Presentation 17

Presentation 17

In C. S. Lewis’s children’s book, ‘The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe’ there is a door into a new world located in the back of a wardrobe. Lucy who made the initial discovery had great difficulty in persuading her brothers and sister of the door’s existence and of what lay on the other side. The sceptic often misses out on opportunities that stares him in the face.

The door of entry into Noah’s ark was there for all to see. But Noah’s peaching was met with predictable scepticism. The ark was viewed as a joke in the way that today many view the gospel as a joke! There are many similarities between the salvation from the judgement of God Experienced by those sheltering in the ark and the salvation that Christians experience when they shelter in their faith relationship with Jesus who died on the cross.

Introduction

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First, we see the ark as God's provision for salvation. The ark, which would save Noah and his family from the great deluge was God's idea and not Noah's invention. God gave Noah the design, told him what kind of wood to use what dimensions he was to employ and how he was to make the vessel watertight. And because it was God's detailed design, Noah could face the future with very real confidence. Would the ark float? Yes for he had followed God's plan! Would it spring a leak? No for he trusted in the method of sealing the vessel that God had provided. And because it was God’s solution, God’s plan of his salvation, Noah burned his bridges and entered the ark with his family.

The Ark - The Door of Hope

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I do not relish visualising the awful scene as the rain of God's judgement fell. Through the years artists have depicted the terror of men as they searched out a place of safety. Some running to the top of high mountains, others trying quickly to lash rafts together, others in desperation holding onto pieces of driftwood.

But at the end of the day there was only one secure place, only one place of safety, and it was not the product of human ingenuity or desperation but God’s provision - an ark. This is always the case for only God can ultimately keep men safe.

The Ark - The Door of Hope

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Many thought the apostles intolerant when they spoke of Jesus and said, "Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” Acts 4.12? Why did Jesus make such exclusive claims, "I [and I only] am the way the truth and the life, NO ONE comes to the Father but by me“ John 14.6? Because all other means that men employ in an attempt to save themselves are products of human ingenuity and therefore destined to fail.

God has revealed only ONE plan of salvation. There is only one true ark, one true place of safety - in Christ. In the eyes of God all of mankind can be divided between those who are in Christ and those who are not. Are you familiar with the hymn-writers’ words, "On Christ the solid ground I stand all other ground is sinking sand."

The Ark - The Door of Hope

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After death our character is set and becomes unchangeable, “Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong, let him who is vile continue to be vile” Rev22.11. What is being said in this text? There is no repentance after death. Down here is God's workshop, this is where he changes and transforms our character. Only here can the selfish become generous, the deceiver truthful, the unforgiving merciful. Up to the very last minute Noah had stood at the open door of the ark preaching, extending an invitation to men to come to their senses to repent of their sin and enter the ark.

But the day came, when God closed the door. Once it was closed it was too late. And whatever door God shuts no man can open and whatever door God opens no man can shut.

The Ark - The Closed Door

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Why did God keep Noah and his family safe and no one else? In v1 God says to Noah, "because I have found you righteous in this generation." Noah's was clearly different from his contemporaries. But what made him different? Was he born different? No! Did he will himself different? No! The answer is found in v8 of the previous chapter. "Noah found favour/grace in the eyes of God." A more accurate translation reads, “GRACE found Noah.” His righteous life was the result of an earlier encounter with God and the product of God's transforming grace in his life. Now its important to grasp this.

Noah owed any difference in his character to the grace of God. Like Paul he would have said, "I am what I am by the grace of God“ 1Cor.15.10. Men experience God's salvation not because one day they decide to be righteous but because God decides to be gracious.

The Ark - The Door of Hope

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God qualifies us to enter the ark of salvation and then he closes the door cf. v16 "God shut Noah and his family into the ark." The righteous were shut in the unrighteous were shut out. People are incapable by their own efforts to bring about a moral and spiritual transformation in their lives. Only God can do that. God does not wait until we make ourselves good enough for him- he would wait forever if he were to do that - he waits for men and women to come to him and say, "I want to be different". It is a God of grace that then makes the difference.

