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In the last message we saw that Noah and the people with him in the ark passed through the flood waters. As we have seen, passing through the water was a type of the baptism in the New Testament. After the flood, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat (Gen. 8:4). That also was a sign, a type, a shadow of the resurrection of Christ. According to the Bible, the ark was a type of Christ. The ark passing through water signifies Christ passing through the death waters under God's judgment. When the ark rested upon the mountains, it signified that Christ was resurrected out of the death waters.
The Bible is marvelous. Genesis 8:4 says that the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat on the seventeenth day of the seventh month. If you read the Bible carefully along with history and the best lexicons, you will find that, at the time of the Passover in Egypt, the seventh month was changed to the first (Exo. 12:2). The Jews have two kinds of calendars, the civil calendar and the sacred calendar. The civil calendar was the old one, and the sacred calendar was the new one, which began from the first Passover. When God told the Israelites to have the Passover, He told them that that month had to be counted as the first month of the year. In Hebrew the name of that month was Abib (Exo. 13:4), which means sprouting, budding, fresh ears of corn. This signifies that, in the eyes of God, the Passover was counted as a new beginning of life. Why do I point this out? Because the Lord Jesus was crucified on the day of the Passover, on the fourteenth day of the month (Exo. 12:6; John 18:28). According to the sacred calendar, He was crucified in the first month, and according to the civil calendar, He was crucified in the seventh month, the same month as when the ark rested upon the mount. The Lord was crucified on the fourteenth day of that month and was resurrected three days later. Thus, according to the sacred calendar, Christ was resurrected on the seventeenth day of the first month. According to the civil calendar, it was on the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the very day that the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. So, in that early type of the ark resting upon the mountain, we were told the exact date of the resurrection of Christ. This is wonderful.
In 1 Pet. 3:20-21, Peter connected the resurrection of Christ to the ark. He said that "eight souls, were brought safely through by water: which figure also now saves you, baptism..through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." The figure of baptism also saves us through resurrection. I say once again that the ark resting upon the mountaintop signified Christ's resurrection out from the death waters. The month and day of both were exactly the same.
What do we find after the resurrection? We see a new living. Noah and the seven other people had a new living. I would also like to call your attention to the fact that the number of people in the ark was eight. The number eight means resurrection. A week has seven days, and the beginning of a new week is the eighth day. Christ was resurrected on the first day of the week, that is, on the eighth day (John 20:1). So, the number eight signifies resurrection. In this new living, the people were in resurrection. Whatever they did was in resurrection.
Not many Christians realize the true significance of the type in this portion of the Word. We should understand this portion of the Word in the way of typology. All Christians agree that the ark was a type of Christ, and 1 Peter 3:20-21 tells us clearly that the passing through the flood was a prefigure of baptism. Based upon these two facts, we must realize that everything related to Noah and to the seven people that were with him after the flood must also be a part of the complete type, forming a full picture of the type. We should not stop with saying that the passing through the flood was a type of baptism and that the ark resting on the mountain was a type of Christ's resurrection. What about the life of the eight persons after the flood? In other words, what about the living of the people after the resurrection? What does the living of those eight people after the flood signify? It signifies the church life. The living of the resurrected people after the resurrection was the church life. This is absolutely logical. The eight persons in the ark signify us, the New Testament believers.
I would like to say a word to the young people. When I was a young Christian, I exercised my mentality very much about the statements in the Bible that say that we are in Christ. I tried to figure out how we could be in Christ. I could neither see the reality of this nor understand its significance. One day, as I was considering what Noah's ark passed through, the Lord showed me that the eight persons in the ark were a picture showing us how it is that we are in Christ. Those eight persons were in the ark when the ark passed through the flood. Thus, they also passed through the flood in the ark, but they themselves did not touch the flood. It was the ark that withstood the flood waters. This answers the questions of how Christ's crucifixion can be ours and how we were crucified in Christ. When the ark came out of the flood, the eight people in it also came out. When the ark rested upon the mountaintop, the eight persons also were resurrected and rested on the mountaintop in the ark. Ephesians 2:6 says that we were raised up together with Christ. Before we were born, we were resurrected. When Christ was resurrected out from the death waters, we were in Him. Therefore, in the church we are resurrected people.
