God's salvation to Noah was not only to save him from God's judgment, but also from his crooked, perverse, and evil generation. In order to be saved from that evil age, he needed to be saved through water. 1 Pet. 3:20 says clearly that Noah was saved through water. What does it mean to be saved through water? In order to understand this, we must know the background of Noah's generation.
Noah lived in a crooked and perverse age. As a result of man's first fall, the evil nature of Satan had been injected into man. In the second fall, man deviated from the presence of God into human culture. The evil nature of Satan which had been injected into man in the first fall developed into a godless human culture in the second fall. In the third fall of man, this culture ushered in an evil generation, producing a crooked, corrupted, and perverse generation. That generation was condemned in the eyes of God. It was into such a generation that Noah was born. Not only did God's condemnation rest upon that age, but there was on earth the evil power of darkness. At the time of man's third fall, that evil power of darkness had corrupted the earth and filled it with violence. As a result, God intervened to judge that generation and to terminate that age. Whoever lived on earth during that age was under two things: God's judgment and the evil power of darkness.
We live in the same kind of age. In Matt. 24 and in Luke 17 the Lord Jesus likened our age to that of Noah. Noah's background was exactly the same as ours; it was a prefigure of our background. Look at the world situation today. Undoubtedly, it is under God's condemnation. It is also under an evil power, a wicked influence. No young person or adult can withstand the evil power or influence of modern society. Christian parents pray for their children even before the children are born. They consecrate the children to the Lord, trying with fear and trembling to help them to know God and to stay away from the influence of this dark world. However, at the age of six, the children must attend school, and once they are in school, they are subject to the evil influence of the darkness of this age. Nearly all of the children are influenced at least to some extent. No one is immune. We can see that there is such an evil power, a wicked influence of darkness, on this earth. Everyone is under God's judgment and under the power and darkness of the evil one. So, God's full salvation not only saves us from His condemnation, but also from the evil power and influence of this dark age. On the day of Pentecost, Peter exhorted people, "Be saved from this crooked generation!" (Acts 2:40).
I say once again that nearly everything in the book of Genesis is a seed that requires further development. To be saved through water is a matter of baptism. 1 Pet. 3:20-21 reveals that the water through which Noah passed was a figure of baptism. It may be considered as the first mention of baptism in the Bible. Thus, it was the seed of baptism. This seed of baptism was firstly developed in the case of the children of Israel passing through the Red Sea. 1 Cor/ 10:1-2 tells us that their passing through the Red Sea was a baptism. The passing through the waters of the Red Sea was a clear type of the baptism with water. Later, when the New Testament age came, the first thing that transpired to open up this age was baptism with water. God sent John the Baptist to carry this out. He came with the purpose of baptizing people with water.
Let us now consider the case of the Israelites. Although they were God's chosen people, they fell and drifted into Egypt. The whole Egyptian nation was under God's judgment. Since the Israelites also were there, undoubtedly they were under His judgment as well. They were at the same time under the power of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Their exodus from Egypt was not an escape from God's judgment; it was an escape from Egypt, a deliverance from the Egyptian slavery.
Let us see the salvation the children of Israel enjoyed. Firstly, they enjoyed the redemption of the blood of the lamb. They slew lambs and struck the blood upon the doorposts. In this way the Israelites were covered by the redeeming blood and saved from God's judgment. When God executed His judgment over the land of Egypt, those who were under the blood were saved. The children of Israel were saved by the blood from God's judgment. Following this, they all ate the flesh of the lamb. The purpose of doing this was not to save them from judgment, but to strengthen them to walk out of Egypt. When they ate the lamb, they put on their sandals, held their staffs, and were ready to go out. While they were eating, they were preparing to get out of Egypt.
What delivered the Israelites out of Egypt and out from under the power of Pharaoh? Although God saved them from His judgment, Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, would not let them go. Pharaoh was a type of Satan. Pharaoh, that is, Satan, seemed to say, "You children of Israel have been saved from God's judgment and you have eaten the flesh of the lamb. You are ready to leave. Do you think that it's easy for you to get out? This is my territory. This is my power, my kingdom, and my empire. I have the power here and I will not let you go." Thus, Pharaoh sent his army to hold the Israelites back. But God came in to deliver them, not by sending angels or fire to burn Pharaoh and his forces, but by opening the Red Sea that they might walk through it. After His people had passed through the sea, the Egyptian army followed. While they were pursuing God's people and when they came to the heart of the sea, God told Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea that the waters might come upon the Egyptians (Exo. 14:26). Moses did this, and the sea obeyed him. Pharaoh's army and all the power of the Egyptians were buried. The children of Israel were delivered. What were they delivered from? Not from God's judgment, but from the power of Egypt and Pharaoh, that is, from the power of the world and Satan.
