waters returned from off
the earth continually, And after the end of 150 days, the waters
were abated. And the ark rested in the seventh
month, on the 17th day of the month, upon the mount of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually
until the 10th month. In the 10th month, on the first
day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen. And it
came to pass at the end of 40 days, that Noah opened the window
of the ark which he had made, and he sent forth a raven which
went forth to and fro until the waters were dried up from off
the earth. Also he sent forth a dove from
him to see if the waters were abated from the face of the ground. And this ninth verse is going
to be our text this morning. But the dove found no rest for
the sole of her foot And she returned unto him into the ark,
for the waters were upon the face of the whole earth. Then
he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him
into the ark." In the Song of Solomon, chapter
2 and verse 14, we find the Beloved referring to the object of His
love as a dove. He says, Again in the Song of
Solomon 5.2, we hear the Beloved speaking of his love as he says,
Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled. And the Bridegroom speaks once
more of his Bride in Song of Solomon 6.9 and calls her, my
dove, my undefiled. One of the types of Christ, or
one of the types of the Bride of Christ, is a dove. And after
reading those verses in the Song of Solomon, it's not hard to
see this little dove that Noah sent forth is a type of God's
elect chosen people. This dove is a type of the weary,
awakened sinner who finds no rest for their soul anywhere
in this world. They search diligently for a
resting place for their soul, but find none. Their heart has
been stirred by the preaching of the gospel, But they don't
quite yet understand that the only true rest that they are
seeking is only to be found in the person in the work of Christ,
the true ark. They have been shown that they're
lost and undone. They've heard the preacher proclaim,
the soul that sinneth, it shall die. But natural man will seek
out every solution possible, everything they can think of
to fill the void in their soul except the only true resting
place that is to be found in the person of Christ. So after
the weary sinner exhausts himself running to and fro to every supposed
place of rest for his soul and comes to the point of no hope
and total despair, our Lord graciously draws us to the only true place
of rest For the weary sinner's soul, which is, of course, Christ
Jesus, our gracious Savior, there's a void in the heart of men that
needs to be filled, that longs to be filled. And it's no wonder
to me that people turn to every sort of vice imaginable to try
to fill that void. There's a need in mankind to
be loved, to feel like they belong, to feel like they mean something
to someone. I've entitled this message, No Rest. Now we aren't
told how long this dove flew about seeking a resting place,
but the one thing that we are told is that she found no rest,
which is a perfect picture of the people of God after they've
been awakened to their lost condition, but before God speaks peace to
their heart. Turn with me to the book of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy. Chapter 28, Deuteronomy 28. Lost men and women are like the
nation of Israel we have spoken of here. We'll begin reading
in Deuteronomy 28 at verse 64. And the Lord shall scatter thee
among all the people, from one end of the earth even to the
other, And there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou
nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these
nations thou shalt find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy
foot have rest. But the Lord shall give thee
there a trembling heart, and failing eyes, and sorrow of mind,
and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee, and thou shalt fear
day and night, and shalt have none assurance of life. In the
morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even, and even thou
shalt say, Would God it were morning, for the fear of thine
heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes
which thou shalt see. Now is this not an accurate description
of the awakened sinner's experience? We write likewise, reading Psalm
38.3, there is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger,
neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. This is a great picture of the
awakened soul who comes to be shown through God's grace that
they're undone without any hope whatsoever that they will ever
be saved from perishing. That verse we just read in Deuteronomy
tells us that the Lord will scatter His elect from one end of the
earth to the other, and yet there will be no place that the Spirit
of God cannot track down a lost sinner from one of God's chosen,
and send a gospel message to that sinner in the most remote
corner of the earth. And that used to have to happen
in person, with the preacher speaking to you face to face,
but thanks to the wonders of the internet, God now uses that
to sometimes reach and speak to His elect. This church, and
many others that we know, are able to send the Gospel literally
all over the world. It's a wonder. And I would imagine
that's the very reason that God allowed the Internet to be invented.
Next we read in that verse, it says, Thou shalt serve other
gods. Now everyone, in spite of what they might say or think,
serve some God. They serve wealth, some of them
serve idols, and many of the gods have their own imagination.
