Adrian Rogers - Unsinkable Saints
Be finding Genesis chapter 6. This is the story of the great flood and Noah's ark. Now, can we believe this story, or is this just simply folklore? Folks, you can believe it. As a matter of fact, archeologists tell us, as they studied the histories of great civilizations, every one of them have somewhere in the background a story of a great flood. Now of course sometimes the stories are garbled and mixed up because we have the true account in the Bible, but they all tell us that there must have been sometime, somewhere in this Earth a cataclysmic flood. But I don't depend upon archaeologists; I depend on the Lord Jesus Christ who confirmed this story.
The Lord Jesus told us in Matthew chapter 24 and verse 37 that, "As it was in the days of Noah," it's going to be just before He comes back again. And I want to say to you that the days of Noah have returned to us right now. Now let's begin reading here in Genesis chapter 6, and I want to begin reading in verse 5 through verse 14. Look at it, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the Earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, and it repented the Lord, that He had made man on the Earth and it grieved Him in His heart. And the Lord said, 'I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the Earth, both man and beast and the creeping things and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth Me that I have made them.'" But now here's our verse, look at it, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord".
Now ladies and gentlemen, that's the first time the word grace is used in the Bible. "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The Earth also was corrupt before God and the Earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the Earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the Earth. And God said unto Noah, 'The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the Earth is filled with violence through them and behold I will destroy them with the Earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood,'" and I'm going to stop reading right there. But God said, "Noah, I'm going to destroy the world because of its violence, because of its wickedness, because of its vileness. Make an ark, an ark of safety".
Now Jesus said in Matthew 24:37, "As it was in the days of Noah, it's going to be just before I come". Now what were the days of Noah? Well number one, they were the days of apostasy. The faith that had been delivered to the prophet Abel and to Adam, this faith was now fading and receding from the Earth, and people were believing ungodly philosophies. But not only was it a day of apostasy, it was a day of anarchy. Over and over in the Scripture that we just read, violence filled the Earth. And it was a day of wicked ideas. As, as a matter of fact, the Bible tells us in Genesis chapter 6, look in verse 5, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the Earth," now watch this, "and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually".
Now the word imagination here does not mean daydreams, it means wicked schemes. It speaks of philosophies, there were philosophers and idea people and politicians who were trying to remake and remold society in that day, and I'm telling you, we have that today in a way that we've never had before, don't we? You know, somebody was talking about a well-known politician and they said, "When it comes to a press conference, how can you tell whether he's telling a lie or not? How can you tell whether he's lying"? They said, "Well, he's really a good liar, so it's hard to tell whether he's lying or not, but we've watched him enough. If he puts his finger up here beside his nose, he's telling the truth. If he reaches up and holds an earlobe, he's telling the truth". They said, "Yeah, but how do you know when he's lying". They say, "When his lips are moving".
We've come to a day when a man's word means absolutely nothing, whether it's a treaty between nations; a marriage contract; a business contract, or a political speech. The imagination of men's heart were wicked continually before the Lord. And it had reached such a level that God says, "I'm sorry that I made them! I'm going to have to judge the Earth". And the same sins that produced the flood in Noah's day, those same sins have reached up to Heaven today. And God is going to judge the world one more time. It was water the first time. It will be fire the next time. But what did Jesus say in Matthew 24:38 that the days of Noah were like also? He said they were, "Marrying and giving in marriage, eating and drinking". That is, they were going on with the same old round of life. And the problem in our society is today that we're standing right on the threshold of imminent judgment, but nobody seems to care. We just yawn in the face of God. Well, in these days, in these dangerous days in which we live, we need, and thank God we have, God's amazing grace, the grace of God.
I love Genesis 6 verse 8 where verse 8 says, "But Noah found grace," Noah found grace, Noah found grace before God, "In the eyes of the Lord". There're three things I want to lay on your heart this morning as we look in this chapter of the grace of God that brings salvation. God's marvelous, infinite, wonderful grace. You know, God wants us to be saved so much that He gives illustrations all over the Bible? Did you know that the Old Testament is one great illustration book of the wonderful, saving, amazing grace of God? And you'll never see salvation pictured more clearly than you do in Noah's ark. And I want you to see it. I want you to see the spiritual salvation that comes to all of those of us who can, who need to flee the wrath of God that is coming on this world.
