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Scripture Reading: Gen. 6:1-9; 8:1a, 4-5, 13-21; 1 Pet. 3:20-21; Mark 16:16a
We are all familiar with the story of Noah. Most church- goers are also well acquainted with this story. We have probably heard the story of the ark many times. Today we want to consider what the Bible really teaches us concerning the ark. In the Bible there are different meanings to the matter of salvation. In some cases, salvation has to do with our position before God. In other cases it has to do with our acceptance before Him. Some cases have to do with our fellowship with God, while others have to do with our position in the world. It seems that salvation is not that simple and is somewhat confusing. But I can explain and clarify this with a little illustration.
In Genesis 3 we see the coats of skins. "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them" (v. 21). This is a type of salvation. But which aspect of salvation does it typify? It typifies our justification before God. The sacrifice of Abel in Genesis 4 is also a type of salvation. God was not pleased with the sacrifice of Cain, but accepted the sacrifice of Abel. Because Cain offered his sacrifice out of himself, God was not pleased with it. Abel's sacrifice was based on the redeeming lamb and accepted by God. All the sacrifices in the Bible speak of God's acceptance. The story of the prodigal son in Luke 15 also speaks of God's acceptance of sinners. Ephesians 1 says that God has accepted us in His Beloved. Hence, Genesis 4 is a type of salvation in which God accepts man. The rapture of Enoch in Genesis 5 is also a type of salvation. It is a type of salvation in the aspect of overcoming death.
Genesis 3 is a type of justification. Genesis 4 is a type of God's acceptance, and Genesis 5 is a type of victory over death. The ark in chapter six is also a type. But this type is different from those in Genesis 3 through 5. The first type speaks of our justification before God; the second type speaks of our acceptance before God; while the third speaks of victory over death and receiving eternal life. In chapter six we see the relationship between a Christian and the world. How can a Christian be delivered from all the things that God has condemned? How can he be delivered from all the things that are under God's judgment? The way we receive God's salvation speaks of the way to be delivered from God's condemnation and judgment. This kind of deliverance is one in which we escape out of a certain kind of snare.
There are different kinds of sins. The sins mentioned in Genesis 3 through 6 are all different. Sin against God is mentioned in chapter three; it is a sin before God, a sin of disobedience against God. Man's sin before God requires God's coats of skins for covering so that man can be justified before God. Sin against both God and one's neighbor is mentioned in chapter four. Cain committed the sin of murdering his own brother. He broke two of God's commandments: to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our mind, and all our soul and to love our neighbor as ourselves. This sin requires a sacrifice before one can be accepted again before God. Even when a person has committed a sin before men, he has to be accepted before God first; without this his sin is not yet behind him. The sin of forgetting God is mentioned in chapter five; it is different from the sins in chapters three and four. Men ignored God and acted according to their own will. Daily they ate their own bread and lived their own lives. But in this chapter we see one man who walked with God. While the whole world was filled with death, and man rejected God, He delivered Enoch out of that world of death, and caused him not to see death. The sin of the world as a whole being in opposition to God is mentioned in chapter six. The sin in chapter three is personal sin; the sin in chapter four is one person's sin against another; the sin in chapter five is the sin of the majority of the people; while the sin in chapter six is the corporate sin. Chapter six is on humanity as a world organization, association, and sphere. Consequently, the sin in chapter six speaks of the whole human race sinning against God. Chapter six presents the sphere of the world; it speaks of the world having sinned.
Now let us consider chapter six. The beginning of this chapter speaks of fallen angels and sinful men, and how they collaborated to sin. We do not have to ask about the special significance of this passage. All we need to know is that the sons of God, who were fallen angels, and the daughters of men, who were sinful men, were both created by God; they both had spirits. When they collaborated to sin, that was the end of the world. In the first world the angels sinned, and in the second world men sinned. Hence, when angels and men joined together to sin, we know that the end was near, and the sinful angels and sinful men were about to be judged by God.
