You're going to have to bear
with my sniffles. In Luke chapter 17, the Lord
had spoken of His second coming, and then the necessity of His
suffering, and then the nature of His second coming, and He
says in verse 26, And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall
it be also in the days of the Son of Man. They did eat, they
drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage into the
day that Noah entered into the ark. And the flood came and destroyed
them all. Some 4,000 years ago, a flood covered this earth. The Lord spoke of it as a literal
event. Usually when people think of
Noah's ark and the flood, they think of a Sunday school lesson,
and they think of the ark, and they even got one up in northern
Kentucky right now that they're building, and supposed to be
a likeness of the ark. But There was a flood that covered
the entire earth and only eight people were saved. Now I want
you to think of the magnitude of that. God destroyed the entire
earth and only eight people were saved. Now there have been remains
of marine life in every mountain range. You know, I remember one
time when I was a boy on the top of a mountain in West Virginia
and I found seashells. And I thought, how in the world
did these get here? Well, I know how they got there, the flood.
This flood covered every mountain range, 15 feet above the highest
mountain range in the world. Now, this flood was an act of
God's judgment upon the sinfulness of man. Now, right before the
flood, there was no evidence there would be one. You know,
the day before the flood, it was sunny, shiny, no evidence
that there would be a flood, and people were living their
lives, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, and doing
what is needed to be done to sustain these activities. They
were working, they were planting, they were building. They had
a life to live, and they were living it. They had education,
they had commerce, they had no idea that a flood was coming
other than the warnings of Noah. God told Noah there would be
a flood. He's the only one he told that. Now, by the genealogies given
in Genesis, we know this happened about 2,000 years after the creation
of Adam. So things have been going for
2,000 years before God sent this flood. Now turn back to Genesis
chapter 6. And let's look at the events surrounding this. And it came to pass when men
began to multiply on the face of the earth. and daughters were
born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men,
that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which
they chose." Now somebody says, explain that to me. I can't.
I'm sorry, I can't. I know it wasn't angels getting
together with women. Because the Lord tells us that
angels are not like that. They don't marry or are given
in marriage. And so I guess the best thing that I can think of
is that the sons of God, those who profess Christ, married those
who had no love for God, and it just ended up corrupting things.
Verse 3, and the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive
with man, for that he also is flesh, yet his day shall be in
120 years. I'm going to give man another
120 years. That's why we know that Noah
spent 120 years building the ark. Verse four, there were giants
in the earth in those days and also after that when the sons
of God came into the daughters of men and they bare children
to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of
renown. Now all I can think of is that these were wicked men.
They were wicked men, they were scary men. And look at the testimony
God gives of the earth at this time. Verse five, and God saw
that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."
Now this is God's testimony. He looks down from heaven, and
he looks in my heart, he looks in your heart. He looks in the
heart of every man, and here's what he saw, that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination, he's
not even talking about the works right now, every imagination,
the thoughts of his heart was only evil, nonstop. What a testimony. That's God's
testimony. That's what God sees. And that's
what God sees when he looks into my heart and your heart by nature. God looked down from heaven.
And this is what he saw, verse six. And it repented the Lord
that he'd made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
God is grieved by sin and wickedness. He's not indifferent about it.
Now, it didn't take him by surprise. He knew exactly what was going
to happen, just like he knew Adam would eat of the tree. He
said, in the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die. It was
all part of his purpose and plan. But God is always grieved by
wickedness. Verse 7, and the Lord said, I
will destroy man whom I've created from the face of the earth, both
man and beast, and the creeping thing and the fowls of the air,
for it repenteth me that I've made them. But It's one of the best words in
the Bible. But, Noah found grace in the
eyes of the Lord. I read where one man said, Noah
was the only man in the world that wasn't like these people
described in Genesis chapter 6, 5. No, Noah was one of them. This is God's testimony regarding
all men. But, but, Ephesians 2, 4. In the first three verses, he's
talking about how wicked man is among them. And you, hath
he quickened who are dead in trespasses and sins? Where in
times past you walked according to the course of this world,
according to the spirit of the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in
the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind. And we were by nature the children of wrath, just like
everybody else. But God, who is rich in mercy for his
great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. But Noah, he found
grace God's favor. God had favor toward him. Now,
Noah was a sinner saved by grace. If you and I are saved, we'll
be saved the same way Noah was, by grace. By grace are you saved.
