Genesis (Part 12)(BST 8-31-08)

Genesis (Part 12)
Bible Study Time 8-31-08
(From James Roberts 10-20-96)

Last week in our Journey Through the Scripture we saw that Noah and his family and all of the animals that Noah brought with him into the ark were safe and secure from the judgment that God brought upon the earth. The Bible clearly teaches that God destroyed the earth and all of its inhabitants with a cataclysmic, universal flood.

The ark is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ because those who were in the ark were safe and secure. Jesus Christ is the only ark of safety that God has provided for mankind. When the future judgment of God comes upon this earth, only those who are found in Jesus Christ will be safe and secure.

Men may make their little row boats as they come up with all kinds of schemes and all kinds of works to please and appease God, but these little row boats will never provide any measure of safety when the wrath of God is poured out upon the earth. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only ark of safety when it comes to escaping the wrath of God.

When the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, He tasted the judgment of God for man’s sins, and all those who believe that Christ died for their sins, that He was buried and that He rose again the third day, God places them in the Lord Jesus Christ where they find safety and security. Those who are outside the Lord Jesus Christ will be even as the inhabitants of the earth in the days of Noah in that they will have to face the terrible, dark days of judgment that will take place when God’s wrath is poured out upon the earth.

I trust today that you know the Lord Jesus Christ as the one who died to take your place, as the one who bore your sins on the cross so that you would not have to face the future judgment of God. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, then you can rest in the assurance of Romans, Chapter 8, which says that there is therefore now no condemnation, no judgment, to those who are in Christ Jesus.

Now, as we turn to Genesis, Chapter 8, in our Journey Through the Scripture, we see that the flood waters receded from the face of the earth. When God saw that the earth was inhabitable once again, He told Noah to go out of the ark with his family and all of the animals.

As Noah left the ark, we see that the very first thing that Noah did was to build an altar unto the Lord. This is the first mention of an altar being built. It seems that before the flood there was a designated place where man was to bring his offerings to the Lord, but there was never any mention of an altar. At this point, however, it appears that that designated place was destroyed by the flood, so Noah had to build an altar.

It was Noah’s desire to provide an offering to the Lord that would be acceptable in the sight of God. I do not believe that Noah’s offering at this point was a sin offering. It was not an offering that was intended to provide a covering for his sins. This must have been an offering of thanksgiving and dedication to the Lord.

You see, Noah had already passed through the judgment so that he would have no need of a sin offering. At this point, Noah needed only to bring an offering of thanksgiving in which he could express his dedication and devotion to the Lord.

Oh my, how you and I, when have been saved by faith in Christ from the judgment to come, how we should thank God, not only at the moment of salvation but every day of our lives for the grace of God that has delivered us from all of the judgment that is to come. This great deliverance should also motivate us to dedicate our lives unto the Lord with all sincerity and devotion.

Yes, Noah built an altar so that he would have a place to offer his animal sacrifices, but the Apostle Paul tells us that God requires a different kind of sacrifice from us today. We do have an altar today but that altar is not for the offering up of animal sacrifices. Christ has already come to present Himself as the ultimate sacrifice for sin, not just to cover our sins but to take away our sins. Because of His sacrifice, we have the assurance that we will never have to face the judgment of God’s wrath. However, in Romans, Chapter 12, Paul challenges us, saying:

Romans 12:1-2 NKJV
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

The sacrifice that pleases God today is the sacrifice of the believer who comes to God and presents himself as a living sacrifice. He is pleased with the believer who offers up his life, saying, Lord, here’s my body, take my body and use it for your honor and for your glory.

Noah offered up dead, animal sacrifices as a burnt offering to the Lord upon an altar that he had built, and God was well pleased. But today God wants each believer to offer his body as a living sacrifice, not the body of an animal, but his own body, not as a dead sacrifice, but as a living sacrifice. God was well pleased with Noah’s animal sacrifice, but today God is well pleased when each believer is willing to present his own body to God as a living sacrifice.

Now, after Noah offered his sacrifice to the Lord, the Lord smelled the sweet smell of the sacrifice, and He said in His heart:

Genesis 8:21 NKJV
21 . . . "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.

Notice that God did not say that He would never again destroy the earth and its inhabitants. In Genesis 9 God tells Noah:

Genesis 9:9-11 NKJV
9 "And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you,
10 and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth.
11 Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."