First of all, grace provides a Savior. Just write it down somewhere on a slip of paper. Grace provides a Savior. Now, Noah needed to be saved, and so God told Noah in verse 14, "Prepare an ark". Now, folks, that ark is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. "Pastor, are you sure"? Yes, I'm sure. Simon Peter himself said in the New Testament, in First Peter 3 verses 20 and 21, that the ark was a type, a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, if that ark is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, if grace provides a Savior, let's look at that ark and let's see what it's like. We stopped reading in verse 14; let's start reading again in Genesis 6 verse 14. God says to Noah, "Make thee an ark of gopher wood. Rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shall pitch it within and without with pitch".
Now, think with me for just a moment about the security of this boat. God said, "Make it of gopher wood". Gopher wood is literally cypress. And that means that it is incorruptible, it won't rot, it won't decay. And then God says, "Pitch it within and without". What is pitch? It is gooey resin; it is tar. God said, "Now, Noah, take this boat, make it of incorruptible wood, make it of cypress," and then He said, "Get you a big brush and just paint it all on the outside with pitch, with gooey tar". And then He said, "Noah, get on the inside and paint it from top to bottom with pitch". Now, here's an interesting thing, folks. This is not the normal word for pitch. It's a word that is translated over seventy times in the rest of the Bible atonement. Atonement; it's the same word, kafar. And what He says is, "Put atonement all over the outside of it. Put atonement all over the inside of it". This wood, just seal it!
Now what was that tar for? What was that resin for? What was that for? It was to keep the water out. See how smart I am? It was to keep the water out. Well, what is the water? The water was God's judgment. And not one drop could come through, Amen? Are you listening? This ark is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is what? He is the atonement for our sin, and friend, when you are in Jesus, not one drop of judgment can get to you. That's right. You ought to say, "Amen," it's a good place for an Amen. All right, not one drop of judgment. A Sunday School teacher was asking the class, "Is there anything that God cannot do"? And a little girl said, "Yes, teacher, there's one thing God cannot do". The teacher said, "There is, what is that"? She said, "God cannot see my sin through the blood of Jesus Christ". Yes, not one drop, not one drop of judgment can come through.
So think first of all about the security of the ship. And then, secondly, I want you to think about the sufficiency of the ship. Continue to read in Genesis 6 verses 14 and 15. He says in verse 14, "Make rooms in it; make rooms in it". And then in verse 15, "And this is the fashion which thou shalt make of it, the length of the ark shall be 300 cubits, the breadth of it 50 cubits and the height of it 30 cubits". Friend, there are three million cubic feet of space in the ark. And this ship was sufficient for all that would come aboard. He said, "Make rooms in the ark". Now come up close, I want to tell you something else. Not only is this ship secure, but this ship is sufficient, and I'm going to tell you today that God sent me here to tell you, there's room on that ark for you. He's made a room for you. There is room at the cross for you.
Thank God for the sufficiency of this boat. Then the next thing I want you to notice is the shape of it. Look again if you will in verse 15. He speaks of the length, He speaks of the width, He speaks of the depth. But notice He doesn't say that it has a prow. He doesn't say that it has a stern. As a matter of fact it's built like an ancient coffin. It's very interesting. The ancients used to build their coffins out of cypress wood because cypress wood would not decay. And they tell us now, archaeologists tell us, these are the dimensions of a coffin. Why? Because we're buried with Christ when we come into His death. And when Noah came into that ark, there pictures the Lord Jesus. We are buried with Him by baptism. And so, that ark, the very shape of it; it didn't have a prow, it didn't have a stern. Do you know why? It didn't have a helm. There was no way that it could be guided, there was no helm, no human hand upon it.
Look if you will in Genesis 6 verse 16, "A window shalt thou make in the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above. And the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second and third stories shalt thou make it". Now here's the ark, here's the ark, it's like a great coffin. It doesn't have a prow, it doesn't have a stern, it doesn't have a helm because it's under control of Almighty God. It is keeping the judgment waters out. And God says, "Put a door in the side". And God says, "Noah, I'll take care of the door. Put a window in the ceiling. You take care of the window". What's all this about? Well that door is the door that God sealed and when God sealed it, nobody could open it. But the window, Noah could open and he could look up.
