Time's Running Out
Notes
Transcript
1 And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.
4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
Introduction
Introduction
We are all probably very familiar with what’s going in these verses:
In the previous chapter, we see the unfettered results of the fall as unrighteousness increases throughout the world, as a matter and fact, the Bible tells us:
5 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.
So, in response to this fact, God determined to:
Genesis 6:7 (KJV 1900)
7 ...destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
Even in this situation though, we find hope…God had a man, who built an ark to the saving of his family. He also used that man and that ark to save animals and on the other side of the flood, well, here we are today...
The thing is though, God destroyed the world once by water, and started over so to speak. The Bible tells us there will be another time this will happen, but the next time, the world will be destroyed with fire, and it will be destroyed for good...
Just like in Noah’s day, there was an expiration date…We don’t know when it’ll be, but I can tell you that “Time’s Running Out” - And that’s the subject of today’s message - Just like we see here in our text verses, time was running out to be saved back in Noah’s day before the destruction of the world, and time’s running out today...
Judgment is coming! Jesus is coming soon!
I-The Invitation To Come Into The Ark
I-The Invitation To Come Into The Ark
1 And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
God invited Noah to come into the ark.
Noah had lived a righteous life before the Lord and was obedient to God’s commands, but I want you to understand that this didn’t save him!
If God had not spoken to Noah, he would have died in the flood too.
Gen. 6:8 tells us, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” The one word that made the difference in Noah’s life was “grace”. Yes, Noah was maintaining the ways of the Lord in a wicked day, but he was still a sinner!
When the Bible says that Noah “was perfect in his generations”; it means that his bloodline had not been polluted.
Because of his sins, Noah still deserved nothing from God but judgment and damnation. But, God reached into Noah’s darkness and extended grace to him. He told Noah about a way of salvation and then he invited Noah to come into the Ark to be saved. I have heard all kinds of different things preached about Noah, but it comes down to pure, precious, perfect, powerful grace!
Were it not for the grace of God, Noah would never have known about the flood that would have killed him, or the Ark that would have saved him. Both of those insights were the gift of amazing grace!
Jesus is still inviting men to come to Him:
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
God’s command to us is to trust Christ as Savior in order to have eternal life. Have you done this yet? If not, do it today. Time’s running out!
II-The Instruction Concerning The Animals
II-The Instruction Concerning The Animals
2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.
Some wonder how the animals came to Noah or how Noah got them.
In Genesis 6:20 God said the animals would come to Noah by migration.
In some animals, God has created a migratory instinct (which can operate in an amazing manner).
It is no difficulty for Him to miraculously place an urge to migrate to the ark in each pair of animals He planned to be preserved in the ark.
It’s always been a matter of thought for me that God never has a problem getting the animals to do what He wants, but man is another story...
3 The ox knoweth his owner, And the ass his master’s crib: But Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider.
God created man as the most intelligent creature and we are the ones that are stubborn and hardheaded and reject our Creator!
III-The Inevitable Calamity Announced
III-The Inevitable Calamity Announced
4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
Noah had no time to waste.
For many years the construction of the ark had taken place.
Now God called Noah and his family into the ark along with all the animals.
Time had run out, judgment was about to begin.
Notice, the time of this judgment…Seven days! A week for the world to repent! But what did they do?
27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
I’ve heard it said, and I’ve said it myself, how it must have been hard on Noah to preach those 120 years and as he constructed the ark, people would have mocked and jeered and made fun of, and I really do think they would have made fun of him, but something I noticed as I was studying this message is this…
We don’t read that in the Bible…What we read, and what Jesus said about it Himself was that people didn’t even realize what was happening…
They were too busy with other things to really care even if they did.
There was Noah, setting Christ before the world in the form of a type or shadow in the ark. And the world was indifferent.
Preachers learn quickly that it is apathy, rather than ridicule, that gets to you. You can fight ridicule. It is hard to fight apathy. Indifference is one of our great enemies, and it has always been this way.
It’s in the world, evidenced by their lack of concern for their future, and it’s evidenced in the church, by their lack of concern for the things of God!
God announced His judgment, as He has announced today! Jesus is coming, and He’s coming with a rod of iron the Bible says...
Delay in following God’s orders for escape would bring damnation, no escape from judgment. So it is with the gospel, “Behold now is the accepted time, Behold now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
Do not put off salvation until it is too late.
Conclusion
Conclusion
5 And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him.
16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in.
When God shut the door of the ark, opportunity was over. Those outside the ark would perish in their sins.
That last part is important! …and the LORD shut him in. - Literally, it means “covered him round about.”
I found an absolute gem when studying this from H.A. Ironside…He writes,
“Suppose when the ark was completed God had said, “Now, Noah, go and get eight large, strong spikes and drive them into the side of the ark.” Imagine Noah procuring these spikes and doing as commanded. Then when each spike was securely fastened, let us presume that God said, “Come thou and all thy house and take hold of these spikes, and all who hang on to the end of the flood will be saved.” How long do you think Noah and the rest would have been secure?
I can imagine each one taking hold of a spike—then the waters rising as the rain poured down. In a few minutes they would have been soaked to the skin. Then think of the terrific strain on joints and muscles as the ark was lifted from the earth and began its perilous voyage through the raging waters. I think I hear Noah calling to his wife, “Mother, how is it going; is all well?”
And she calls back, “I’m holding on. Do pray for me that I may be able to hold out to the end!”
Soon poor Mrs. Ham would cry out, “It’s no use, can’t hang on any longer. I am going to backslide.” And she would let go and be swept away by the flood. How long do you suppose it would be before every one of them would be obliged to let go and so go down to death?”
Thank God, that is not a true picture of His salvation.
He is not calling men to hang on to Christ. But just as Noah entered into the ark and found there perfect security, so every believer is in Christ and saved for eternity. It is not a question of our ability to hang on, but of Christ’s ability to carry us safely through to the glory.
Listen though!
When God shut the door of that ark, Noah was on the inside looking out, and the world was on the outside looking in.
There was only one ark and there was only one door.
So there’s only one way to be saved—God’s way.
There’s only one way to God’s way—the Lord Jesus Christ who said, “I am the door.” (John 10:9)
When the flood of God’s judgment is poured out one last time on this rebellious earth, the only thing that’s going to matter is this: which side of that door are you on?
One door, and only one
And yet its sides are two;
I am on the inside
On which side are you?
Is He calling you to come into the Ark of Salvation today? Are you ready to flee the wrath that is coming on the earth? Come into the Ark and be saved today. Are you ready to make your commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ? Right now, we are in the seven day period so to speak that verse 4 speaks of...
The door of mercy stands open now; it will close soon; which side will you be on when it does?
Time’s running out...