Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 7. Hebrews 11 and verse 7. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the building of his house, or to the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." By faith, Noah.

God the Holy Spirit is showing us how that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. He's showing us how that without faith it is impossible for a man to please God. The example he selects and holds before us in our text is Noah.

Now, the basis of Noah's faith was the Word of God. By faith, Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet. You see, faith must have a foundation. Faith is not a leap in the dark. Faith is not accepting something without knowledge, accepting something without understanding, but rather faith has a foundation and the foundation of all true faith is the Word of God. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. A man cannot have faith apart from knowledge, apart from the knowledge of divine revelation which God himself makes in the hearts of men through the preaching of the gospel.

Noah believed because God spoke, and he believed what God spoke, though that which God spoke was contrary to all reason, contrary to all experience, contrary to all the possibility of scientific investigation, and contrary to all historic precedent. God told Noah things that nobody had ever seen or heard tell of. God told Noah that there would be a universal flood that would cover all the earth, all the mountains, all the valleys. It would cover the whole face of the earth and destroy every living thing upon the earth, though it had never rained. And Noah believed it. It had never rained. There had never been a cloud in the sky. There had never yet been a drop of rain to fall from heaven to the earth. But God told Noah, it's going to begin to rain and it's going to rain until the floodwaters cover all the earth. And Noah believed it because God spoke to him.

The Lord God told Noah to build an ark, to build a ship, though no one had ever seen a ship before. And he told him that in that ship he would deliver himself his family, his sons and their wives, his wife, as well as Noah, and that he would deliver all the animals on the earth that Noah was commanded to bring into the ark, two of every animal of the unclean and seven of every animal of the clean ones. And the Lord told Noah that all who were in the ark would be saved in the midst of the flood and all who were not in the ark would be utterly destroyed.

Can Noah believe these things? Can a man believe what history contradicts, what reason contradicts, what science contradicts, and what experience contradicts? Absolutely. God-spoken. God-spoken. We do not look for, nor do we need, any pillar for the Word of God but God. That's all. We do not look forward nor do we need any foundation for that which God reveals but God. We bow to and submit to the Word of God. We bow and submit all reason, all experience, all testimony, all knowledge to thus saith the Word of the Lord. That's all the foundation of our faith.

The evidence of Noah's faith was his reverence for and obedience to the Lord his God. Noah moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house. Noah feared God. He feared God because he believed God. Now Noah was not afraid of being drowned in the flood. God told him he was going to save him. Noah was not afraid that God was somehow going to go back on his word, but Noah rather reverenced God. He had an awesome sense of God's holiness, his justice and his truth. And he was overwhelmed with the sense of God's goodness. The Lord God has chosen me. I have found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The Lord has shown me the way of life. The Lord has promised me deliverance. And he feared God.

Now his reverence or his fear for God caused him to obey the word of God immediately. You know when Noah started working on the ark? As soon as God finished talking. Just as soon as God finished speaking, Noah went and started sawing timbers. As soon as God finished speaking to him, Noah went to work on the ark immediately without delay. Before the first raindrops fell, Noah began preparing an ark. An ark exactly according to the pattern which God had given him. His object in doing this, his object in preparing the ark, his object in building this ark was the salvation of his family from the wrath of God according to the promise of God.

Like James after him, Noah showed his faith to his generation by his works of obedience. You see, faith believes the word of God and faith acts upon it. Don't tell me you believe God if you do not act according to your belief. Don't tell me you believe God if you do not act upon the Word of God. A man acts upon what he believes. He says, I believe something. If he believes it, he acts accordingly. We're about to have national elections and I don't get into politics. Don't do it much even in private conversation lightly and I don't do it ever in the pulpit. But everybody's going to make a decision. Everybody's going to make a decision come November, whatever that first Tuesday is in November. Everybody's going to make a decision on election day based upon what they believe. Some folks will decide not to vote because they believe it won't make any difference. Some folks are going to go vote for George Bush because they're persuaded of Bush's philosophy of politics and economics, and they believe that's the best way for the country to be governed. Some folks are going to go vote for Dukakis because they believe that the plan and pattern of Dukakis's political economy and political philosophy is better for the country and they'll vote accordingly. Everybody acts according to what they believe, for better or for worse.

Now, if you and I believe God, we act like men and women who believe God, what is that? They obey his word. They do what God says, that's all. They just do what God says. They do it because they believe God. They do it because they believe God will sustain them. They do it because they believe God will strengthen them. They do it because they believe God will fulfill his word. We believe God. Show me a man who believes God and I'll show you a man like Noah who reverences and obeys God.