God states that He will never destroy the earth with water, as He did through the flood. God promises this to Noah, and Noah’s descendants and all of the living creatures upon the earth. But in the book of 2 Peter, Peter speaks of a judgment that is going to come upon this earth. All of the inhabitants of the earth are going to experience this judgment except those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ.

The men of the earth at that time will be ungodly men. They will be like the ungodly men of Noah’s day, and they will say:

2 Peter 3:4 NKJV
4 . . . "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."

Before the flood, Enoch prophesied for 300 years about the fact that the Lord would someday come with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment upon all that are ungodly. Then Noah preached for 120 years that the judgment of God was coming. But the men of that day scoffed, saying, we’ve never seen any such judgment; nothing like that has ever happened before.

Well, there had been a judgment like that before. When Lucifer sinned, a great, cataclysmic judgment fell upon all of the creation. Peter says that in the last days people will once again be unaware of the previous judgments of God. 2 Peter 3:5 says:

2 Peter 3:5-6 NKJV
5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,
6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.

This takes us right back to the time of Noah and the flood. Now, verse 7:

2 Peter 3:7-13 NKJV
7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
The Day of the Lord 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Yes, the flood judgment came because of the wrath of God upon the ungodliness of men, and that judgment is but a picture of the end time when God will completely destroy the earth, not with water, but with fire that is reserved in heaven. Indeed, this fire is reserved in heaven right now.

In the days of Noah, water was reserved in heaven for that very moment when the flood was to come. Even so, at this very moment, there is fire in heaven that is waiting to be poured out upon the earth at the time of the final judgment. At that time, God will destroy the heavens and the earth that now exist and out of that old heaven and old earth will come a new heaven and a new earth which will be filled with righteousness.

The great flood judgment did not rid the world of wickedness. In Genesis 8:21, God said:

Genesis 8:21 NKJV
21 . . . although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.

God knew that even after the flood, the heart of man would continue to be evil. But after the end time judgment of fire, which will result in the new heaven and the new earth, there will be only righteousness. Those who have come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and have been made new creations in Christ will fill the earth. There will be no place for the old nature in the new heaven and the new earth.

Noah was kept safe while he was in the ark, but he came out of the ark with the old sin nature. In fact, we see in the scriptures that shortly after Noah came out of the ark, he planted a vineyard and got drunk. So Noah still had to deal with the old sin nature. But in the new heaven and the new earth there will be no one who still has that sin nature. Old things will have passed away, and everyone who is there will be righteous in the sight of God.

I’d like to ask you this today, have you ever trusted Christ as your Savior? Do you know that you are free from the wrath to come? One day God’s judgment is going to come upon the earth in a worldwide judgment. There are multitudes of people who go out into eternity everyday without accepting by faith the good news that Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world. I trust today that you are like Noah in that you have by faith entered into the Lord Jesus Christ who is our ark of safety.

Well, I see that our journey for today has come to an end. The Lord willing next week we are going to look at the instructions that God gave to Noah as he and his family settled into a world which had changed dramatically as a result of the flood. Until that time, we bid you goodbye.

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Genesis (Part 11)(BST 8-24-08)

Genesis (Part 11)
Bible Study Time 8-24-08
(From James Roberts 10-13-96)

Last week in our Journey Through the Scripture, we saw something of the longsuffering of God in the days of Noah. God had told Noah to build an ark, and so for 120 years Noah did exactly that. But all of the time that Noah was building the ark, he was faithfully preaching to the people and warning them of the coming judgment of God.

Prior to Noah, God had a prophet by the name of Enoch who was the seventh from Adam. Enoch had a son whose name was Methuselah. Not much is said in the scriptures about Methuselah, but Methuselah is unique in that he lived longer than any other person who has ever lived on this earth. Methuselah was almost a thousand years old when he died, and this shows something of the longsuffering of God because his name means, when he is dead, it shall be sent.

Methuselah’s name stood as a prophesy to the people of his day concerning the coming of the great flood judgment. Undoubtedly, when Methuselah was born, God spoke to Enoch and said, when this baby dies, the great judgment of God will come. So, from the time that Methuselah was born, Enoch walked with God and was a faithful preacher and teacher. He was a faithful prophet concerning the coming judgment of God.

The people before the flood had the preaching of Enoch for 300 years, and they had the living object lesson of Methuselah who was living right there in their midst. Every time they saw Methuselah, his name would remind them of what God had told Enoch concerning the judgment that would come at Methuselah’s death. These people also had the preaching of Noah as he built the ark for 120 years. But in spite of all these warnings from the Lord, we find that none repented. Not one turned to the Lord.

