The Ark That Saves Lives (Part 2)
Genesis 7:4-12
4In seven days, I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights. I will destroy every living thing that I have made from the surface of the ground.” 5Noah did everything that Yahweh commanded him. 6Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came on the earth. 7Noah went into the ship with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, because of the floodwaters. 8Clean animals, unclean animals, birds, and everything that creeps on the ground 9went by pairs to Noah into the ship, male and female, as God commanded Noah. 10After the seven days, the floodwaters came on the earth. 11In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the sky’s windows opened. 12It rained on the earth forty days and forty nights.
In our first message, we looked at the papyrus basket that saved Moses’ life on the surging Nile. When the papyrus was woven into a basket and Moses was laid inside, his mother’s wisdom kept out every last drop of water. The basket floated on the Nile, yet it kept the river and Moses completely apart, and so the Nile could not take his life. This shows that believers living in this world are under God’s protection. The world threatens us with a force as great as the Nile’s, but because the Holy Spirit is with us, it cannot harm us. Just as the river and the basket were kept entirely apart, we are in the world, yet because we are in Christ, we are wholly set apart from it. If we grasp this firmly, our faith will not be shaken.
God told Noah to go into the ark with all his household. Noah was simply one man who, as head of his family, lived a righteous life, and yet his whole family and all the descendants yet to be born were saved from the waters of death. Not a drop of rain had fallen, yet his family went into the ark as he told them. This suggests that they relied on Noah completely. With the whole world laughing at them, they listened to their father and climbed aboard, and it was probably because they trusted his faith deeply. That is how much the faith of the head of a household matters. Because Noah had always shown the same steady faith, his family depended on him and obeyed his word.
If you were in such a situation, are you confident that your family would believe your word and obey? We speak easily of Noah’s family boarding the ark, but if Noah had not shown them a life lived faithfully before God, it would have been impossible.
When God commanded them to go into the ark while not a single drop of rain was falling, what were the eight thinking as they went in? Did they think they could simply go in and come back out if no rain came? Or did they believe the rain would come?
I believe that Noah’s family, at least, believed the flood would come. I say so because they had given their lives to building the ark. They poured their money, their time, and their passion into building it, and they paid no attention to the stares of those who mocked them. We know their faith today because they lived lives devoted to building the ark with all their strength, and in the same way, God recognizes the faith of his people only when they live it out. It was that faith that made them enter the ark before the flood came, and that faith that caused Noah’s family alone to survive in the midst of a world under judgment. What a blessing it is, then, to hold the assurance of faith.
What kind of faith do you have? Do you believe that Jesus is truly the light of the world, and that he will be your shelter in a world under judgment? If you have that kind of faith, then just like Noah, who was saved while the world perished, you and your household will be saved. In this fast-moving world, only those who hold fast to their faith can take part in the marriage supper of the Lamb. Living by faith, with a heart ready to carry the cross beside Jesus, is the faith that builds the ark. When we hold a faith without doubt, we will be able to experience the wonderful work of heaven every day.
Genesis 6:13
13God said to Noah, “I will bring an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them and the earth.
This is God declaring that he will judge with water a world filled with sin. As the history of Israel also shows, God judged Sodom and Gomorrah when their sin had reached its full measure, and he brought his people out of Egypt when the sin of the Canaanites had reached its full measure. Yet when he judged Sodom and Gomorrah, he rescued Lot, and when he judged Canaan, Israel gained the land. On the last day, when the world is judged, he will lead his people to the marriage supper with the sound of the trumpet.
So the ark that Noah built at the risk of his life was not built for God’s sake. Noah labored only to preserve his own life. In the same way, when we are faithful, we are not doing God a favor by serving him; our faithfulness is for our own salvation and nothing else. There is nothing in our devotion to boast of, nothing to be proud of. After all, it is for our own salvation that we have taken the Kingdom of Heaven by force.
The world asks believers how they can possibly believe in a marriage supper with Jesus Christ. When we are asked this, we must answer with confidence. We must answer that we can believe it because it is written in the Bible, and because we see with our own eyes the world unfolding just as God said it would. We can say that we believe because the history of the Old Testament unfolded as God said, because Jesus accomplished atonement just as the prophets foretold, and because he still stands at the center of salvation today. What matters most for a believer is this: the Holy Spirit has caused us to believe that God is our Father and that Christ has atoned for our sins. That we simply come to believe all this is a miracle the world cannot understand. That may be why it is so hard to explain to people in the world who believe only what they can see.