The fruit of Noah's faith was justification. Look at what the scripture says, Noah's faith condemned the world by his faith and obedience to faith in and obedience to the word of God. He condemned the world. As a preacher of righteousness, he declared the certain condemnation of all who would not believe. And by his actions, he both reproved the unbelieving and aggravated their guilt. He believed God. He told them what God said. They didn't believe. And by his preaching and his actions, he aggravated their guilt before the Lord. At the same time, Noah himself was justified. He became heir of the righteousness, which is by faith.

Now, neither his faith nor his obedience gave him righteousness. Neither his faith nor his obedience made him righteous before God. But by faith he received that righteousness, which is the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, even the righteousness of justification and eternal life. He received righteousness by faith in the Lord God.

Now, today I hold Noah before you. I hold him before you as an example. Will you or will you not believe God? It really is just that simple. I'm not asking you to make any profound, confusing decision. I'm not asking you to make a decision about something you can't understand. I'm asking you simply, will you believe God or will you say, no, God is not worthy of belief? Will you believe the testimony of God or will you say, no, God is a liar? Will you believe God or will you say no? The word of God is not dependable after all. Will you or will you not believe God?

I'm not saying will you or will you not believe. I'm not saying will you or will you not believe this preacher. That's insignificant. I'm not saying, will you or will you not believe our system of doctrine? That's insignificant. I am asking this, will you or will you not believe the Lord God? Now that's significant. That's significant.

You see, there is a storm of wrath approaching. God of heaven will most assuredly punish sin. If you could go back and dig up one of these antediluvian men, if you could dig up one of these antediluvian women, if you could hear their screams, if you could hear their voices and ask them, will God punish sin? They'd look you with terror in their eyes and declare, yes, God is holy. He will punish sin. God will punish your sin. He will do it. You can mark it down. But he has made a way for sinners to escape His wrath.

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, must be lifted up, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. God's made a way for sinners to escape His wrath. By the obedience of his dear son, the Lord Jesus Christ, by his obedience as our substitute, by his life of righteousness and his sin atoning death, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has become the ark of deliverance for God's elect. And I hold before you the ark of God, Christ Jesus. I ask you, will you enter in? Will you enter into the ark? Will you enter into the ark and be saved? Will you enter into the ark, Christ Jesus, and have a life everlasting?

The same question I asked before, will you believe God? It's the same question, buddy. If you believe God, Lindsey, you enter the ark. If you say, no, God's a liar, you stand there and look at it and debate about it, talk about it, say, no, no, I'll not have Christ. If you believe God, you enter in by the door. If you do not believe God, you hear the word, and you hear about Christ, and you hear about his atonement, and you hear about his righteousness, and you hear about judgment, and you hear about your sin, and you say, no, God's a liar, that's not for me.

Now, will you or will you not enter the ark? If you will, you shall have life everlasting in that ark. And if you will not, you deserve eternal damnation in hell. Now, that's just as plain as I can make it. And that's what I'm going to be pressing upon you this morning.

Before we look at this ark as a type of Christ, let me show you three or four things by way of introduction. The ark of Noah and the flood are facts of history, facts plainly revealed in the word of God. The art is not a myth, it's a fact. The flood is not a fiction, it's not a dream, it's not a theory, it's not a fairy tale, it's a fact. Let the critics, the infidels, and the scoffers say what they will. We look upon them with disdain as fools and liars.

I watch the news reports and I keep fairly abreast of modern trends of thought. I hear these geniuses discussing the world, discussing the universe, discussing the beginning of the world and the end of the world. And I hear these geniuses. I'm talking about men and women who are learned, who are well studied, who are well read. And as they talk about the Earth's age and in terms of billions of years, and they talk about the Earth's degeneration in terms of billions of years to come. They talk about the development of life in other planets in terms of billions of years. And I think to myself, well you learned who? You learned who? Who on Earth with just reasonably good sense, with just reasonably good sense. can imagine that things happened, just kind of evolved and there were just kind of explosions and cosmic things that took place in the universe that caused the earth to be like it is and caused us to be like we are.

God's word is true with regard to the creation of the world and God's word is true with regard to the cataclysmic judgment of God upon this earth just a thousand years after God created man upon the face of the earth. God calls a terrible judgment to fall, a terrible judgment which calls the floodwaters to rise over the entire earth.

Say, do you believe? Do you really believe in a universal flood? No, I believe in God who declares that he flooded the world. I believe in God who declares that he destroyed all life upon the earth except that which was within the ark. Now either you believe God or you do not. We rest our souls upon the veracity and the validity of Holy Scripture. To deny one aspect of Holy Scripture is to deny the veracity of God himself. And we will not tolerate such a denial.