When Noah finished the ark, God told Noah to bring into the ark seven of each kind of clean animal and two of each kind of unclean animal. With this task accomplished, God told Noah to “come into the ark.” It is very important to see the language that God used here. God did not tell Noah to go into the ark. That would have indicated that God was going to remain outside the ark while Noah and his family went inside.

The Bible makes it clear that God was already in the ark when He invited Noah to come into the ark. God said, come into the ark, and when Noah and his family were safely inside, God shut the door to the ark, and the day of grace was over for the people of that day.

After the door to that ark was shut, God opened up the windows of heaven and the water that had been reserved in the heavens for that day of judgment came pouring out. Then, the waters that were being held in reserve underneath the earth came gushing forth. This tremendous flood of water rushed across the face of the earth for forty days and forty nights.

This year we have seen the damage that the hurricanes and tropical storms have caused along the eastern seaboard. Well, the surge of water caused by these storms was but a little sprinkle in comparison with the great volume of water that was produced during the flood of Noah’s day. The flood of Noah’s day was so great that it covered the whole earth in a little over a month. This was a universal flood that covered even the highest mountains of the earth. As a result of this flood, the earth and everything in the earth perished.

After forty days and forty nights of rain, Noah had to remain in the ark because the flood waters were still covering even the mountains. Noah waited in the ark for 150 days, and then the Bible says that God remembered Noah. Isn’t that a beautiful thought?

God remembered Noah, and how could he forget Noah when He was right there with Noah in the ark. God had invited Noah to come into the ark, and when it was time for Noah to leave, God told Noah to “go out of the ark.” He did not say, come out of the ark. Once again, this shows that God was in the ark with Noah all of the time that Noah and his family were in the ark.

What a place of safety! What a place of security! Right there in the ark was the very presence of God as the ark was being tossed about by the flood waters. And may I say this to you? There may be times in your life when you feel that you are being tossed about by the flood waters of life. You may have to face some trials or temptations or afflictions that seem overwhelming.

But remember this. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you can rest assured that God is with you. He said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. The book of Philippians tells us that the Lord is at hand and anytime there is trouble, we can go to the Lord. He tells us to come boldly before His throne of grace to ask for help in the time of need. You and I can cast all of our cares upon Him for He cares for us.

God remembered Noah because God was right there with Noah in the ark. God knew every emotion, every problem, and He was right there with them to help them. He was there to supply every need.

Noah had built the ark according to the blueprints that God had given him. The ark was a three story ark which had a window in the top that looked up into heaven. There was only one door by which believers could enter the ark. But the ark, itself, is also a beautiful picture if the Lord Jesus Christ.

First of all, the ark was built with wood and then it was covered within and without with pitch. The word that is translated pitch is the word for atonement which means a covering. Throughout the Old Testament, God provided a means of atonement for the sins of the people so that their sins would be covered.

When the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, He died, not to cover our sins but to take away our sins. No longer was there a need for a covering. When Christ died on the cross, He took away our sins. So the pitch that was on the ark speaks of the atonement that was for those Old Testament saints, and it points us to the redemption that Christ has provided for us through His death on the cross.

The three stories in the ark also represent the kind of salvation that we have in Christ today. The Lord Jesus Christ is the ark, and we enter into Christ by means of the one door which is faith in the work of Christ upon the cross. On the first floor of the ark, we find that we are saved from the guilt and the penalty of sin. We come into that ark burdened down with sin, but the very moment that we put our faith in Christ, God takes away our burden of sin. The death of Christ on the cross takes away our sin.

As we move to the second story of the ark, we find that we have been delivered from the power of sin. This speaks of the safety and security that believers experience in Christ. We live in a world that is hostile to believers. We find ourselves on a spiritual battlefield, but the victory is ours through the power of the Holy Spirit. As we yield to the Holy Spirit, we are delivered from the power of sin. When Christ died for our sins, our old sin nature was put to death so that we would no longer have to serve sin. We can be delivered day by day and moment by moment from the very power of sin.

The third story is beautiful because it speaks of the aspect of our salvation that will be fully realized in the future when we are delivered from the presence of sin. One day the Lord is going to take us up to be with Himself. One day the last member of the Church which is the Body of Christ will be added to the Church, and that very moment God is going to catch up the Church to be with Him in heaven.

