Noah Saved from Wrath
Notes
Transcript
In these chapters we have a dark, dismal picture of man. After about two thousand years’ trial he is here only as a total failure. When man has altogether failed God comes in sovereign grace and manifests His saving power. It is always so. Grace comes when man is utterly lost and helpless. The coming forth of Noah and his family from the ark may be a foreshadowing of the coming of Christ and His saints to bless a new earth, purged by the judgment of God. Look at the
I. Divine Verdict. “God said, The end of all flesh is come before Me” (chap. 6:13). What a poor end this was! “Evil, only evil, continually.” Mark, this is the end of all flesh. Evolutionists predict a different end, but the divine verdict has already gone forth—“Only evil.” “That which is born of the flesh is flesh” (John 3:6). “They that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:8). Unregenerate man, this is the end of your supposed good life, as seen by a righteous and holy God.
I. Divine Verdict. “God said, The end of all flesh is come before Me” (chap. 6:13). What a poor end this was! “Evil, only evil, continually.” Mark, this is the end of all flesh. Evolutionists predict a different end, but the divine verdict has already gone forth—“Only evil.” “That which is born of the flesh is flesh” (John 3:6). “They that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:8). Unregenerate man, this is the end of your supposed good life, as seen by a righteous and holy God.
II. Divine Plan. “God said to Noah, Make an ark.” Noah and his family could never have escaped the flood had not God been pleased to reveal this way of deliverance. It is not in man (1 Cor. 2:10, 11). Salvation is of the Lord. What a revelation of grace has come to us through Jesus Christ! God laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
II. Divine Plan. “God said to Noah, Make an ark.” Noah and his family could never have escaped the flood had not God been pleased to reveal this way of deliverance. It is not in man (1 Cor. 2:10, 11). Salvation is of the Lord. What a revelation of grace has come to us through Jesus Christ! God laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
III. Divine Warning. “Behold, I, even I, will bring a flood” (v. 17). How gracious our God is in providing a Refuge for us in Christ, and in so plainly warning us of the coming wrath (Luke 3:7). There is no escape for those who neglect His merciful provision (Heb. 2:3). “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32).
III. Divine Warning. “Behold, I, even I, will bring a flood” (v. 17). How gracious our God is in providing a Refuge for us in Christ, and in so plainly warning us of the coming wrath (Luke 3:7). There is no escape for those who neglect His merciful provision (Heb. 2:3). “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32).
IV. Divine Invitation. “Come thou, and all thy house, into the ark” (chap. 7:1). He who made the provision sends forth the invitation (Matt. 22:2, 3). He who gave His Son up to the death for us invites us to “hear Him.” The pleading of Jesus is the pleading of God in Him (Matt. 9:28). God’s gracious purpose is to save both you and your household (Acts 16:31).
IV. Divine Invitation. “Come thou, and all thy house, into the ark” (chap. 7:1). He who made the provision sends forth the invitation (Matt. 22:2, 3). He who gave His Son up to the death for us invites us to “hear Him.” The pleading of Jesus is the pleading of God in Him (Matt. 9:28). God’s gracious purpose is to save both you and your household (Acts 16:31).
V. Divine Security. “The Lord shut him in” (v. 16). They are safely kept whom God shuts up. When He shuts, no man can open. If any man enter in he shall be saved (John 10:9), kept (1 Peter 1:5), and comforted (John 14:16). To be shut in by God is to be shut out from the world—from its pleasures, its sins, and its doom. If your life is hid with Christ in God, seek those things which are above.
V. Divine Security. “The Lord shut him in” (v. 16). They are safely kept whom God shuts up. When He shuts, no man can open. If any man enter in he shall be saved (John 10:9), kept (1 Peter 1:5), and comforted (John 14:16). To be shut in by God is to be shut out from the world—from its pleasures, its sins, and its doom. If your life is hid with Christ in God, seek those things which are above.
VI. Divine Carefulness. “God remembered Noah.” Those who hide know where to seek. Those hidden by God are ever remembered by Him. All who are shut up in Jesus Christ, like Noah, are shut up to faith. It is a blessed privilege to be where we cannot be touched by judgment, and cannot be forgotten of God.
VI. Divine Carefulness. “God remembered Noah.” Those who hide know where to seek. Those hidden by God are ever remembered by Him. All who are shut up in Jesus Christ, like Noah, are shut up to faith. It is a blessed privilege to be where we cannot be touched by judgment, and cannot be forgotten of God.
VII. Divine Commission. “God said unto Noah, Go forth” (chap. 8:16). We go in for salvation, and go forth for testimony. We are first taken out of the world before we are sent into it (John 17). Those who go in and out will find pasture. To the unsaved God’s word is, “Come in;” to the saved His word is, “Go forth.” Blessed coming and going!
VII. Divine Commission. “God said unto Noah, Go forth” (chap. 8:16). We go in for salvation, and go forth for testimony. We are first taken out of the world before we are sent into it (John 17). Those who go in and out will find pasture. To the unsaved God’s word is, “Come in;” to the saved His word is, “Go forth.” Blessed coming and going!
Smith, J., & Lee, R. (1971). Handfuls on Purpose for Christian Workers and Bible Students, Series I–XIII (five-volume edition, Vol. 1, pp. 54–56). Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.