But notice also that the cause of God's judgment upon the earth was the sin and the depravity of the human race. Only a thousand years after the fall, man had become so degenerate that the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually. Generation after generation, man became more and more vile until at last it repented the Lord that he had made man upon the earth and it grieved him at his heart. Now God did not change, but he was grieved, so grieved by man's sins. that he turned against the human race in wrath and justice, so that God began to act toward man as God had never acted before.

When the scripture speaks of God repenting, when it speaks of God being grieved at his heart, it's using human terms, anthropomorphic terms, to describe to us the revelation of God's character. It is not telling us that God underwent a change, but rather God changed in his dealings toward man. Because of man's sin, God turned against man. Because of man's rebellion against him, God turned upon man in fierce judgment and anger. Man had rejected the counsel of God, man had despised the long suffering of God, and so the Lord God came against him in his holy wrath.

But turn to Genesis chapter 6. Genesis chapter 6 and verse 8. God brought judgment upon the earth. The whole race was evil, only evil, imagined only evil continually. But look at verse 8, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The cause of Noah's salvation was God's sovereign grace. The scripture does not say, now listen to me, The scripture does not say the Lord found grace in the eyes of Noah. That's not what the text said. That's the way most people read it. That's the way most people interpret it. That's the way most people translate it. That's the way most people preach it. But it does not say that the Lord found grace in the eyes of Noah. The Lord found nothing in Noah but sin. Anything else that was in Noah, God put it there. The Lord found nothing in Noah but evil, just like He found in all the sons of Adam. If there was anything else in Noah, God did that. The scripture says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. What does that mean? It simply means that because God from eternity had set the eye of his grace upon Noah, the Lord God found a way to be gracious to Noah, though he would destroy the universe. God found a way to save Noah, though he was determined to destroy all the sons of Adam. You see, the Ark was devised by God, not by Noah. Noah alone was chosen as the object of God's grace.

People tell me all the time, they say, You think that there are just a few people in this world who know God, who are chosen of God? Well, I don't really think that. But I am telling you that God's elect in this world are always in the minority. Back here in Genesis 6, it was a minority of one. It was a minority of one. I don't know about Noah's wife. I've got a pretty good notion concerning his sons and his daughter-in-laws, but I'm telling you Noah was the only one we had no word from God concerning. Noah was the only one that God says found grace in the eyes of the Lord. These others were simply beneficiaries of God's grace toward Noah. They were beneficiaries of God's goodness to Noah.

Noah knew God. God revealed himself to Noah. Noah had the revelation of God. Noah had the word of God. He's the only one who did. He's the only one who did. The Lord God chose Noah alone as the object of his grace. Because he was chosen of God, Noah was effectually delivered from the wrath of God. And the Lord God established his covenant. He preserved his seed and he accomplished his purpose with this man, Noah.

And then you'll notice also that the means of salvation was an ark. Noah and his family were saved from the flood by a ship, an ark, an ark which God commanded to be built. Now, there were three arcs mentioned in the scriptures. You're familiar with them. There was the Ark of the Bull Rushes, in which Moses was saved from the wrath of a pagan king, Pharaoh. There was the Ark of the Covenant, which sheltered the broken law of God, over which was the mercy seat, and that mercy seat being the place of atonement. And then there was this Ark of Noah, this Ark of Noah, which secured those who were in it from the violent storm of God's wrath.

Now, each of these three arks speak of Christ. In Christ, every believer is sheltered from the wrath of God, the assaults of Satan, and the condemnation of God's holy law. Today, I want to show you how that Noah's ark was a type and picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and our salvation in him. As there was one ark in the days of Noah, so there is but one way of salvation. The whole world was drowned under the flood of God's wrath, except for those eight happy souls in the ark. And so Christ alone is the Savior of men today. There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.

I'm saying to you who hear my voice, if you would be saved, you must enter into the ark. If you would be saved, you must be robed with the righteousness of Christ. If you would be saved, you must be washed in the blood of Christ. If you would be saved, you must come to the ark, Christ Jesus our Lord. It will do you no good to reform your life. It will do you no good to change your habits. It will do you no good to try to make amends with God. You must come to the ark. There's no other way of salvation. You must come to the ark. God help you now to come. God help you now to enter into Christ Jesus our Lord.

I want to make five statements and show them to you here from Genesis 6 and 7.

First, the ark was planned. Purposed and provided by God himself look in verse 13 of Genesis 6 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 Rooms shalt thou make in the ark and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of. The length of the ark shall be 300 cubits, the breadth of it 50 cubits, and 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 thou set in the side thereof. With the lower and second and third stories shalt thou make it.

