You would turn with me this evening
to Genesis chapter 6. That's where our text is going
to be, but I'm going to read a couple of verses out of Luke
17 to start off. Luke 17. 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 and they drank and
they married wives and they were given in marriage until the day
that Noah entered into the ark and the flood came and destroyed
them all. In 1 Peter 3 20, I'll just read
it. You don't have to turn there.
When once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of
Noah while the ark was preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls
were saved by water. See, we find Noah mentioned 55
times in the Bible, in 10 different books. So, clearly, there's some
importance around how this man was used and what was around
him. So we can look at his faith or his obedience to what God
told him. Yes, these things are true, but
we see mainly what is around him in God's judgment. Noah is
mainly known by the ark and the flood. And so if you'll turn
over to the Genesis six, this is where we're going to spend
most of our time. Noah is known for God's judgment
and the wickedness of this world. No, no sin and no iniquity, either
small or great, will pass. The Lord will require payment
for all of them. They cry unto him. These sins cry unto the
Lord for justice. In Genesis 4 we read of the Lord
speaking to Cain after he had murdered his brother Abel. The
voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the ground.
And in James chapter 5, speaking of men that had been defrauded
payment, the cries of them which have reaped are entered into
the ears of the Lord at Sabbath. He heareth the cry of the afflicted. In Genesis 19, this is what for
me was one of the more frightening things to see about the cry that
judgment has to God was the cry revolving around Sodom and Gomorrah. The cry of them is waxing great
before the Lord. Because the cry of Sodom and
Gomorrah is great, And because their sin is very grievous, I
will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according
to the private, which has come into me. And if not, I will know
this is the Lord speaking to think that the sins and injustices
that are committed against him, they cry out to him for justice.
The question I ask now is, does God hear the cry for justice
for my sins? Am I as wicked and as evil as
the men spoken of here? Well, as I stand before you and
as you sit here, we're all a bunch of little judges. We turn our
heads to what we would call minor sins, small things we minimize,
especially when the sin is our own. Well, if I'm judged by me. That might be OK, but the problem
is, is that we're judged by God, by his law and how he sees us.
Well, how does he see us? Genesis six, five, our text here,
and God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. And that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, and my
margin says here that every imagination is the whole imagination, but
the purposes and desires of the heart of man was only evil continually. Genesis six eleven. The earth
also was corrupt before God and the earth was filled with violence
and God looked upon the earth and behold, it was corrupt for
all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. Well, what is
to be done? Only evil continually, all flesh
had corrupted his way. Well, in Genesis 6-7, And the
Lord said, I will destroy man whom I've created from the face
of the earth, both man, beast, creeping thing, and the fowls
of the air. For it repenteth me that I've
made them. It grieved me. And then we find this obscure
verse in verse eight, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the
Lord. So this Noah found grace in the
eyes of the Lord is all in the midst of only evil continually. All flesh had corrupted his way.
And yet we find this verse. So does only evil continually
and all flesh had corrupted his way described Noah. Does it describe
you describe me? Turn over to Isaiah 59. Verse one. Behold, the Lord's
hand is not shortened that it cannot save. Neither is his ear
heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities has separated
between you and your God. And your sins have hid his face
from you that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with
blood and your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies and
your tongue have muttered perverseness. None called for justice, nor
any fleet for truth. They trust in vanity. Speak lies,
they conceive mischief and they bring forth iniquity. So what
we see this passage here saying is that. Your iniquities have
separated you between you and your God and your because of
your sins, because of my sins, he's hid his face from me so
much so that he won't hear me. He won't hear me when I cry.