Those who have died in faith are going to be raised up to receive a glorified body as they ascend into heaven. As for those who are alive and remain at the time of this catching up, they will be given a new body as they ascend into heaven, but they will never see death. Whether dead in Christ or alive in the world, all believers will be taken up to be with the Lord where we are finally saved from the very presence of sin.

I trust that you can see this threefold salvation that we have Christ. We are saved from the guilt and the penalty of sin when we put our faith in Christ. We are saved from the power of sin as we daily walk by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. Then one day we will be saved from the very presence of sin when the Lord Jesus takes us up to be with Himself in the glory of heaven.

Now, there is another aspect of the flood that I would like for us to see. When the rain stopped after forty days and forty nights, Noah remained in the ark for another 150 days. Then at some point after that 150 days, Noah let two birds out of the ark. One was a raven, and the other was a dove. The raven flew off and was never seen again. The raven was a scavenger, and so it was able to live off the dead flesh that was no doubt in great abundance after the flood.

However, when Noah sent out the dove, the dove could not find any place for the soul of her foot to land. She could not stand to be around the old dead flesh, so she returned to the ark. When Noah saw the dove, he put out his hand and took the dove back into the ark. Seven days later, Noah sent out another dove, and this time the dove returned to the ark with a freshly plucked olive branch which showed signs of new life.

The dove is a picture of the person who knows the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior. As believers endeavor to live for the Lord, they find no rest or peace in the dead things of the world. Believers are dead to the things of the world because the old nature is crucified with Christ. Though believers choose to stay close to Christ, they carry a wonderful message with them of the life and the peace that can be found in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In sharp contrast to the dove, the raven found plenty to feast upon in the death and corruption that was so prevalent in the world that had been judged by God.

As we close the broadcast this morning, may I ask you which of these two birds would represent you? Are you like the dove in that you have come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? Do you feel uncomfortable when you drift away from the ark and find yourself among the dead things of this world, or are you still feasting upon the dead things of the world as the raven did? True peace and joy can only be found by those who forsake the world and choose to stay close to Jesus Christ.

Well, I see our time is gone for today. Be sure to tune in again next week as we look at Noah and his family after the flood. Until that time, we bid you goodbye.

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Genesis (Part 10)(BST 8-17-08)

Genesis (Part 10)
Bible Study Time 8-17-08
(From James Roberts 10-6-96)

In our Journey Through the Scripture last week, we met a man by the name of Noah. I’m sure that you are very familiar with the account of Noah in the Bible. Noah was divinely warned of God about the judgment that was coming. God said that His Spirit was not always going to strive with man, but that He was going to give man a hundred and twenty years before the great judgment would come.

God gave to Noah the blueprints for the ark. Then, as Noah built the ark, he warned the people of the judgment to come. In the book of 2 Peter, Chapter 3, Peter compares the rebellion of the people in Noah’s day to the rebellion of the people who will live in the last days before the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Peter says that in the end times there will be many scoffers who will laugh at those who warn them of the judgment that is sure to come. Notice in verse 4 of 2 Peter 3 that these scoffers will say:

2 Peter 3:4-9 NKJV
4 . . . "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."
5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,
6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.
7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

At the Lord’s second coming, He will bring a great judgment upon the earth that will culminate in the Battle of Armageddon. The Jesus Christ will establish a kingdom of blessing upon the earth that will last for a thousand years. However, at the end of that thousand year kingdom, there will be one final rebellion before Satan is cast into the lake of fire. At that time God will bring one final judgment upon the earth that will destroy the heavens and the earth as they now exist. Then, out of that destruction God will bring forth a new heaven and a new earth that will be filled with righteousness.

In 2 Peter 3, Peter indicates that before both of these end time judgments, there will be many scoffers on the earth, just as there were scoffers in the days of Noah before the flood. These scoffers will say, where is the promise of His coming; we don’t see any sign or anything in our past experience that would lead us to believe that judgment is coming. They will say that everything has continued without change since the time of the creation.

Peter says that in this thought these scoffers will be willingly ignorant of one thing, and that is the flood judgment of Noah’s day. All things have not continued without change since the beginning of the world. The flood of Noah’s day was a cataclysmic judgment which resulted in enormous changes in the creation. Many of these changes are with us to this day.

