Shadows to Substance Conference (Day 2 John Crawford) CHRIST : THE GREATER ARK

Christ as the Greater Ark in Genesis 7

Brethren, would you turn with me in your copy of God's Word to Genesis, chapter 7. And as you're turning there, I just want to thank you for this privilege and this opportunity to be here to speak at this conference.

In particular, I'm thankful for Pastor Jeff for this opportunity. If you are a member of his local church, know that I appreciate your pastor, not only for his craftsmanship, which I've been a benefactor of for years, but also for his love of the Lord and his love for Reformed Baptist theology.

It's been a joy to have a brother that's planning a church here in Tullahoma that I can ask questions as I try to plan a church in Arab, Alabama. And it is pronounced A-rab. There's a whole story about that, but time limits us from getting into there.

Reading Genesis 7:11-16

My assignment this morning is to consider, in light of this conference, Christ, our greater ark. And so, in your copy of God's Word, particularly in Genesis, chapter 7, I will be reading verses 11 through 16.

Genesis 7, 11 through 16. I ask at home for our dear people to rise in the reading of the Word of God, and so I want to ask you to do the same if you are able. Dear friends, isn't it a glorious thing that we have God's Word?

And that as we hear it read, even now, it is God who speaks to us. So hear the Word of God. In the 600th year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the 17th day of the month, on that day, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened, and rain fell upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights.

On the same day, Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark. They and every beast according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, every winged creature.

They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh, in which there was the breath of life. And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him, and the Lord shut him in.

Amen. This is God's Word. You may be seated. Brothers and sisters, we now approach the throne of grace to ask our God to help us in this time. Let's pray now. Lord, we thank you that you are speaking, God, and that as we look into your Word, we can have utmost confidence that it is you who speaks.

I ask that you would please be with us, that you would grant us grace upon grace, that we might know more of your Son even in this first book of the Bible, Genesis. Thank you that he is found here. Thank you that he is not simply relegated to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but that he is found even in Genesis.

And so I beg that you would please grant us eyes that we might see him, that you would enlarge our hearts that we might have a greater affection for him, and that ultimately all of this would be done for him.

I ask that you would grant me grace that I might preach as I ought. Help me, Lord, to preach both as ever before, and yet as never before, in demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit alone. Surely, Lord, they do not need to hear my voice.

They need the voice of God. And you alone have the power to change hearts. And so we beg, in accordance with your great grace, that you will do this. We trust that you delight in working through helpless, needy people in order to demonstrate how good and strong you are.

Be with these dear souls in front of me. Grant them grace that they might see Christ. That is our plea. And surely, Lord, we ask this, and we plead this not for our sakes alone, but for the sake of your Son in whom you are well pleased.

Do it for him. Do it because he is worthy of all things, even this conference and this local church. I ask this in Jesus' name and in Jesus' name alone. Amen. I have a question for you this morning, brethren.

The Meaning of Noah and the Ark

When you hear of the narrative of Noah, when you consider the account of the ark, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? What do you think it ultimately is all about? Now, for many, perhaps, in here, you are hit with nostalgia.

As you remember back in your early days, and you think of those Sunday school classrooms, right? And there you have the wonderful painted ark, and you have the smiling faces, and you have Lenny the lion, perhaps, and Sally the seal, and its calm waters, and everybody is just fine.

Because Noah built an arky-arky out of gopher barky. Everyone is okay. Everyone is having a great time. Yet, such a thought, beloved, in my estimation, both trivializes and distorts the weight of what actually occurred.

It removes the terror of God's judgment. It takes away the transcendent height of His holiness. It lessens the depth of man's depravity in which the Lord looked upon the face of the earth and all that He saw was what, beloved?

The intent of man's heart was only evil continually. But others, perhaps you're thinking, that's not at all what I consider when I think of Genesis 6 through Genesis 9. You, perhaps, maybe out of a reaction to those who seek to soften or limit the blow of this account focus entirely on the floods of judgment.

