Noah's Ark and the Church (LHCOC)

Types and Antitypes – The Ark and the Church

1 Peter 3:20-21

Introduction:

1.                   Do not let the title of our lesson confuse you.

a.                  Noah’s Ark: A type of the church

b.                  The Bible is made up of two parts, an old covenant (Jews) and a new covenant (everyone today).

2.                   Many times you will read in the old covenant how God saved men and women on different occasions, and then you will read of similar ways in the new covenant how God saves men and women through His Son Jesus.

a.                  Such is the case for our lesson today.

b.                  Read 1 Peter 3:18-22.

3.                   May I remind us that not to long after God created the world, the people who inhabited the Earth had become evil, and God decided to destroy all who inhabited the earth by a great flood.

a.                  During this time one man found grace in the eyes of the Lord – Noah.

b.                  Noah was obedient to God, built the ark, and as a result, his immediate family was saved.

4.                   Peter explicitly informed us that the waters of the flood served as a picture of New Testament baptism.

a.                  I believe if we will look even closer, we can see how the ark, itself, served as a picture, foreshadowing the church.

b.                  In our lesson today, we want to compare the ark Noah built with the church Christ built.

I.                        ONE SOURCE OF LIGHT

A.                  One Source of Light: One Window (Gen. 6:16).

1.                  "You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks." - Genesis 6:16.

2.                  The only source of light w/in the whole ark was a window.

B.                  One Source of Light: The Bible (Psalm 119:105,130).

1.                  "Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path." - Psalm 119:105. 

2.                  "The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple." - Psalm 119:130.

                                                                       a.                   We only need one light – the Bible.

                                                                       b.                   Anything other spiritual guide will lead us astray.

II.                        ONE ENTRANCE

A.                  One Entrance or Door (Gen. 6:16).

1.                  "You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks." - Genesis 6:16.

2.                  Only one way in and once the door was shut that was it.

B.                  One Entrance: Christ, the Door (John 10:9).

1.                  "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture." - John 10:9.

2.                  Despite what many may say, Jesus is the only door, He is the only way to heaven.

III.                        ONE FAMILY

A.                  One Family Inside (Gen. 7:1,7).

1.                  Of everyone on the earth, only Noah, his wife, three sons and their wives would live past this disaster.

2.                  "Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation." - Genesis 7:1.

3.                  "So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood." - Genesis 7:7.

B.                  One Family Inside (Galatians 3:28-29).

1.                  "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise." - Galatians 3:28-29.

2.                  Through Christ, and in His church, there is only one family, God’s family.

                                                                       a.                   Those who have been obedient to the commands of Christ will be saved.

                                                                       b.                   Those who are not obedient to the commands of Christ will not be saved.

IV.                        ONE ARK

A.                  One Ark, No Other Boats (Gen. 6:14).

1.                  "Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch." - Genesis 6:14.

2.                  Noah received direct commands from God.  God told him exactly what to build and how to build it.

B.                  One Church, No Other Organizations (Eph. 1:22-23; 4:4).

1.                  "And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." - Ephesians 1:22-23.

2.                  "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;" - Ephesians 4:4.

                                                                       a.                   As you read through the NT you will not read of any denomination.  You will not read of many churches.

                                                                       b.                   We must get back to the Bible; it is very clear that there is only one church.  It is Jesus’ church purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28).

                                                                        c.                   It is the kingdom that Jesus will hand back over to the Father when He comes again (1 Cor.15:24).

V.                        SAVED BY

A.                  Saved By Water (1 Peter 3:20).

1.                  "Who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water." - 1 Peter 3:20.

2.                  It wasn’t the water that saved Noah, it was his obedience to God’s commands that saved him.

B.                  Saved By Baptism (1 Peter 3:21).

1.                  Similarly, it is not the waters of baptism that save us, it is obedience to God’s commands that saves us (obviously baptism must be ministered in order to receive salvation.

2.                  "There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ," - 1 Peter 3:21.

VI.                        DESTRUCTION TO ALL OUTSIDE

A.                  Destruction To All Outside The Ark (Gen. 7:20-22).

1.                  "The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died." - Genesis 7:20-22.

2.                  I do not even want to imagine what it would have been like to be trapped outside of the ark when the floods came and people began to perish.

B.                  Destruction To All Outside The Church (Acts 2:47; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).

1.                  We must be in Christ in order to be saved (Eph.1:3).  When we hear the word of God, believe in Jesus, repent of our sins and are baptized into water, God forgives us of our sins and adds us to His church wherein the saved dwell.

2.                  "praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." - Acts 2:47.

3.                  "and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power," - 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9.

VII.                        WORK WAS INVOLVED

A.                  Noah Had Work To Do: Feed The Animals (Gen. 6:21).

1.                  Not only did Noah have to prepare and obey God’s commands in building the ark to be saved, he also had to obey God’s commands in bringing food in order to stay saved.

2.                  "And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.”" - Genesis 6:21.

B.                  There Is Work To Be Done In The Church (1 Corinthians 15:58).

1.                  Becoming a Christian is not a one time act; the Christian is something that has to be worked on and something that involves much work.

2.                  "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." - 1 Corinthians 15:58.

VIII.                        ONE HOPE

A.                  One Hope: Life On A New World (Gen. 8:4-19).

1.                  God’s grace allowed Noah to be obedient and save his family.

2.                  God’s grace also promised the world that it would never be destroyed again through a flood.  As a result, Noah had hope through a new world.

B.                  One Hope: Life Eternal (Matthew 25:46; Eph. 4:4).

1.                  God’s grace allowed the world today to have a second chance through His Son Jesus.

2.                  "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;" - Ephesians 4:4.

                                                                       a.                   W/o christ the world would not have hope.

                                                                       b.                   Through Christ we can be saved.

3.                  "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”" - Matthew 25:46.

Conclusion:

1.                   Do you have that hope today friends?

2.                   God will destroy the earth once again, but this time the results will be catastrophic (2 Pet.3:9-10).

3.                   For those who are alive and have obeyed all of Christ’s commands will be caught up together with the Lord in the air (1 Thess.4:17). 

4.                   Those who are alive and have not been faithful to the commands of God will be in a worse condition than those who were trapped outside of the ark.

5.                   Are you ready?