"Spring Fever"

Title:

“Spring Fever”

Introduction:

We may think that we have it bad here in Muskegon, Michigan. We have to wait almost five months for the return of warmer weather to our State. People in the North know how to celebrate the first day of Spring! We take knowledge of the new spring buds on the trees. We await the first sighting of a robin. We smile into the sun.

Can you imagine the spring fever that Noah and his family must have had? They had been penned down in the dark dampness of the ark for over a year. I enjoy visiting a petting zoo, but I would not want to camp out in the barn for any long length of time!

1. The whole world has gone crazy.

The people of God’s created world, had forgotten their creator. Violence had filled the land. God had had enough. Judgment was pending.

So too, is our world. We have returned to the days of Noah. The Great Tribulation is not far from unfolding.

2. I am glad that I am in the ark.

It took Noah and his family a year’s time to complete the building of the ark. During this time, he had been a preacher of righteousness. Only his immediate family would heed his warning of the coming flood. The total number in Noah’s church…. Eight.

When I was a thirteen year old boy, I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. He placed me into his family. I became a member of his “Church.” I was placed into the ark of safety.

Perhaps your Church is not a “big” Church. But aren’t you glad for the ark that God has provided for you?

3. The world does not appeal to the child of God.

In our text, Noah sends out two birds from the Ark, the raven and the dove.

The raven is a flesh eating bird. It was at home with the floating a decaying debris. So, too, is the lost man. The deadness of this world has an attraction to the lost soul.

Noah also sent out a dove. The appetite of the dove is for the things that are fresh and green. The dove returned to the ark. A babe in Christ desires holiness.

Every week the “doves” of our Church return to the ark. The world does not appeal to us. We long for the safety of the ark.

4. Thank God for the olive branch.

On the second flight of the dove, the homing pigeon returned to the ark with a olive branch in its beak. Can you imagine the joy that this olive branch brought to Noah and his family?

Again, the title of this message is “Spring Fever.” What a blessing to have the hope of life.

Every week, we assemble ourselves together as a Church in our “little ark” of safety. Every week, as we look into the Word of God together, we are blessed with a glimpse of our hope of Heaven. The Holy Spirit, like the dove, enraptures our heart with another “olive branch.”

Thank God for the Olive branches.

5. Soon, I’ll be going home.

After the third flight of the dove, the dove returned no more to the ark. Over the years, many of the dear saints of our Church have taken their flight. They have departed from this world to return no more.

But, soon, as in this text, Noah and his family would leave their ark. It was spring time! God opened up the door. Can you imagine the joy that Noah and his family had on that day!

A few days ago, I took a group of seniors to visit the “Fredrick Meijer Gardens” in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The great attraction of this place is the huge indoor terrarium filled with all kinds of green leafy trees, tropical plants, and an array of colorful flowers in full bloom. There is a beautiful manmade waterfall with rippling books and walk over bridges. It is what I imagine the garden of Eden would have been like.

Now, keep in mind, that at the time that I took this trip with the seniors, we were in the dead of a cold gloomy winter. What a joy to enter into this world of warmth and green. You could literally smell the green. You could feel the life growing in abundance all around us.

Are you ready for Spring? Are you ready to take the third flight of the dove? Do you long for Heaven? Do you long for home?

Our prayer, “Even so, Lord Jesus, come!”