If we look at the picture of the type, we shall see that the church is another community; it is not the old society. The old community and society have been buried. When we were baptized, we buried the old community and society. The flood came and buried Noah's old society, and only eight persons were resurrected. Now the living of those eight persons on the new line must be a type of the church life. We are the church people, and the church people are a resurrected people. We are another community, another society. The church life is a new community.
After the flood, the eight persons saved through the ark began to have a new living. Before the flood, they saw many evil and ungodly things. But they were saved, separated, resurrected, and ushered into a new living. That new living was a type of the church life. In addition to all the other seeds sown in the book of Genesis, the seed of the church life is also sown there. Every part of the living of the eight people was a prefigure of a part of the church life.
Before the eight people began their new living on the new earth, Noah conducted some tests. He sent forth a raven and a dove (Gen. 8:7-12). The raven represents the fleshly people. If you read Leviticus 11 carefully, you will find that the raven is an unclean bird. All of the unclean birds are unclean because they eat the dead things, the carcasses. In other words, they eat death. They are unclean because they feed on death. Death is filthy in the eyes of God. According to the Old Testament, once a person contacted death, he immediately became unclean. While the unclean birds ate death, the clean birds ate grain, cereal. In every grain there is life. The clean birds are clean because they feed on life. In the eyes of God, nothing is as clean as life, and nothing is as unclean as death. Do you eat death or life? Do you eat the carcass or the seed? Whoever eats carcasses is a raven, and whoever eats seeds is a dove.
Noah was wise and firstly sent out a raven. When the raven left the ark, it was as if he had come out of a cage. He saw the carcasses floating on the water of judgment and began to feed on them. When he was confined in the ark, he had no opportunity to eat carcasses, because there was no death in the ark. However, as he left the ark, he saw that the surface of the water was filled with carcasses, filled with death. What does this mean? It means that within the church there is no death and that all the ravens are being starved. In the church, the people who are accustomed to feeding on death are starving. One day, when there is the opportunity to get out, the ravens will fly away and begin to feed on the carcasses. Throughout the years, I have seen a good number of such "ravens." They were in the church life for awhile, but went out to contact the world that was judged by God and began to feed on the carcasses. Anyone that loves the condemned world resembles a raven feeding on the things of death. Even Demas, who was once with the Apostle Paul, loved the world and forsook Paul (2 Tim. 4:10). To love the world is to feed on the dead things condemned and judged by God.
After sending out a raven, Noah sent a dove. The dove could not find a resting place, because the earth was still filled with death waters. So, since there was no place for her, the dove returned to the ark (Gen. 8:9). After seven days, Noah sent the dove out again, and this time she returned with a fresh olive leaf (Gen. 8:11, ASV). In typology, olive signifies the Spirit, and the new, fresh, olive leaf signifies the new life in the Spirit. The dove saw the fresh olive leaf and plucked it. It was a sign of life.
In order to open a new opportunity for the church, a fresh olive leaf is needed. If we are going to have a church in a certain city, we should send one or two "doves" to see whether or not there is some fresh olive leaf. If there is, then it is possible to have the church life in that city. Otherwise, the "doves" should return to the ark. When Noah sent the dove the third time, she did not return, because the land of life was exposed. This also is a sign that we may have the church life. Suppose certain saints intend to start the church life in a particular city. They must determine whether the death waters are rising up or whether they have abated. If the water has abated and some olive trees have come up with fresh leaves, that may be a sign that the church should be there. They need to wait until the death waters have abated and the land of life has arisen. That will be the time for them to start the church life. Before we begin to have the church life in any place, we must act according to the same principle, testing the situation to see whether or not it is good for the church life.
