THE FIRST CHURCH OF NOAH
1 Pet. 3:20-21
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. I heard about this elderly couple. They were having a terrible time with their memory. They went to the doctor. He instructed them to start writing down everything they were doing so they wouldn’t forget.
2. The next night, they were watching television and the wife said, “I sure would like a bowl of ice cream.” The husband said, “I’ll go get it for you.”
3. The wife said, “Honey, you know what the doctor said, you better write it down.” He said, “I’m just going in the kitchen. I’m not going to forget.”
4. He came back a few minutes later, handed her a plate of bacon and eggs. She shook her head and said, “I should have known it. You forgot my toast.”
B. THESIS
1. Today, first we compare Noah’s Ark to modern churches and then observe 7 details about the Ark which are revelations about the Church of Jesus Christ and our salvation.
2. The title of this message is “The First Church of Noah.”
I. COMPARISON OF OUR CHURCH TO NOAH’S
A. CONVERTS
1. Noah preached (2 Pet. 2:5) for 100 (Gen. 5:32; 7:6) years but never had any converts except for his own family members. His church had no children’s department and their membership never increased.
2. There were, however, many salvations at the First Church of Noah but they were all animals, whom he saved from the flood. So in the sight of people of his time, Noah was not a very successful preacher, but in the sight of God Noah was the hero of that generation (Heb. 11:7).
3. There were a lot more people protesting outside Noah’s church than there were inside it. They mocked and scoffed at Noah’s church (2 Pet. 3:3-6). They undoubtedly thought he was crazy. Who else would build a giant boat that far from water? Noah had to learn not to listen to his critics, but just do his job. Good lesson for us!
B. BUILDING PROGRAM
1. The First Church of Noah DID have a building project, but it wasn’t a church building or a gymnasium – but a big boat. The purpose of this boat was to escape from judgment.
2. Noah depended on his church to save him. WE would probably be better off if we took a more definite view of the supreme value of our church!
3. Noah was a “works-salvation” type guy. Today the “grace-only” crowd would say he’s a heretic; that his works could not save him, yet his works did.
C. MOTIVE
1. The modern church would consider Noah’s motive for building the Ark to be a bad one. Hebrews 11:7 says, “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, MOVED WITH FEAR, prepared an ark to the saving of his house...”
2. According to this verse, he was motivated by fear. Today that’s considered a twisted motive. We’re supposed to be motivated by love. John said, “There is no fear in love,” 1 John 4:8. But God didn’t mind that Noah was motivated by fear because Noah obeyed God, when everyone else in his generation didn’t. God counted his obedience as faith – Noah believed what God had said.
3. Fearing the Lord isn’t a bad thing, it’s the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). A lot of people who say they love God, don’t obey Him. It might be better if they feared Him! They might get out and get doing what Jesus told them to do – to work for the kingdom and the salvation of souls.
II. 7 PARALLELS BETWEEN NOAH’S ARK AND JESUS’ CHURCH
For centuries Christians have drawn the analogy that the Church is like a ship. They’ve sung, “I’m going to take a trip, on the good ole Gospel Ship.”
The Early Church Fathers saw the Ark as a type of the Church. Just as the ark was the means by which Noah and his relatives were spared destruction, so also the Church is the instrument by which Christians are saved from judgment.
Here are 7 parallels between Noah’s Ark and the Church of Jesus Christ:
1. WOOD AND WATER
1). Comparing the words of 1 Peter 3:20-21, the ark parallels the primary means of salvation in the New Testament—the WOOD of the cross and the WATERS of baptism by which sin is washed away.
2). “God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the [wood] ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God” 1 Pet. 3:20-21. Thank God for the wood of the Cross & the waters of baptism! (See St. Augustine, Contra Faustum, Book XII)
2. THE DOOR ON THE SIDE
1). Noah, his family, and the animals all entered the ark through a door on its side (Genesis 6:16). This is analogous to the way we enter the Church through the DOOR of Jesus.
2). Jesus said, “I say to you, I am the DOOR of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” John 10:7-9.
