The Ark or The Dark
Our text is in Matthew 24:37-39.
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark. 39 And knew not until the flood came and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.
In the 7th chapter of Genesis we can read of the flood of water that covered the earth, destroying every thing that was on the earth all in whose nostrils were the breath of life.
We read how that after Noah and his family and the animals were gathered into the ark that the Lord shut them in.
In verse 17 of Genesis it says the waters increased. In verse 18 they increased again greatly. In verse 19 they increased again exceedingly.
Did you know that there is another flood upon the earth. It is destroying homes and families. It is increasing and according to scripture it is going to wax worse and worse and the love of many shall grow cold. It is a flood of sin, and make no mistake, it kills and destroys as real as the waters of Noah. It is increasing upon the land.
I want to point out that in the days of the flood, even the strongest swimmer eventually circumed to the waters.
Even the strongest flying eagle eventually wearied and could withstand no more and became a victim.
Even the best climber that climbed to the top of the mountain only found that there was no escape from the waters. The water exceeded the highest mountain by 15 cubits.
You may climb to the top of worldly merit only to be cast down and overflowed.
There was only one way to escape the flood in Noah’s day and that was in the ark.
There is only one way to escape this flood we are now in and his name is JESUS.
You can’t out swim it, out fly it, or out climb it.
Proverbs 18:10. The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
Satan has deceived many people. He has told them, "If you live a good moral life, you’ll be alright. You can swim this out."
Friend, without Jesus, without his Holy Spirit, you cannot swim this flood out. You will weary and it will pull you under.
Satan has told others, "All you need is a life preserver. Just go to church once in a while. Show up on Sunday morning, give the preacher a hand shake, and you’ll be alright. Just float around on that old plank of dried up doctrine."
There are no life preservers outside the ark. When you drift far enough away, Satan will pull that water logged piece of religion out from under you.
The only safe place is in the ark; the Ship of Zion. You need Jesus, not a piece of dead religion to cling to.
I want to tell you today that in the flood of Noah, from the cute fuzzy bunnie to the warthog, from the most beautiful and graceful to the most doleful and annoying, from the strongest and mightiest to the weakest and smallest, all suffered the same fate that were not hidden in the shelter of the ark.
As it was in the days of Noah so shall it be at the coming of the Son of Man.
The ark or the dark!
There is only one name given whereby man can be saved.
Acts 4:12. There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we might be saved.
Jesus said, "I am the way." In John 10:7-9 he said, "I am the door."
You know there is something else I noticed about the animals that were taken into the ark. The clean and unclean alike were gathered.
In Matthew 22 for the marriage supper the servants were to gather the bad and good, but only those who put on the garment could stay.
You know there are some people in the world that might say, "I have never tasted alcohol. I have never defrauded anyone. I have kept the law and lived an honest life."
Well then, I say to you as Jesus told a man one day, "One thing thou lackest." Accept Jesus’ redemption for you were born in sin. It is time to get into the ark. Even the clean animals perished that were not in the ark.
Another man might say, "You don’t know how wicked I have been. I have been involved in every kind of sin. I am soiled through and through."
I can say to that man, "There is an ark prepared for you."
There is a fountain filled with blood flows from Emmanuel’s veins and sinners plunged beneath it’s flow lose all their guilty stains.
Today you can have your life hidden in Jesus, our ark of safety.
II Corinthians 5:17. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.
Colossians 3:3 says, for ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Ephesians 1:10. That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in heaven and which are on earth even in him.
There is going to be a gathering. And only those that are in the ark are going to be saved from the destruction that will come when sin is finished.
Are you in the ark or are you floating?
Are you trying to outswim this flood on your own?
You need Jesus. You need to be inside looking out.
II Peter 3:10. But the day of the Lord will come 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, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of person ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness.