All you think of as you consider Noah and the ark is horror, and wrath, and fury, nothing but God regretting that He had made man on the earth. But I want to submit to you, too, this morning, dear friends, that perhaps this, too, is a bit unbalanced.

Because yes, this account is about God's wrath. It's evident. Indeed, it is poured out on all humanity. But if that's all that we focus our attention on, we miss out on the glory of God's grace that's magnified in that out of His steadfast love and covenant mercy still saves a man and his family.

What is said of Noah? He found favor in the eyes of the Lord, and yet in the midst of judgment, in the midst of fury poured out on the whole globe, God says, I will save a man. Showing that this account is much more than just judgment.

It's about grace. About mercy. And so this leads me back to my initial question this morning, dear friends. What is Noah and the ark all about? Beloved, I want to lay before you this morning that this real historical account, and I'm not going any further, it's a real historical account about a man and his boat is yes, about salvation from waters, but I want to submit to you in a greater Christological fashion that it's much more about Christ.

This account, beloved, is about a God who is righteous and holy, and He looks upon the earth that is filled to the brim with sinners, yet out of electing covenant love saves them in the greater ark, which is His Son.

When we read of Genesis 6 -9, yes, we should think of that wooden boat, but what should be beating in our heart is yes, it's pointing to the greater boat. Christ who saves us from the wrath of God's waters, which is judgment itself in His beloved.

That's what it's all about. Spurgeon himself agrees. The ark which is saved from the floods of water is a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ as the means of salvation, by whom multitudes of all flesh are preserved and saved from perishing in the floods of eternal perdition.

Oh, friends, and is this not why we're gathered together today? Is this not our heart to see that the whole of Scriptures is not just about isolated stories? It's not about murky shadows, per se. It's about pointing to the substance, and I want to submit to you that that substance is found as Christ Himself says that in the beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself, the tribulation and the triumph of our Savior.

And so with that said, friends, my aim this morning, very simply, is to show you how our Christ indeed is the greater ark. We're going to look at various texts throughout this account in Genesis, particularly in chapters six through seven, and I want us to just marinate in the Gospel.

I want us just to swim in this ocean of God's grace, and I want to submit to you that everything that I'm going to say is nothing new, but it is that old, old story on which we rest our souls. Firstly, I want us to consider from this account of Genesis this first element, how Christ is our greater ark.

Christ Delivers Us from Greater Judgment

Christ, our ark, delivers us from greater judgment. Christ, our ark, delivers us from greater judgment. And you know this account with great familiarity, friends. I'm not telling you anything new as you think of all the details, but let us consider them once more just for a moment.

God looks upon the earth, and all that He sees is wickedness abound. He says, in such a perception of this globe, I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land. Man and animals and creeping things and birds of heavens, for I am sorry that I made them.

And in so destroying, God declares that He will do so by a flood. We see this in Genesis 6, 17. For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh, in which is the breath of life under heaven.

Everything that is on the earth shall die. The account tells us, furthermore, that this flood, this judgment of God, is something that covered throughout the whole earth, and it began as the fountains of the great deep burst forth in the rain.

It persisted for 40 days and 40 nights, and that said flood lasted for 150 days, as the scriptures themselves state. And so to succinctly summarize it, let me put it in this fashion. All of humanity, every creature, is destroyed in a sweeping moment, except of course Noah, his family, and the animals that God ordained.

I want to lay before you, brethren, that this watery flood was just something that typified and illustrated the greater judgment, a judgment, if I might put before you candidly, that no arc of wood could satisfy nor endure.

Oh, friends, you know it well, and yet it should always shock us to our core when we say it, that I'm speaking of God's eternal judgment in hellfire. That as we think through the narrative of Genesis, as it relates to Noah and his ark, all that should be going through our mind is this is but a picture of what is to come for sinners who rebel against their maker.