You see, what are we? We are in Christ, sealed by the Holy Spirit of God, and it is in Jesus that we know God the Father, is that not true? That when we come into Him, we're closed in, to look up. You know God through Christ and when God shut the door and opened the window, He said, "From now on, Noah, you're to be heavenly minded, you're to be heavenly minded". The way that we look into Heaven is through Jesus Christ, the ark of safety. And then look if you will now in Genesis 6 verse 21, "And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten. Thou shalt gather it to thee, for it shall be for food to thee and for them". Think not only about the security of the ark and the sufficiency of the ark and the shape of the ark, but think of the sustenance of the ark. He says, "I'm going to feed you in here Noah. You come into Me and I'm going to take care of all of your needs".
When you come to Jesus, not only do you have security, but you have sufficiency. You have shelter and substance in the Lord Jesus. And I'm here to tell you, you listen to Adrian this morning, I'm here to tell you, I've been on this road for a long time, and I am glad to testify that not only does Jesus save, Jesus satisfies. Isn't that true? I mean, those of you who know the Lord Jesus, doesn't the captain set a good table? Does not the captain set a good table? And He says, "You just take aboard this ark everything that you will need to sustain life". Now think not only of the sustenance of this wonderful, good ship grace, but also think of the schedule of it. Notice in chapter 8, just go over to Genesis chapter 8 and verse 4, "And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month upon the mountains of Ararat".
Now why is that in the Word of God? You know, you might just read that and just blow past it. But it speaks of when the ark came to rest, when the ark arrived at its destination place after having been steered and guided by God through that flood. Now the first month in the Jewish calendar is October. The seventh month is April. Now, if you start in October and count to the seventh month, as the Bible says it, "The ark rested on the seventh month," that's the month of April. Now, "The seventeenth day of the month," that's when it says it rested on, "the seventeenth day of the month". Do you know what April the 17th is? Folks, that's three days after Passover, that's the day that Jesus came out of the grave. That's when the ark rested on Mount Ararat. Three days after Passover, Jesus rested and stood as that ark stood upon Mount Ararat, Jesus stood in resurrection after having taken all of the floodwaters of God's wrath for me and for you upon that cross.
Isn't the Bible wonderful? Isn't the Bible a wonderful book? Another place for an Amen. Isn't the Bible wonderful? Okay, now listen, folks. Thank God for this book! Thank God for this ark! You see, thank God for God's amazing grace. Genesis 6 verse 8 says, "And Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord". And what does grace do? Grace provides a Savior. Friend, there's an ark of safety for you today and His name is Jesus. His name is Jesus. Say it. Jesus. Say it again. Jesus. He's the ark of safety. Grace provides a Savior. Second thing I want you to see today, not only does grace provide a Savior, but if grace provides a Savior, then grace provides salvation. That follows, doesn't it? Why do we have a Savior? So we can be saved! Now how do you get on board the ark? How are you saved?
Well, I'm going to show you something in this passage that will remind you of the great passage on salvation that's found in Ephesians 2 verses 8 through 10. Now I think most of us know Ephesians 2 verses 8 through 10. Now here's what it says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast, for we are," what? "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them".
Now, folks, those are great verses. If you will keep those verses in your mind and that there are three prepositions in those verses and if you'll keep those three prepositions in your mind, you'll never get mixed up. You'll never get confused about how to be saved and the relationship of faith and works and see how God's grace is so wonderful, so amazing, and so magnificent. What are those three prepositions? "For by grace". The first preposition is by. "For by grace are ye saved through faith". The second preposition is through. "By grace, through faith". The third preposition is unto, "Unto good works". All right, now here it is. Now watch it, "By grace! Through faith! Unto good works". By, through, unto. "By grace! Through faith! Unto good works". Have you got that? Can you remember that, Ephesians 2 verses 8, 9, and 10? All right. "By grace! Through faith! Unto good works". Say, "By grace". Say, "Through faith". Say, "Unto good works". Say, "I understand it". Good, all right now, listen, this is God's Word, this is how you're saved!