The children of Israel enjoyed a double salvation. The first aspect of their salvation was the redeeming blood, and the second aspect was the judging water. Hallelujah for the redeeming blood and the judging water! We know what the redeeming blood is, but I doubt that very many know what the judging water is. For us, the judging water is the cross of Christ. The death of the Lord Jesus on the cross is the judging water. A line in Hymn 438 in our hymnal says, "I've crossed the Red Sea of His death." The Lord's death was the judging water. Satan and the world were judged on the cross. When the Lord Jesus was about to go to the cross, He declared, "Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the ruler of this world be cast out" (John 12:31). Both Satan and the world were judged on the cross.
The Lord saved His people from the world by His judgment upon it. God executed His judgment upon the Egyptians, and that judgment was a salvation to the Israelites. To Satan and to his world, the cross was a judgment, but to us, this judgment on the cross is a salvation. It is not a salvation from God's condemnation, but from the power of Satan and from the evil influence of this dark age. Since this matter is clear, we may return to Noah's case.
Undoubtedly Noah was under God's condemnation. He was also under the evil power of the age in which he lived. Noah built an ark which was pitched within and without with pitch. The pitch was a type of the redeeming blood. Thus, Noah was saved from God's judgment by the pitch upon the ark.
What saved Noah from that evil age? The flood sent by God as a judgment upon the evil world. That judging flood separated Noah from that age. The water of the Red Sea buried the Egyptians and separated the children of Israel from the Egyptian world, and the waters of the flood did the same thing for Noah. On the one hand, the flood judged that evil age; on the other hand, it separated Noah from that age. The water that judged the world saved Noah from that evil generation. As a result of the two aspects of God's full salvation, Noah was saved from God's condemnation as well as from that evil generation.
Hardly any Christians know about the second aspect of God's salvation. Every real Christian knows that the blood saves us from God's condemnation, from eternal perdition. We thank God for this. But how many Christians praise the Lord for the salvation through water? I do this a great deal. More than forty years ago, I began to praise the Lord for salvation through the blood and for salvation through water. "Thank You, Lord, that I have been saved from God's judgment and also from the evil power of Satan. Hallelujah, I am out of Egypt!" Since very few Christians know that they have been delivered out of the evil age of this world, my burden is that we all must see the second aspect of God's full salvation. God's great salvation not only saves us from His judgment, but also from Satan's power.
The world with all of its ages has been condemned by God. There is one world with many ages. There is the age of the old fashion and the age of the modern fashion. There is the short-hair age, and there is the long-hair age. All the ages are condemned by God. The world of Noah's age was condemned (Gen. 6:11-13), and the world of the Egyptian age also was condemned (Exo. 14:26-28).
The whole world is a satanic system which has systematized all of mankind. The world has different departments as well as different ages. In the same age you have the department of education, economics, religion, etc. Each of these is a department of the satanic system for the systematizing of man. The whole world with all of its ages and departments is under God's condemnation (John 12:31; 16:11). However, my intention is not simply that we see God's condemnation. We should just have a look at it and then go on to God's salvation.
God's people are saved from the world by His judgment on it. With what does God save us from the condemned world? With the same thing by which He judged the world. The flood that God used to execute His judgment upon the ancient world saved Noah from that world. The Red Sea that God used to judge the Egyptians saved the children of Israel from the evil power of the Egyptians. The cross by which God judged Satan and his world also saves us from this condemned world.
We Christians are saved by the judging cross of Christ. The cross executed God's judgment upon Satan and the world. We have been saved from God's judgment by the redeeming blood of Christ (Rom. 5:9). We were saved from the condemned world by the judging death of Christ. Galatians 1:4 says, "Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might rescue us out of the present evil age." Although Christ died for our sins, the goal was to deliver us from this present evil age. I have heard many messages concerning Christ's death as a salvation from sin, but I have hardly heard a message telling me that the goal of Christ's death was to save me from the present evil age.