Damnation, forever, and ever, and ever, a place of torment, a place, as the scriptures say, where the worm dies not, a place of agony, a place in which the blinding white righteousness and justice against evil from our God is placed upon the sinner's head.

That should cause us to shrink back at least, shouldn't it? To not let it roll off the tongue so easily, so quickly. Oh, God, oh, that God would cause us something when we think of judgment. And so the question thus arises, is what Christ delivered us from mere water?

No, friends, it's the wrath of God that was just spoken of. Again, you might ask, well, if it's not water but wrath, how does he deliver us from such wrath, such judgment as the ark in which we reside?

And this is the glory of the gospel, dear friends, that our Christ delivered us from wrath by flinging himself into the eternal judgment of the waters. Christ, our ark, saves us, yes, by allowing us to be hid in him, to be shut up in him, and yet the wondrous mystery is that he flings himself off the boat.

And all of the judgment that should be poured upon your own head, Christ satisfied perfectly. This is the gospel. And again, friends, you might say, well, why is that amazing? Why is that pertinent to our analysis of this text and in this conference because of this reason?

Beloved, our salvation is not made with hands. It's not a plan that God gave Noah saying, get this amount of cubit of wood and get the gopher bark and get the pinch and form it. No, no, friends, our salvation is the uncreated God.

He is one who, our Christ being co-equal and co-eternal with the Father. He is not some sort of man-made salvation. He is no mere man as you and I know, friends. This salvation by God is God himself and our Christ, the greater ark.

It's only by him that we might be saved and endure the greater wrath. But friends, let us consider further that secondly, not only does our Christ save us from greater judgment, but Christ, our ark, saves greater multitudes.

Christ Saves Greater Multitudes

And let's not pass over this too quickly, friends. Let's not presume upon the mercy of our God. The fact that God saved eight individuals should cause us to shout with glees of joy. The fact that our God is the God of salvation and yet still spared a man and his family.

That's mercy. That's grace. But the wonders of our Christ, beloved, is that he's not just bringing eight on the boat with him. He's not just taking a man and his family, is he? He's taking all of us who fling to him in faith.

We know, friends, that our Christ, the greater ark, saves, as Revelation 7 says, a multitude without number. There's not just a spare few. There's not just a small number. No, beloved, our God is saving the nations.

Our God is bringing a great fold onto his salvific ship. Oh, friends, and hear me say this. I believe, given the name of this church, that we can all affirm with great veracity that our God has an elect people.

That God is saving a people for himself. And yet, I believe without a shadow of a doubt that that elect is not a small number. I believe it's a people spanning from generations to generations. A people of all nations, tribes, kindred, and tongue.

And you post-meal folks should shout because the nations will be glad and be joyful because he's bringing them to himself. Oh, friends, that's what I love about this narrative. He takes a family just from a land.

And yet, the gospel tells us he's taken the whole world. He's taken it with him. Habakkuk 2 .14 lays it out. For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

And in case, friends, that's not highlighted enough, consider the vast multitude that he's saving. It's sinners of all sorts. We might analyze Noah and we might indict him that he was a drunkard. And that would be a true statement, would it not?

We might consider perhaps even his son who dishonored him and had that type in particular sin. But isn't it amazing that God saves much more than just drunkards? Oh, he saves the religious hypocrites.

He saves those who claim the name of godliness yet deny its power. He saves those who are filled with lust to the brim. He saves those with greedy hearts. He saves all types and kinds of sinners. Oh, friends, what an amazing arc we have.

But friends, consider further that the question thus again arises how might they be saved in this arc? How are these multitudes saved in him? Our Christ tells us. He says, I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved.

Oh, friends, isn't it true that the arc only had one door? And hear this further. There were not multiple boats made. There was just one arc of God. Oh, in the same way, friends, in a greater sense, there is only but one way of salvation, and it's in Christ.

There is one door, and that door is him. And you may enter into it by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. That is our hope, and that is our greater arc. Let's consider further. Let's consider further, beloved.