What did the resurrected people do after they came out of the ark and started their new living? The first thing they did upon coming out of the ark was to build an altar and offer sacrifices to God (Gen. 8:20-22). The first thing in the church life should not be work; it must be the offering of Christ to God through the cross. Noah built an altar and offered sacrifices to God (8:20). Both the altar and the sacrifices are types. The altar is a type of the cross of Christ, and the sacrifices are types of the different aspects of Christ. We must offer Christ in different aspects to God. We must offer to God the Christ we have experienced. If we experience Christ as the burnt offering, then we should bring Him as such to God and offer Him to God. God wants us to bring Christ to Him. When we experience Christ and bring the Christ whom we have experienced to God, this is what pleases God. We must offer Christ to God for His satisfaction. In the church life, we must pay attention to this. We need to learn how to experience Christ, bring Him to God, and share Him with God. This is what God will accept.
We offer Christ to God through the cross. Do not work — go to the cross. Do not try to do anything or to behave — go to the cross. What will the cross do with you? It will only do one thing: it will cross you out. Before you do anything for God, you should go to the cross and let it cross you out. If a young man wants to obey the commandment to honor his parents, he should first let the cross cross him out. If a husband wants to love his wife, he also must be crossed out. The same is true for a wife who intends to submit herself to her husband. Are you going to work for God? Before working for Him, you must come to the cross and be crossed out. Eventually, there will be no natural work, service, or behavior. After you pass through the cross, only Christ will remain. Such a Christ will be a sweet savor to God.
When we, through the cross, offer to God the Christ whom we have experienced, God will be satisfied. We all must be crossed out at the altar that we may offer the Christ whom we have experienced in our daily life. How I thank the Lord that throughout the years the churches in this country have been practicing these two points. We are being crossed out and also are experiencing Christ, bringing Him to God, and sharing Him with one another in the presence of God. Whenever we come together in this way, we have the assurance that God is satisfied. How do we know that He is satisfied? Because we are satisfied. When you are hungry, be sure that God also is hungry. When you are unhappy, God is unhappy. But when you are satisfied, the very God to whom you offer Christ is satisfied also. The more you work by yourself, the more unsatisfied you will be. The more you try to behave yourself, the more you will sense that you are hungry and thirsty. However, once you have been crossed out on the cross and have experienced Christ in a full way, you will be filled, happy, and satisfied. You will say, "Hallelujah, I'm filled and satisfied. I'm at peace. I have food and water. I have everything." This is the indication that God is satisfied.
Offering Christ to God through the cross keeps the curse away. As a result of man's first fall, man was put under the curse (Gen. 3:17). What is the curse? Ultimately, the curse is death. Death, including all other sufferings, is the consummation of the curse. Our offering of Christ to God through the cross keeps the curse away. This means that it keeps death away. All murmurings, gossipings, criticisms, complainings, etc. are signs of the curse of death. All these are done away by the experience of Christ through the cross. Without the experience of Christ through the cross, we would be under the curse of death, murmuring, gossiping, criticizing, and complaining. Then, if we come to the church meeting, we shall be under the curse of death. Whenever we come to a meeting and have the sensation that the meeting is under death, it means that the meeting is more or less under some curse. But when we come to a meeting and it is filled with life and we have the sensation that something is living, glowing, and shining, there is no curse there. The curse is kept away. Instead of the curse of death, we have the blessing of life. In the Bible, the consummate curse is death, and the greatest blessing is life. Life is the commanded blessing of God (Psa. 133:3). In a good meeting of the church, death is swallowed up and the curse is kept away.
Offering Christ to God through the cross brings blessing to the earth (8:22). Eight items are mentioned in Genesis 8:22. The first is the seedtime, the time of sowing the seed. In the church life, we must sow Christ into others. We must preach the gospel and minister Christ as the seed of life to others. When we sow Him, then we have the seedtime. After this, we have the harvest. The seedtime is the beginning, and the harvest is the consummation, the time of reaping. Not only do we minister Christ to others, but we also bring in the harvest. Bringing in a new convert with Christ in him is our harvest.