Noah, he was elect. He was redeemed. He was justified. He was regenerated. He was saved
the same way you and I are. By the grace of God. Look at God's testimony of this
man. Look at verse 9. These are the
generations of Noah. Noah was a just man. A just man. And perfect in his generations. And Noah walked with God. Now
this is God's testimony of him. He says he was a just man. A
perfect man. And this is interesting. This
word used to describe Noah is the same word used to describe
the Paschal Lamb. Without blemish. That's God's
testimony of Noah. He was without blemish. You know
what that means? That means Noah was a justified
man. He was justified the same way
that Pelican was in the temple. God declared him to be justified
and he was justified. That's how God saw him and that's
how God sees every believer. Look in chapter 7 verse 1. And
the Lord said unto Noah, Come down all thy house into the ark,
for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. And this is what God says with
regard to every believer. He says, Thee have I seen righteous. Now how could that be if Noah
was in the same group described in verse 5? Because God saved
him. Because God had mercy on him. Because God put away his
sins. Because God gave the righteousness
of His Son to him. And God said, I see you as righteous.
And I say this, let me say it again. How God sees things is
how they really are. If He sees you as righteous,
there's only one reason He sees you as righteous. It's not pretend.
It's because you are the very righteousness of God in Him. That's the gospel, isn't it?
Justification. Noah's faith was real. It caused
him to walk with God. Look back again in chapter 6,
verse 9. These are the generations of
Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and
Noah walked with God. Now, most of the preaching I've
ever done with regard to Noah always had to do with the ark.
how the ark is a type of Christ. I've never really spent much
time thinking about, or I don't remember ever preaching on the
faith of Noah. But Noah had a remarkable faith, a God-given faith. Look in Hebrews chapter 11. Keep
your finger there in Genesis 6 and look in Hebrews chapter
11. You know, his faith really was the
exact same faith as Abraham. He believed what God said. God
told him the flood is coming, build an ark. Abraham believed
God. He believed exactly what God
said and he proved it by building that ark. In Hebrews chapter
11 verse 7 we read, 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. Now God warned
him about something that was not going to take place for 120
years. What if God told you about something
that's going to take place in the year 2235? You wouldn't think that much
about it, would you? That's a long way away. And we don't know that
God spoke to him again, but he told Noah, I'm going to destroy
the earth with a flood because of the sinfulness of man. And
when he said that, there were no angry clouds on the horizon. It was a sunny day. And the only
evidence that it would happen was God said it would. And it
wouldn't happen for another 130 years. And then God told Noah
to build an ark on the dry ground. Now this wooden boat that he
built. He was given the specifications
of it, and I imagine he wrote them down. He wasn't going to
get this wrong. This was the perfect sailing ship. But do
you know that it was half the size of a battleship? It was
450 feet long. It was 75 feet wide. It was 45
feet high. Now how could one man, or at
least one man and his sons, do this? I don't know, but they
did it. I bet those guys were in good
shape. Can you imagine the trees they cut down to make this wood? Somebody estimated that it was
8,000 tons of wood that they cut down over that 120 year period
in construction of this ark. 120 years in building. Noah believed God, just like
Abraham did, and he proved it by his works. He began to build
that ark, just as God told him to do it. Now, in this 120 years
of building, and where he was building this ark, there wasn't
an ocean for 120 miles. Can you imagine the ridicule
that he experienced? What in the world are you doing? Noah, you are an idiot. Noah,
you are crazy. You're the biggest fool alive.
Building a boat like that on dry ground? And I would imagine
this was the greatest construction project anybody had ever seen. Tower of Babel hadn't taken place
yet. This took place after the flood.
And people were enamored by the largeness of the ark and the
impressiveness of the ark, but they thought, why would somebody
be building a boat like this on dry ground? But there he goes for 120 years. And think about this. I suppose
on numerous occasions, Maybe some little boy came up to his
father and said, Dad, that man knows building an ark. And he
says a flood's coming. And it's going to drown everybody.
And the only place of safety is in the ark. And that boy's
dad said, you know, I had the same conversation with my dad
20 years ago. Same thing. And he had the same conversation
with his dad. It's been going on forever. Don't
pay any attention to it. It's been going on forever. Yeah. But there was a time when it
would stop. Turn with me to 2 Peter 2. Now
while Peter, or while Noah was building this ark, he was doing
some preaching along the way. 2 Peter 2. Verse 4. For if God spared not the angels
that sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into
the chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment, and spared
not the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher
of righteousness. bringing in the flood upon the
world of the ungodly. Noah did some preaching, and
he is described in Holy Scripture as a preacher of righteousness.