See, before the flood came, Before the first drop of water fell from heaven, the Lord provided for the salvation of his own. The ark was not an afterthought with God. It's not something God got in a hurry and said, Now, Noah, hurry up. It's going to rain, son. I want you to build an ark so you can be saved. Not that at all. The ark was provided not after the waters began to rise, but it was something that God had planned and purposed long before judgment fell. You see, God was the one who determined the size of the ark. the shape of the ark and the material of the ark. God determined who would be saved by the ark. It was designed and built for a specific people to house a specific number of residents, both of men and beast. And God determined where, how, and when the ark would be built. Even so, the Lord Jesus Christ Our Savior, our salvation, our ark was planned, purposed, and provided by God Almighty. He planned and purposed the salvation of his people in Christ in his eternal councils of grace. Christ was provided by God and set up in the purpose of God before the clouds of divine wrath began to swell against sin. Salvation is not an afterthought with God.

When I was in college, You won't hardly believe this, but if you happen to still have a Schofield reference Bible laying around the house somewhere, you can look it up. You'll find it in there. When I was in college, our theology professor, he told us about God's plan. And he said, now God had a plan. It was plan A. And plan A was that the Lord Jesus would come down to this earth, and he would present himself as a king to the Jews. And the Jews would make him a king in Palestine and he would rule upon a throne in Palestine forever and ever. But since the Jews would not have him as king, God had plan B. And plan B was that Jesus would die on the cross as sort of an afterthought with God.

Salvation by Christ is not an afterthought with God. It is not plan B. The Lord God Almighty devised the plan and purpose of redemption in Christ, and because He planned our redemption by Christ, He made the world. The world is not something which calls God to be gracious, but rather the world and all things in it is the result of God's plan and purpose of grace in Christ before the world began. Salvation is not an afterthought with God. He provided salvation in his son before the world got started.

The Lord Jesus Christ was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. You know well the scripture that declares how that Christ was the lamb slain even from the foundation of the world. He is a lamb who barely was foreordained from before the foundation of the world for the redemption of sinners. Long before we sinned in Adam, the Lord God planned the salvation of his elect in Christ. He determined who he would save. He purposed to save all his elect by the substitutionary ransom of Christ. And God's purpose of grace is a sure immutable purpose. So that in the fullness of time, God came in the person of his son, providing his own dear son and giving his own dear son for the salvation of sinners through the sacrifice of his own life at Calvary.

So that when Simeon held the child Jesus, he looked at him and he looked up to heaven and he said, Lord, now mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Jesus Christ himself is God's salvation. Get him, you've got salvation. Miss him, you'd miss salvation. Oh, the love that drew salvation's plan. Oh, the grace that brought it down to man. Oh, the mighty golf that God did span at Calvary. That song Brother Daniel Park sings so often.

Hail, sovereign love that first began.
The scheme to rescue fallen man.
Hail, matchless, free, eternal grace
that gave my soul a hiding place.

The Lord Jesus Christ, buddy, was set up as the ark of redemption and salvation for us before the world began. He's the ark. according to God's purpose.

Secondly, the ark was an all-sufficient refuge for all who entered into it. This ark was a big ship. It was a big boat. I mean, it was not a little old 15-foot runabout. If you don't have a marginal reference that gives you these figures, you might want to drop them down. That ark was 450 feet long, 450 feet long. That ark was 75 feet wide and it was about 45 feet high. It was an ark with three decks, with three stories in it. When we talk about the ark, don't picture a ship about the size of this building. It was a huge ship. It was a big, big ship. It was a immense thing. but there was no wasted space in it. There was no lack of room, but there was no wasted space. There was room enough for every clean animal and every unclean animal, two of the unclean and seven of the clean. There was room enough for Noah and his family, room enough for his wife, his sons, and his sons' wives. There was room enough in the ark to supply all of the people and all of the animals on board with food sufficient for a year. This ark housed all kinds of creatures. It was a big ark.

Even so, the Lord Jesus Christ is a great and mighty and all-sufficient Savior, refuge and substitute for sinners of every kind. As the ark was an immense vessel in which a vast multitude of animals were saved, as well as Noah and his family, So the Lord Jesus Christ in his salvation has an immense salvation, delivering a vast multitude which no man can number from the wrath of God.

There was only one door in the ark. I don't know how big it was, just one door though, but it was enough. That was all that was needed. All who entered into the ark entered in by that door. The clean and the unclean, the small and the great, the male and the female, all came in through the door. That one singular door. And there is but one door to salvation. But that's enough. That door is Jesus Christ. He said, I am the door. By me, if any man shall enter in, he shall go in and out and find pasture. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. If you would be saved, you must enter in by the door. You've got to enter in by the door.

