I have known some very fine people, some very
strong believers, some people who really love Christ,
to feel guilty because they did not enjoy certain preachers. I have asked them about certain
messages which they've heard or listened to, and they've had
an embarrassed look, not wanting to lie, but yet wanting to speak
a good word. And I've known some fine people
who love Christ to feel guilty because they didn't profit by
certain messages and certain preaching. And I'm here to relieve
your pressure and your embarrassment and your sense of guilt. There's
no reason for you to feel guilty at all. The preacher's the one
that ought to feel guilty. There's no reason for you to
be embarrassed. It is the minister who ought
to be embarrassed. If an entire class fails a course,
the class ought not be embarrassed. The teacher should be embarrassed. I believe that. I don't mean
that we should be sermon critics at all. That's not Christian. I don't believe we ought to be
hearers hard to please at all. I don't believe we ought to expect
the preacher to preach what we want to hear and how we want
to hear it. And I don't believe you think
that I mean that. But my friends, there are two
ingredients for preaching, two solemn, serious, essential ingredients
for preaching and teaching. They both begin with an S. The
first one is sincerity. There is no substitute for sincerity. If you're not, they'll soon find
it out. God knows it already. Our supreme
object ought to be the glory of God. I don't care what we
do in this spiritual business. It ought to be for the glory
of God. And if I cannot preach and teach
and sing and witness and give and pray and read for the glory
of God, It would be better if I did none of them. If I cannot
preach for the glory of God and for the good of the hearer, the
good of the hearer, I'm not here to demonstrate my theological
knowledge. If facts were known, we don't
know much. And we never will know much.
And he that thinketh that he knoweth, knoweth not as he ought
to know. I'm not here to demonstrate my
eloquence or oratorical ability. If I am, I ought to get on the
stage. But we ought to be doing what we're doing. If it's teaching
a class, Cecil, if it's taking care of the lawn and the building, it ought to be done for the glory
of God. especially the preaching for
the glory of God. That's got to be nailed down.
It's got to be nailed down again and again for the glory of God. And then the second S, the second
essential ingredient for preaching, and this is the reason I say
that if you sit and listen to a sermon with dedication, an
open heart and with a desire to learn and you go away empty.
Don't feel embarrassed for yourself, feel embarrassed for whoever
fumbled the ball. It's his fault. If I can't get
a man's attention who's sitting looking me right in the face
with the powerful truth of God, I ought to be doing something
else. That's right. The second word
is simplicity. Sincerity and simplicity. We're not trying to reveal any
new truths. We're trying to present, for
the glory of God, the old truth. Christ died for sinners. Sincerity
and simplicity. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1.17,
I wish you'd turn over there And look at this verse with me,
1 Corinthians 1, 17. Paul said, Christ sent me not
to baptize, but to preach the gospel. And that not with wisdom of words. The word speech there, wisdom
of speech. Lest the cross of Christ should
be made of non-effect. And then right across in chapter
2. Verse 1 and 2, And brethren,
when I came to you, I came not with excellence of speech, or
wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. I determined
not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified,
and was with you in weakness, and fear, and trembling. And
my speech and my preaching was not with enticing, persuasible
words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and
of power, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men,
arguments, logic of men, but in the power of God. Christ,
our Lord, taught men by parables. I don't know why and when that
we thought we could improve on the preaching of the Master.
He taught men by parables, by stories. Just over and over and
over, our Lord, a certain man had two sons. A certain king
had a feast for his son. There were ten virgins, five
wise and five foolish. A certain man lost a sheep, a
woman lost a coin, and on and on, stories. He who
would be a successful minister of the gospel must learn to preach
from his heart to the hearts of the people in parables and
pictures, just like Christ did, which all men can understand. If you put the food up here,
the giraffe can eat it, but all these little fellas are going
to starve to death down here. But if you put it down here where the
little fella can get it, the giraffe can If he'll bow his proud neck,
he can get plenty to eat. Right? You put it up here where
the high muckety muck can reach it, you know, and he's the only
one that eats any of the stuff, and all of them's fire, but if
you put it down here where the simplest, lowest creature can
feed on it, then all these proud folks can bend their proud necks
and have them a feast. I always figured if I could bless
the youngest one in the congregation, I believe I could get granddaddy.
The best compliment I got out in Pine Bluff. I looked around
while the preachers were exhorting out there, and some of them exhorted
us. I'm telling you, I never felt so exhorted. But I looked
around at some of the children. I felt so sorry for them. I thought,
if I'm not getting anything, I know they're not. And after
I preached one night, Chuck, a little old fella, came up.
