Noah's Ark!!

Finally, the frightful morning began! The heavens gathered blackness. Angry tempests conflicted in the skies. The lightnings flashed over the world! Word was spread, that Noah and his family had entered into the ark. The ungodly then began to fear! Before long, floods of water poured from the sky. Some now began to turn their eyes towards the ark; others stood doubting; others still dared to scoff! The waters go on to increase. The rivers fill and start to overflow. The waters begin to rise in the streets. Some flee into their houses; others, more intimidated, hasten to the hills! Others are now convinced, and with dreadful fright, are seen wading towards the ark! The fountains of the great deep are now broken up! The waters rise more rapidly and begin to rush with impetuous force. With difficulty they stand against the stream. They struggle for their lives to reach the ark! 

Thousands come some wading, some swimming, some sinking, some hanging onto the ark with the grasp of death all screaming for admission! But it is too late! Time was, when the ark was open and they might have entered in, but that time is past! Where are now those tongues which derided the enormous vessel and the man who built it? Now what do you think of him, who for more than a century has borne the character of a fool and madman! They would give a thousand worlds to be in his condition now! Those nearest to the ark cry and plead for admission, but in vain! The waters roar! The ark is lifted up! They sink and are seen no more! 

By this time, every wretch on earth is thoroughly convinced. Hear their cries from the tops of the houses, which are answered by wails from those on the hills. See the multitudes who have fled to the mountains. How like frightened sheep they crowd together! Now the waters, roaring and foaming, have reached their feet! They flee up to the highest ridge, but the floods pursue them there! Some are able to climb the lofty oaks, and the waves overtake them there! They flee to the highest branches, and for a moment have time to reflect on their former madness: "How could I disbelieve the Lord's prophet? Where is now the ark which I scorned? Where am I going? 

O eternity! eternity! What a dreadful God have I despised!" On the topmost bough, the impetuous torrent sweeps them away! Their hold is broken, and they sink to rise no more! The ark floats by, and sails over the heads of the revilers and persecutors! Only that blessed family in the ark are safe! The same terrors will seize an unbelieving world when Jesus comes again! 

[Edward Griffin] 

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Genesis 7:23 ... And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

Matthew 24:37-39 ... For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. ❤

The Flood Came!!

Finally, the frightful morning began! The heavens gathered blackness. Angry tempests conflicted in the skies. The lightnings flashed over the world! Word was spread, that Noah and his family had entered into the ark. The ungodly then began to fear!

Before long, floods of water poured from the sky. Some now began to turn their eyes towards the ark; others stood doubting; others still dared to scoff!

The waters go on to increase. The rivers fill, and start to overflow. The waters begin to rise in the streets. Some flee into their houses; others, more intimidated, hasten to the hills! Others are now convinced, and with dreadful fright, are seen wading towards the ark!

The fountains of the great deep are now broken up! The waters rise more rapidly, and begin to rush with impetuous force. With difficulty they stand against the stream. They struggle for their lives to reach the ark! Thousands come some wading, some swimming, some sinking, some hanging onto the ark with the grasp of death all screaming for admission!

But it is too late! Time was, when the ark was open and they might have entered in, but that time is past! Where are now those tongues which derided the enormous vessel and the man who built it? Now what do you think of him, who for more than a century has borne the character of a fool and madman! They would give a thousand worlds to be in his condition now!

Those nearest to the ark cry and plead for admission, but in vain! The waters roar! The ark is lifted up! They sink and are seen no more!

By this time, every wretch on earth is thoroughly convinced. Hear their cries from the tops of the houses, which are answered by wails from those on the hills. See the multitudes who have fled to the mountains. How like frightened sheep they crowd together! Now the waters, roaring and foaming, have reached their feet! They flee up to the highest ridge, but the floods pursue them there! Some are able to climb the lofty oaks, and the waves overtake them there! They flee to the highest branches, and for a moment have time to reflect on their former madness: "How could I disbelieve the Lord's prophet? Where is now the ark which I scorned? Where am I going? O eternity! eternity! What a dreadful God have I despised!" On the topmost bough, the impetuous torrent sweeps them away! Their hold is broken, and they sink to rise no more!

The ark floats by, and sails over the heads of the revilers and persecutors! Only that blessed family in the ark are safe!  The same terrors will seize an unbelieving world when Jesus comes again! 

[Edward Griffen]

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Genesis 7:23 ... And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

Matthew 24:37-39 ... But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.❤

Hold You Back

Let the fear of God always be before your eyes. This will hold you back from a thousand evils! To feel that you are in the presence of your Maker, that an omniscient eye is upon you is the best preservative against sin!

[Edward Griffin]

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Hebrews 4:13 ... Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Psalm 119:9 ... Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

2 Corinthians 7:1 ... Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.❤

This, and Nothing But This, is True Christianity!

All that you are and have are His. You owe Him your whole selves!  The Lord Jesus Christ, who created you and redeemed you from eternal damnation is your Proprietor, Master, and King. Whom else then should you serve? To whom else should you devote your lives? Whose interest should you rather seek?