Galatians 6:14 says, "But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world." To Paul, the world was on the cross, and to the world, Paul was on the cross. Is the world on the cross to you? Are you on the cross to the world? In our eyes, the world should be on the cross. It has been crucified. Do you love something that has been crucified? To the world, we are on the cross. Many times I have heard the parents of a saint say, "My son is dead." Some husbands may say that their wives are dead, and some wives may say that their husbands are dead. That is correct. All the Christian husbands, wives, sons, and daughters are dead. We are dead to the world, and the world is dead to us through the judging death of Christ.
When you are baptized, you are buried. Nothing can remove people out of the world so effectively as a burial. Likewise, what can get you out of the world more effectively than baptism? Suppose a certain man loves the world very much. He has many attachments in the world. His wife, children, and all his relatives love him. He has money in the bank and several businesses under his control. How can such a man get out of the world? The easiest way is for him to be buried. Once his relatives have given him a good funeral, he will be through with the world. Thus, nothing separates a person from the world more than his burial.
What is baptism? I am sorry to say that many people think of it as a ritual which makes a person a nominal member of a so-called church. Before I experienced genuine baptism, I underwent such a ritual. We should never baptize people in a ritualistic way. Whenever we are going to baptize people, we must pray and exercise our spirit with authority and with the powerful name of the Lord Jesus. Then we baptize people, putting them into a "tomb" and burying them. This burial separates them from the world.
We have been baptized into Christ's death (Rom. 6:3). We have been buried with Christ in baptism (Col. 2:12). We are dead and buried from the rudiments of this world (Col. 2:20). We have passed through the flood waters and the Red Sea. The flood waters that judged Noah's generation rescued him, and the Red Sea that judged the Egyptians rescued the Israelites. This is the salvation that we need today. Every Christian needs the second aspect of God's full salvation. Have you enjoyed this aspect of His salvation? I can shout and declare, "I have been separated from Egypt! I have been separated from this evil, crooked, and perverse generation!"
The baptism with water was typified by the flood that saved Noah from his evil age (1 Pet. 3:20-21). Noah was baptized in a large baptistery and experienced a very lengthy baptism. It lasted at least forty days. The number forty signifies testing. No one could have built such a large baptistery or collected so much water. The first mention of baptism in the Bible was a worldwide baptism. Our baptism must also be like that. Once you get into that kind of baptistery, there is no way out. Although it is easy for us to get out of the baptistery in the meeting hall, there was no way for Noah to get out of the baptistery used in his baptism. Noah was buried in a worldwide tomb. That was the seed of baptism. Christ's death is all-inclusive. The baptism based upon His death is worldwide, even universally wide, full of judging and burying water.
This baptism with water signifying the judging death of Christ was also typified by the waters of the Red Sea that saved the Israelites from the Egyptian age (Exo. 14:26-28). We have two types of the baptism with water: the flood and the Red Sea. First Peter 3:20-21 says that the flood through which Noah passed was a figure of the baptism that saves us, and 1 Corinthians 10:1-2 tells us that the Red Sea through which the Israelites passed was also a baptism that saved God's people from the evil power, from the enemy's slavery. All the worldly occupations, all the worldly pleasures, amusements, sports, are buried in the Red Sea of our baptism. This kind of effectual baptism in the power of the Spirit saves us from the world, from the evil age condemned and judged by God.
In addition to the types which typify baptism, we have the signs in the Bible which signify the meaning of baptism. Baptism was signified by the laver of the tabernacle (Exo. 30:18-21). In front of the tabernacle was the laver. The area outside the separating line of the tabernacle represented the world. Suppose a person was coming out of the world and wanted to be a priest and get into the presence of God within the tabernacle. Firstly, he had to pass through the altar, signifying the cross of Christ. On the altar, the offerings for sins were presented. After passing through the altar, his sins were dealt with and he was saved. Many Christians think that after passing through the altar he could have immediately entered into the holy place within the tabernacle. However, he could not move that fast, for after passing through the altar he needed the washing of the laver. The laver did not eliminate his sins. His sins were dealt with at the altar already. The laver dealt with his dirt from the earth. Since the dirt of the earth was still upon him, he needed to be washed. The washing of the laver removed this dirt. The blood was at the altar, not at the laver. After his sins had been dealt with at the altar and after the earthly dirt had been washed away at the laver, then he could enter into the holy place and come into the presence of God.