He was the son of one of the preachers out there. He was about
11 or 12 years old. He came up and put his arm around
him, and he said, Brother, man, you gonna preach again in the
morning? I said, yes sir, I'm gonna make a shot at it. He said,
I'm gonna sure be here. I said, I could listen to you
preach another hour. Boy, I thought now, isn't that something? Ten,
eleven years old. Well now, let's shoot for that.
And my subject tonight is the parable of the art. It's a picture
of Christ. I'm not wise enough to make a
parable. I've taken a shot at it a time
or two, and it's humbling. A parable usually is a story
that may or may not be true. Let's put it that way. But I'm
not wise enough to make parables, and few men are, but I have here
at my fingertips hundreds of them, hundreds of parables, hundreds
of stories. Now this one tonight, I don't
know whether it could really be called a parable or not, because
the art is not a story or a myth, it's a fact. The flood is not
a myth, it's a fact. As I was reading that scripture
a while ago, it just kept gripping my heart, and every man died. And all that were in the dry
land died, and every living creature was destroyed. Doesn't that grip
your heart? But this story of the flood and
the ark which saved Noah, the ark which lifted Noah above the
wrath of God, the flood of God's judgment, his family and the
animals, is such a beautiful picture of our Lord Jesus Christ
by whom we are saved from God's eternal wrath. And I'm going to scare some of
you to death now. I got eight points tonight. But I'll try
to be a little briefer than usual. I'm not like Brother Johnson.
He has three points and three points under three points and
three points. Why he has those three points
under those three points. But here, I've got eight that
I want to give you tonight. The art. On the art, a type of
Christ. First of all, the art. And I'll
give them to you. I mean to be brief. The art is
the only means of salvation. The only means, the whole world
drowned. The prisoner, I thought this
afternoon, the prisoner down in the dungeon, the water, there
he was chained to his bunk, but after a while the water snuffed
out his life. But the king in the palace, he
died too. And the old, the old wretched,
ragged, dirty beggar on the street selling fruit, he died too. But the businessman, the executive,
the president of the company down in his office, he died too.
It says every man died, the whole world drowned except those in
the ark. The rich and the poor, the old
and the young, the black and the white, the destruction and
devastation was total, it was complete. The water stood 27
feet above the highest mountain, 15 cubits. No house could protect
anyone, no cave could serve as a shelter, no mountain was high
enough, no building strong enough to offer refuge from God's wrath. One place of safety. One place
of total security. And that was the Ark. Everyone
who was in the Ark was safe. Would you be safe? Christ is
the only Savior. He said, I am the door. By me,
if any man enter in, he shall be saved. By me, if any man... I am the door. I am the way,
the truth, and the light. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. The Apostle said, Other foundation
can no man lay than that which is laid. Christ the Lord. In
vain do you climb the lofty sides of Sinai. The water will be above
that. In vain do you hide in the caves
of ceremony and in the refuge of baptism. The water will sweep
away your refuge of lies. In vain do you build a strong
temple of works and ceremonies and ritualism. The waters of
God's judgment will flush you out of that refuge of lies. In
vain do you flee to your self-righteousness. The waters of God's wrath will
sweep away every refuge but one. Christ and His cross. And as I see the waters of God's
wrath upon the whole world, and every man died, and everything
in the dry land died, and every living substance was destroyed
upon the face of the earth, both man and cattle and creeping things
and the fowl of the heaven, they were all destroyed, and Noah
only remained alive and they that were with him in the ark."
That settles all the arguments. All right, secondly, look back
at Genesis 6, verse 15. The ark was plenty big enough,
plenty big enough to take care of all who came. and all whom
God purposed to save." Plenty bigger now. In Genesis 6.15 it
says, "...this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of,
the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits." That's
450 feet long. That's the length of a football
field and half as much again. 75 feet wide. and three stories high, plenty
big enough. There was enough room for all
the different kind of animals God purposed to deliver, plus
all the supplies that they would need during the voyage. The art was a great art. It was
a sufficient art to save all kinds of creatures. And my friends,
I like what the songwriter says. The cross upon which Jesus died
is a shelter in which I can hide, and its grace is so free, it's
sufficient for me. It's deep in its fountains and
as wide as the sea, and there's room at the cross for you. Though
millions have come, there's still room for one. There's room at
the cross for thee. Turn with me to Luke chapter
14. Here's a scripture. I thought
about preaching on this one of these days soon. But our Lord
is a sufficient Savior. Luke 14. Turn to Luke 14. Our
Lord is a sufficient refuge for all kinds of sinners. For any
number of sinners, He's sufficient. Our Lord Jesus Christ's blood
is sufficient to save all who will come. There's no limit,
no lack in the power of Christ to make a sinner whole. He's
able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by Him.