The third and fourth items are the cold and the heat. If you are going to be healthy, the best place to be is where it is cold in the winter and hot in the summer. We should not be lukewarm. On the one hand, the church must be cold — cold to Satan, sin, and the world. To Satan, sin, and the world, we are like a huge mountain of ice. We must also be cold to the self, the flesh, the soul-life, and to all other negative things. We can say, "Satan, come here. We will freeze you to death." On the other hand, we need to be so warm, heating others. Genesis 8:22 also speaks of summer and winter, day and night. This is the blessing of life.
In the proper church life, there must be cold and winter for Satan and nighttime for our sleep. We also need to have the heat, the summer, and the day for our God. This is the blessing. Look at today's society. There is no cold, heat, summer, winter, day, or night. The people who attend the night clubs make the night day and the day night. Because they do not have the proper life, they are under the curse. In the church, we must have the proper life under God's blessing. Unlike us, people are not used to the church life. We who are used to the church life are truly under God's blessing, not only spiritually and mentally, but even physically. All of the church people are so healthy because they are under God's blessing through the church life. Many of the church people can testify that before they came into the church life they were weak and sickly. Many were sick mentally, but after being in the church life they became sober and healthy. This is the blessing. This blessing comes as a result of offering Christ to God through the cross. Sisters, if you want to be healthy, you need to experience Christ and to offer Him to God through the cross. If you live this way for awhile, you will see how strong you will be and how mentally sober you will become. Every young sister who lives this way will be healthy both mentally and emotionally. Most young women are sick either emotionally or mentally. No psychiatrist can help them. However, if you live the church life, the very Christ whom you offer to God will heal you. He is better than any psychiatrist. Do not go to a psychiatrist — come to Christ and offer Him to God. Then you will be healthy, sober, and emotionally balanced. Since the church life is the proper life, it brings in God's blessing. Peace, joy, love, sympathy, kindness, normal living — all are signs of such a blessing of life which comes by the experience of Christ through the cross.
The church life goes back to the beginning for the fulfillment of God's purpose (Gen. 9:1-2, 6-7). In the beginning was the expression of God and the representation of God (Gen. 1:26). God created man in His own image that he might express Him, and He committed man with His dominion that he might represent Him. Man failed God in both of these. So, God saved eight people through water and brought them in resurrection into a new age. Then God restated His goal to resurrected mankind. This is the church life. In the church life, we have been brought back to God's original goal, which is that man express and represent Him. Now, in the church life, we express God and represent Him.
The church even can and must exercise its heavenly authority to overrule the present world situation. We must tell the Lord, "Lord, we don't agree with the situation in today's world. It must be for Your interests." We must exercise our spirit and make such declarations to the whole universe. The church has the right to do this. Sorry to say, most Christians have lost sight of this. They do not realize that the church has such a right.
We are a resurrected people, a people who have been brought back from the fall to the beginning. We were fallen in Adam, but we have been recovered in Christ. In Christ, we have been brought back to the beginning for the expression and representation of God. In the church life, we have the life to express God. We may tell people, "Do you want to see God? Do you want to know God? Come to the church and you will see Him. In the church you will see God's expression." Furthermore, the church has been authorized to represent God in this age on earth. We are ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20). Do not pray to the Lord, who has the authority and the sovereignty over the whole universe, in a pitiful, begging way. Since we have authority, we should pray to exercise and declare this authority. By prayer, we should express our attitude, saying, "We do not agree with the evil things that are happening in this country." The Lord will honor this kind of prayer because we in the church life are representatives of God.
Genesis 1:26 says that man was made in God's image. Colossians 3:10 tells us that the church is the new man created according to the image of God. This means that the church life replaces the fallen Adam. Adam lost his post, and the church has been put into it. Now the church is Adam's replacement to exercise divine authority over all things. After the flood, God told Noah that all living things were under him (9:2). Not only at the time of creation, but also at the time of resurrection, all living things were destined to be under man's authority. They were not destined to be under the authority of the fallen man, but under the authority of the resurrected man. In the church life, we are such a resurrected man. Are you a fallen man or a resurrected man in the church life? We all must rise up and tell the enemy that we disagree with his evil deeds and that he must stay away from us. Many times it is necessary that we pray in such a way. We should pray in this way in the church prayer meetings. Sometime the "ravens" not only eat the carcasses, but return to disturb the church life. Thus, we must exercise authority and tell the enemy that we do not agree with such disturbances and will not allow them to happen. We have the right to say this because we have been positioned to represent God. We have been placed into man's original post. This is the church life. We not only live, but we also rule. A church in a particular locality should rule over that locality. If the church is proper and in its rightful position, it has the authority to rule over every situation.