But then this verse says that in going through the motions
of serving other gods, it says that thou shalt find no ease
Neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest. Exactly what
happened to the dove that Noah sent out. And next that verse
tells us that the Lord shall give thee a trembling heart,
fainting eyes, and sorrow mind. When God awakens a sinner to
their lost condition, this is exactly what happens. We have
a trembling heart, a heart that now realizes that it has offended
a holy God, and it trembles with overwhelming terror. knowing
that judgment could fall at any moment. And this verse tells
us that God gives a sinner failing eyes. Those eyes which used to
look to ourselves in our works and righteousness, but now realize
that those works of righteousness are worthless. The next thing
this verse says is there will be sorrow of mind when we come
to our wit's end that there's no chance of being saved, that
we are as sure for damnation as if it had already happened.
And we cannot escape the heavy weight of guilt and of conscience,
which has now been awakened to our dire condition. And the misery
is so crushing that we would take our own lives were it not
for the fact that we knew what awaits us after death. And as
we read, and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee, And thou
shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of
thy life. You fear that at any moment your
life could end, and you'll be plunged into everlasting ruin.
There's no rest, day or night, only constant fear. You have
no assurance of life, because unlike the saints of God, whom
God promises to preserve, you're sure of only one thing. and that
is that your doom is sure. And is this not how it was, dear
saint, with you before God spoke peace to your heart? If not,
if you found coming to Christ a quick and easy experience,
you may want to rethink whether or not you even know the Lord
in grace. Our God speaks to the awakened soul and shows them
that there is indeed a resting place and that resting place
is in Christ the Ark. The word rest is found 265 times
in the Scriptures. Many times it's used to describe
the relief and assurance that we find in resting in the promises
of our God. There are many, many places in
God's Word which speak of the rest we find in bowing to His
will and returning to Him. Let me read just a few. In Exodus
33, 14, God promised Moses, and he said, My presence shall go
with thee, and I will give thee rest. If we're conscious of God's
presence with us, we can rest in the fact that regardless of
what happens, it is for our good and God's glory. Psalm 116.7
says, Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt
bountifully with thee. The only time a man or woman
can truly find rest is when we know that the work is done, the
required task has been accomplished, there is nothing else left to
do. And knowing by faith that our
God has bountifully provided all that is needed for us to
stand before Him, we can indeed take our rest. Isaiah 11.10 says,
And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall
stand for an instant of the people, To it shall the Gentiles seek,
and his rest shall be glorious. Isaiah 14, 3, And it shall come
to pass in that day, that the Lord shall give thee rest from
thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein
thou wast made to serve, that sorrow, fear, and bondage to
sin that we served under from the day of our birth, And Hebrews
4 tells us, "...that there remaineth a rest, therefore, to the people
of God. For he that is entered into rest,
he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did his." And
lastly, Revelation speaks to us, and it says, "...and I heard
a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead
which die in the Lord from henceforth." Yea, saith the Spirit, that they
may find rest from their labors, and their works do follow them.
Now Christ, in Matthew 11, gave us this command. He said, Come
unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest
unto your souls. The only true resting place in
this world is only found in the peace that comes from knowing
that our sins are forgiven, the price of redemption has been
paid, and there's no more work required than that which has
already been done on our behalf by our blessed Lord. A yoke that
Christ speaks of here, a yoke is defined thus, a wooden bar
or a frame by which two draft animals such as oxen, are joined
at the neck for working together. Now, this tells us that when
we take on the yoke of Christ, that He shares in our labors
in the gospel. In 1 Corinthians 3.9, it says,
we are laborers together with God. Ye are God's husbandry,
ye are God's building. And Paul also wrote in 2 Corinthians
6.1, we then as workers together with Him, beseech you also that
you receive not the grace of God in vain. A yoke was never
used on just one animal. There had to be a pair in order
for the yoke to work. And that yoke that Christ commands
us, that we take upon us. So after this dove found no rest
for the soul of her foot, we're told that she returned unto him
to the ark. Now one of the definitions of
the word return is to put something back where it came from. To put something back where it
came from. And one of the reasons God's
elect are described as sheep is because sheep tend to wander
off and get lost. Our Lord Himself used this illustration
in His parables of the Good Shepherd. How He sought out the lost sheep,
put it on His shoulders, and returned it to the fold. God's
elect have never been goats. We have always been sheep. wandering
sheep who stray from the fold. But thank God our Good Shepherd
seeks us out and returns us to Himself. I never realized how
much the Scriptures speak of God's people returning to Him
until I began to look at all the places that that term is
used. The Scriptures speak repeatedly about God's people returning
to Him. And for the sake of time, let
me read just a few. In 1 Peter 2.25, Peter writes,
For ye were like sheep going astray, but are now returned
unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls. We began going
astray from the moment we were born, but that good shepherd
comes to where we are, wandering in the wilderness, and brings
us back into his fold. In Isaiah 10.21, it says, The
remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob unto the mighty
God. This is guaranteed. God's elect
will be given faith to believe and will return to Him who bled
and died to redeem us. Isaiah 35, 10, in the ransom
of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting
joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. They shall return,
and when they do, it will be with everlasting joy, because
their redemption is sure, and the reason that it's sure is
because it's already done. In Isaiah 44, 22, I have blotted
out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sin. Return
unto me, for I have redeemed thee. And I just said, it's already
done. Isaiah 55-7 tells us, Let the
wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thought,
and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him.