Christ Grants Greater Security

That not only does Christ save from greater judgment, that is the wrath of God, and not only does he save a greater multitude, greater than just eight individuals, but friends, our Christ, the greater arc grants greater security.

Oh, friends, we find this in the prescription of the build of the arc, even in those early chapters in Genesis 6, in which as God comes to Noah and gives him the plan, as it were, to build this great ship, he says, make yourself an arc of gopher wood.

Make rooms in the arc, and here it is, and cover it inside and out with pitch. You might say, well, what in the world does that mean? Oh, the pitch is there to keep the arc from getting leaks in, to protect it from the judgment that is to come, to protect it from the floods coming in to the boat.

Oh, friends, you say, well, that doesn't sound monergistic enough to me, so let me consider a different passage. Let's go over to chapter 7. Consider this. Noah and his family enter into the arc, and what is said?

The Lord shut him in. Nobody could open that door on the arc. Nobody could, with all their strength or all their might, rip it out. And consider this. If Noah was tempted in perhaps a moment of despair or weakness, and he rammed his shoulder against the door, it would not budge.

No outside force, no inside force could keep Noah from falling out of the arc. Oh, friends, that will preach itself, won't it? The glory of our Christ is that He grants us greater security. Friends, you're held in His hand, and the Good Shepherd will never, ever let you go.

No floods waiting for you, beloved in Christ. No more condemnation. Christ has absolved it all. And you might be thinking, John, I've sinned. I've done something wrong. Shall we not sing? He will hold me fast.

You will always lose your hold. You will always fall on your face. But Christ has you secured by His mighty hand, and He will never let you go. Spurgeon summarizes it better than I. I kept this toward the end of the point just because I didn't want him to steal all my points.

Spurgeon would put it this way. Noah fell many times inside the arc, but he never fell outside the arc. Friends, that's true of us, is it not? We fall daily. We sin greatly. And you don't know the half of it.

And yet, our Christ being such a strong ship, a mighty arc, a greater Savior, will not allow your own sinfulness to rob you from His hands. You are secure, and the Lord shuts you in. Oh, friends, I'm thankful that Christ shuts us in with Him.

You are in union with Him, beloved. Isn't that the beauty of what the arc pictures? I mean, Noah's literally hid in the arc. He's hidden. And your life is hid with Christ and God. You're one with Him.

What a Savior. Let's consider another element. Christ, our arc, provides greater provisions. He provides greater provisions. Let's think once more, beloved, in the commandment of the arc. We know that our Lord comes to Noah, and He tells him in chapter 6, verse 21, take with you every sort of food that is eaten and store it up, and it shall serve as food for you and all the creatures.

Oh, I love this. Our God was not only concerned with delivering His servant from judgment, but He wanted to make sure that he was taken care of along the way. He gave him food. He gave him nourishment.

He supplied, as it were, every one of His needs according to His riches and glory. There would not be a day that would go by in which Noah and his family were not amply supplied. Never provision was met.

Day after day, they knew their God would take care of them because they were secure in the arc. Oh, friends, in the same way, our Christ, our arc, He gives us greater provisions as we remain in Him. Oh, friends, and hear this, hear this.

Your mind immediately might be thinking, I don't remember waking up and there being animals beside my bed. I don't recall that this morning. Oh, friends, He gives us greater food. For man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.

Your provision in the arc that is Christ are those wonderful means of grace that He gives us. Word, sacrament, prayer. And isn't that a wonderful thing? That upon conversion, upon being rescued, upon entering into the arc, our God does not leave us to ourselves, does He?

He does not keep us in this boat of salvation and just expect us to figure it out. No, no, friends, He gives us something greater. His Word. And every day as we go on belonging in Christ, this greater arc, we have the privilege to know Him and to feast upon this great 66 book volume that testifies of Himself in all of His riches, in all of His glories, in all of His multifaceted beauties.