Now, most people would say, well, Noah's saying, you bunch of wicked
people, you better straighten up and live righteous, because
God's gonna flood this world, and you need to get out of this.
You need to straighten up, you need to be righteous, you need
to be obedient. All this sin in this world, this is where
the problem is. Now, he knew what sin was. And I guarantee
you he wasn't saying anything like that. He was saying God
is righteous, that's why he's gonna destroy the world. There's
nothing in us but sin. God is righteous, that's why
this flood is coming. God is righteous, he must punish
sin. But thank God there is a place of safety in the ark. If you
come into the ark, you'll be spared. And that was his preaching. God is righteous. That's why
this flood's coming. But thank God he's merciful,
and he has provided an ark. You know, anybody who would have
wanted to come into that ark could have come in before the
rain started falling. Now, it was a different story
after the rain started falling. But before that, anybody who
would have wanted to come into that ark, he would have said,
come and welcome. God has provided an ark. This was a huge undertaking,
450 feet long, a football field and a half, 75 feet wide, 45
feet high, three stories with rooms and enough food for your
family and all those animals that were going to be on the
ark. Now, this ark only had one door. There's only one way into
safety. That's through Christ. This ark
only had one window. You know where it
was? It was up at the top. The only
way I can truly see things is looking up and seeing things
from God's perspective, as he's made known in his word. The only
way in was by faith in Christ. Now, I think it's interesting
if you read about what he says to do with this ark. And I can't,
like I said, I can't imagine three men building something
this large. They did. And I guess if you've
got 120 years to do it, you can do it. But the scripture says
it was to be pitched within and without with pitch, which was
a black, tarry substance. But what is so interesting about
this, this is the same word that's used in the Old Testament for
atonement. The precise same word. Now this ark, what is it that
kept the water from getting in? The pitch, the atonement. What
is it that kept the wrath of God from coming in on you? The
atonement. But not only did they cover it
with pitch on the outside, on the inside of the ark, they covered
it with pitch. this black, tarry substance. I've tried to think about what
it would be like to have those as your walls and so on. I mean,
it probably didn't seem like it'd be very pleasant, but here's
the point. What is it that keeps me on the
inside? What is it that preserves me?
What is it that keeps me from falling away? The atonement,
the pitch, the blood of Christ. That's what causes God to preserve
me, and you know, that is what motivates me. Let me show you
a passage of scripture in Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. You know, it's not law that keeps
people in line. It's really not. I know preachers
think it is, but it's not. It's not law. Law is not going
to cause anybody to continue. The only way you're going to
continue is if you see the blood of Christ always makes you without
sin and perfect before God, and you don't need anything else. Do you know if you ever really
believe that, you know what it's going to cause you to do? It's
going to cause you to persevere in the faith. Not law, not works, but the blood
of Christ. Look here in Hebrews chapter
10 beginning in verse 14. For by one offering, talking
about his bloody death on Calvary's tree, his sacrifice for sin,
he hath perfected temporarily? No, forever. forever than that are sanctified. Now, that word is in the perfect
tense, perfectly completed, never to be repeated. If Christ died
for you, that means right now, I don't care how you feel, doesn't
make any difference to me. I don't care how you feel, I
don't care how close to him you feel, I don't care how far away
from him you feel. If Christ died for you, You are perfected
forever. And there's nothing you can do
to mess that up. There's nothing you can do to
lose that. You are perfected forever. Now let's go on reading. Whereof
the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. This is what the Holy
Spirit Himself bears testimony to, to your spirit and your conscience,
that the blood of Christ is all that's needed to make you perfected
forever. You're not looking to anything
else but what He did. For after he said before, verse
16, this is the covenant that I'll make with them after those
days, saith the Lord, I'll put my laws in their hearts, and
in their minds will I write them, and their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more. Now, where remission of these
is, there's no more offering for sin. So don't try to bring
one. Don't try to bring one. Don't try to bring anything.
Trust what He has done. Verse 19, having therefore brethren
boldness to enter into the holiest by your works, no, no, by the
blood, by the blood of Jesus we have boldness to enter into
the very presence of God by a new and living way, a freshly slaughtered,
and a living way which He hath consecrated for us through the
veil, that is to say, His flesh. And having an high priest over
the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold
fast the profession of our faith." And that word is actually hope.