By this time, man had become extremely fleshly. Whether he was practicing good in the flesh or committing sins in the flesh, he had become utterly fleshly. Therefore, God would not strive with him anymore. Originally, the Spirit of God strove with man. But now man had disobeyed God and degraded to the point where God's Spirit could no longer strive with him. In other words, man had become so corrupt that God's Spirit was no longer able to contend with him. To put it in another way, man had become so corrupt that even the Holy Spirit could not change him. When a man has become fleshly, the Holy Spirit can do nothing about him; even his own devices cannot change him. As a result the Holy Spirit could only retreat and allow the world to go through judgment. Please remember that our flesh today is no better than man's flesh in Noah's time. If a man has not crucified his flesh with its lusts on the cross, the Holy Spirit cannot operate on him. The Holy Spirit does not exhort man to improve himself, because man can never improve himself. The Holy Spirit only convicts man to be born again. There is no ability in the flesh to do good and not sin. Only those who are regenerated and who have received the new life can meet God's standard. Being regenerated is not merely to weep, confess, become zealous, study the Bible much, or pray much. Being regenerated is to receive another life, a life that comes from God. It is inheriting another life from God. Regeneration is being born a second time.
Because the world is full of sin, some groundwork must be done before the Holy Spirit can operate. After man fell into sin, it became difficult for the Holy Spirit to do anything. The first thing God did after man sinned was to send the Lord Jesus to the world. Since man had become a sinner, the Lord Jesus had to first come. It would have been useless for the Holy Spirit to come first. The Lord Jesus must first judge a sinner before the Holy Spirit can begin His work. This is why the first parable in Luke 15 is on the good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus, who came to seek the lost sheep. The second parable is on the woman, the Holy Spirit, who came to sweep the house and look for the lost coin. Without Christ's work of redemption, the Holy Spirit cannot work. The work of the Holy Spirit cannot commence until the work of Christ has been completed. Because the work of Christ has been completed, the Holy Spirit can begin His work. Therefore, there must first be the work of redemption in Genesis 6, before there can be the work of the Holy Spirit, as typified by the dove, in chapter eight. God must do one thing first before the Holy Spirit can come to perform His work.
Genesis 6:13 says, "And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth." In God's eyes, the whole world was full of sins and violence; it was fully corrupt. God said that its end had come. Men had reached the end of themselves. God could do nothing except to bring them to their end. When God saw that the earth was full of sins and violence, He judged it. God put all flesh and all living creatures through the judgment of the flood and destroyed them all.
Many Christians are not clear about the place of the world in the eyes of God. Exhorting the brothers and sisters to forsake the world is like a mother trying to pull a piece of chocolate out of the mouth of a child. This is so difficult because men have not seen the significance of the world in God's eyes. Salvation is not just a personal matter, but a corporate matter. Sin is not only a personal matter, but a corporate matter. It was not just the Jews who crucified the Lord Jesus; the world crucified Him. The Jews are not the only ones who are at enmity with God; the whole world is at enmity with God. If a nation is at enmity with another nation, is the enmity a personal matter or a national matter? We know that it is not a personal matter. If a few citizens of one hostile country are well-disposed toward the citizens of another country, the relationship is a personal matter. Whether or not a citizen of the hostile nation is good is not the question. The fact is that the whole nation is at enmity with another nation. One does not hate a citizen of a hostile nation because his own parents are killed by the hostile nation. This is a relationship between one nation and another. Not only is the world at enmity with God as far as each individual person is concerned, but the total realm, organization, tradition, system, and everything of the world is at enmity with God. As long as you have a part in the worldly realm, organization, tradition, or system, you are at enmity with God, and you are in need of being saved from it. If you see this, you will not exhort others to do this and that to improve themselves, remove their shortcomings, amend their ways, do good, or free themselves from other ills. All these efforts are useless. In God's eyes, the whole world is corrupt. God is at enmity with the world. Those who love the world cannot love God. If anyone loves the world, the love of God is no longer in him. Those who want to be friends with the world are at enmity with God. This is God's view.