He won't hear me when I pray. And you think of the gravity
of that, of what's being said there. And so if this is us,
we're in trouble, the God wouldn't hear me. I'm doomed if he doesn't
hear me. So I want to know more about what it was saying back
in Genesis six, eight, that Noah found grace, because if he was
one of these wicked and evil people, what set him apart? What
does that mean? So Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. What is this saying? Well, we
first have to ask the question, what's grace? Well, grace is
God's unmerited favor. It's God doing something for
me in spite of myself, despite what I deserve, despite what
I have coming to me. It's God doing something for
me apart from those things. Noah was just as wicked as the
rest, Noah, but Noah found favor. So how can these things be? Well,
we can look at over at Jeremiah chapter one. In verse five, he says, Before
I formed the in the belly, I knew the. And before that came as
fourth out of the womb, I sanctified the and I ordained the a prophet
unto the nations. So this thing of Noah finding
grace, despite being one of these evil, wicked people is being
found only and understood through election. So before he knew or
loved Jeremiah, he said, before you came forth, I sanctified
you. I made you holy before you came forth. This really doesn't
make sense to us because as men and women, we we only understand
what happens in our subjective experience. So let me give you
an example of what I'm saying. I have a son, Wyatt, and there
was a time when my wife was pregnant with him. I knew he was coming,
but I didn't know him. I knew that I was supposed to
love him, but I didn't. He was, you know, he was, he's
right here. Megan would say, he's right here. He's in my belly
feeling. Yeah. Okay. You know, I feel, but I don't
have that feeling. I don't, I don't feel it. It's
because I didn't know him. And so in our subjective experience,
once he came here, I did love him. I love my son. I never knew
how much I'd love my son to leave us here. But in our subjective
experience through our lives, we don't understand this. I loved
you before you were born. I sanctified you, made you holy
before any of these things, before you were even formed. And what
God's saying about Jeremiah and election. And so I'm thankful
that God is not like us. Because God, if God had to see
and to know me after I was born to find a reason in me to love
me, he couldn't love me. The Lord loved and sanctified
Jeremiah because Jeremiah was in Christ before the world began.
That's that's how the only way Jeremiah could ever have been
loved before he was. Jeremiah was one of the elect
in Christ, and this is the only way God could love him. Noah
found grace because Noah was in Christ, and even though the
deeds of his heart was evil as far as what we can see as a man,
because when it says all flesh had corrupted his way, that's
Noah, too. He's flesh, too. So Noah was in Christ, and if
I'm in Christ, then my sins are paid for and they've been paid
for by Christ before the world began. Noah is given to us as
a picture of the elect in Christ, and that's what he's going to
serve in terms of what we're looking at this evening. So we've
seen what judgments cry was judgments, cried to God, and he spoke to
Noah. Now judgments come in Genesis
6, 13, back in our text. And God said into Noah. The end
of all flesh is come before me. For the earth is filled with
black violence and through them and behold, I will destroy them
with the earth. Now, you imagine the weight of
this news. Everybody in here makes plans
and you think about what you're going to do tomorrow. Think about
maybe what you're going to do 10 years from now, even 30 years
from now. You know, we set up retirement
plans. I'm going to plan to retire one day, I hope. So we set these
things up. We make plans. But yet we see
that's not necessarily what God's plan was. And so when he brings
this news upon Noah, when he says the end of all flesh has
come. And he's going to destroy the
earth, this is this is more than what We can really fathom the
weight of this news, and this is really where faith faith is
tried with something like this, when the Lord brings this news
to Noah, because he could have just said, well, you know, I
don't understand what's the point? I give up. Kill me, too. But
he didn't. And many leave when faced with
the sovereignty of God, it was out of Noah's hands as to why
the Lord chose him, but But the Lord did, and he gave him the
grace to continue in it. So for your pick up in verse
14, he tells Noah, make the an arc of gopher wood room, shall
they make in the arc and shall pitch it within and without the
pitch. And this is the fashion which shall make it. The length
of the arc should be 300 cubits. The breadth of it, 50 cubits
and the height of it, 30 cubits. A window shall they'll make the
arc and then a cubit shall they'll finish it above. and the door
of the ark shall they'll set in the side thereof with lower,
second and third story shall they'll make it. And behold,
I, even I do bring flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all
flesh, wherein is the breadth of life from under heaven and
everything that is in the earth shall die. But with thee will
I establish my covenant and thou shalt come into the ark, thou
and thy sons and thy wife and thy sons, wives with thee, and
of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shall
thou bring into the ark to keep them alive with thee. And they
shall be male and female, of fowls after their kind, of cattle
after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after
his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee to keep them alive. and take thou unto thee of all
food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee, and
it shall be for food for thee and for them. So we can see what
God's plans are given to Noah for building this ark and what
he tells him he's going to need to do. I mean, the enormity of
this task, build this gigantic vessel and then put all these
animals in it. So we know the story of Noah
and the ark, but the building of the ark is not what saved
Noah. Noah was the only one who was
fit to build this ark and to do this. I'm sure there are many
other men who could have just as well built it. And I'm sure
there are others who built boats when the floods started to come
and they started to see this rain falling. The world wasn't
flooded in a day. And so it probably took some
time for all this to fill up. And so many people probably caught
on and even came to the boat where Noah was to get on it.