You know what keeps some folks from entering in by the door? They don't like to enter in the same door other folks enter in. Nice, upstanding, moral folk. They ain't nothing we. We like to think we're somebody. We like to think we're not like other folks. We like to think that, you know, all right, down there are those perverts, and down there are those lazy bums, and down there are those no-count folks, and down there are those loose-living folks, and down there are the harlots, and the pimps, and the homosexuals, and the whoremongers, and the dopeheads. Down there! Down there! Here we are. Here we are.

I'm somebody. Jesse Jackson got the world believing what the world's always believed and delighted in. I'm somebody. Somebody. You're nobody. I'm somebody. I'm somebody. I'm something else. Let me tell you something. Now listen to me carefully. I want everybody here to hear me. I want the youngest child to hear me. I want the oldest mama and daddy to hear me. I want everybody here to hear what I'm saying.

The only difference, the only difference between you and me and anyone else in this world, the only difference between Bobby Estes and Charles Manson, the only difference between Sally Ponser and the most vile woman who ever lived, the only difference, the only difference between Don Fortner and Adolf Hitler, the only difference The only difference between us and the most loathsome creature imaginable upon God's earth, the only difference is veneer. Just veneer. Just veneer, that's all. No substance, just the outside covering.

This pulpit, where is that thing? Oh, there it is. Looks kind of pretty. Boy, that looks like oak on top, doesn't it? Somebody hid it one day, knocked a hole in it. It's just veneer. Just veneer. That's all. It's just a show. Lamination. Nothing else. Underneath is just so much discarded waste sawdust. That's all it is. Glued together. That's all. And I'm telling you the only difference between any of us, between any of you, between anybody in this world who thinks they're somebody, And the lowest scum in the world is veneer. Just veneer. Just that which God and his providence has not allowed you to do or God and his providence has caused you to do.

You see, if you're going to enter the ark, the great high-headed giraffe and little field mouse got to walk through the same door. The lovely lamb and the filthy hog got to walk through the same door. The harlot and Miss America got to walk through the same door. The drunk and the preacher got to walk through the same door. The mother and the prostitute got to walk through the same door. My daughter, my wife, and the vilest creatures on this earth got to walk through the same door. I, the most loathsome creature in this world, got to walk through the same door because we're all just alike. We're all exactly alike.

Grace is a great leveler. Grace brings everybody down, everybody down to the dust of nothingness. And you walk through the door and grace, this is all to the same heights of everlasting glory. But you got to come through the door. This one door is the only door, but it's sufficient. Here it is. It's open. Everybody who walks in will live. Everybody who goes in the door will live. Everybody who enters in by Christ will live forever.

Why will you perish? Why will you not enter in? Why will you sit in your smug, self-righteous, Morality and self-confidence and self-esteem. Get into the ark. Go in by the door. Go in by the door. If you go in, you live. If you stay out, you're going to die. That's as simple as I can make it.

There was only one window in the ark, but that window was enough. That window gave all the light that was needed. That wind is a picture of the Holy Spirit of God, by whom the light of the world, Christ Jesus, by whom the sun of righteousness, Christ Jesus, shines into the hearts of men. All who come to God by Christ Jesus and receive salvation by him are illuminated and taught by God, the Holy Spirit. All who are born of God are taught of God, and all who are taught of God are well taught.

You find me a man or woman who's taught of God. And I'll show you somebody who is taught to understand their sin. Anybody who does not understand their personal depravity, their personal corruption, their personal guilt, anybody who does not acknowledge it does not know God and is not taught of God. When he, the spirit of truth shall come, He will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. First thing God teaches every sinner is his sin, your sin. You and I deserve eternal condemnation so that we turn and take sides with God and say against thee and thee only have I sinned. Every sinner who is taught of God knows his sin. Every sinner taught of God knows God's righteousness. That's right. He will improve the world of sin and of righteousness. Not your righteousness. Not telling you how you can do righteous. But he convinces men that righteousness is accomplished through Jesus Christ the Substitute. He shows men and women who are themselves sinners that God has established righteousness by the obedience of the Substitute.

Now you find somebody who denies the efficacy of Christ's obedience, the efficacy of his atonement, the sufficiency of his righteousness, and I'll show you somebody who does not know God. Those who are taught of God are convinced of righteousness, and they're convinced of judgment. I thank God. I thank God for the teaching of God's Holy Spirit, which makes me to see that God has finally, fully, completely, forever judged my sin in his Son, the Substitute. The Spirit of God comes and teaches men that their sins are completely, forever put away by the sacrifice of Christ.