To our God, for he will abundantly pardon. We were wicked. We were unrighteous. But know
for a fact that we did not receive mercy and pardon because we returned
to the Lord. Rather, we returned to the Lord
because we received that mercy and that pardon through His exceeding
abundant grace. And Jeremiah 24-7 tells us, And
I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord. And they
shall be My people, and I will be their God. and they shall
return unto Me with their whole heart." Their whole heart. There's no such thing as a half-hearted
believer. Once Christ gives you faith and
you come to Him and believe on Him, He has already won your
heart through the forgiveness and mercy which He bestows upon
us. Jeremiah 46, 27 says, But fear
thou not, O servant Jacob, Be not dismayed, O Israel, for
behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the
land of their captivity. And Jacob shall return, and be
in rest, and at ease, and none shall make him afraid." And lastly,
Hosea 66.1 says, Come, let us return unto the Lord, for he
hath torn, and he will heal. He is smitten and He will bind
us up. This is how our God deals with
His people. He killeth and He maketh alive. He bringeth down
to the grave and bringeth up. Next in our text in Genesis 8,
we read that the waters were on the face of the whole earth. Now this is a picture of the
wickedness that seems to be everywhere, even in so-called organized religion. The awakened sinner seeks a place
to rest and finds none. They fly here and they fly there
like this dove to their works and find no rest. They fly to
religion and find no rest. They fly to the law but finds
that it only holds damnation. They fly as we're told in 1 John
19, they find that the whole world lieth in wickedness. They find no rest anywhere in
the world, so by God's grace and guiding hand of providence,
they return to the place that there is rest to be found to
the person of Christ. Next we read in Genesis 8, it
says, Then he put forth his hand and took her. Our Lord, when
He brings the awakened sinner to the place of repentance, puts
forth His hand and draws that sinner to Himself. Numerous scriptures
speak of the might of God's hand. Isaiah 59, verse 1 says, Behold,
the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save. Nehemiah
1, verse 10, Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom
thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand. And Christ promised us in John
10, He said, And I give unto them eternal life, speaking of
His sheep, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them to
Me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them
out of My Father's hand." Double security were held tightly in
the hand of Christ and in the hand of the Father. Psalm 136,
verses 11 and 12 say, "...He brought Israel out from among
them, for His mercy endures forever, with a strong hand, and an outstretched
arm for His mercy endureth forever." While we're in Deuteronomy, turn
over with me to Deuteronomy 7. In Deuteronomy 7, we find God
telling the people of Israel, how and
why He delivered them. But these verses also apply to
God's calling out and the delivering of His elect. Start reading in
verse 6 of Deuteronomy 7. For thou art an holy people unto
thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen
thee to be a special people unto Himself. above all people that
are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love
upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than
any people, for you were the fewest of all people. But because
the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which
He had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out
with a mighty hand. and redeemed you out of the house
of bondmen from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt." This is a perfect
picture of the Lord bringing us out of bondage, the bondage
to sin. And He does it with a mighty
hand. Now, redeeming a sinner is not something that is easily
done. It takes someone who is mighty. David told us in Psalms, the
Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Thou hast a
mighty arm, strong as thy hand, and high as thy right hand. The word mighty that David uses
here means having great power, skill, strength, or force. Imposing or awesome in size,
degree, and extent. Next, in Genesis 8, speaking
of Noah, it says, And he took her and pulled her in unto him. There are many instances throughout
God's Word which speak of him drawing his people unto himself. It is what we refer to as irresistible
grace. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power, we're told in Psalm 110, verse 3. What a perfect picture of what
our Lord does for sinners. He draws them by His mighty arm
to Himself. Christ told the Jews who opposed
Him in John 6, verse 44, He says, No man can come unto Me. That's
pretty plain, isn't it? No man can come unto Me. except the Father which hath
sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
And our Lord promised in John 12, 32, that I, if I be lifted
up, will draw all men unto me." Now in the first four verses