But it's the ark has represented Noah's faith in God to do what
he said he would do. So by building the ark, it was
evidence that Noah believed God. And so in Genesis 622, thus did
Noah, according to all that God commanded him, so did he. In chapter seven, verse one,
and the Lord said unto Noah, Come now and all thy house into
the ark. For thee have I seen righteous
before me in this generation. For thee have I seen righteous
before me. Thought Noah was just as evil as the rest, but yet
he's viewed as righteous. And it's only when we're viewed
in Christ had nothing to do with what Noah did at all. It's only
when viewed in Christ are we seen as righteous. The Ark is
given as a picture of Christ. And so what happened to anybody
who was outside of that Ark? They were destroyed. They died.
So all that were outside of that Ark died. And if that Ark is
given as a picture of Christ, all those who are in Christ are
saved. So I need to be in Christ. I
need to be found in him if I have any hope to be saved. And so
when the Lord says, come down and all the house into the ark,
this is not an invitation to know because everyone outside
of the ark was destroyed. This was a command. Noah come
into the into the ark and all the house. And so we're given
the same command to come to Christ, to ask him to save us. Lord, save me. And yet we're
to ask this, not just asking him this, but we're to ask this
with our whole heart. Believing that he'll do what
he said, Lord, I need to be saved, not just not just something I'm
satisfied if I don't get an ask. It's something I must have. And
this is the only this is the one thing that we can ask of
him and be certain that he will give us. He said, if you ask,
you will receive. Yes, he's sovereign. Yes, that
he did elect and there were a finite number of elect that he has in
Christ, and that number can't be diminished from or added to.
But yet in the course of our life and in time, we're called
upon to ask, to be called, to believe the gospel, to hear the
gospel. All these things are given to God's elect. This is
the course of our life and we have to do this. So we're to
ask. And if Noah would have waited until the rain fell to enter
the ark, it wouldn't have been a faith because then he would
have seen the evidence of what God said would happen. But now
it wouldn't have been a faith. He would have been watching and
saying, OK, well, I can discern the times and get in because
it's raining. But he believed God and he came into the ark
because he was commanded to. I was kind of looking at this
and thinking at this time, Noah was 600 years old. So Noah was
not a young man by any sorts, and God gave him the command
to build this ark. It took him 100 years to build
the ark. And so when you look at the time
that he was given the commandment to the time he went into the
ark, it took 100 years. And you think over that 100 years,
there was no evidence of any rainfall. It's not like it rained
slowly and the rain came up and he got it done just in time.
What if in the 56th year of building the ark, he decided, I don't
know, maybe maybe this is not going to happen. He didn't. And
what the evidence is saving and faith saving faith endures to
the end. The Lord gave Noah the grace
and the faith to believe him at his word and for 100 years
built this ark. This is what I want is a saving
faith. I don't want to be found at the end when the flood comes
to be found, having been wanting before the Lord, not having everything
I need. And that's only found in Christ.
And so I must be found in him and believe him in his word.
You think of the tools that Noah had, the enormity of the task,
it's not like Noah had a place he could go get these great big
beams and timbers and build this art from and a team of men to
build it. They probably had to go cut these trees down and file
them down and make them into boards and build this thing.
So, I mean, this is a hundred years. And what if he had stopped
or delayed? Or what other people around the
land thought? You have to know that he was
viewed as probably a crazy person in his land. You know, you're
going to build this giant boat because all this rain is going
to fall when it had never rained. And you're going to take all
these animals and go away. They probably thought he was
insane. And but yet it's when we read of what the New Testament
describes, Noah said, Noah moved with fear. And so this is my
prayer for me and for you, that we would believe God at his word
so much that we, too, would move with fear when given his commandment. Just because flood was 100 years
away, didn't make it any less real. And with that in mind,
we have to consider our own salvation and belief in Christ. Now, one
thing is certain is we're going to die and we don't know when
might be. Like we say, we plan for 50 years
later, might be tomorrow. I don't know. But one thing,
everything gets summed up, just like with Noah, with the plans
and things that he probably had with his friends and family plan.
