Two Sundays ago, a couple Sundays
ago, we looked in Hebrews 11 at the faith, the faith of Noah. In Genesis 1, we read that God
saw, after he created this earth, everything in it, God saw everything
he made. And behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning
were the sixth day. He looked back on everything
he had created and he said, Behold, it was very good. And then just
a few chapters later, in Genesis chapter 6, turn there with me
to Genesis 6. Look at verse 5 of Genesis 6. We went from God looking and
seeing that everything was very good to that God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, and
it repented him. It repented the Lord that he
had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart,
and the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from
the face of the earth. both man and beast and creeping
thing, the fowls there, for it repenteth me that I have made
them." God determined to destroy the world, but he made a promise. He made
a promise to save Noah and his family. We looked at the faith of Noah.
Tonight I want us to look at the ark of Noah. Look at verse 8 of Genesis 6. But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Noah wasn't saved because of
any goodness or because of any merit found in him. But for this
reason, God was gracious to him in the Lord Jesus Christ. The
judgment of this world was an act of God's wrath upon sin. The salvation of Noah was an
act of God's mercy. through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 11 verse 7 says, By faith Noah, being warned of God of
things not yet seen, moved with fear and prepared an ark to the
saving of his house, by which he condemned the world and became
the heir of righteousness, which is by faith. Noah prepared an ark and he preached. All that time he preached to
his generation. Scripture says Noah was a preacher
of righteousness. And no doubt he preached to that
generation, just as God has called men to preach to every generation. And yet men refused to hear. They refused to repent, they
refused to believe, they refused to enter in to that ark. But Scripture says this, Noah,
Noah believed God. Look at Genesis 6 verse 17, And behold, I, even I, do bring
a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh wherein
is the breath of life from under heaven and everything that is
in the earth shall die. But with thee, Noah, 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." Think about that, but before
the first drop of rain fell, before Noah I suppose he was
the one that cut down those trees and harvested them to make them
into an ark. For he cut down the first tree
to save him. God made a covenant. God promised to save him and
his family. And in these verses we read the
promise of judgment, which is going to come swiftly, but we
also read the promise of deliverance. Almighty God made an everlasting
covenant of mercy in his son. An everlasting covenant of mercy
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's going to save a people. A people out of every kindred,
every tongue, out of every people, out of every nation, he's determined
to do so. A people that he has elected
unto himself, elected by his grace, a people that he has justified
by his grace, a people that he saved by His grace. We read this not too long ago.
We believe through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall
be saved even as they. A people who are going to believe,
going to believe by His grace. A people called, how? By His grace. when it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me."
How did He do that? What does Scripture say? He called
me by His grace. We have forgiveness by His grace. The redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of sin according to the riches
of His grace. We have a good hope. How? By His grace. God is going to
save a people. A people given Him by the Father,
a people redeemed by the Son, a people called by the Spirit
of God. And like Noah, they are going to hear and they're
going to believe, and they are going to willingly come to Him. Willingly come to Christ. Our
ark. Our place of safety. And by faith,
we enter in. Just as Noah, he entered in that
ark by faith. He believed God. He believed
what God promised to do. And by faith, we, his people,
we enter in to Him. What about the rest of Adam's
race? What will come of them? Though warned, though preached
to, though commanded to repent, though commanded to believe,
they will not hear Him. They will not bow to Him. They will not. They will not
come to him. What do they say? We will not
have this man to reign over us. In John chapter 5 verse 40, we
read the words of our Lord. Just listen. He says, you will
not come to me that you might have life. Here we have this
account of God's judgment against sin and yet we see his deliverance. The deliverance of Noah and his
family. Noah, isn't that one of our favorite
passages of scripture? Noah, but Noah found grace in
the eyes of the Lord. And it gives us a clear picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ who delivered his people. Paul wrote
this in 2 Corinthians 1. He said him, he said this of
him. He said, who delivered us from
so great a death and doth deliver us in whom we trust that he will
yet deliver us. Three times, God is going to
deliver his people. And I am sure, I'm sure we could
just spend countless hours talking about interesting facts about
that ark. And we could sit and we could
contemplate many things about that ark. You know, we could
talk about its impressive size. The length of it was 300 cubits.
Its width, 50 cubits. Its height, 30 cubits. We could sit around and we could
wonder, how could such a large boat be built with primitive
tools and withstand such a great flood? I'm sure we could just
go on and on and men could find many, what kind of, exactly what
kind of wood was that, huh? We could waste a lot of time,
couldn't we? But this is what I want us to know. This is what
I want to know. All of us sitting here in this
building, all that might hear this message, how is that ark
a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ? How does it point to Him? Well,
just a few points. First, the ark, it was the only
way of deliverance. One way, just one way of deliverance. The whole world drowned except
for those eight souls. There was one place of safety. Only those who were in that ark
were saved. Turn to Genesis 7 and look at
verse 17. Genesis 7 verse 17. And the flood was forty days
upon the earth and the waters increased and bear up the ark
and it was lift up above the earth and the waters prevailed
and were increased greatly upon the earth. And the ark went up
upon the face of the waters, and the waters prevailed exceedingly
upon the earth, and all the high hills that were under the whole
heaven were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the
waters prevail, and the mountains were covered, and all flesh died. that moved upon the earth, both
of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping
thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man." I want you to just think about
this for a minute. I remember looking this up several
years ago. Wheelersburg, where we're sitting
here right now, it sits 653 feet above sea level. The old writers say when the
floods started, that when those fountains of the deep, whatever
that was, when those broke loose and that water came and it began
to rain, when the fountains of the deep were broken up and the
windows of heaven were open, it would have been the equivalent.