Now you find somebody who knows God, I'll show you somebody who believes and knows and rejoices in definite accomplished redemption. That's right. There was plenty of room in the Ark, too. Plenty of room for all who entered in. It's true. There was no wasted space. Every room was filled, but none were turned away. There was an abundance of room, and in Christ Jesus, there's room enough for all who will come. The saying is still true. Lord, we've done as you have commanded, and yet there is room. There is room. If God the Holy Spirit calls you, if God the Father draws you, if God who sent Christ calls for you and you come, there's plenty of room in Christ Jesus for you. Plenty of room.

None who came to the ark were ever turned away. There was not one person who walked up and said, Noah, Noah, now I understand that the ark, the ark was built by God's decree. And the ark was built by God's plan. And the ark was built according to God's design. And there's room in that ark for everyone that God intends to save. I reckon it wouldn't do me any good to come in, would it? Why, foolish! Noah preached for 120 years. He said, come in the ark. Come in the ark. The door's open. Come on in. The door's open. Come on in. God said, come into the ark. God commands you to come into the ark. Judgment's coming. Get into the ark.

and come up and they say, well, well, there's not room in the ark for me. That wasn't the issue at all. They said, I don't need the ark. That was the issue. They said, God's a liar. He's not going to judge the world. I'm not worthy of God's judgment. I don't need that ark. And that's the reason they didn't enter the ark, not because of God's decree, but because of their hardness. And I'm telling you that everybody who entered the ark was saved. And I'm telling you that you who enter in by Christ Jesus shall find life abundant. And if you refuse to enter the ark, it won't be because of God's decree. That won't have anything to do with it. I know why you don't get in the ark. You don't get into the ark because you don't need the ark. That's the only reason. You will not enter the ark because you're too good for the ark. You will not enter the ark because you say, no, I'm not worthy of God's judgment. You will not enter the ark because you say, no, God in heaven will not punish me. Maybe you, but not me. You say, no, I'm not getting the ark because Christ Jesus is somebody I don't need. I don't need his righteousness. I don't need his redemption. I don't need his blood. I don't need his intercession. I don't need his rule. I don't need it. Don't need it. Good enough for somebody else, not me. I don't need it.

And you can blame it on the decree of God. You can blame it on preacher preaching on predestination. You can blame it on election. You can blame it wherever you want to. But in the day of judgment, you'll stand before God and God will say, you despise my son. Go to hell and to hell you'll go. That's right. You will not get into the ark for one reason. You don't want the ark. You will not have Christ Jesus. But in the ark, everything needed. was provided for all who entered in. Oh, if I could find a needy sinner, if I could find somebody, if I could find somebody who needs, who needs righteousness, Somebody who needs grace. Somebody who needs redemption. Somebody, somebody who needs pardon. Somebody who needs Christ. Somebody who needs life. Oh, if I could find the needy sinner. I got good news for needy sinners. There's abundant supply in Christ.

The problem Earl is I don't know anybody needy. I don't, I can't find any needy sinners. Somebody says I need, I need the Lord. Talk about needing him. I need the Lord. Sunday morning rolls around. I need the Lord, but you know, something's come up today. I need the Lord, but Granny came in. I've got to visit Granny. I need the Lord, but you know, I've got more important things to do. Good ball game on. I need the Lord. Boy, I sure would like to have pardon. I'm hungry for pardon. I'm thirsty for righteousness. I'm thirsty for mercy. I'm thirsty for grace.

Well, the door's open. Won't you come in? Well, don't be there next Sunday. I'll come back next Sunday. I've got better things to do today. I'm thirsty. I'm thirsty. Won't you come to the fountain? Well, the fountain will be there next week. I'll come next week.

Oh, find me an immediate thirsty one. If I could find the thirstiest, if I could find a thirsty man, anywhere in the world, if I could find somebody who was thirsty, I mean thirsty, thirsty, all I'd have to do is show them a glass. Just look here. See that? Oh, that's water. That's water. Are you thirsty? Anybody thirsty? Here it is. All you want is great. Here it is.

Find me a thirsty man, Bobby would rather have that water than anything in the world. He wouldn't let anything keep him from that water. He wouldn't let anything keep him from it. Oh, if I could find a needy sinner, I tell you there's abundant supply in Christ Jesus. All the grace I need is in him.

I'm a needy sinner. You see, I'm guilty. I'm defiled. I'm polluted. My heart's evil. Only evil continually. I'm a wicked, vile, wretched man. I know my sin. I need pardon. I've got it. I've got all the pardon I need. I need righteousness. I can't perform it, but I've got it. All I need is in Christ Jesus.