Brothers and sisters, do you want to be delivered from hell, that is, the lake of fire? I suppose we all do. We want to be in the New Jerusalem. Many people want to be saved because they want to be delivered from hell, the lake of fire, and go to heaven, the New Jerusalem. This is the kind of salvation many people want. But the Bible speaks very little of this kind of salvation. The Bible calls this kind of salvation justification, or acceptance by God. But there is another kind of salvation in the Bible, which is salvation from the world. If we are not saved from the world, we cannot be saved from the lake of fire.
Genesis 6:8 says that God found only one man, Noah. The first man was corrupted and had come to his end; he was hopeless. Therefore, God found a second man, Noah. This second man found favor in the eyes of God; he is a type of Christ. Through him God established a way of salvation for man to be delivered out of the world. God ordered him to make an ark of gopher wood, and all the living creatures — the fowls, cattle, and every creeping thing, each after its kind — were brought into the ark. Then He sent rain to the earth, and the flood came and covered the whole earth. Who were the saved ones? They were the ones who were delivered from the world, the ones who were in the ark. The ones who were delivered from the world were the ones who were delivered from the flood. Those who are saved from the world are the ones who are saved from the lake of fire. It will not be sinners who will go to hell, but the world that will go to hell. Preachers always tell others that sinners will go to hell. Actually, the world will go to hell. As long as you are a person in the world, you will go to hell.
Once I met a person on a boat, who asked, "Who deserves to go to hell?" I answered, "People like you." Every person, as long as he is a human being, deserves to go to hell. The meaning of salvation is to be saved from the community of the perishing ones. It is to be saved out of the perishing realm. Although we are not individual criminals, we are still sinners. The Bible does not say that we are criminals, but that we are sinners. It says that everyone in the world is a sinner. Suppose a brother has not committed a certain kind of sin. Since he has not broken the law, he is not a criminal. Therefore, we cannot say that everyone in the world is a criminal. Yet everyone is a sinner. Hence, salvation is being delivered from the world; it is to save a person out of the God-condemned world.
At that time, Noah and all the living creatures — the fowls, cattle, and creeping things — were saved. Noah is a type of the Savior, and the ark is also a type of the Savior. Noah is a type of the Son of God, while the ark is a type of the Son of Man. The ark was made of gopher wood, and it is a type of the humanity of the Lord Jesus. The salvation that they experienced was a salvation out of the world. At that time, all the fountains of the great deep burst open, the windows of heaven were opened, and the flood came upon the whole earth. This was not a judgment on individuals, but a judgment on the whole world. Salvation is being saved from the world community. All those who were in the ark were saved out of the world. A saved person cannot be saved on the one hand, yet still remain in the world on the other hand. He cannot ride on the fence, with one foot in the ark and the other foot in the world. Everyone who entered the ark was locked inside the ark. After a person is saved, he cannot love the world on the one hand, and love the Lord on the other hand. You may try to do this in secret, but God will not allow you to do this before Him. Therefore, every saved person should reject the world completely and have no love for the world. We should not think that even though certain matters are worldly, we only need to change them a little or turn them around a little. Fundamentally speaking, God has delivered us totally out of the world. Since we are out of the world, we should live a life that is out of the world. This is different from exhorting people to not love the world. The citizens of one nation are at enmity with those of a hostile nation because a hostile relationship exists between the two nations, not because they have been slapped on the face by someone in the hostile nation. This is the issue among us today.
We are those who are delivered out from the world. How are we saved from the world? The world has been usurped, and mankind in general has stood against God. As a result God saves men out of the world. He prepared an ark and brought man out of the world and into the ark. God brought all the living creatures on earth into death, but the human beings and the living creatures within the ark were brought out of the world and through death. Then He released them out of the ark, in order that they would fill the earth. This earth was a new world. This means that the old head, Adam, and everything in him was rejected, while the new head, Noah, and everything in Noah was ready to express the new life so that his descendants could inhabit the whole earth. Those on the new earth typified those who would be in Christ in the future, inheriting the new heaven and the new earth. The ones within the ark typify those who are in Christ. Therefore, the ones who are in Christ will be in the new heaven and the new earth. The ones outside the ark typify the ones who are in Adam, who will be judged by God in the future. The ones within the ark are in Christ; they have the new life to enter the new heaven and the new earth. The descendants of the new life will fill the new earth. Everyone who entered the ark was brought through the water of judgment into the new earth. This signifies that Christ will fill the new heaven and the new earth.