The doctrine of evolution is based on the concept of uniformitarianism. Those who hold to this idea believe that everything in our natural world has remained the same over the billions and billions of years since the beginning of time. This concept does not allow for the occurrence of any catastrophes which could change the natural environment of the earth.

Because of this uniformitarian presupposition, many scientist today feel that they can accurately date every archeological find with carbon dating. They believe that all of the natural laws that we observe today have always been in effect without change even through all of the processes of evolution that have occurred over billions of years.

This presupposition is based on the very idea that Peter warned about in regard to the end times. He said that in the end times, people will say that everything has remained the same since the beginning of creation. Peter says that people who say such things are willingly ignorant of the facts concerning the flood.

Indeed, many people today are willingly ignorant of the flood and its consequences. They call the flood a myth. They say that the account of the flood is just one of those stories that was placed in the Bible to teach a moral lesson. They refuse to accept the flood as a literal, historic event.

We have to conclude that these scoffers are willingly ignorant of the flood because there is ample evidence that the flood did take place and that it permanently altered the natural environment of the earth. The earth, as it was before the flood, perished, and therefore we cannot assume that the natural laws that we observe today would have been valid before the flood.

Just think of the pressure that was exerted upon the face of the earth when the whole earth was covered with water. The volume of water at that time was so great that it covered even the highest mountains. This intense pressure would most certainly have destroyed everything that was, and it would have permanently altered the natural environment of the earth.

Peter says that the people of the end times will be willingly ignorant of the facts concerning the flood because they don’t want to face the truth of God’s future judgment. During the end times, people will ask, where is the promise of the Lord’s coming? They will say, I haven’t seen any kind of judgment in my lifetime. I haven’t seen anybody call down fire from heaven. And I haven’t seen the earth being destroyed by water or by any other means.

Peter would remind us that just because we have not seen such judgments, that does not mean that it hasn’t happened. And it doesn’t mean that it won’t happen in the future. Peter says that God is not slack concerning His promise, and that what God has said will take place, will take place. God will perform that which He has promised.

It was the power of God’s word that held the judgment waters of Noah’s day in place until the time for judgment came. However, when God spoke, the windows of heaven opened up and water came pouring down out of heaven for forty days and forty nights. It was a constant deluge of water that had been reserved in heaven for that time of judgment. At that same time, the fountains of the deep were broken up so that the earth, as it was before the flood, was destroyed.

Now, in the days of Noah, the people scoffed at the idea of God judging the earth with rain. They had never seen the judgment of God, and in fact, they had never seen rain. Everything had been going along pretty well, the same as it always had. They were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage, but then the flood came and took them all away.

You see, God is not going to be mocked. God is not slack concerning His promise, but He is longsuffering, and He is not willing that any should perish. The reason that the judgment of God has not come upon us today is not because men don’t deserve it. It’s because God is longsuffering and patient. God does not want any human life to be destroyed. Indeed, He wants all of humanity to repent and return to Him in faith.

As we apply this lesson to our own situation today, we must bear in mind that as members of the Church which is the Body of Christ, we are not headed for the judgments of the end time. We are not headed for the Battle of Armageddon or the fiery judgment that will take place after the thousand year kingdom.

The next thing on God’s agenda for us is the catching up of the Church to be with Christ in the glory of heaven. One day the Lord is going to finish building the Church which is the Body of Christ. When the last person is saved and added to the church, Jesus Christ is going to take the church home to be with Himself in the glory.

Those who have died are going to be raised up from the grave, and they will be given glorified bodies as they ascend into heaven. Then those who are alive and remain on the earth will be taken up, and they too will be given bodies that are like the glorious body of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The rapture of the Church is our hope today, and just as Noah could look up through a window in the top of the ark to see the heavens, even so you and I today are to keep looking up, because we are to look for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The book of Philippians tells us that:

Philippians 3:20-21
20 . . . our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Beloved, the flood came. The flood destroyed the earth and every living thing that was upon the earth. All of the plant life and all of the animal life, all of that perished. But God saved Noah and His family. Before the rain began, God told them to come into the ark, and when they got into the ark, God closed the door so that Noah and his family were sealed inside. They were safe, but it was too late for anyone else to get in.

Notice, if you will, that God did not just let Noah stand outside the ark so that he could try to hold onto the ark and save himself when the waters began to rise. I’m sure that when the floods came, many people did get up on the ark, and they probably tried the best they could to hold onto the ark, but everyone of them perished. Only those who were sealed inside the ark were safe.