It all gets summed up to one moment that when that flood starts,
am I found in Christ or am I not? Everything else is not important.
This is the only thing of any any importance at all. And so.
I need to know that I'm found in Christ and that Christ knows
me. Noah moved with fear and this was a serious matter and
that we're to take it the same way. And in Genesis seven, verse
seven, 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 are not clean, and fowls, and
of everything that creepeth upon the earth. There went in two,
and two unto Noah, and two the ark. Male and female has God
had commanded Noah. So this, you know, we look at
the story of Noah probably as what we call a Bible story. And,
you know, you'd have the picture of Noah and the animals and the
animals coming into the ark. So if this is all we see in this,
we're missing because there's there's such a wealth of gospel
in this in that. There were lions, bears, tigers,
goats, cattle, sheep, wild animals. It's not like Noah could have
gone over 100 years or rounded these animals up. and brought
them into the ark and just made them, you know, pull them in,
you know, especially with what he had to work with. And at this
time, you can't go get an elephant or rhinoceros and drag them into
the ark. You can't do that. So what what
we're reading the scripture here, it says in. Says here in Genesis
six, 20, every sort shall come unto thee. So you see, it says
they'll come unto thee. This was not in their nature.
These are wild animals. So if you even get, you know,
there's a reason why at the zoo they have big bars and cages
around a tiger cage. If you come near them, they'll
kill you and eat you. And so their nature is only that. That's
all they know. That's all they can be. You can
you can train it. You could probably breed several
generations of tigers, but you never make it be any different
than a tiger. The tiger would kill you. This
was their nature. And that's all they'll ever be.
And so the Lord had to draw them. The Lord had to cause them to
come. I'm one of those animals. I want to be one of those animals,
because if I'm to ever know or to love Christ, to know anything
of this, God's going to have to call me and he's going to
have to call you. And I'm so thankful for this verse in Genesis
six, 20, where it says of every sort, that means even sinner
like me. That means that if you said anything
other than Christ came to save sinners, if there was any other
qualification, I would be counted out because that's all I'll ever
be is just a sinner. I can never rise above that.
And so I'm thankful for of every sort shall come unto thee. The
Lord drew and will call. And I'm one of these animals,
it's not my nature to come to the Lord. If the Lord didn't
call me and cause me to come to him, I wouldn't come. I wouldn't
hear his call. He has to cause me to come. to
come to inquire him, because my nature is only evil, just
as those those animals can only be wild animals and can never
be anything but that. I can never be anything but evil,
apart from the Lord doing something for me. It's not my nature. God must call me despite myself. God must call you despite yourself,
despite what you are. And when inside the ark, you
think, OK, well, we've got the you know, God caused these animals
to come. Did they chain them up to the sides of the ark and
put chains a foot long so they couldn't get near one another?
You know that couldn't have happened. They didn't have that kind of
stuff in those days, and we're not told that. These animals
would have killed one another. Lions and tigers and chickens
and goats. I mean, this is what they eat.
So something else had to have changed. They were called into
that ark, but in order to stay in that ark, something had to
have been different about their nature. And so they were given
a new nature. We didn't read about them eating
one another and killing one another. No, there was something different.
They were given a new nature. He made them what they were not.
There's no amount of teaching or forcing the change in a way
to where you kind of flip flop back and forth, but you try to
stay on what is. No, this is a new nature, one that wasn't
there. And if you or I are ever to be part of the body of Christ.
We're going to have to be changed. We're going to have to be given
a new nature, one that's made just like Christ, where we're
holy, unblameable, acceptable and glorious to God, not what
we are as wicked, evil sinners. We have to be given something
we're not. For whom he did foreknow for love, he did predestinate
to be conformed. You see that to the image of
his son, this conforming to the image of the son, that's that
new nature. That's the only way I can be in crisis to be made
just like him, because Christ is not going to have a rebel
like me inside his body will be cast out. I have to be made
just like him. And so we're conformed to his
image. And so this is the new nature and the only way God could
love me. And so Genesis seven, verse 13. And in the selfsame day entered
Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's
wife, and the three wives of his sons, with them into the
ark. They and every beast after his kind, and all cattle after
their kind, every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth,
every bird, and every sword. They went into Noah into the
ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
And David went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God
had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in. So
there's some real significance with this. The Lord shut him
in. Why did the Lord close the door? Well, the same reason Lord
called Noah and the beast in that ark or brought him in and
he gave them a new nature in order to not kill one another
and be the way that he chose for them to be inside that ark.