"And the ark rested...upon the mountains of Ararat" (8:4). The name Ararat means "holy ground." This typifies resurrection, the coming out of death; it also typifies the Lord's ascension. The ark rested on the mountains of Ararat, which means that the mountaintops were visible. Today we are also on top of our "Ararat"; we have seen the mountaintops, and we are waiting for the land to dry. Our Lord has died, resurrected, and ascended. We are remaining on the mountains of Ararat, waiting for the land to dry. This means that we are waiting for God to judge the earth.
Our focus is not on the many things mentioned in the previous paragraphs. Our special attention is on the matter of baptism. We have seen what Noah did, and how he passed through death. We have seen the flood, and how the saved ones entered the ark to pass through death and were then ushered into the new earth. First Peter 3 says that the ark's passage through the water is a type of baptism. Some who are sitting here are already baptized. Some are not yet baptized. The water of the flood is a type of the water of baptism. First Peter 3:20-21 says, "Who had formerly disobeyed when the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared; entering into which, a few, that is, eight souls, were brought safely through by water. Which water, as the antitype, also now saves you, that is, baptism." What saves us? What is the subject of this clause? The subject is the baptism typified by the water. The verb is "saves." What saves us? Baptism saves us. Is this not amazing? Can baptism save a person? I must tell you that unless you are baptized, you will not be saved. Peter said the same thing, that the baptism, signified by the flood, saves us through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. In addition, Mark 16:16 says, "He who believes and is baptized shall be saved."
Many of us have changed Mark 16:16 to read, "He who believes and is saved shall be baptized." But the Bible says that baptism comes before salvation. Many of us are confused. We think that we have to be saved before we can be baptized. But the Bible says that those who are not baptized cannot be saved, and that once a person is baptized, he is saved. If a man is saved, it is because he is baptized. If there are a million people in heaven, they are there because they have been baptized.
Do not misunderstand the meaning of salvation by baptism. The Bible speaks of salvation in different aspects. The part of salvation that is known as justification deals with man's position before God. The part of salvation that deals with God's acceptance of man emphasizes the distinction between the world and the believers. The part of salvation that has to do with forgiveness deals with the propitiation of our past sins. The part of salvation that has to do with receiving eternal life points to our separation from death. The part of salvation that deals with the kind of deliverance spoken of here has to do particularly with our relationship with the world. Salvation does not mean merely a deliverance from hell in the future. Strictly speaking, according to the Bible, salvation refers to our deliverance from the world today. How do others know that we are saved? How do others know that we belong to Christ? We say that we are saved, but can we open up our hearts to show others that we are saved? We cannot see faith with our eyes. Who can see faith? God sees and knows that we are justified, accepted, forgiven, and have received the eternal life, but man does not see it. James told us that man's eyes cannot see our faith; they can see only our work. The first work of every Christian before men is the act of baptism. Our first work before God is to believe, but our first work before men is to be baptized. Baptism is salvation from the world into Christ. It is coming out of one's own house into the ark. Baptism is a declaration to the world, as Noah declared that God's judgment, wrath, and punishment would fall upon the world because of its opposition, rebellion, and rejection of God. He was no longer one of them, and he left them to enter the ark that God had prepared for him. Therefore, baptism is not just a sprinkling of water on the head, nor an immersion of the body in the water. Baptism is a declaration to the whole world that the world has nothing more to do with us and that we are delivered from the world. The real significance of baptism is that we are no longer living in the world, we are now dead through the judgment on the Lord Jesus, and we will never rise up again. Although we are in the water only for a brief moment, it spiritually means that we will never come out of the water again. From this point on, in the eyes of the world, we are forever separated from it and have no share in it anymore; we will never come back again. Men of this world are most attached to their parents, wife, children, and dear ones. But if one of their dear ones were to die, they would not want to have the dead person around anymore. They would never take a dead man out of the grave and put him in their house to live with them. This should be the way the world looks at a Christian; they should consider him a dead man who has been buried in the grave.