Now remember that God showed grace to Noah. So how was Noah saved? By grace! I mean, he was saved by grace. This ark shows us that salvation is by grace. Now look, you're in chapter 6 and verse 8, look at it again, Genesis chapter 6 and verse 8, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord". Look if you will in Genesis 6 verse 18, "But with thee will I establish my covenant and thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy sons and thy wife and thy sons' wives with thee". Now, I love, and if you want to put a Scripture by this, just put Romans chapter 3 verse 22 by this, where Romans 3 verse 22 says that we are, "Justified freely by His grace," we're, "Justified freely by His grace". The only way that anybody has ever been saved in the history of the world is by grace. Do you agree to that? I hope you will. God only has one plan of salvation from beginning to end, and that is grace.
What is grace? That means that God just saves us apart from any works of our own, by any effort, by any good deeds. You're not saved by keeping the Ten Commandments, you're not saved by giving your money, you're not saved by being a good boy or girl, you're not saved by the sweat of your brow, but by the grace of Almighty God. Grace, G-R-A-C-E, just simply means, "God's Riches At Christ's Expense". It's by grace, folks, that you're saved. By grace, by grace. But now wait a minute. "By grace; through faith"! You have got to get on board the Good Ship Grace. If you don't get on board, you're going down. You will not be an unsinkable saint. Now in Genesis chapter 7 and verse 1, "And the Lord said unto Noah, 'Come thou and thy house into the ark.'" Noah had to take that step of faith. Noah had to come into the ark, and that one step of faith is all it took to put Noah in the ark. God said to Noah, God said to Noah's family, God said to his sons and his daughters-inlaw, to his wife, "Come! Into the ark". And Noah said, "Just as I am, I come, I come". That's what we sing in our invitation. "Just as I am without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me. Oh, Lamb of God, I come to Thee! I come".
Now when he came, he came by faith. Just put your bookmark there and turn to Hebrews. Turn if you will for a moment to the book of Hebrews chapter 11 and look at verse 7. If you don't think that God put the plan of salvation in Noah's ark, you'd better read verse 7. Look at it now, Hebrews 11 verse 7, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house by which he condemned the world and became the heir of the righteousness which is by faith, which is by faith, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord," and how did Noah respond to that grace? It is by grace through faith! Have you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? You need to do so.
Now, go back to our story again in Genesis, the early chapters, and notice we said it was what? What's the first preposition? By. Don't forget on me now. What's the second preposition? Through. What's the third one? Unto what? Was Noah saved by good works? No! He was saved to do good works. Now look if you will in chapter 9 and look if you will in verse 1, "And God blessed Noah and his sons and said unto them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the Earth.'" Now, you see we're not saved by good works, we're saved to do good works. Good works are the fruit of salvation, not the root of salvation. He says to Noah, "Now Noah, I've brought you through this flood. Be fruitful and multiply". We're not saved by faith and works; we're saved by faith that works. Be fruitful, now, and multiply. The good works that we do are not in order to be saved; they're simply because we have been saved.
And so what have we said, what have we said about unsinkable saints? We've said that grace provides a Savior and grace provides salvation. Right? Right. Noah was saved by grace through faith unto good works. That ark was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here's the third and final thing I want you to see. Not only does grace provide a Savior and not only does grace provide salvation, but folks, grace provides security. Grace provides security. Do you think that Noah was safe in that ark? Well you don't even have to think about it. You know that he was safe in that ark. Remember I just read to you in Genesis chapter 7 and verse 1 where God said to Noah, "Noah, come thou into the ark". Now He didn't say, "Noah, go into the ark". He said, "Come into the ark".
Now if I stand outside a room and I say, "Go into that room," that means I'm out here, you'd go in there where I'm not. But if I stand in a room and I say, "Come into the room," that means come in where I am, right? He didn't say, "Go into the ark," He said, "Come into the ark". What does that mean? God was in the ark, God was in the ark! God is in Christ. Christ is the ark of safety. You want me to tell you when I'm going down? I'm going down if Jesus goes down. You want me to tell you when I'm going to lose my relationship with God the Father? I'm going to lose my relationship with God the Father when Jesus ever loses His. He can't lose His. How safe are you? When you're in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are as safe as you can possibly be because you are in Christ. Look in chapter 7 and verse 16, "And they went in, and they went in". They went in. They're in Christ! Security is in Christ.