Then God made a covenant with Noah, his seed, and with every living creature (Gen. 9:8-11). This covenant was mainly of one aspect — that never again would death come through the judgment of the death waters. The covenant here mainly typifies that in the church life there is no longer death, but life. The eight persons lived under that covenant. Since we do not share their background, it is difficult for us to understand their feelings upon leaving the ark. Suppose you were one of Noah's daughters-in-law. After coming out of the ark, you would still have been fearful, thinking that after awhile the flood might come again. Perhaps you would have said to yourself, "Before the flood, I had assurance. I looked at the sky, and it was clear. I was filled with assurance because the sky was clear. I had no fear. Now, through the experience of the flood, I have no assurance at all. The sky is clear, but perhaps the flood will come again." The people had no assurance; they were threatened and fearful. This signifies that even after we have been saved and brought into the church life, we are still under the threatening of death. Many are threatened by the besetting sins and the possibility of losing their temper. They hate their temper. Two weeks ago their sky was clear, but suddenly there was thunder and a great downpour — that was the loss of the temper. Whenever this happens, they are frightened. Many saints have told me, "Brother, it is so good in the church life. But we don't have the faith or assurance that every day will be the same. I am kind toward my wife today, but perhaps after two days I will lose my temper and be bankrupt. I have no assurance and no peace. I am full of fear." Some sisters have no peace with their husbands or with themselves. They are under the fear that the flood will come again, that the death waters will come once more.
Because of this sense of threatening that Noah and the others were under, God made a covenant with them. God seemed to say, "Be at peace and be assured. No flood will come. There will be no more waters of death." This signifies that we may be assured and at peace in the church life, for there is no more death. Now in Christ there is no condemnation (Rom. 8:1), no death water. We are in Romans 8 where there is no condemnation, no flood, no death, and no judgment. The more we say, "No more," the more we realize that we have no death. Do not believe your feelings and do not listen to your convictions. Your convictions are not dependable; they are lies. You must live under God's covenant. Do not live under your feelings, your convictions, or any environment. God's covenant declares that whenever the sky is cloudy, God will send a rainbow. When you see the rainbow, you know that the flood will not come. If your wife or husband has been so pleasant for two weeks and suddenly the sky becomes cloudy, do not believe it. You must say, "Lord, send the rainbow." Do not believe that your husband is going to lose his temper, but say, "Lord, You are faithful. You can take away the cloud and send the rainbow." If you say this, the sky will be clear.
Do not believe that you are weak. That is the lie of Satan. Do not believe that you will lose your temper, that you will fall. If you believe something negative and speak that thing, it will come to pass. Such prophecies are certainly fulfilled. If you are afraid of something and prophesy regarding that thing, it will happen. Do not believe your weaknesses. Do you believe them? Are you now living under your weaknesses or are you under God's covenant? The whole New Testament is called a new testament. A testament is even better than a covenant. We have a twenty-seven-book testament, a twenty-seven-book covenant. This covenant says, "There is now then no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1). This covenant also says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9). Do you believe this? If we believe it, we should say a strong, "Amen." The covenant also says, "Christ..nullified death" (2 Tim. 1:10). Do you believe this? Do not look at yourself — look at Christ. Whenever you look at yourself, you will be trembling. We should not live under ourselves, but under God's covenant. We have a covenant! The covenant that God made with Noah was very short, at the most only half a chapter in length. But our covenant has twenty-seven books. Are you weak? You must say, "No, I am no longer weak, because the covenant tells me that I can `be empowered in the grace which is in Christ Jesus' (2 Tim. 2:1), and I can `boast in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ might tabernacle over me'" (2 Cor. 12:9). Spiritually speaking, I like the song that I learned as a child: "Jesus loves me — this I know, for the Bible tells me so." We may also say, "I am strong in the grace — this I know, for the Bible tells me so." We can declare, "I will be kept from stumbling — this I know, for the Bible tells me so" (Jude 24). Some of you may not have the faith to say this. You may think that this is too much and ask, "How can you say, `I will be kept from stumbling — this I know'? I dare not say this. If I were to say it tonight, surely I would fall tomorrow." Yes, you would fall, simply because you prophesied that you would. You would fall because you are living under your feelings, not under God's covenant.
