Genesis 6:14 Make you an ark of gopher wood; rooms shall you make in the ark, and shall pitch it within and without with pitch. I. MEMORIAL OF DIVINE GOODNESS. 1. It reminds us of His saints. Amongst the thousands of the world, Noah stood alone, firm in faith, dauntless in courage; God does not forget him; the innocent shall not suffer with the guilty. "God waited...while the ark was a-preparing" (1 Peter 3:20). 2. It reminds us of His regard for the families of His saints. 3. It reminds us of God's goodness to the world. All are invited to enter the ark. II. A TESTIMONY TO NOAH'S FAITH (Hebrews 11:7). III. A SYMBOL OF THE SAVIOUR. 1. The ark was a refuge. "Thou art my hiding place" (Psalm 27:7). 2. The ark was a home. "Lord, Thou hast been our home in all generations" (Psalm 90:1). 3. The ark was a temple. There Noah and his family worshipped. We must be in Christ if we would be acceptable worshippers (Revelation 21:22). 4. The ark was a conveyance. So to speak, it bore Noah from the old to the new world; from the valley of his labours and sorrows to the mountain of rest and plenty. "I am the way," said Jesus. IV. A BEACON FOR THE SINNER. The ark warns sinners of their danger. It points out the awful nature of unbelief, of voluptuousness, of pride. It warns us that, "though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished." That numbers cannot shield us from Divine wrath. 1. The ark proclaims the wilfulness of sinners. Who built it? Were not many of its builders destroyed? We may be the means of insuring safety for others, and be ourselves lost (1 Corinthians 9:27). 2. The ark warns us of the power of sin. How long was it building? Month after month it was surveyed by hundreds, still they continued in sin. Beware of the deceitfulness of sin. Listen to the strange and varied story this silent ark so eloquently tells. Hear its attestation of the goodness and faithfulness of God; hear, too, its awful revelation of His power to punish and destroy. (Stems and Twigs.) Parallel Verses KJV: Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. |
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