To the uttermost extent of guilt, to the uttermost extent of sin,
to the uttermost extent of darkness, to the uttermost extent of depravity,
to the uttermost extent of creation of every generation. Plenty be,
sufficient. Listen to this. Some of you preachers
can get a sermon on this before I do, if you will. In verse 21
of Luke 14, the servant came and showed the Lord these things
and the master of the house was angry and he said to the servant,
you go out into the streets and the lanes of the city and bring
in the poor and the maimed and the haunted and the blind. And
the servant said, Lord, it's done as you commanded. And yet
there's room. And yet there's room. I like
that, don't you? And yet there's room. Plenty
of room. Out of every nation, kindred,
tribe, and tongue unto heaven, and yet there's room for any
who want to come. Plenty big. Plenty sufficient. The art the Lord gave to Noah
to build was a sufficient art. It was plenty big enough. And
then thirdly, look at verse 14 of Genesis 6. He said, Make thee
an art of gopher wood, room shalt thou make in the art, and shall
pitch it within and without with pitch. Pitch it within and without. The third point is this, the
art was a safe refuge. Noah was told to pitch it within
and without so that it might be safe. from the storm, but
you know it rained hard and the wind blew. And when you get up
on water that deep, the water is rough, and there might have
been some hail. The wind and lightning and rain
and storm beat upon that ship, but it held because it was secure,
it was safe, it was pitched within and without. no danger from without
and no danger from within. My Lord Jesus Christ is not only
the only refuge from the wrath of God and a sufficient refuge,
but he's a safe refuge. You know, I for one do not understand
all of these arguments about saved people being lost later
on. I don't understand these kind
of arguments. I've never really had any problem
with that. You see, I believe, according
to the Word of God, if a man is in Christ, he's as secure
and certain for redemption as Noah was in that ark. You think of all the things that
would have been involved if that ark had sprung a leak and gone
down. character of God at stake. You've
got the very person of Christ at stake. You've got the very
covenant of God at stake. You've got the very word of God
at stake here. You're not just talking about
a man named Noah being drowned. You're talking about the grace
of God, the redemption of God, the purpose of God, the promise
of God, the covenant of God, the Word of God. And when you
talk about a man who has fled to Christ for salvation, perishing,
you're bringing up for question the very Word of Almighty God. I heard the story one time of
an old gentleman, happened years ago, supposed to be true, Someone
said to him, they said, they said, Deacon, they said, you
hope to be saved. Yes, sir, I do. You hope when
you die that you'll go to heaven. Yes, sir, I firmly believe that
I will. I've rested in Christ. I've trusted
in Christ. I lean wholly upon Him. He's
my refuge and my rock. What if when you get to heaven,
resting in Christ, and believing only in Christ apart from works
or deeds or laws or rules or church membership, and you find
out that you're not going to be admitted on the strength of
that faith, what are you going to do? Well, he said, I'll suffer great
loss, great loss. But he said, I'll tell you this,
God's loss will be greater than mine. The fellow backed up and
said, that's pretty close to blasphemy, isn't it? No, sir.
No, sir, he said, it's not. No, sir, he said, if I'm resting
in Christ as the Word of God says, he that believeth on the
Son hath life, if I'm trusting only in Christ as the Word of
God says, he that hath the Son of God hath life, and that won't
get me into God's kingdom, then God's going to lose more than
I'm going to lose because God's going to lose His honor. God's gonna lose his honor. God's
gonna lose his truthfulness. God's gonna lose his word. And
that can't be. I can believe that Christ, in
Christ, I'm secure because just as the art was God's provision,
Christ is God's provision. And just as the art was God's
design, Christ is God's design. And just as the ark was there
by God's sovereign purpose, Christ is there by God's sovereign purpose.
