An open door of the Ark
Psalm 12
1. Genesis 7:1-5
2. (Matthew 25:1-13)
And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him.)
The society of Noah’s day was completely depraved; it was violent, inclined towards evil, hateful of any trace of goodness, constantly developing evil Imaginations, and except for 8 souls whom God had granted grace to, completely God rejecting.
The door to the Ark stood open, although daily it seemed less relevant, less compelling and necessary to the world as it rushed towards the precipice of deeper sin , reprobation, and the coming judgment. People became oblivious to the call to repentance, consciences died and hearts hardened, as the pace of life advanced, with its exotic foods, drink, marriages, building projects, entertainments, and the enticing “new spirituality” introduced to the world by the ‘fallen ones’.
It seemed that in spite of the obvious problems (violence), man was progressing in every other way without God!
The door of the Ark stood open a long time. The People got used to seeing it stand open. It stood open so long that no one felt any alarm. It always seemed that there was plenty of time, just because it stood open so long.
2Pet. 2:5
And did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
While the door stood open Noah delivered his warning message. He warned men of a coming world flood because of world-wide wickedness. He preached the righteousness of God, and called upon men to repent. While he preached, the Spirit dealt with men. Noah's message fell on pleasure-loving, sin-hardened ears. Men gave themselves to gluttony, to eating and drinking to excess, to marrying and giving in marriage, to a life of legalized lust, void of the sacredness of the marriage tie. Man had filled the earth with violence. Yes, man's wickedness was great.
While Noah preached the door of the Ark stood open - and the weeks grew into months, and the months grew into years, and men grew in their sin, and matured in transgressions, and ripened in iniquity, making of God's long suffering mercy an occasion to sin yet more and more.
Doubtless some thought that, IF it rained, the ark would be a nice place to be in -- but of course it could not rain since it had never rained. (Gen. 2:5, 6)
The Ark had been prepared, the clean and unclean animals were drawn in, and the door of the Ark was opened, as Noah and his family went about their final preparations and warnings.
(Genesis 7:16).
It is interesting to note that the call to Noah and his family was not to “Go into the ark”, but to “Come into the Ark…”. God was in the Ark, calling from within to Noah. Centuries later, the Messiah of God, who is also a refuge from the coming wrath of God, called out in a similar fashion to whosoever would hear,
What is the significance in scripture of the open or closed door?
As long as the door is open, there remains a chance for men to be saved from the coming wrath. But there does come a time when God closes the door.
(Matthew 11:28-30)
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Illustration
A lady who had a chance to life but did not care for the voice of God went out to live for here own will meet with an accident and went to hell. Form the expirence of kathrin kulman
2. (Matthew 25:1-13)
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
(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.