Well, what's your hope? what I've been reading about,
that he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, and
that's all I need. Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised,
and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good
works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the
manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the
more as you see the day, that day of judgment, the day of the
coming of Christ approaching. Now, the blood of Christ, is
everything in our approach to God. So this ark was pitched
within and without with pitched. What kept the water out? What
kept the wrath of God out? What keeps the wrath of God away
from me? The atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's all. But is anything else needed?
And what keeps me on the inside? knowing of His atonement. That's all that is necessary. Now, this ark was huge. There was plenty of room, and
like I've already said, I have no doubt that anybody who wanted
to come into that ark with Noah and his family was welcome to
come in. I think of the words of John,
the Spirit and the bride say, come! and let him that heareth
say, Come. And whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. No one was prevented from coming
in. But do you know not one single
person saw their need? Not even one. Nobody believed
Noah. I guess by human standards, no
one would consider himself, well, my failure. The only people who
have believed are the members of my family. And nobody else. He preached righteousness for
120 years. Spoke of this ark for 120 years. And this ark, remember, the only
place of safety was there. This ark is Christ. The only
place of safety is in Christ. And no one wanted to come in. I'm sure many people, it came
up and after he'd been building on it 80 or 90 years, they were
impressed. but nobody desired to come in. Now the ark was built
according to the specifications of God that he gave beforehand,
and everything that Christ did was foreordained by God, and
finally it was finished after 120 years of building. That's
a long construction project, isn't it? And finally it was
finished. And there this wild, weird monstrosity
sets on the ground. Look in Genesis 6, verse 22. Thus did Noah, according to all
that God commanded him, so did he. He built the ark and got
the animals in just as God said to do. And the Lord said unto
Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I
seen righteous before me in this generation. Of every clean beast
thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female, and
of the beasts that are not clean by two, the male and the female.
Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female, to keep
seed alive upon the face of all the earth for yet seven days.
In seven days. I will cause it to rain upon
the earth. Forty days and forty nights and
every living substance that I've made I will destroy from off
the face of the earth. And Noah did according to all
the Lord had commanded him. And Noah was 600 years old when
the flood of waters came upon the earth. And Noah went in,
and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him into
the ark, because of the waters of the flood, of clean beasts,
and of beasts that were not clean, and of fowls, and of everything
that creepeth upon the earth. They were in two, and two to
Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded
Noah. And it came to pass, after seven days, that the waters of
the flood were upon the earth." Now you think of this seven day
period, If the sun was shining, beautiful day. As a matter of
fact, I don't know whether this is so, but I've always read that
it never rained until after the flood. Somehow the earth was
misted, and it does speak of that, the earth being misted
in Genesis chapter 2 or 3, you know, but there was no rain until
after the flood, so people didn't even know what rain was. But
before a drop of water fell, you had to get in the ark. Now
what faith there is in that? He's getting in this ark before
a drop of water fell. Now, beginning in verse 16 of
chapter 7. And they that went in, went in,
male and female, all of them, as God had commanded him, and
the Lord shut him in. I love that. You know, the Lord
shut me in to Christ. That's why I can't get out. I've
been shut in and I can't get out and don't want to get out.
Both ways. Verse 17, And the flood was forty
days upon the earth, and the waters increased, and bare up
the ark, and was lifted above the earth. And the waters prevailed,
and were increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark went upon
the face of the waters. Now, the fountains of the deep
were broken up, the rain came down, and I would imagine, when
it started raining, and when all of a sudden people saw water
starting on the ground, you reckon they went to the ark and started
beating on the door? Let us in! Let us in! They could
have come in before the rain. They were invited in. But now
that it's beginning to rain, there's no entrance. And one
thing I'll guarantee you you wouldn't have seen was a poster
saying, smile, God loves you on the ark. It wouldn't have
happened. The rain is lifting up the ark with the eight people
in it. Now, 40 days and 40 nights, the
water arose. 15 cubits above the highest mountain. Now, I want you to think about
this ark during this 40-day period. And this is the gospel right
here. This is the gospel as clearly as I know how to preach it. That
ark bore the full fury of the wind and the rain and the storm
and the wrath of God. It all came upon that ark. And
everybody in that ark was saved. and everybody outside of that
ark drowned. Now that's the facts. If you're in Christ, you're saved. If you're not in Christ, the
wrath of God will come upon you. Now somebody says, how do I get
in Christ? I reckon that's a good question, but you know the scripture
says, of Him are you in Christ Jesus. The only way you can get
in Christ is if God put you there. I don't know what else to say.