There are two great communities in this world: one is the world community, and the other is the community of those who are saved in Christ. Being saved is being delivered out of the world community which opposes God, which is sinful and unclean, and entering into the community of Christ. This is why we have to be baptized. By baptism we are saved. (Of course, we must first believe in the Lord. Those who do not believe in the Lord cannot be saved.) Mark 16:16 says, "He who believes and is baptized shall be saved." Baptism signals a deliverance; it is a great deliverance. It delivers us from the world and everything that is of the world. But baptism is not only a deliverance out of something; it is also an entry into something. Baptism is a grand entry. It is to enter into Christ and enter into His death.
Everyone who believes will have eternal life because of the blood of the Lord Jesus. We cannot deny this. However, we are saved from the world because of our entry into the ark. Baptism signifies that we are delivered from the world community. Suppose someone asks if you have believed in the Lord. You have to say yes; your sins have been forgiven because of the blood of the Lord. The Bible says that he who has the Son of God has life. You may know that you have life, and you may be very clear that you have believed in the Son of God as your Savior. But suppose you lose your temper, argue, and even fight with two or three brothers. After the fight, if you check with yourself, you will realize that you are still a believer and that you are still saved. You will not have any doubt about this. But the other brothers will doubt that you are saved. What does this mean? I can tell you that many people are qualified to go to heaven, but they are not qualified to live on earth. Many people are qualified to live before God, but are not qualified to live before their family. Many people are good enough to live in heaven, but are not good enough to live on earth. This is why you cannot allow others to baptize you into the water or sprinkle water on your forehead based on what you have believed. You must know yourself what baptism is, before you can be baptized. You must know that you have been delivered from the world already. Baptism is a declaration and an announcement to the world that you are no longer joined to the world and that you are no longer standing on its side. You are delivered from the world, and baptism is your declaration that you are standing on the side of Christ from now on.
I am not trying to persuade you to be baptized. I am showing you that before you are baptized, you have to realize that there are two opposing camps, the camp of Adam and the camp of Christ. There is no middle ground between these two camps. At the time of Noah, God declared that the world was His enemy and that the world was at enmity with God. He appointed a way of salvation — everyone who entered the ark stood on God's side and obeyed God. It is interesting to see that the Bible refers to the entry into the ark and the deliverance from the flood as a type of baptism. Therefore, we have to speak this word to all the ones who are about to be baptized, as well as to all the other brothers and sisters. Many people are baptized already, and a good number are also baptized among us. Why were you baptized? Was it because it was a church practice, a church ritual, a commandment of the Bible, a sign of seriousness in being a Christian, or because other Christians were doing it? Baptism is turning one's back to the world and facing Christ. It is being delivered from the world community and entering into the community of Christ. There is no middle ground between the world and Christ. There was a door on the ark. This door signifies that everything within the door was in the realm of Christ, and everything outside this door was in the realm of the world. If we see this, we will not need anyone to come and tell us at the time of baptism that we need to change ourselves in certain matters. We will know what to do. We will not have to deal with the world like pulling out hairs, plucking them out one by one; instead we can shave them off all at once. It is a pity that many among us do not see this.
We try to change the world, but God is giving us a new world. No human method, such as religious dogmas, literature, science, philosophy, or moral teachings, can change this world. God shows us that even though the world is lovable and enjoyable, it is God's enemy. Living in the world means that you cherish the hope that it will change. Yet God has no hope of changing the world. He has no other way of dealing with the world than to judge it. For the world to improve and be reformed through human methods would take many many years. Thank God that He needs only to wash the world with water and it will become the new earth. In the days of Noah, God washed the world with water. In the future He will burn it with fire. Are we like Lot, tarrying in Sodom and Gomorrah, waiting to be burned by fire? Or are we untouched by the world? Unfortunately, many are like Lot's wife; they live in the world. Are we living in the world, or are we letting all these things go and looking forward to the new heaven and new earth, where righteousness dwells?