of the Song of Solomon, turn there with me, the Song of Solomon. the very first four verses of
the Song of Solomon. The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's,
let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for thy love is
better than wine. Because of the savor of thy good
ointments, thy name is as ointments poured forth. Therefore do the
virgins love thee. Draw me, we will run after thee. The king hath brought me, into
His chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in
Thee. We will remember Thy love more
than wine. The upright love Thee. The King hath brought me into
His chambers in the same way that Noah pulled that dove to
himself into the ark." And lastly, our text tells us where Noah
pulled this little dove after reaching out his hand and taking
her. It says, "...he pulled her in unto him, into the ark, into
the only place that could provide any rest for the soul of her
foot. So it is when our God pulled
us into the true ark, the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is our ark,
our place of rest and safety. As Noah's ark was the only place
to be in order to escape the judgment of God on the world
at that time during the great flood, so is Christ the only
place of safety when God will pour out His wrath once again
upon this world. While Noah was building the ark,
it was the object of scorn and ridicule of the men and women
of that time. And so it was, and is, with our
Lord Jesus Christ, who is a type of the ark. He endured ridicule
his entire adult life. Those who have heard and read
that passage from Isaiah 61 and the synagogue ask, is this not
Joseph's son? Who does this carpenter think
he is telling us that he has any credentials, that he's the
fulfillment of Scripture? We've known him since he was
a kid. And throughout his ministry, he was constantly opposed by
the Pharisees of having no credentials whatsoever for claiming to be
someone who could teach them anything, much less that he was
an equal with God. And the mockery he suffered as
he was led as a sheep to the slaughter came from all sides,
from the self-righteous Jews, to the common criminal, to the
Roman soldiers, all joined into hatred, scorn, and ridicule of
him as they shouted, ah, thou that destroyest the temple and
build it in three days, save thyself and come down from the
cross. Others said, let us see whether
Elias will come and take him down, and still others mocked
He trusted in God. Let him deliver him now, if he
will have him. For he said, I am the Son of
God. And the ark is also a type of
Christ, and yet it was also a means by which God used to preserve
the lives of those he had chosen. Being in the ark meant that you
were in the only place of safety when God's wrath began to be
poured out in judgment upon mankind. This was a single place. The
only place on the entire earth where safety was to be found. And so it is with us when we
find that God has put us in the ark of Christ. During that great
flood when the fury of God's wrath and judgment beat against
the ark, those inside were completely safe from any of God's wrath
and judgment. And if we read of the ark, we
don't read of even the least small leak getting to any of
those inside. So much more, when we're in Christ,
there will not be the single wrath or single drop of God's
wrath poured out upon us. It was exhausted when Christ
hung on that tree. So in closing, If you're here
today and not in this ark of God, in the Lord Jesus Christ,
you're but a breath away from the judgment of God falling on
you as that flood fell on Noah's day. And I'm sure as that rain
began to fall, which we're told had never happened before, that
those men and women who made sport of this fool named Noah
suddenly realized that Noah There was no fooling at all. That their
doom was sure. And there is no doubt that they shouted
to Noah to please open the ark and let them in. But the day
of grace and mercy was past. There was no deliverance to be
found. They had mocked the messenger
of God to their own doom and damnation. And so it will be
with men and women who despise the message of Christ crucified. There will come a day when repentance
is not to be had. Do not be so foolish as to think
you can mock God, and when it comes time to die, turn to Him
for salvation. It won't happen. It happened
one time in the Scriptures. One of the old Puritans wrote
that it happened once that we don't despair, but only once
that we dare not presume. Today, we're told, is the day
of repentance. Tomorrow will be too late. So
if you're able, lost sinner, if you're able, and God gives
you grace to do so, plead with Him for mercy. Plead with him
to put you in the only place of safety and rest into that
ark of Christ. And dear saint, delight yourself
in the fact that you have found rest for your soul, as this little
dove found rest by returning to the ark. But not just rest in this life
from sin and guilt, but also eternal rest, which is only to
be found in the person and work of Christ. Never forget how the
Lord has graciously brought you from that place of no rest to
the place of perfect rest in Christ.