In His covenant, God says, "No more flood, no more judgment by water." If you had been there at the time, would you have said, "Amen"? I would have said, "Amen," over and over again. When Noah saw the clouds, he had no need to be afraid, because he knew that the rainbow would come. So, when the cloud of temper arises, you can say, "Lord, I will not lose my temper. Send the rainbow. I don't care about the cloud — I care about the rainbow. The sky is dark and the cloud is great, but a colorful rainbow is coming. Look at the rainbow." When you say this, you call things not being as being through faith. This faith is not according to your imagination; it is according to the twenty-seven books of God's written covenant.
After the flood, the eight persons became people of the covenant. They were a covenant people. In the church life, in Christ's resurrection, we are the covenant people. We have a covenant. We are not living under any of our convictions, considerations, or lies; we are living under God's covenant. We are now living under the New Testament. Are you weak? Are you going to lose your temper, hit your wife, or love the world? You can say, "No, for the Bible tells me so." We are secured, guaranteed, and protected by the promises in God's covenant. These promises are great and precious, by which we may be partakers of God's divine nature and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Pet. 1:4).
What is the significance of the rainbow that God set in the cloud as a token of the covenant (Gen. 9:12-17)? It signifies God's faithfulness. God's faithfulness is the rainbow. In the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, the Apostle John saw God sitting upon a throne, and round about the throne there was a rainbow (Rev. 4:3). As the closing book of the Bible, Revelation always brings us back to the beginning of the Bible. In the first book of the Bible was a rainbow, and in the last book of the Bible we still find a rainbow. God's faithfulness remains forever. He cannot deny Himself (2 Tim. 2:13). Once He has spoken, He keeps His Word. He Himself is faithfulness. First Corinthians 1:9 says, "God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord," and 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous that He may forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." God is faithful.
To what is God faithful? He is faithful to what He says. He is faithful to His Word, and His Word is the testament, the covenant. The covenant is simply God's Word. God is faithful in whatever He says. This is the rainbow. Whenever a cloud comes, you must call God's faithfulness to come. That means that you call out the rainbow. Whenever you feel that you are weak, you must call for God's faithfulness, saying, "O God, You are faithful. I am weak, but You must make me strong according to Your Word." We are all living under the covenant with God's faithfulness as the sure sign that the flood will not come. This is the church life.
Our Christian life and church life are absolutely a covenant life. We are under the covenant. In verse after verse of the New Testament, we find God's promises. I want to give you one of them, which I have experienced very much. "No temptation has taken you except that which is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able, but will with the temptation make also the way out, that you may be able to endure it" (1 Cor. 10:13). There is a verse for every circumstance that you face. If you hold on to God's covenant, I can promise you that, regardless of what happens to you, there is a verse as a living promise for you to rely upon and live by. We all need to learn how to live under God's covenant. We should not be threatened or frightened by the clouds of our convictions, feelings, and environments. We are under God's covenant, fully under His blessing. There is no more condemnation, no more judgment, no more curse. Death has been abolished. In the church, we continually enjoy life. Everything is life. Do not be frightened about losing your job or your health. Do not be threatened by any dark or negative thing. We are the covenanted people, and we have a verse of promise to meet every situation. We must stand under the covenant and not believe in any failure, weakness, darkness, or negative thing. Our destiny is under the blood-sprinkled covenant. Hallelujah, we are the covenant people! There is no cloud and no flood — only life. There is no curse — only blessing. The church life is such a life, and the church people are a people under the covenant. We can actually be called the church of the covenant.