What's the evidence He's put you there? You believe the gospel.
You're relying on Christ as your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. If you're doing that, if you're
relying on Christ as your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption, God put you in Christ. You're in Christ, and
you're safe. And anybody outside of Christ,
there is no safety. Now, there were eight people
who had, by the grace of God, the faith to get into the ark.
I don't know if it was varying degrees of faith. Somehow I feel
like Noah didn't have any doubts. No doubts whatsoever. And I have
a feeling that everybody else was plagued with doubts, wondering
if this was really going to happen, wondering if the ark would hold
up under the water, and all those things. But they weren't any
less secure than Noah was, because they were in the ark. They did
have enough faith to know that they needed to get in the ark.
That was it. And in the ark. they went and
they were all completely saved. Now Ephesians 1.6 says our acceptance
is in the beloved, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look in chapter
8, 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, and the waters returned from
off the earth continually. And after the end of the 150
days, the waters were abated. And the ark rested in the seventh
month, on the 17th day of the month, upon the mountains of
Ararat." And you know, people are always looking for the ark
and the wood and stuff like that. You can see about it on there.
Have we found some wood from Noah's ark? Probably not. Probably
not, but would it make you believe more if they found it? Wouldn't
it? This is God's Word. And it rested on this mountain,
and the waters decreased continually into the tenth month. In the
tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of
the mountains seen. Look in verse 15 of the same
chapter. And God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark,
thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.
Bring forth with thee every living thing that's with thee, of all
the flesh, both of the fowl, and of the cattle, and of every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, that they may
breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply
upon the earth. And Noah went forth, and his
son, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, every beast,
every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth
upon the earth, after their kinds went forth out of the ark, And
what's the first thing Noah did? And Noah builded an altar unto
the Lord, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl,
and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled
a sweet savor. Satisfaction. And he said, I'll not again curse
the ground any more for man's sake, for the imagination of
man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I again smite
any more everything living as I've done. While the earth remaineth,
seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter,
and day and night shall not cease. Now there's a, needless to say, an unusual end
to this story. Look in verse 8. And God spake unto Noah and to
his sons with him, saying, And, I behold, I establish my covenant
with you, and with your seed after you, and with every living
creature that is with you, of the fowl of the cattle, and of
every beast of the earth, with you from all that go forth out
of the ark, to every beast of the earth, and I'll establish
my covenant with you. Neither shall all flesh be cut
off anymore by the waters of a flood, neither shall there
anymore be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, this
is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you.
Every living creature that's with you for perpetual generations,
I do set my bow in the cloud. It shall be for a token of a
covenant between me and thee. The next time you look at a rainbow,
remember that and look at it. This is God's token of his covenant. Verse 18, and the sons of Noah
that went forth of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Ham
is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah,
and of them was the whole earth overspread. You're his descendants.
You're one of these, well, you're Noah's descendants. I am too.
I mean, he was the only one left. And Noah began to be a husband,
and he planted a vineyard, and he drank of the wine and was
drunken. And he was uncovered within his tent. Now, I don't
really know what the significance of that is, but I know it's not
good. He was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father
of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and he told his
two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took garment
and laid it upon both their shoulders and went backward and covered
the nakedness of their father. And their faces were backward
and they saw not their father's nakedness. And Noah awoke from
his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him, and he
said, Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants, shall he be unto
his brethren? And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and
Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and
he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be his
servant. Noah lived after the flood 350
years, and all the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died. Here's the point. The two sons
wanted Noah covered. The one son wanted him exposed. If I love you, I want you to
be covered. I don't want your nakedness to
be seen. I want you to be covered. And Ham, he wanted his daddy's
nakedness exposed. Love covereth a transgression. May God give us the spirit of
covering. The Lord covered our sin. He
covered it. And may we have this spirit of
covering and not exposing. Let's pray together. Lord, how we thank you for the
gospel. How we thank you for our ark, the Lord Jesus Christ. How we thank you for his precious
blood that keeps the wrath of thy father away from us. How
we thank the Lord Jesus Christ for the atonement on the inside. How we thank you for the gospel.
Lord, give us grace to enter into the ark. And Lord, deliver
us from ever wanting to uncover somebody's sin or nakedness. And cause us to always seek to
cover. And how we thank you for the
covering of thy blessed son. Now Lord, bless this message
for your glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray, amen.