I need mercy. Oh, I need mercy. God be merciful to me. I need eternal mercy, daily mercy, saving mercy. I got it. I got everything I need in Christ, everything. But I need, I need daily supplies. I got that too. That's right. My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

I'm going to be honest with you. I really do not fret and worry about food and shelter, clothing, daily necessities. I don't concern myself with those things. Now, I'm not negligent. I'm not irresponsible, but I don't concern myself with those things. I do what God's put in my hand to do, exercise responsibility and diligence, and I wait upon God to supply my needs.

You say, well, that's easy enough. Sure it is. It is easy enough. It's easy when the needs have been supplied, and it's easy when the needs aren't there. It's easy enough. My father owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and he owns the hills. He owns everything. He doesn't let me go hungry. And all the needs I have for all eternity are well supplied in Christ Jesus.

What I'm trying to tell you is that Jesus Christ, the ark of salvation, is a mighty, all sufficient, able Savior. He really is. He really is. He's able. He's able to do all that he promised. All that he promised. He promised to save the cheapest of sinners. He's able. He promised to give water to the thirsty, life to the dead, bread to the hungry, rest to the weary. He's able to do it. He's able to do it.

He promised eternal salvation. And he's able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by him. The Lord God, our Savior, is able to keep that which I've committed to him. He's able to keep my soul, my eternal salvation. He's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. He's able to keep you from falling. He's able to present you faultless before the presence of his glory.

But thirdly, Noah and his family came into the ark by divine invitation. Look at chapter seven, verse one. And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark. The Lord said to Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark. God graciously revealed his thoughts of love, mercy and grace to Noah. Had the Lord not made himself known to Noah, Noah would have perished with the rest of the world.

In the same way, the Lord graciously reveals his love, mercy, and grace in Christ in the hearts of his elect by the gospel. Now, you'll notice this invitation. I use the word invitation. While I was writing out the message last night, I thought, well, no, that's a command. And I thought, yeah, it's a command, but it's an invitation. It's a command, but it's an invitation. It's an invitation, but it's a command.

The Lord God graciously invite sinners to come into the ark. I beseech you under the authority, with the authority, with the right of divine authority now, in the name of God, I beseech you, come into the ark. God has sent me here to you to tell you one more time that there's a way of life, Christ Jesus, and to call you to enter the ark. But it's also a command. You're responsible to enter. God says, come into the ark.

Now, notice this call which the Lord issued to Noah. It was a divine call. The Lord said to Noah, come into the ark. Saying there, I know something of my helplessness and insignificance. This is what I prayed. Heavenly Father, speak now or keep me from speaking. Help your servant to proclaim your grace for the good of your people and the glory of your son. Please do not leave me alone. I've been preaching to you a long time. Some of you longer than others. And some of you don't pay any attention. You just don't pay any attention. Oh, you like me. Don't misunderstand me. We get along all right. Maybe you like the way I preach, maybe even like what I preach, but you don't pay attention. You won't get in the ark. You'll stand around and look at it, admire it, talk about it, rub it, shine it up, work on it, but you won't get in. You won't get in. And I'll tell you why. Because all you've heard for nine years is me. That's all. Oh, but if God will now speak, If God will now speak to your heart, you get in the ark. Just that quick. Just that, you get in the ark. You get in, I don't have a question about that.

The Lord said to Noah, come into the ark. Wonder if he'll come. Noah went in. He went in. The Lord said to Noah and his sons and his wife and his son's wife, get in the ark. Wonder if they'll go, they all went in. And if the Lord commands you today, you'll get in there. It was a particular call to personal distinguishing. The Lord called Noah. Now, Noah called everybody who heard him. He said, Noah, what you doing? I'm building an ark. What for? Well, God's going to send a flood. He's going to destroy everybody that's not in the ark. Get in the ark. Noah, you You fool, it's never rained before, but God said it's gonna rain. Get in the ark. Well, Noah, everything's been going along all right all these years. God's never sent judgment. What makes you think you know everything? Get in the ark. God said he's gonna send judgment. God told me to build this ark. There's room for you. Come on, get in the ark. Get in the ark. But nobody got in that ark, because all they heard was Noah.

But God said to Noah, come in the ark. And he went in. Man, I lie when I heard my mother. Done! I went home. That's all it was. I knew who she was talking to. I knew her voice and I followed. I went home. I went home because I knew I didn't want the consequences. A time or two before, I didn't know. And I knew what was waiting. It was not a sweet little invitation. It was not something for me to decide. I heard her voice call me and to the house I went. And if God calls his own, you're going to get in there. You see, his call is always effectual. I don't preach with frustration because you don't hear me. I don't preach with despair because men won't hear me. Because I know if God speaks, you're going to hear. And if you belong to God, he's going to speak. He's going to do it. I know he will.