3. THE BODY OF CHRIST
1). Even the ratio of the dimensions of the ark to suggest a human body, specifically, the body of Christ. The Ark was 75 feet wide & 450 feet long -- a ratio of one to six -- which is very similar to the average width and height of the human body. So what saved the Prediluvian world was the 1-6 Ark, and the thing which saves us all – our Greater Noah – is Christ’s body.
2). And we are all said the part of the Body of Christ! Paul referred to it as “God’s building” 1 Cor. 3:9. Peter said, “You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” 1 Pet. 2:5. Just as Noah added one plank onto another until the whole structure was complete, so are we added to the Body of Christ, the Church, until it is all complete.
4. ONE ARK, ONE CHURCH
It seems obvious, but the point is a necessary one: there was only one ark, not a fleet of ships. There was only one Ark, then, that could save, and there is only one Gospel or Church, today, that can save! If you’re not in the Ark you will perish; if you’re not in the Church of Jesus and obeying His gospel, you will perish!
5. THREE DECKS & STAGES OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
While there was one ark, there were many levels (at least three) within it. In his first epistle, the Apostle John named 3 stages of Christian growth: ‘children’ (sins forgiven), ‘young men’ (overcome the evil one), and ‘fathers’ (settled in relationship with God) 1 John 2:12-14. These might be likened to the three decks of the Ark.
6. THE WINDOW ABOVE
1). No detail of the Genesis flood account is insignificant. Gen. 8:6 says, “After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark.” As soon as the flood judgment was over, an opening for light (revelation), breath of fresh air, and release of the dove was ordained.
2). As soon as the judgment of the Cross of Jesus was over, the revelation of His resurrection, the fresh pure air of heaven, and the Dove of the Holy Spirit were released! Praise God for His window!
7. GOD CLOSED THE ARK
1). Once Noah, his family, and all the animals were safely in the ark, Genesis 7:16 records this touching detail about who closed the door to the ark: “Then the Lord shut him in.” God didn’t have Noah shut it; the prerogative of final judgment rests with God.
2). God had waited patiently for over 100 years, giving the people of that time a chance to repent (while Noah preached to them). The monstrosity of the ark made sure Noah’s message was widely spread.
3). God is longsuffering with us, but we mustn’t think it will never end. At last, the ark was ready and the time of grace came to an end; God shut the door to it. The same will happen in our time.
4). The New Testament describes the closing of God’s grace-door at the rapture in Matthew 25:10-13; “But while the [foolish virgins] were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom [Christ] arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. AND THE DOOR WAS SHUT. Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”
5). This is a sobering reminder that in our day “God will shut the door” again. It will happen at the rapture. After it’s shut the judgments of God will deluge the world during the Great Tribulation period. It will be the worst time in all of history. You don’t want to have to go into that terrible travail!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUS.: Expecting a visit from the King
1. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited the Scottish highlands in 1842. They loved the area and people so much that they purchased Balmoral Castle in 1852, rebuilt it, and made it their ancestral home. It’s still owned by their heirs today.
2. Queen Victoria, when in Scotland, loved to make unexpected calls on the farm folks who lived in cottages nearby. Any day might be a royal day, and the Scots – who loved Her -- had a chair prepared for her visit. Their houses were kept spotless.
3. The Scots were a clean and wholesome people, but her announced visits added to the joy of keeping their homes lovely. Long afterward, the old people who remembered her visits told visitors the expression they had used. They would say, “Perhaps today, she’ll come my way.”
B. THE CALL
1. We should be looking forward with the same kind of expectation: “Perhaps Jesus will come today!” John said that those who have this expectation purify themselves (1 John 3:3).
2. Are we constantly making sure we’re ready for Christ’s coming? Why don’t you start today! How many have something you need to get under the Blood? How many want to have enough of the oil of the Spirit to keep your lamp burning?
3. PRAYER. Sinner’s prayer.
[Part II has some of the thoughts of “Ten Ways Noah’s Ark Prefigured the Church,” by Stephen Beale]