So he gave him the new nature. And then thirdly, The Lord closed
the door and kept him in the ark, because in order for me
to stay in Christ, he's going to have to keep me there. He's
going to have to preserve me, because if given the ability
to fall or to leave, I would. And so he not only calls me,
but he gives me a new nature and he preserves me in Christ.
He keeps me alive. And in John 18, nine, that the
saying might be fulfilled, which he spake of them which thou gave
us me. I've lost none. And to the believer,
you take this comfort. If once you were the Lord's,
you always will be. There's no falling away. There's
no animal that ever got out of that ark. Once they were in the
ark, they were in there and the Lord shut the door and they couldn't
get out. I'm detrusting to do what he
said in Genesis pick up in Genesis twenty one or just the seven
twenty one and all flesh died and moved upon the earth. Both
fowl, cattle, beasts and every creeping thing creepeth upon
the earth and every man all in whose nostrils was the breath
of life and all of it was in the dry land died and every living
substance was destroyed, which was upon the face of the earth.
Both man, cattle, creeping things, fowl of heaven, and they were
destroyed from the earth. And Noah only remained alive
and they that were with him in the ark and the waters prevailed
upon the earth one hundred and fifty days. And God remembered
Noah and every living thing and all the cattle 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 the waters decreased continually
until the 10th month. And 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. So Noah opened the window. So if we read back at when the
ark was made, When the ark was constructed it said you'll make
a window and this window was actually all ran across the top
of the ark It's not a window at the side you and I would probably
think well, you know We have windows in the side of this building.
We can look out the sides and see what's out there But that's
not the way God planned this The Lord planned the ark such
that he could only look up Noah never knew when the dry land
was there God had to tell him to come out of the ark. He didn't
know when to come out So Noah not only had to have faith in
had faith in God to build the ark, but he had to have faith
in God to deliver him through the flood. And he never knew
that flood was over until the Lord said it was. We're to trust
God to deliver him from the flood, and he never actually knew until
God told him, Go forth from the ark. In Genesis eight, verse
sixteen, he says, And God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth from
the ark, thou thy wife, thy sons and thy sons, wives with thee.
We also read the ark had one door. And this arc, which we
said earlier was symbolic of Christ, there's one way into
the arc and there's one way to God, and that's through Christ.
There's one door. There's not multiple ways to
get in. The tenor of this world, many people would be professing
Christians, has only gotten more evil. They preach acceptance
of all faces rose to God and you do what's right for you.
You figure out what pass right for you. It's all passed along
the way. Well, let's look at what the apostles had to say.
They walked with the Lord. They would know probably better
than we would. So let's turn over to Acts, Chapter
four. And verse 10. This is the apostle
speaking, be it known unto you all and to all the people of
Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ and Nazareth, whom you
crucified and whom God has raised from the dead, even by him, that
this man stand here whole before you. This is the stone which
was said it not of you builders, which has become the head of
the corner, and neither is there salvation in any other. For there
is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must
be saved. So if there was any confusion
before this sets the record straight, there's none other name given
among men whereby we must be saved. There's one way to father,
and that's through Christ. He said, I am the way, the truth
and the life. And no man cometh under the father,
but by me, one door to the ark. Salvation is a person. That's
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only door. There's one
way into the ark. And if we're to trust or to believe
anything else, then we'll die in our sins. Let's go back to
our text. So Noah was given command to
go forth from the ark. And chapter eight, verse 20.
Noah built an altar unto the Lord after he had come out of
the ark 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, and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again
curse the ground anymore for man's sake, for the imagination
of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I again smite
anymore everything living as I've done. And I like what is
in my margin. Let's read it with what it translates
that word for. I will not again curse the ground. anymore for man's sake, though
the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. So he's
saying, despite what man is, I'm not going to do this. I'm
not going to curse the ground anymore, despite what he is.
Keep reading. While the earth remaineth seed
time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, all the day
and night shall not cease. And so chapter nine, verse eight.