The evolutionist claims, on the basis of data that people have produced, that there is no God. But for believers who hold to creation, the ground of their belief is the Bible and faith. Because of that, words alone cannot make anyone believe, and we cannot explain it as if it were something visible, so our case may seem all the weaker. Yet this is the God who created the entire universe. And human beings, living on a small planet, debate God on grounds that weigh less than the dust drifting in the air. Human beings can never explain God, and they have no standing even to speak of whether he exists. They are people without wisdom, beings without worth. Even so, the theory of evolution is gaining ground in the world today, and foolish people shut God up inside their own heads and argue over whether his word is right or wrong.
This is a sign that the sin of the world has reached its full measure. I hope you will not believe the absurd claim that monkeys turned into people, but will believe that the holy and almighty God created you himself. When you believe that God created the world and that Christ sacrificed himself to atone for human sin and to save us, you can find, to your wonder, the God who works in Christ. How could any human being put so astonishing a miracle into words?
The world today is unfolding just as the Bible records in Revelation. It tells of the events at the end of the world: the marriage supper of the Lamb, the thousand-year reign, and eternal life with God in the everlasting New Jerusalem. Just as every word of Scripture has been fulfilled until now, the prophecies about the last day will be fulfilled as well. One of those events was the flood: God told Noah that a flood was coming, and just as he said, the world was destroyed by it. Even scientists who do not believe in God acknowledge, from their study of the earth’s geology, that a great flood covering the world really did take place.
The ark was an enormous ship, three decks high. It was built entirely of gopher wood (Italian cypress). Tebah means “a great box” or “a floating ship.” True to that name, the ark floated on the water, but it had no power to drive it, so Noah could not go where he wished. And even if it had had power, there would have been nowhere to go, because the whole world lay under the waters of death. The world, too, is a sea of darkness. So those who are aboard the ark of faith simply go where God leads them; they cannot choose a course and travel it on their own. No matter how wise and learned you may be, in a world covered only by those waters, every place you think is a way forward is death. Only Jesus Christ, who is the way, will lead his people. We must trust that the Lord will set us down in a safe place, and meanwhile work to save the souls who are drowning. This is devotion. This is faithfulness.
Hebrews 11:7
7By faith, Noah, being warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared a ship for the saving of his house, through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
When Noah was warned that God would judge the world, he set aside his own thoughts and, in reverent fear of God, built the ark. When God’s people obey with a heart that fears him, that very obedience condemns the world, and it is the path by which they become heirs of righteousness.
Many believers are working to cleanse the world. But the world is not a place that changes just because believers try hard. Rather than trying to change the world, the first thing we must do is obey God’s word and live as his people. In plain terms, Noah did not let the world capture his heart, and he showed his faith by building the ark quickly. The more he did so, the less God could bear to leave so righteous a man in a filthy, ugly world, and the sooner he would bring judgment on it.
God’s plan is to rescue his people out of darkness. The Israelites watched Egypt being judged by ten plagues, yet no plague fell on Goshen, where they lived. God’s holy grace, protecting his people, became a shield around them. Do you see now why a life of obedience, even to the point of death, matters so much? It is because God will begin his final work to protect his precious people only when you strive to become his holy children. I hope you will remember that your striving for a holy life is, in the end, for your own sake.
Acts 1:8
8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
Jesus said that he wanted them to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, and that for this to happen, the Holy Spirit had to come.
Bearing witness to Jesus is not something we can do in our own strength, and people do not believe simply because we have told them. That is why Jesus said that his followers must have the help of the Holy Spirit to spread the gospel. Only when the Spirit is at work do people come to understand that the human beings God created have sinned, that Jesus came and atoned for all of that sin, and that we are now waiting for Christ to come again. Only when all of this is understood will faith arise, and only when there is faith does the Spirit help us grow in sanctification. Only those who have grown this far come to long for the Kingdom of God and become people who share the gospel so that other souls may reach heaven. For us to understand this whole process, the Holy Spirit must come, and for the Spirit to come, Jesus must ascend.
After Jesus ascended, the Holy Spirit came and now dwells in the hearts of all believers, keeping us so that we can live with wisdom and faith. The Spirit’s work is to convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment. Concerning sin, the Spirit makes us understand that unbelief is not believing in the Christ who rescued us from death; concerning righteousness, that the righteousness of God is Christ himself. Concerning judgment, the Spirit lets God’s people know that the prince of this world has already been judged by God. He gives them assurance and boldness, and he helps them to believe that judgment will come with the end of the world on the last day, and to prepare for it.