And just as Noah was in the ark by God's sovereign will, I'm
in Christ by God's sovereign will. And our Lord said, No man
is able to pluck them out of my hand, and my Father which
gave them me is greater than all, and no man can pluck them
out of my Father's hand. Brethren, everybody in that ark,
because of the covenant of God, because of the purpose of God,
because of the mercies of God, because of the design of God's
redemptive glory, everyone was safe in that ark. And everyone
in Christ is safe. All right, notice the next thing,
verse 16 of Genesis 6. And the question is this, the
question is not my righteousness or lack of it, it's not my faith
or lack of it, it's my Lord. That's where the security is.
The security is not in me, it's in Him. It's what is my position? Where am I located? Am I in Christ? I'm secure. If I'm out of Christ,
it doesn't matter how much faith or love or works or whatever.
I've got to be in Christ. That's where the mercy of God,
it's in Christ. And the fourth thing is this,
Genesis 6, 16, a window shalt thou make to the ark. had one window. I got a little
light on this. The window was not designed for
them to see out. The window was designed for light
to shine in. Huh? I tried. There wasn't anything
out there to see but water. And the window wasn't designed
for them to see out. It was designed for light to
shine in. And wherever the animal was,
on the first floor or the second floor or the third floor, forward
or out, port or starboard, all the light he got was from that
one window. One window. Whatever position or place he
occupied on the ark, one window. Captain Noah, one window. sneaking,
crawling, this little snail, one window. What's that saying? It's saying this, there's but
one window whereby believers, not so much see into the mysteries
of God or the judgments of God, but there's one window whereby
Christians get their light, and that's the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is given by Christ
to all who are saved by Him to illuminate us, to enlighten us,
to reveal unto us the things we need to see and to know. Have
we seen our sins? The Holy Spirit revealed them.
We saw them in the light of His revelation, Him revealing the
Word. I saw my sins in the light of
the Holy Spirit's revelation of the Word of God, the Law of
God. Have I seen my Redeemer? The Holy Spirit gave me light
to see Him. Have I seen my future glory? And as the water receded
and the ark got closer to the ground, I guess that's the way
they saw it, through that window. In John 16, want to look at that?
Just hold Genesis 6 there, and let's look at John 16 a minute.
And our Lord says here in John 16, and when He has come, verse
8, John 16, 8, and when He has come, the Holy Spirit, He will
convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.
Verse 12, I have many things to say to you, you cannot bear
them now, how be it when He, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of
truth has come, He'll guide you into all truth. He's not going
to speak of Himself. Beware of that man who's always
running around talking about the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost,
the Holy Ghost. You run from him. He doesn't know the Holy
Ghost. The man who knows the Holy Ghost is running around
talking about Christ, Christ, Christ. The man's running around
talking about the gifts of the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit,
the gifts of the Spirit, you run from him. He doesn't know
anything about the gifts of the Spirit. It's the man going around
talking about Christ, the unspeakable gift of God. He's got the Holy
Spirit. And he just lively has some gifts. But he'd be the last
to admit it. He may not even know it. He'll guide you unto all truth.
He won't speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that
shall he speak. He'll show you things to come.
He'll glorify me. He shall receive of mine and
show it. That's the light. I don't know
how that art was made. I hope they don't, they're not
going to find it anyway. God's not going to give me anybody
any more idols to worship. You know, if they find that thing
over there in Turkey, that'll be just another idol for me in
the worship. But wherever that window was, in that ark, it afforded
light for everybody in there. They all got their light in the
same window. And that's you and I, it doesn't matter who we are,
where we are, we don't have any special telephone line to glory,
and don't you let anybody tell you he has. God speaks through
his word, by his spirit, to his people. And then the fifth thing,
Genesis 6.14, we'll go back there again a minute, Genesis 6.14.
He said, and make thee an art of gopher wood, runes shalt thou
make in the art. That may be nests, but runes. Everybody was not in the same
rune. Everybody didn't occupy the same
nest. There were runes in that art.
I don't know how many. I just know there were a lot
of rooms in that ark. The elephants didn't live with
the tigers, the sheep didn't live with the horses, the little
bluebirds did not live with the lions, but they all lived in
the ark. They were everyone in the ark,
but they were in separate rooms, they were in different They were in the Ark, but they
were in different rooms. Where are you going, preacher? Well, I
found out one day that because a man didn't see everything as
I see it, and because he wasn't a member of the 13th Street Baptist
Church, and because he wasn't a sovereign gracer, he just might
still be saved. Have you found that out yet? He just could be in another room
and still be in Christ. That's right. Baptists, Anglicans,
Dutch, Lutherans, Reformed, they may govern their nests differently. And I just wouldn't want to be
in a bird's nest, but I'm glad he's in the Ark, aren't you?