Today, when a person comes to Jesus Christ and accepts by faith that Jesus Christ died for his sins, God puts that person inside Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the ark of safety for us today. When God places us into Jesus Christ, He seals us with the Holy Spirit of promise so that the door is shut behind us. As believers, we are safely protected inside the Lord Jesus Christ from the future judgments of God.

I’m glad to know that I am safe and secure inside the Lord Jesus and that I don’t have to just try to hold on in the midst of a world that is tempest tossed and full of turmoil. I’m glad that it’s not up to me to try to keep myself safe, but that it is God, Himself, who preserves me and keeps me as one of His children.

Well, we have seen something of the ark and the safety that God provided for Noah during the great flood judgment. Next week, we are going to pick up again with Noah as he exits the ark to receive some new instructions from the Lord. Until that time, we bid you goodbye.

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Genesis (Part 9)(BST 8-10-08)

Genesis (Part 9)
Bible Study Time 8-10-08
(From James Roberts 9-29-96)

Last week in our Journey Through the Scripture, we met a man by the name of Enoch. Enoch was the seventh from Adam, and we found in the book of Jude, verse 14, that Enoch was a prophet. He prophesied of the ungodly deeds of the people of his generation, and he warned them of the judgment to come.

Enoch had a son by the name of Methuselah who lived longer than any person who has ever lived. Even in our day and time, people make reference to Methuselah when they talk about someone who is very old. They may say, he is as old as Methuselah. Some of these people don’t even know who Methuselah was, but nonetheless, Methuselah did live to be the oldest person on record.

This is significant because Methuselah’s name means, when he is dead, it shall be sent, which is talking about the great flood of Noah’s day. God allowed Methuselah to live for such a long time because God wanted to put off this flood as long as He could so that He could warn the people through prophets such as Enoch and Noah. But Methuselah did ultimately die and then the flood came.

That brings us in our study today to Noah, who was the great grandson of Enoch. Let’s begin reading in the book of Genesis, Chapter 6:

Genesis 6:1-8 NKJV
1 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them,
2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
3 And the Lord said,"My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years."
4 There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
7 So the Lord said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them."
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

After this, we find that God speaks of the genealogy of Noah. We see that Noah was a just man. He was perfect in his generations, and he walked with God.

At this time there was an ungodly connection between the sons of God and the daughters of men. It appears that God had previously warned the people about the dangers of such a connection, but His warning went unheeded. As a result, a supernatural kind of race came into being on the earth. The men of this race were giants, and the Bible calls them mighty men of old.

I believe that these men were primarily mighty in knowledge and understanding. They must have been brilliant. They were no doubt also giants in stature. They may have been like Goliath in the days of David. But most certainly, these men were giants in their wickedness as well.

There was only one person who was different from these wicked giants and that one person was Noah, and Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. This does not mean that Noah was sinlessly perfect. He did not come directly from the hands of God to stand before God as Adam did in the original creation. Noah was born of Adam, in Adam’s likeness. He was a sinner, but he had a heart for God.

The Bible says that Noah was a just man. The word just is used to show that Noah was one who was justified, one who was upright before the Lord. By nature, all men are unjust. The book of Ecclesiastes says that there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. So the only way Noah could have been just is if God made Him just according to His grace. Therefore, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Noah did not deserve to be justified; by nature he was a sinner. But God was able to justify Noah according to His own standard of justice. As with Enoch, it seems evident that God spoke to Noah and Noah believed what God said. It was on the basis of Noah’s faith that God justified Noah. Hebrews, Chapter 11, says:

Hebrews 11:7 NKJV
7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household . . .

Noah was justified because of God’s grace. Noah was not sinlessly perfect, but he had a heart for God. The other people of Noah’s day had hearts that were continually evil.

One of the things that we find in the book of Matthew, Chapter 24, is that these evil people just went about their daily activities without any thought for God. They ate and they drank and they married and they were given in marriage. They simply paid no attention to any of the things that God was saying to them through Enoch and Noah. Enoch and Noah warned them of the judgment to come, but none of them listened.

May I say this to you. It may be that you are going about your own way today, without any thought for the things of God. You just go about your daily activities, getting up, going to work, coming home, watching TV, going to bed. Then you just repeat this routine day after day.