Now folks, the Bible tells us clearly and plainly, and I love it in Second Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17. Here's what it says, listen to it, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature". "If any man be in Christ". You know, when God put Noah in the ark, the Bible says that, "God shut the door". You know what the Bible says about those of us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? "After that you believed you are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise". Not only did God shut the water out, God shut Noah in. You say, "What if I lose my salvation"? How could Noah have lost his salvation? God shut the door. Noah may have fallen down several times inside that ark, but he couldn't fall out of it. Are you listening to me?
There're a lot of folks get the idea, "Boy, you know one of these days I'm going to be secure, I'm going to be secure when I get to Heaven. I'm going to get to Heaven, slam the door behind my back, wipe the sweat off my brow and say, 'Oh, boy, I made it. Now I'm secure.'" Now wait a minute, if you don't believe in security down here, what makes you think you're going to have security up there? I read in the Bible where angels fell from Heaven. Security is not in a place, security is in a Person, and His name is Jesus. They were in the ark! And I submit to you that Noah was as safe as that ark was safe because Noah was in the ark, it had atonement on the outside, it had atonement on the inside, it had sufficiency on the inside, and God shut the door!
Now folks, I want to tell you something. Not only are we saved by grace, but we're kept by grace. I mean grace provides a Savior, grace provides a salvation, and grace provides a security. It's amazing grace. Now, you know the kind of thing some folks believe in, the kind of salvation some folks believe in. Can you imagine the story this way? If God said to Noah, "Now Noah, there's going to be a rough flood coming here. You've got this ship built, so I want you to take some broomsticks and make some pegs on the side of the ark, and one peg for you to hold onto and one peg for Mrs. Noah to hold onto and one peg for Ham and one for Shem and one for Japheth and one for their wives. And when it starts to rain, Noah, get a stepladder, get up there and get hold of those pegs and hold on with all your might because it's going to be a terrible flood. And just hold on, and Noah if you can hold on until all the floodwaters go down, Noah, you'll be safe".
You think that's much salvation? And you can see Noah holding that slimy peg and saying to his wife, "Sweetheart, pray for me I'll hold out faithful to the end". That's the salvation a lot of folks think they have. They think that they're kept by holding onto Him! Friend, we are kept because He holds us. Jesus said in John chapter 10 verses 27 through 30, "My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father which gave them to Me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are One". Why have I been kept all of these years? Because I've been a good boy? No, I've got a great Savior. God's amazing grace. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord and grace provides a Savior. That ship was a picture of Jesus, and grace provides salvation.
The Bible says that, "Noah was justified by faith," when he entered the Good Ship Grace. And grace provides security. You see, if you're saved by works, you have to be kept by works. But if you're saved by grace, you're kept by the grace of God. Now, folks, I want to tell you something. God destroyed the world the first time. God destroyed the world the first time by water. How's God going to destroy the world the second time? Would you take your Bibles and turn to the New Testament? And look with me if you will in Second Peter chapter 3; Second Peter chapter 3. And begin reading in verse 3. Peter's talking about the end days and he says, "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts," and every time you find a person who scoffs at God's Word, you're going to find a person who's walking after his own lusts. You find a man who mocks God's Word, I'll show you a man with the devil's initials carved on his heart. You show me a woman who scoffs at God's Word, I'll show you a woman covered with the slimy fingerprints of sin.
Read Second Peter 3 verses 3 to 8, "Scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying, 'Where's the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.'" Ho, hum, same old thing. Verse 5, "For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the Word of God the Heavens were of old and the Earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water, perished". That's the Old Testament story. Now listen to us, "But the Heavens and the Earth which are now, by the same Word, are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and ungodly men". Water the first time, fire the second. You say, "Well pastor, it's been a long time". Well, listen to what Peter says, "But beloved, be not ignorant of this thing, this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day".
You say, "Well, it's been 2,000 years since Jesus went away". But it's only been two days in the eyes of God, only two days. A thousand years is a day. Now listen Second Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance". Why has this world not yet suffered a baptism of fire and judgment? Because God's waiting for somebody in this building to be saved. God wants you saved. The Lord doesn't want you to perish. Did you know why Methuselah lived to be 969 years? Because God said, "When Methuselah dies, the flood will come". I can show you from the Word of God that the flood came exactly the day that Methuselah died. And the reason that Methuselah died was not that he had good genes but that God had great mercy. God kept letting him live, God kept letting him live because God did not want anybody to die and perish in that flood, so God kept giving one more opportunity and one more chance.