I wouldn't be very comfortable. I wouldn't be very comfortable
in an Anglican church, but I'm glad some of them are in the
Ark. I wouldn't be comfortable in one of those Dutch Reformed
churches, and some of them get this tape. I really mean that. I wouldn't be very comfortable.
It's too starchy and stiff for me, too cold. I wouldn't be comfortable, but
I'm glad you're in the Art. You see what I'm saying? They're
in the Art. The Art had many rooms, many
rooms, many nests, many different ways. The old tigers, I'm sure
she governed her tiger cubs a whole lot different from the way the
mother elephant took care of her. or the way some other animal
took care of hers. And I don't know, you may have
pastor or pastors, you may have deacons or deaconesses, you may
have elders or no elders, you may have this, that, and the
other, but if you have Christ, that's the key. And I just believe
a fellow can be saved and not know whether he's pre, post,
or are, but I don't believe a man can be saved and not know Christ.
I believe a man can be saved and maybe sing the Psalms, or
the hymns, or maybe a Stance Baxter song, but not without
singing about Christ. You see what I'm saying? The
Ark had many rooms, and some of those folks didn't see the
others the whole trip, but they were in the Ark. They were in
the Ark. And then look at verse 16, quickly. He said, Shalt I make, and in
the art, and in a cubit, shalt I finish it above, and the door
of the art, the door, the door, not doors, door, the tall giraffe
is going to have to come through that same door, he's going to
have to stoop. The swift horse is going to have to slow down
and come through that door. The crawling snail is going to
find no crack, it's pitched within and without, he'll have to go
through that door. The soaring, circling bird will have to come
down and go through that door. There's not but one door and
Christ is that door. That's the door of humility.
That's the door of conviction. That's the door of repentance.
That's the door of faith. It's the door, the same door
for the rich and the same door for the poor. It's the same door
for the white and the same door for the black and the same door
for the learned and the same door for the ignorant. It's Christ.
One door. one way in. And then, this is
something that was interesting, that same verse 16, a window,
one window, one door, and it says, and thou shalt, and the
door of the heart shalt thou set in the side thereof with
lower, second, and third stories. That heart had three stories,
evidently, had a lower story, I may imagine some of you here
have been on board a ship. A Navy ship is a thing of its
own. And when I first got on board
our ship down in New Orleans, Louisiana, I was a green, inexperienced seaman, second
class, and you know where they put me? down in the lower part
of that ship in the bilges, cleaning out the bilges. That's standing
with one piece of steel between you and the bottom of the ocean.
Clear down in the bottom. And then there was a second deck,
and then there was a third deck. But I was clear down in the bottom.
And to me, this is a picture of different kind of Christians.
And that's bad down there. That's a dismal place down there. That's a... I want out of that
place. That's a depressing place down there. I'd rather be on
the second, but I wound up on top. That's where I wound up,
you know. But down there, it reminds me of that poor mourning
brother who lives on the bottom floor of the ark. He's in the
ark now, but he's always singing, I mourn because I cannot mourn. I grieve because I cannot grieve. I hear the truth, but I can't
believe. I hate my sin, but I cannot turn. He's always mourning. He's never
happy. He never has any assurance. He's quite safe. He's in Christ.
But he's always blue and in despair and in doubts and fears. He's always in the bottom of
the ship. That's where they were. There
was a lower floor down there, and down there they were safe,
they were secure. But that place down there is
dismal. Very dismal. It's the lowest
place. And then the second floor, who's
that like, Brother Mahan? That's our brother who lives
a little higher. He has some confidence, but not much. He
has some assurance, but not much. He has some happiness, but not
much. Sometimes he's up, and sometimes
he's down. He's safe. He's in Christ. He's secure. But he's on the
second floor. He's got the men of despair beneath
him, and who's on the third floor? That's that fella that feels
so near to heaven, he's almost there. He has full assurance. Every drop of rain rings a bell
in his heart. Every wind that blows tells him
about the good news of Christ. Every lightning flash that occurs, he sees the
glory of his God. He's happy. He's up yonder. He's
so close to heaven, he feels like he's already there. Where
do you live? Because you're on the lower floor
doesn't mean that you're not secure. You are. missing some
blessings, it's true. Because you're on the second
floor does not mean that you're not secure. You are absolutely
secure in Christ. But if you could just all of
us move to the top floor, I believe that's where Noah lived. And
then the third, the eighth thing, and I close with this, turn to
Genesis 7 verse 2. This is interesting. I don't
know how to do much with this right here, but it's interesting.