Some of you are planning to get married, some of you have been married for 5 years, 10 years, 25 years, maybe even 70 years. You’re just going your own way without one thought for God. That’s an ungodly act. That’s an ungodly act because God created man for His glory, and God wants us to give Him the place that He deserves in our lives.

You may be just drifting along with the world like everyone else, not paying any attention to the Enoch’s and Noah’s of our day who teach us the word of God. You don’t hear the word and mix it with faith, and believe to the saving of your life by trusting the Lord Jesus as your Savior. I trust today that you are not just going along with the flow and drifting along, but that you will stop and believe what God has said in His word.

Well, the earth was so wicked that God decided to destroy the earth, but before the great flood came, God gave the people ample warning. He provided 300 years of warning through Enoch and 120 years of preaching by Noah. The book of I Peter, Chapter 3, says that Noah was preparing the ark for 120 years, and God said in Genesis 6 that His Spirit was not always going to strive with man but that his days would be 120 years. Therefore, we can safely conclude that Noah was building the ark and preaching for 120 years.

For the 300 years of Enoch’s ministry, the Spirit of God was striving with man. Do you know what that means? The Holy Spirit was taking the word that Enoch was giving, and He was putting it to the hearts of the people and striving with them to get them to hear what Enoch was saying.

While Noah was preaching, God was striving with man. I can just hear them as Noah was building that ark. Hey, Noah, whacha’ doin’? I’m building this ark. What’s an ark? Well, it’s a boat that God is going to use to save people from the judgment that’s coming. What kind of judgment; I don’t know what judgment is; I’ve never seen any kind of judgment. Well, God’s going to bring a flood. What’s a flood?

You can just hear this conversation going on with the people sneering and scoffing at the words of Noah while the Spirit of God was striving with them, convicting them of their sin and of their need to trust in the word of God and repent of their ungodliness.

God said, I’m going to strive with these people for 120 years, and then I’m going to destroy them. So during that 120 years, Noah was preaching the word of God.

Now, please notice that God told Noah to build the ark, and He gave specific instructions as to how Noah was to build it. In Hebrews 11, we read:

Hebrews 11:7 NKJV
7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

You see, as Noah was building that ark, he was preparing the ark for the saving of his house. Noah had three sons and their wives, and then there was also Noah’s wife. So Noah was preparing the ark to save eight people from the flood.

But as Noah was building the ark, he was also judging the world, because at a certain point God brought Noah and his family into the ark and then closed the door. After that door was closed, the windows of heaven and the fountains of the deep opened up.

I believe that there was a canopy of water in the heavens that had been there since the time of the creation. God created this canopy of water for this particular time of judgment. He created this canopy of water in the heavens, and He created the fountains of water underneath the earth so that when He put Noah into the ark and shut the door, He could simply open up the windows of heaven and open the fountains of the deep to flood the whole earth.

This was not just a rain. It was like someone opened a door that had been holding back a wall of water, and when that door was opened, the water poured out. This flood of water came gushing out for forty days and forty nights. The water came pouring out from the heavens above and gushing from the earth beneath so that the whole earth was covered with water.

The book of 2 Peter tells us that the earth perished along with every living thing that was on the earth. That means that after the flood, the earth and the things of the earth were completely different. The flood changed everything.

But before God ever brought the judgment of the flood, He prepared the way of escape. God respects human life and he gave the people of that day plenty of warning. 300 years in the days of Enoch, and 120 years in the days of Noah, and then it would appear that God postponed the death of Methuselah in order to postpone the flood. Clearly, God is not willing that any should perish, and so God provided the ark for the salvation of all who would enter by faith.

God brought Noah into the ark, shut up the door, and then brought the flood. After all that time the judgment did come. People today often resist the idea of the judgment of God, but judgment is coming. However, God has provided an ark of safety for you and for me. It is the ark of the Lord Jesus Christ who provides salvation. In a sense, He is a three story ark, who is able to deliver us from the guilt and penalty of sin, from the power of sin, and then finally from the presence of sin.

There was only one door to the ark, and it was closed at a certain point. In like manner today, there is only one door into the presence of God and into that salvation that He has provided, and that is faith in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.

There was one window in the ark and that was on the top so that Noah and his family could keep looking up. My father-in-law used to preach on the radio, and he would close each broadcast by saying, keep looking up. We today need to keep looking up as we look for that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Well, I see that we have come to an end in our journey today. The Lord willing, we’ll take up again next week in this journey. Until that time we bid you goodbye.

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/