But fourthly, this ark by which Noah was saved beautifully represents our atonement by Christ. I ain't gonna get done, let me give you two things quickly. Noah was commanded to pitch the ark within and without with pitch. That word pitch means, it means to cover or to completely remove. 70 times in the Old Testament, it's translated to atone. And that's exactly what the blood of Christ is for us. The blood of Christ covers our sins, but it does more. It completely removes our sins. Completely removes them. It's pitched within and without. I wonder why he did that. It'd be sufficient just to have the blood on the outside. It'd be sufficient just to have the pitch on the outside. That'd be good enough. That'd keep the floods out. That'd keep the water out. As long as it's sealed good on the outside, no need to seal it on the inside. If it's sealed good on the outside, he pitched it without and pitched it within. I know why. That pitch without, that's redemption accomplished. That's for God. That's for God. The pitch within, that's redemption applied. That's for us. God sees that outside. God sees what Christ accomplished before the world began and what Christ accomplished at Calvary. God sees it always. His eye is always on the blood. But in faith, in regeneration in faith, God comes and makes known within the blood of Christ applied to my heart and our consciences are purged from dead works by the blood of the living God.

But notice also that the storm of God's wrath fully fell upon the ark. The rains descended. The earth began to break up from the beaks below and the floods swell. lightning flashed, and the dark clouds broke upon the earth, and the ark was tossed upon the sea of God's wrath, and the tempest beat upon the ark. Mercilessly, unmitigated wrath fell on that ark, and fell on that ark, and fell on that ark. But it never touched anybody inside that ark. They went through it, Burl, but it never touched them. The ark bore all the punishment. That's what happened when Christ died as our substitute. The merciless, unmitigated wrath of God fell on Christ, fell on Christ, fell on Christ, and beat on Christ, and beat on Christ until there was no wrath left. And we all bore the wrath of God in him, Lindsay. But he took all the punishment. He took all. Now there's no wrath left. The storm is over. There's no more wrath. Judgment is passed! There's no more wrath. There's therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.

And all who were in that ark were perfectly safe. Some of them knew it. Maybe some of them didn't. Some of them know those sons down in the lower deck. Down there is old Sham, his wife. That ark's tossing to and fro, and the clouds are dark, and they could barely see up there in that light in that third-story window. They could barely see the light. Jim's wife is hollering and screaming and carrying on. He says, honey, be quiet. It's all right. We're safe in there. She said, how do you know? God told my daddy. Well, how do you know your daddy's right? They toss back and forth, and they're upset. They can't see what's going on. They're unsure and uncertain, but they're in the ark. That's all that matters. They're in the ark. They're just as safe as Noah is sitting up there on the very top berth looking out at the light God gave through the midst of that dark storm. That's perfectly safe. Perfect.

The point is not how much do you believe. The point is not how confident are you. The point is are you in the ark? Are you in the ark? Get in the ark. In that ark was perfect safety. In that ark was rest, peace. There were many rooms in the ark. Margin translates it nest, places of rest. Oh, nestled down in Christ Jesus, children of God, and be at rest. Be at rest in him. In Christ. On this good ship, grace, all is well and all are safe. God has sworn that his wrath shall never more be poured out upon us again. And he will keep us by his grace.

Noah went in the ark and the Lord shut the door. He shut him in. But what if he decides to get out? The Lord shut the door. He shut him in. He kept him in. And when he came out, Noah came out, built an altar, and offered sacrifices of praise, thanksgiving to God. First thing he did when he came out of the ark, you remember what it was? He built an altar, offered sacrifice to God,

And then he got, he got drunk as a skunk. He got, he got drunk as a skunk. And in the midst of his drunkenness, his son committed horrible And I can picture old Noah. Probably just about the time he sobered up, he saw a cloud rising in the sky. And he must have trembled. The rain started to fall, and there was no ark left. It's gone. It's gone. It's gone. The rain started to fall, and the heavens were silent. And Noah looked at his sin, and he must have trembled with horrible fear. But through the rain and the clouds and the mist, he saw in the distance a bow. There it is. God said, I'll no more remember your sin against you. Here's my covenant. You can rest on it. And Noah took heart and worshiped God.

In the teeth of my sin and in the dark billows over my head, I see a bow circling the throne of God. And God declares, I will not forget my covenant. I will not punish you again. I will not pour out wrath upon you. And I rejoice and give him thanks. Will you get in the ark? Will you get in the ark? Will you get in the ark? Or will you forever die?