It says in Genesis 7, 2, And every clean beast shalt thou
take to thee by sevens, male and female, and a beast that
are not clean by two, male and female. When I read that it had
clean and unclean beast on the ark, I read this, I thought about
Peter on the housetop. And the Lord was teaching Peter
something. He was going to have him go preach
to the Gentiles. And to the Gentiles, to the Jews,
the Gentiles were unclean. They were dogs. They were just,
they were looked down upon. They were despised, despicable. And so before the Lord sent Peter
the priest to the Gentiles, Cornelius' band, he was on the housetop
asleep and God sent him a vision and a sheet was lowered and it
had all kind of animals on that sheet, unclean animals, pigs
and things like that Peter never had eaten before. The Lord told
him, said, Peter, rise, kill and eat. He said, not so, Lord,
I've never eaten anything unclean. And the Lord said, Peter, Don't
you call anything unclean that I've cleansed. Let us learn that all the people
of God don't have the same background. Some here were raised in religion.
You lived in a protective atmosphere. You never did do any drinking,
you never did do any cursing, you never did do any drug use, you never did, you
never were in any kind of low life, so to speak, what you'd
call low life. But God's seen fit to save you.
You might be, you might be typified here by what they call the clean
beast. Nothing clean about any of us where we're born guilty, we're born
filthy, we can't see it. But I'm trying to draw a parallel
here, but There's some people that God saves, he said, whoremongers,
adulterers, blasphemers, profane swearers, such were some of you,
but you're washed. There is in the art of God some
mighty unclean animals, raised in the dungeons of filth and
depravity and evil. But God has had mercy and made
him a part of his family and take him into his heart. And
we are to be what the Lord told us, told Peter. He says, don't
you call anything unclean that I've cleansed. Actually, though,
the fellow that knows more about sin possibly knows more about
grace. There's a good possibility of
that. The man who has been forgiven most will love most. Our Lord
is able to save the chief of sinners. And I think maybe that's
what this is picturing here. He keeps talking about the clean,
the unclean. I know they were for food, but
don't, let's don't demonstrate our our accuracy on these things
and miss the gospel. They're illustrating something
to do with redemption. I guarantee you that. So that's
the way I'm going to leave it. I'm going to say that the clean
and unclean animals represents the different ones that God's
brought into his son, into Christ Jesus our Lord. Are you in the
art? Are you in the art? Christ is that art of safety.
You can be in the ark. Christ said, Come unto me, all
ye that labour and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Oh,
every one that thirsteth, come to the water. The table's spread,
the supper's prepared, the Lord bid you come. You'll find in
him a resting place. He'll make you glad. Our Father,
we thank Thee for Your Word. We've enjoyed this picture. It's brought us low and lifted
us high. It's made us shudder and cringe
at the devastating destruction of the wrath of God upon the
sins of men. Every imagination of the heart
of man is evil continually. And we know that this world is
going to experience even a greater judgment than this someday. Eternal
wrath, eternal death, eternal destruction. And just as Noah,
by thy grace, Noah found grace, O Lord, in thy sight. Noah had
no righteousness of his own. He found grace in thy sight.
You provided him with a refuge. And Lord, you've provided a refuge
for sinners to be delivered from thy wrath and judgment. And that
refuge is Christ our Lord, who loved us and gave himself for
us. We have a high priest who can
be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. We have a redeemer. We have a mediator. Christ Jesus
the Lord. We have an ark of safety, city
of refuge. O Lord, open these eyes to see
Christ, these ears to hear him, direct our feet to walk in the
way of Christ, our hearts to trust him. Let us be able to
say our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and his
righteousness. And whether we live in the lower
floors of doubt and fear or whether we live on the top floor of assurance
and confidence, how blessed it is to dwell in Christ, secure
forever. Thank you, Lord, for Christ our
Redeemer. And we pray for our brethren
and for the dear ones who are in the hospital. We love them. We trust, O Lord, it may please
Thee to minister to them, return them healed and well to us. Thou art the great physician.
And we believe you've ordained for us to use the means that
thou hast given us. And we pray for the doctors who
ministered our friends that they may have wisdom and skill. But
we know it's by thy skill and grace and mercy that we live
or die, that we prosper or fail. It's in the hands of our God.
And we would bow to thy sovereign will. and we pray for them. In Christ's name, amen.