I don't know how they calculate this, but it would have been
the equivalent of 30 feet of rain in an hour. Now, you think about how violent
that was. You think something about the
judgment of God. 30 feet in an hour. You know,
not too long ago, we had quite a bit of rain, and I believe
we had eight inches of rain in about two or three days. And that caused a lot of trouble,
a lot of flooding. Can you imagine how violent this
storm was when there were 30 feet of rain falling in an hour? It's hard to imagine up here
on this hill, but this building would have been completely covered
with water in less than 24 hours, just short of 24 hours. When that rain stopped, all the mountains were covered.
The highest mountains covered. Everything was covered. Houses,
trees, buildings, mountains, all of it. There was no other refuge. If you thought a tree was a safe
refuge, you found out quickly. that it wasn't. Only the Ark. Only the Ark. Anything man used
or thought was a refuge, it was quickly washed away. Anything other than that Ark
proved to be a false refuge. It proved to be a refuge of lies. Mike sings this song from time
to time, and these are the words. It says, yes, there's one. How many? Only, only one. The blessed, blessed Jesus, he's
the one. When afflictions press the soul
and the waves of trouble roll, and you need a friend to help
you, he is the one. There is but one. The Lord Jesus
Christ is, He is the only refuge. He is the only Savior. Our Lord speaking in John 14
6, He said, I, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. And no man cometh to the Father,
but by me. In Acts chapter 4, we read, "...Be
it known unto you all, and all the people of Israel, by the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God
raised from the dead, even by Him, that this man stand before
you." That could be said of every one of us, couldn't it? This
is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which
has become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in
any other. There's just one, isn't there?
There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved. Turn to Isaiah 53. We turn here often, but this
is such a precious portion of Scripture. Look at verse 4. Again, Isaiah
53 verse 4. have borne our griefs and carried
our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him." How many
are we talking about there? We're just talking about one,
aren't we? He, him. We did esteem him stricken, smitten
of God, and afflicted. But he, we're just talking about
one here, aren't we? One man. He was wounded for our
transgressions. was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, one man, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid
on him the iniquity of us all. There's a lot of work being done
in that passage, isn't there? A lot of work. Bearing of grief,
carrying of sorrows, being wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquity, bearing
the iniquity of his people. I ask you, who did that? There's only one, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And this is the theme of all
of the scriptures. Christ is the Redeemer. He is the only Redeemer. He is the sufficient Redeemer. There is one way, one way of
deliverance. There's no other name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved. Second, that ark, it
was big enough for all who came. For every animal, every person
the Lord was pleased to save, there was room in that ark. Think about all the space, all
that needed supplies, all those things needed. Everything. Everything provided. Our Lord
Jesus Christ is a sufficient Redeemer for all who believe. Nothing lacking in His obedience.
Scripture says He was obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. There's nothing lacking in His
atonement. There's nothing lacking in His power to save. Our Lord
said, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. There's nothing lacking in His
cleansing power. It's the blood of Jesus Christ.
Who is He? God's Son that cleanses us from
all sin. He alone is able. Able to do all that he promised.
That's what Abraham believed. Being fully persuaded that what
God had promised, he was also able to perform. Able. Able to do all that he promised.
Able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by him.
Able to keep that which I've committed unto him. able to keep
me from falling, able to raise us from the dead. And when he
does, you think about this, he's going to change this vile body. And that's what it is. It's a
vile body and he's going to make it like his glorious body. A sufficient redeemer to all
who believe. Third, the ark was a safe refuge,
able to survive that flood. Outside of the arc, death. Outside of that arc, destruction. But inside, peace, safety. It was pitched within and without. safe from the wind, safe from
the water, safe from the rain, and no one in that boat, think
about that, think about how this world completely covered with
water, no one in that boat is going to perish. It was designed by God, it was
provided by God. It could not fail. And the Lord
Jesus Christ, He is a sure foundation. He is a safe refuge, a secure
hiding place. And He cannot, He cannot fail. He shall not fail. You know not one, think about
this, not one for whom he died will ever perish. Turn to Romans
8. Romans chapter 8. Look beginning with verse 38. For I am persuaded that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature. That covers it, doesn't it? Nothing
shall separate us from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ
our Lord. No matter how that storm raged,
no matter how violent it was, Noah and his family were safe,
safe and secure in that ark. And the believer, the believer is safe and secure
in him. Safe and secure. Fourth point,
that ark had one door. There was just one way into it.
Only one way to enter into the art. Scriptures refer to our Lord
as the door. Jesus Christ is the door. He is the only door. Not baptism,
not family name, not a religious profession. He said this, he
said, by me. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved." Same door for all of his sheep. The man who enters by Christ
shall be saved. He'll go in and out and he shall
find pasture. He shall be saved. The man who
believes in Jesus Christ, who believes on the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ shall be saved. He is saved and he shall be saved. And then last, last point, that
ark brought every last one of them safely through that flood. just as God promised. Turn to
Genesis 6, verse 18. Just turn with me to a few more
scriptures and we'll close. Genesis 6, verse 18. God told Noah, 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 in 1 Peter 3
verse 20, we read this, 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. He promised to save them. And he did save them. The Lord Jesus Christ is going
to deliver his people. Every one of them. Turn with
me in closing to John chapter 6. John chapter 6. Look at the beginning with verse.
This is a familiar passage, but I want you to follow along with
me. John 6, verse 37. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. I came down from heaven not to
do my own will. but the will of Him that sent
me. And this is the Father's will which sent me, that of all
which He hath given me, I should lose nothing." He's not going to lose one. And he goes on, he said, but
should raise Him up again at the last day, And this is the
will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son
and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I will
raise him up at the last day." Just as Noah and his family were
delivered in that ark, God's people, His sheep, His
church, His bride is going to be delivered in, by, and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that a beautiful picture? Before we have a closing hymn,
let's go to our Lord.