Our religion is exactly in proportion as we cease to live for ourselves and live for God alone. We have just as much religion as we have of self-denial. The only evidence of attachment to Him on which we can rely is that we make it our design and care to promote His glory and the accomplishment of His benevolent purposes, not now and then, but in the general tenor of our lives.

To live for God, is to regard His will as the rule and ground of our conduct, and His glory as our supreme object. Not merely one day in a week but in our general course to act from a reference to His authority.

To live for God, is to choose our calling, to pursue our business, to frame our habits, to regulate our actions from hour to hour from a regard to His will and honor.

To live for God, is to feel and act as those who are not at liberty to live to themselves, but have their work daily assigned them by a heavenly Master.

To live for God, is to live under a sense that we are not our own not our own masters, not our own proprietors, not at our own disposal.

To live for God, is to live as though our time, talents, influence, property, and all that we are and have are God's.

To live for God, is to hold everything in readiness to use for Him, or resign all things to Him as He shall direct.

To live for God, is to to be submissive under afflictions, and willing to be at His disposal in all our trials.

To live for God, is to to be ready to deny ourselves for Him in every way which His Word or Providence may point out.

To live for God, is to desire life chiefly that we may serve Him.

To live for God, is to make Him the center in which all the lines of our life shall meet.

To live for God, is to make it the business of our lives to please Him and not ourselves.

The very core of all true religion, is not to live for ourselves but for God; not to consider ourselves our own but the property and the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ; not to feel as though we are set up in the world to work for ourselves, to spend the most of our time in pursuing what is termed our innocent gratifications but to hold our time, powers, influence, and property as talents entrusted to us to be used for Christ keeping our eye on His Word to learn His will, and aiming habitually to please and honor Him.

This, and nothing but this, is true Christianity! Whatever our creed is if this is not our character then all our religion is vain!

[Edward Griffin]

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2 Corinthians 5:9 ... Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ... What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Romans 14:7-8 ...  For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.❤

Return Unto Your Rest, O My Soul

To rest in God, is  to be satisfied with Him as our portion, to take Him for our supreme good, and to feel that we have enough and abound while possessing Him though everything else is taken away.

"Give me," says the believer, "the enjoyment of my God and I desire no more. Allow me to feast on heavenly truth and I shall never complain that I am poor. Let worldlings divide the globe among themselves let emmets contend for this little heap of dust; I have God and I ask no more. Come wars and pestilence, come poverty and death you cannot rob me of my portion."

Must it not be substantial rest  to have the infinite God for a portion, to have all the restless desires of the mind composed, to feel no anxious apprehension for the future, to know that if everything which time or death can destroy, were removed the whole of one's portion would remain;  to feel that nothing can injure, nothing impoverish, nothing perplex or disturb?

Ah, give me this portion instead of thrones and kingdoms!

[Edward Griffin]

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Psalm 116:7 ... Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.

Psalm 73:25-26 ... Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.  My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.


Matthew 11:28 ... Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.❤

Noah's Ark

The ark is admitted by the apostle to have been a distinguished type of Christ.

 

In that period before the flood, when the age of man was more than 900 years, the temptation to put death out of view was great. A Church there was—but by intermarrying with the wicked world it had become corrupt, and at last almost extinct. This was the first illustration of the fatal consequence of too close a connection between the Church and the world. By these means the Spirit of God was provoked to depart, and general licentiousness ensued. The Church became reduced to a single family, and the rest of the world sunk into infidelity and vice.

 

Thus the universal and complete effect of the fall was publicly ascertained. This done, God determined to cast away the world as ruined, and to make a new beginning on the foundation of grace, commencing a new stock in the family which included the whole church. This rejection of the world is expressed in the following strong eastern figure, "And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at 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 thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them." (Genesis 6:6-7)

 

For a hundred and twenty years, God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved.  The history leads us to suppose that the whole of this period was taken up in building the ark. In the infancy of the 'building arts' such a vessel must have cost immense labor, and it was so unpopular an undertaking, that few if any besides the family of Noah would be induced to engage in the the work. His sons were born about twenty years after the building commenced, and for a long time they could afford him no assistance. Cheered by the society and counsel of his venerable father and grandfather, he wore out the hundred and twenty years in patiently waiting for the fulfillment of the prediction. When the ark was finished, God brought all the creatures into it and shut Noah and his family inside.

The old world is devoted to destruction. The waters are to rise and rage above the highest mountains. No vessel had yet been invented to ride the waves. How can any escape? God only can find out the way. He causes an ark to be constructed, in which his friends find refuge, while the waves of wrath sweep away a wicked world. Who that turns his eye towards this frightful scene, is not reminded of that spiritual ark in which the friends of God are sheltered while the floods of vengeance sweep away an unbelieving world?

This prepares the way for us to meditate on the conduct of Noah while laboring for that refuge, and the conduct of that profligate generation who cast contempt on him. The things most worthy of notice in respect to Noah, are his faith, his obedience, his patience, his self-denial, and his fortitude.

 

[Edward Griffin]

 

 

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Hebrews 11:7 ... 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 the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

 

 

Genesis 7:23 ... And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

 

 

Matthew 24:37-39 ... But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.❤