And God spake unto him, unto Noah, and to his sons with him,
saying, I behold, I establish my covenant with you and your
seed after you and with every creature that's with you and
the fowl and the cattle, beasts of the earth with you and from
all that go out in the ark, from every beast of the earth. So
he says, I'm going to establish my covenant with you. Well. What
was the covenant established? Because Noah remained faithful
and he had got through this flood and he built the ark and now
they had on dry land. And now God said, well, now that
I've seen what you've done, I'm going to establish my covenant
with you. The Armenians would use this to preach works, but
that's not that's not what's being told here, because if you
look back in Genesis six, 18, he says, but with thee, will
I establish my covenant? So you see, the covenant was
established before Noah ever lifted a finger. And so if we're
going to and that's that's the story of why Noah has why Noah
found grace, Noah found grace because he was one of the elect
in Christ. He was part of this covenant. And so what was found
in Noah for the reason for the covenant had nothing to do with
what Noah did, because he was in Christ. She'll turn over to
Romans chapter four. Look a little bit more on that. Romans four, four, now to him
that worketh is the reward, not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
But we read in Genesis six, eight that Noah found grace in the
eyes of the Lord. So it's not his works that had
anything to do with this. Verse five, but to him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith
is counted for righteousness. Now, this is this is what this
is, what grace is to him that worketh not. It's been done for
us. The covenant to those in Christ is, therefore, there is
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. This is
his promise to those who are in Christ. No condemnation. And back in our text, Genesis
nine. In verse 12, God said, This is
the token of the covenant. So token, we can say it's a sign
of the covenant. This is a token of the covenant
or a sign which I make between me and you and every living creature
that is with you for perpetual generations. I do set my bow
in the cloud and it shall be for a token of a covenant between
me and the earth. And it shall come to pass when
I bring a cloud over the earth that the bow shall be seen in
the cloud. And I will remember my covenant, which is between
me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the water shall
no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. But what a blessing
and a sight to behold the first rainbow. This had never been
seen before by man. And the rainbow was a sign, a
token of God's covenant. It stands as a reminder of God's
covenant with his people. And it's going to certainly happen
in this life. We're going to be go through,
you know, trials just like Noah did, where we have temptation,
sickness, pain, may not be able to see or to even know what the
rainbow is. I may, in my old age, lose my
mind, not even know what it is. My faith wavers, the cold grip
of unbelief and searing pain of sin fresh on my heart. Yet
the Lord says in Genesis 9, 16, I will look upon it that I may
remember the everlasting covenant. So it has nothing to do with
whether I can see that rainbow. It's good that I can and what
a reminder and a blessing it is. But it's whether he sees
the rainbow. That's that's the evidence is
him looking upon it. It's not you, but I will. In
Second Timothy two thirteen says if we believe not yet, he abides
faithful for he cannot deny himself. So whether I can see that rainbow
or whether I can't, that doesn't mean that he won't be faithful
to what his covenant was. So this rainbow is made from
light. It's just light that's been diffracted
through water vapor. And so just because I can't see
the rainbow at this moment doesn't mean it's not there. A storm
could come through, and then I can see it. Some trial in my
life, I'd look and, OK, I see it. Our experience, we're going
to be carried about with life's worries and cares and no thoughts
of the Lord at certain times in our life. Ashamedly true.
The Lord brings a trial or a storm into our life. It causes you
to pray more, to look to him more, seek his face more. We
see him, but it takes the storm to cause me to look. Ashamedly,
this is true for me. Despite how I feel in my experience,
if I'm one of God's children, there's no falling away. His
covenant ensures that even when I don't or I can't see the rainbow,
it's still there because he said, when I look in and I see the
rainbow. So we're to trust in Christ for
what he's promised to sow, even when we can't fully see evidence
of it. We're to trust him and may God give me the grace that
he did Noah. To trust him at his word, believing
he'll do what he said, even even though I may not see evidence
of it at the time. And to those who do not believe, ask him. You ask him with your whole heart,
what are you waiting for? If those who believe that if
the people in Noah's day believed that the flood was coming, they
would have been in the ark. And so I'll say to you, flee
to Christ. It's the only place of salvation.
As the ark prevailed over the waters, so shall all who are
in Christ Jesus bow their heads and pray.