On top of the ark was a window or a "light-inlet." This word is used in the Old Testament twenty-four times. The word is translated as noon twenty-three times. This is the only place where it is translated as window or "light-inlet." The light that passed through this window was not a weak light, but a bright light. This is living in the light of God.
I have to say a few words to those who are not saved. It is an undeniable fact that we cannot improve the world and God will judge it. How are you going to escape God's judgment? There was pitch within and without the ark. The word pitch is the same word as redemption in the original language. Therefore, pitch signifies redemption or propitiation. The ark was pitched within and without, which is a type of the Lord's redemption. Redemption is brought in by the blood of the Lord Jesus, and the lives of all those who are in the ark are preserved. The flood was outside the ark. The world was filled with the flood, and it was dying because of the flood. Yet within the ark everything was living. All punishment has fallen on Christ, the ark; it is no longer on us. The only way for those who desire peace, forgiveness, and deliverance is to enter into the ark. Even if the world were to make ten thousand ships, it would be to no avail.
The world was filled with God's judgment, yet the ark was pitched within. This is a type of the redemptive work of Christ. The ark was also pitched without, which also is a type of the redemptive work of Christ. If you are inside the ark, God's judgment will not come upon you. Suppose there is a person, let us say that she is Japheth's wife, or Noah's wife. Suppose she is weeping inside the ark, saying, "What will we do if the ark leaks and sinks?" We would all laugh at her. Let me ask: If you acknowledge the redemptive work of Christ and believe that His crucifixion on the cross is for your redemption, why are you afraid to declare that you are saved? Why are you still restless? You may consider what would happen if the blood of the Lord Jesus became ineffective. You should ask yourself at this hour if you have truly believed, and if you have truly put your faith in the accomplished work of Christ. Would the ark leak? A person once came to Mr. D. L. Moody with tears on his cheeks. When Mr. Moody asked him for the reason, he said, "I am afraid of perdition. I have believed in the Lord. But what should I do to save myself from perdition?" Mr. Moody told him the Scripture says that those who believe have eternal life, and that he who comes to the Lord will not be rejected, and that God will save to the uttermost those who come to Him. He used similar texts to talk to the man for two to three hours, but the man's problem was still not resolved. He continued to say, "I have indeed believed in the Lord, but I am still afraid that I will perish." Mr. Moody then said, "You remind me of one of Noah's daughters-in-law, who perhaps wept within the ark for fear of the ark leaking." The man said, "Sir, how can that be? The ark would never leak." Mr. Moody then answered, "You are the person who is weeping inside the ark. You are afraid that the ark will leak." When that man heard this, he became clear.
The Lord Jesus is able to save to the uttermost all those who come to God through Him. It does not matter whether you are wise or foolish. Whether or not you are saved depends on whether you are inside the ark. It has nothing to do with whether you are intelligent or foolish, rich or poor. None of these things counts. The only question is whether or not you are inside the ark. Only those who enter the ark through the work of Christ are saved. The number of people who enter the ark will be the same number that come out of the ark. The number of lives within the ark is the number of lives preserved by God.
If you want to be a genuine Christian, you have to be within the ark; you cannot remain on the earth. You cannot be saved by your own works. You must declare to the Lord: "Everything that is of the world has nothing to do with me. I stand on Your side." Salvation is accomplished once you enter the gate. Unfortunately, many people have only believed in the Lord; they have not cut off all ties with the world. Therefore, you must not only be faithful to serve God, but you must be faithful to do what you testified at the time of your baptism.
Baptism cannot save a person. Salvation comes through the Lord's death and resurrection alone. However, baptism is an expression of our salvation. The blood of the Lord Jesus saves you into God's presence, while the water of baptism saves you out of the world. Even if you forget everything that we have spoken of today, as long as you can remember the difference between these two salvations, it will be good enough.