"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise," Second Peter chapter 3 verse 9, "as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance". But now notice verse 10, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night". You ever had a thief call you up and say, "I'm coming tonight"? You say, "Well I don't think He's coming today". Well that's a good sign that He might, because Jesus said in Matthew 24:38, "In such an hour that ye think not the Son of Man cometh". Second Peter 3 verses 10 through 12 says, "The day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night in which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat"! When Peter wrote this, people didn't know anything about nuclear fission. They said, "That's ridiculous, dirt burning, the elements burning, air burning". It's not ridiculous today. "The elements shall melt with fervent heat". The word fervent literally means fever heat, internal heat, nuclear combustion. "The Earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up".
Now here's the question for all of us today. Listen to it, "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God wherein the Heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat"? What's all of this saying? Listen, folks! Listen to me! God wants you saved today and God says, "Don't yawn in the face of God and say, 'Well it's been 2,000 years, the judgment is not coming.'"
As surely as I'm standing here, the judgment is coming. The Earth is going to melt with fever heat. And you'd better be in the ark of safety, whose name is the Lord Jesus Christ, and you'd better know the grace of Almighty God. God's amazing, wonderful grace. I can imagine a little boy, back in Noah's time, coming home to his dad and saying, "Daddy, Daddy, listen, you know where I've been? I've been over there to Mr. Noah's place and, Daddy, Mr. Noah's building a boat. Dad, you won't believe how big that thing is. And, Dad, Mr. Noah's been preaching. Every now and then he'll put the hammer down and he'll turn around and preach to those people who are watching. And Mr. Noah says that, 'He has it from God that God is sick and tired of the way that people are living and God's going to judge this world and God's going to send a flood.' And Daddy, Mr. Noah says that, 'Everybody's got to get on board that ship, because if they don't get on board that ship they're going to drown.'"
And this father just, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, he begins to laugh, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. And the little boy has a tear in the corner of his eye and the daddy sees it. "Oh, oh", he says, "Son, I'm sorry, son, I wasn't laughing at you, son. If I was laughing at anything I was laughing at myself. You see, son, let me tell you something. Noah has been building that boat for a long time. When I was a little boy, I went out to see Noah building that boat. Son, he told me the same story, it scared the wits out of me. And he told me that same old story! About a flood, when I was your age, son! That's why I was laughing, I was really laughing at me. And son here's the funny part, I went home and I told my daddy, just like you told me. You know what my Dad said? My Dad said when he was a little boy, he went out there and that crazy old man told him the same story. When your granddaddy was a little boy! Son! Don't let that old religious fanatic scare you! Go in the house, son, and eat your supper".
"As it was in the days of Noah so shall it be". "There'll come in the last days scoffers saying, 'Where is the promise of his coming?'" You say, "Well, I don't want to give my heart to Jesus, I want to save my life". You're the one that's going to lose it. I believe when Noah put that last nail in the ark, it was probably the last thing he ever had. He went into the ark a pauper. But when he came out of the ark, he owned the whole world. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth".
Would you bow your heads in prayer? Heads are bowed and eyes are closed and friend, it's time for you to do business with God right now. Just as God said to Noah, "Come into the ark," I am telling you today on the authority of the Word of God that you need to come into Jesus. You need to be saved and you can be saved. I promise you, I promise you, that you can be saved because it is by grace through faith. You need to put your faith in God's grace. You need to come up the gangplank of faith right now and trust the Lord Jesus. And if you're not absolutely certain that you're saved, I want you to pray this prayer right now while heads are bowed and eyes are closed.
Dear God, I am a sinner. And my sin deserves judgment. But, Jesus, You are my ark of safety, and the waters of God's wrath beat against You that they might not beat against me. I come in, I come in right now. I receive You, Lord Jesus, into my heart as my Lord and Savior, and I come by faith into You, the ark of safety. I give You my life right now. And help me, Lord Jesus, that I'll never be ashamed of You. Give me the courage to make it public. Amen and Amen.