This is for you. Oh, and friends, consider prayer. Consider prayer. That while on the arc, you're not alone, but you have one who is nearer to you than a brother. A God of whom it can be said of Moses that He spoke to him as a man would with a friend.

You are not left alone, dear friend. But there in Christ's arc, you have ultimate access to the Father. You can pray to Him. You can seek Him. You can beseech Him of His promises. You can take Him at His Word saying, Lord, You said, You said if I seek, You said if I've asked, You said if I'm knocked, here I am, O Lord.

And He answers. And friends, those beautiful ordinances that He gives us. Oh, friends, we're Baptists here. We're quite convictional about those sacraments, are we not? But isn't it wonderful that as we are buried with Christ and raised with Him, that God gives us that, that we might know Him and remember His Gospel in observable, tangible ways.

And as we, perhaps week by week, depending on your fellowship, take the bread and take the cup. Indeed, we are nourished. Not merely in our bellies, are we beloved? But in our soul, as He spiritually ministers to us and reminds us of those glorious Gospel graces that are ours in Him alone.

I'm thankful that our Christ does not leave us on the boat alone. But He gives us all that we need pertaining to life and godliness and His all-sufficient perfect Word. All of it is Word-centered. But consider further, beloved, not only is there provision as it relates to food, and I'm speaking of that spiritual food, but might we consider also that God tells Noah to put a window slash roof in the top of the ark.

We see this in Genesis 6, verse 16. We might perhaps put ourselves in the footsteps of Noah, in the shoes of Noah. And there he is on a boat with lots of animals. Lots of things that can make lots of smells.

And then the Lord puts a window, a roof on the top. And that breeze would circulate. And not only that breeze would circulate, but so that he might look upward to heaven. That he might be reminded that the God who would pour down rain would also give him a covenant sign in the sky.

In the same way, beloved, as Noah would look upward to heaven and see that first heaven, beloved, in ark, the ark, our greater Christ, our greater ark, we have a greater window into heaven. Do we not?

We look upward and we know more of our God. And though we see through a mirror dimly, though it is perhaps a bit shadowy at times, we have a greater vision of our Father. Because when you see Christ, you see the Father.

And this is the joy of our faith, that as we are on the boat and things are turbulent and perhaps you're dashed to the floor because something's caused the bow to lift up a bit, you just look upward and you're reminded, he saved me and now I may know him.

What a glorious, glorious ark we have, beloved. What a glorious ark. And so friends, I want to conclude simply with an exhortation that I'm sure you've heard already in this conference. Find Christ in the Old Testament.

Look for him there and you will find him. Christ did. That's one of the things that just blows my mind is that Jesus didn't have Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, did he? He didn't have Philippians or Romans, your beloved Romans, he didn't have it.

He had Habakkuk, he had Nahum, he had Jonah. And every time he said, he's talking about me. In the same way, friends, I pray, I pray in the feebleness of speech that something is stirred within you this week, over these three days, that as you read even through the ark of Noah, or you move on to other narratives that are familiar, that you'll hear in just a few more hours, you're thinking of where's Christ?

Where is he? Where is he? Give me a man that's willing to find Christ everywhere. I believe in hermeneutics. I believe in historical grammatical interpretation. I believe that, but make a beeline to the cross.

Make a beeline to Christ everywhere. So will you find him? He's there. Seek him, and you will find him. Let's pray, beloved. Lord, thank you for your word. And thank you that it's all about Christ. Thank you that as we consider Genesis, and as we look to other books, I'm sure in the next few sessions, throughout the Old Testament, that we will be reminded that Christ is the great consummate.

That Moses and all the prophets pointed to him. And so I beg, oh Lord, that you would please just give us this greater view of him. And that our hearts would be to nothing but his glory. Oh Lord, help us.

We know our frame. I know my frame, Lord. May Christ be all, and we be nothing. Help us, and we trust that you will. Amen.