Many Christians do not have the way to come into God's presence. True, they have been saved at the cross, but to their realization there is still a separation, a barrier, that frustrates them from entering into God's presence. What is this? It is the dirt of the world. They lack the washing of the laver to remove their dirt of the world. In other words, their sins have been dealt with on the cross, but their world has not been buried beneath the Red Sea. The laver is a sign of baptism, the flood, and the Red Sea.
The principle is the same with the one brass sea and the ten lavers associated with the temple. Once the children of Israel were established in the land of Canaan, they built a temple. Along with the temple they built a brass sea and ten lavers (1 Kings 7:23, 38). Brass signifies judgment. The brass sea and the ten lavers indicate the fullness of the realization of baptism. You cannot enter into the presence of God until you pass through the true meaning of baptism, that is, to bury the world.
For example, we must bury our worldly shopping. As you read this message, your spirit may tell you that you have a problem with shopping. You do not go shopping under the leading of the Lord. Of course, there is no difficulty if you shop under the Lord's leading. However, if you do not go shopping under the leading of the Lord, you will be killed for a few days. You will not be able to pray well or get into the Lord's presence for that length of time. You may reason that there is nothing wrong with a particular article of clothing. Although there is nothing wrong morally speaking, your spirit tells you that as long as you wear that piece of clothing you cannot pray with the Lord's presence. Although you might be able to pray without His presence, you cannot pray into the presence of God until you have eliminated that article of clothing. If you do that, you will be liberated. What then should we do? We should jump into the brass sea.
Baptism is also signified by the sea of glass (Rev. 4:6). In Revelation chapter four John was in the spirit and saw the throne of God. In front of the throne was a sea of glass. What does this mean? Brass denotes judgment, and glass means exposure. Whatever was washed in the laver or in the sea of brass could not be seen from the side, but since the sea of glass is crystal clear, everything washed in it is visible. In Revelation 15:2 the sea of glass is seen mingled with fire. This also is a sign of the universal baptism. The sea is mingled with fire. A sea, of course, is filled with water, but this sea is mingled with fire. What does this mean? Due to the fall of Satan and the fall of man, the old creation has been judged by God. God has judged again and again ever since the beginning. God judged the pre-Adamic age with water. He also judged the Adamic age with water at the time of Noah. However, after the flood, God said that never again would He judge the world with water (Gen. 9:11). He will judge with fire. Hence, in Revelation 15:2, the sea is mingled with fire; fire is burning in the sea. The two kinds of judgment exercised by God over the fallen creation are judgment by water and by fire. The sea of glass mingled with fire will consummate in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10, 14-15). Everything that was buried at the time of your baptism will go to the lake of fire.
Revelation 15:2-3 reveals that the saved ones are standing upon the sea of glass rejoicing and singing. They sing two kinds of songs — the song of Moses, which was first sung at the shore of the Red Sea, and the song of the Lamb. They sing the song of Moses because Moses brought them through the Red Sea, and they sing the song of the Lamb of God because He has brought them through the sea of baptism. Thus, all the saved ones are on the sea of glass. This is the universal baptistery. Eventually, all created things will be burned (2 Pet. 3:6-7, 10, 12). The entire creation will pass through baptism, and the oldness will be burned and washed by the burning fire into the lake of fire. That is the universal baptistery.
Eventually, the new heaven and the new earth, the new creation, will be brought to the presence of God, and the New Jerusalem will descend. The presence of God will be there. There will be no more sea (Rev. 21:1). The lake of fire will be the consummation of all the baptisms throughout the ages. Everything else will be in the presence of the very God who will take the New Jerusalem as His eternal habitation. Thus, to be saved through water means that whatever is not of God and for God must be washed away by the flood. Ultimately, this flood will be mingled with fire and consummate in the lake of fire. We who have been washed from all things other than God shall be in the consummation of the New Jerusalem.
The principle is the same in the church life today. The church is a miniature of the New Jerusalem and the baptistery is a figure of the lake of fire. Every baptism is a picture showing us how all the negative things buried in the baptistery will flow into the lake of fire. Let me ask you, where is your worldly shopping? Where are your new fashions? Where are your long hair and short skirts? They are all in the baptistery. The baptistery will transfer them to the lake of fire. This is what it means to be saved through water. This salvation will terminate the old age and usher in the new age. This salvation will bring us out of the old, crooked, and perverse generation and will usher us into the kingdom of Christ. Therefore, the next message will be on the kingdom life in resurrection.