God alone gives the gift of repentance, the ability to turn around and like Noah start walking with God. He gives us new appetites and desires and a new dynamic, which enables us to say "No" to sin. Noah's contemporaries discovered that after God closes the door its too late to bring about this change.

The Ark - The Closed Door

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You will remember that Jesus warned his hearers of the danger of coming to the door too late:

“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many I tell you will try to enter and not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.' But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' Then you will say 'we ate and drank with you and you taught in our streets' But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me all you evildoers.” Lk 13.24ff

The Ark - The Closed Door

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God shut in, Noah and his family. They knew the security of God's salvation and assurance of life in a different world when the flood subsided. Similarly those who have entered into Christ's salvation can rest secure in the knowledge of an eternity with God.

But what of those who are shut out? In a very real sense they have shut themselves out. They had been warned, instructed and entreated.

Their problem is not one of ignorance but of obedience. They would not allow God's Word to take root in their hearts. Why? Noah was a preacher of righteousness and they preferred their sinful lifestyle.

Those Who Are Shut Out

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Their problem was also one of indifference. As Noah preached they wandered around in a fog of spiritual complacency. After all life must go on! Warnings about God’s judgement can be terribly upsetting to the digestive system and a bit of a dampener at the wedding feast. “It’s best to close your ears to the likes of Noah”.

Jesus tells us that before his return to wind up this world and usher in judgement that a similar complacency will exist, "As it was in the days of Noah so will it be in the day of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark” Matt.24.27.

The vast majority of people knew nothing about what was happening until the flood came and carried them away.

The Ark - The Closed Door

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Many of those who'd been shut out had been associated with Noah and his work. It is unlikely that all the labour for this enormous craft came from Noah and his sons. Think of the tree-felling involved and the work for carpenters, caulkers and shipwrights. Others must have been in Noah’s employ but none of these labourers were saved.

It is distressing to think that those involved in helping construct the ark were, by their disobedience and indifference, shut out. It is sobering to think that it is possible to be involved in the work of God, practically, financially and in many other ways and yet have no part of Christ. It is possible to enjoy church activities and fellowship and yet to have no heart commitment to Jesus.

The Ark - The Closed Door

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The saddest words in the N.T. surely come from the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus addresses a particular group of people, who have done much in his name and exercised their many the gifts but who have shown no evidence of Christian character or heart commitment. Jesus says,

“Then I will tell them plainly, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers". Matt 7:23.

Working for Christ is no substitute for knowing him and allowing our relationship with him to transform our lives.

The Ark - The Closed Door

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Many of those shut out of the ark had seen great wonders. They had seen the parade of animals, wild animals in pairs, domestic animals in sevens guided by an unseen hand coming to Noah for entry into the ark cfv9. But yet they remained unimpressed. They still refused to believe Noah.

So too many people today have seen evidence of God's power before their very eyes. They see lives that God has so obviously transformed, character that he has changed, behaviour that has been altered and yet they will not come to Christ.

The Ark - The Closed Door

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ConclusionOn which side of the door of the ark of God's salvation do we stand? Do we stand inside and marvel at the grace of God, who has provided us with a place of safety as he wrings his judgement out on sinful mankind? Or do we stand outside on the threshold of the door perhaps even singing hymns about it. Perhaps we tell others that Christ is the only door of salvation and yet fail to enter it ourselves. People hold back for different reasons.

One woman held back for 12 years - she did not want to enter this door without her husband. When she eventually crossed the threshold her husband followed a few weeks later!No preacher can pull men and women across that threshold. They can preach on the subject of the cross and point to it as God’s door for months and years but cannot make the decision on behalf of others to enter.

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Do we want this God of Grace to find us? He won’t drag us screaming across the threshold of his kingdom and into the security of his salvation against our will. We need to indicate our willingness to enter into his provision. And to do that we need to recognise that our sin has offended him and repent of it.

But what of those who are presently experiencing the safety of God’s salvation? How should we respond toAll of this? Do we need to ask God to stir our hearts stirred that we might see lost condition of those who still languish outside of the ark of Christ’s salvation. Only then will we begin to pray for them more effectively.

Conclusion

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