The Holy Spirit teaches those of us who are still like little children the things of the spiritual world one by one, and he helps us set our hope on the eternal world. He is the Spirit of God, and because he works for the glory of Christ, he knows God’s will better than anyone. He gives believers wisdom and understanding so that they are not defeated by evil spirits, and he will see to it that they can meet the Lord when he returns on the last day. The Spirit is at work not so that believers can live comfortably in the world, but so that through those who have been saved, more souls can be brought aboard the ark. If the Spirit did not help in all of this, no one could confess Christ as Lord. It is because the Spirit has made us understand and repent, and has given us faith, that we can call God “Abba, Father” and serve Christ as our Lord. To save human beings who had fallen into death through sin, God sent God the Son into the world, and to protect the souls he had saved, he sent God the Holy Spirit.
While Satan worked without rest like a roaring lion, God the Holy Spirit guarded us with the power of heaven so that Satan could not make souls stumble. To believers who had faith, he gave an overflowing knowledge of God, made them know the love of Christ, and helped them rule over the world with God’s own power and authority.
Though we still live in the world in the flesh, this grace means enjoying the blessing of heaven, and that faith leads us to a faith in the resurrection, so that we can enjoy eternal life. Just as Noah’s family floated above the waters of death and were kept safe in the ark, God’s people are in the world, yet they live safely in Christ. When the time came, Noah’s family would come out of the ark and set foot on safe ground. In the same way, when the time comes, we will lay aside the flesh and enter heaven.
Since the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are themselves at work, all we have to do is have faith. If you rely on the Holy Spirit even to the point of foolishness, he will help you live as a child of power, a child who bears the authority of heaven. When the Holy Spirit works, the dark road of this world that you could not see becomes bright before you. When the Holy Spirit works, the problems of this world that you could never solve will be resolved in ways that astonish you.
The way to receive these blessings of heaven is to give yourself completely to the Holy Spirit and obey him. When you rely on him, he gives you not only what you need in this world but also the hope of heaven, and so even when hardship comes, you gain the wisdom to rejoice in it. As long as we live in this world, every one of us will meet trouble. When it comes, if only you have the wisdom not to stand at the center of the problem, but to step back in faith and watch how the Holy Spirit resolves it, your trouble will no longer look like trouble. Such wisdom comes only through faith in Christ. Noah had this faith when he built the ark, and Jochebed had it when she made the papyrus basket. Only those who have such faith can live according to God’s will.
Genesis 9:21
21He drank of the wine and got drunk. He was uncovered within his tent.
After coming out of the ark, Noah planted a vineyard, but he drank the wine, got drunk, and fell asleep uncovered in his tent. This is how weak the human heart is: even after seeing and living through a judgment that destroyed the world, we can still drink ourselves to sleep. Noah’s family had seen and experienced a vast flood and the astonishing miracle of heaven that rescued them from its waters. Yet as soon as they set foot on land, they drank and behaved in an all too human way, and it ended in leading Noah’s son into sin. They had seen the flood that covered the world and had seen the Creator who in a single moment put to death every living thing that breathed, yet Noah’s family failed to stand firm in their faith. As long as we are in the flesh, we have a weakness that makes us fall even after we have seen and experienced the miracles of heaven, and so we must rely all the more on the Holy Spirit.
For how many days does your gratitude for what you have received from God last? If you can keep that gratitude for the rest of your life, God himself will become your ark and keep everything that is yours.
The papyrus basket was at the mercy of the current, and Noah’s ark drifted with no power of its own. This shows that nothing in this world is complete. But Christ’s ark is a perfect ark. The waters of the world cannot break into it, and the torrents of the world cannot sweep it away. Not only that: you never need to get off, for it carries you just as you are into heaven. And you are aboard this perfect ark of Christ right now. If you have trusted in Christ’s grace and boarded his ark, every sin you have committed until now has been forgiven, and you may live a free and peaceful life in faith. Just as God is holy, may you now live a holy life and reveal his glory.
I will now bring this message to a close. Moses’ papyrus basket saved the leader of Israel, and Noah’s ark kept the eight members of his family alive. Now Jesus Christ, our ark, will keep alive all who believe that he has atoned for their sins.
But if we cannot see how sin has stained us, we cannot board the ark, and if our hearts are captured by the power and wealth we have stored up in the world, we cannot board it either. The ark is a place we board only after laying down all the greed and lust we held in the world, bringing nothing with us but thanksgiving and praise. I hope you will give your time, your means, and your whole heart, in the Holy Spirit, so that more souls can board the ark of Christ. If you are faithful with all your heart, you will be able to save a Moses as Jochebed did, to save your family as Noah did, and to offer God a rich harvest of fruit that bears Christ’s likeness. As long as you boldly proclaim the gospel in the name of Christ, who has become our ark, the fruit of your devotion will grow and you will receive a great reward.
May you always join in God’s work by faith. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ.