Sermon

An Invitation to an Ark Encounter

Reamstown Church of God Podcast

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  1. Welcome to the Reams Town Church of God podcast.

  2. Wherever you're listening from, we hope you are blessed by

  3. today's message. Genesis Chapter 7 verse #1 And

    Genesis 7 chapter mention

  4. we're going to read that one verse.

  5. Then the Lord said to Noah, come into the ark, you and all your

  6. household, because I have seen that you are righteous before me

  7. in this generation. Let's pray.

  8. Father, in the name of Jesus, we ask you to anoint God the

  9. Speaking of your word. Your word is anointed, but it's

  10. ours that need the help. And so we pray in the name of

  11. Jesus for that special equipment, that a special

  12. anointing of your Holy Spirit to minister your word in the way

  13. that it pleases you and to hear it and to respond to it the way

  14. you desire. In Jesus name we pray.

  15. Amen. You may be seated.

  16. I want to speak to you today on this thought.

  17. An invitation to an ARC encounter.

  18. An invitation to an ARC encounter.

  19. How many of you have been to the ARC encounter in Kentucky?

  20. There is a lot of you. God bless you.

  21. I am sure that was one awesome experience to go to.

  22. What is a replica, as best that man could do, a replica of what

  23. the Ark was actually like and they call that place in Kentucky

  24. the Ark Encounter. Well, I want to talk to you not

  25. about that Ark Encounter in Kentucky, but the original Ark

  26. Encounter that Noah had when God invited him on an Ark Encounter

  27. and said come and all your house, you and all your

  28. household because I have seen you righteous before me in this

  29. generation. You know, Jesus said that there

  30. would be some things that would happen in the end times that

  31. would be very much like what happened when Noah lived and

  32. when Noah was invited to 1st build the ark and then secondly

  33. to occupy the ark during a worldwide flood that would

  34. literally destroy all of humanity.

  35. But Jesus said there are going to be some things in the last

  36. days that replicate what happened during that time.

  37. It also says that about Lot's day as well.

  38. But let me read about Noah's day in Matthew 2436.

  39. Jesus said but of that day and hour no one knows, not even the

  40. angels of heaven, but my Father only.

  41. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son

  42. of Man be. For as in the days of Noah

  43. before the flood, they were eating and drinking, and

  44. marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered

  45. the ark, and did not know. They did not know until the

  46. flood came and took them all away.

  47. So also will the coming of the Son of Man be so.

  48. The Bible says there were people living in the time of the flood

  49. who had no idea what was about to happen.

  50. Not that they didn't have an opportunity to know, but they

  51. simply went on with life as if though everything would always

  52. be the way that it was. But the Bible says as it was

  53. then you will find the same attitude, the same concepts, the

  54. same way of looking at things when Jesus is about to come.

  55. And I believe that is soon and very soon.

  56. So I want us to look at a few of the parallels of the day of Noah

  57. and the day that you and I are living in right now.

  58. What was it about that day that we see similarly today that is

  59. going to cause the coming of the Lord and it's going to mean that

  60. it is near at hand? Well, let's look at what the

  61. Bible says about that day in Genesis chapter 6, verse 5.

    Genesis 6:5

  62. It says Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great

  63. in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his

  64. heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he

  65. had made man on the earth, and he was grieved in his heart.

  66. So the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I've created from the

  67. face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping things and birds

  68. of the air. For I am sorry, I can't even

  69. grasp that that God who is obviously he is a God, who is

  70. providentially God all the time, knows everything.

  71. But he actually said that I am sorry that I have made them.

  72. You can take that one home with you and think about it.

  73. But Noah, thank God, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

  74. This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in

  75. his generations. Noah walked with God and Noah

  76. begot three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

  77. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was

  78. filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth and

  79. deed. Indeed, it was corrupt, for all

  80. flesh had corrupted their way as or or on the earth.

  81. And Jesus said in Matthew, as it was, so shall it be as it was in

  82. the days of Noah. You will see that again in the

  83. days of the coming of the Son of Man.

  84. And so the Bible teaches us that at that particular time violence

  85. and wickedness had raised itself to a level like never before.

  86. All mankind had corrupted themselves, that there was

  87. violence everywhere, there was evil everywhere.

  88. And the Bible said that even the thoughts of a man's mind were

  89. evil continually. They were always thinking about

  90. something evil, something new to invent, something new to do that

  91. would be in contrariness to the will of God and the ways of God.

  92. And the Bible said that is the way that it will be before the

  93. coming of the Son of man. So I asked you today, are there

  94. any signs like that in the world in which we're living right now?

  95. Well, in that day, all of of humanity had corrupted itself.

  96. We're not at that point. Thank God that all of all have

  97. done that. But there are there are examples

  98. of it everywhere, as I did. Just a little looking around, I

  99. realize that things that are going on right now, like mass

  100. shootings that are taking place even in our country.

  101. Old Dominion University other day.

  102. How about the synagogue that was attacked in Michigan?

  103. What about all kinds of hate crimes and terrorist attacks and

  104. domestic violence in homes? There's gang violence there, as

  105. I mentioned, there are. There are absolute hate crimes

  106. going on in America. There are assaults even during

  107. civil unrest. There are so-called

  108. demonstrations and protests that have turned violent.

  109. Man seems to be bent on wickedness and violence.

  110. There's online related violence, things that start there and

  111. there are things going on all around us.

  112. Do I need to mention Epstein Island, human trafficking,

  113. children being trafficked, all of those things that are

  114. happening in the world in which we live And also all around the

  115. world there is a rise in persecution against

  116. Christianity. People who are believers.

  117. I was looking at, did some research and realized how many

  118. countries right now in our world persecution of Christians is

  119. widespread. Place is where anti-Semitism is

  120. alive and well. North Korea, Christianity is

  121. illegal. Believers who are discovered

  122. with the Bible can be executed or sent to labor camps just for

  123. having this. In Somalia, conversion from

  124. Islam is extremely dangerous. Christians have to worship

  125. secretly. In Yemen, civil war and

  126. extremist groups make Christian practice almost impossible.

  127. In Libya, in Sudan, in Nigeria, and particularly Pakistan,

  128. blasphemy laws are often used against Christians.

  129. In Iran, where we see all of that conflict, converts from

  130. Islam, often arrested and imprisoned.

  131. Hopefully those people will gain some freedom.

  132. Afghanistan Christians have to live completely underground.

  133. And I read that around the world.

  134. You are a believer. I'm a believer in Christ that

  135. one out of every 7 believers in the world is living under a very

  136. strict persecuted place where they are absolutely

  137. discriminated against. One in seven Christians.

  138. So there is wickedness in the world, there is evil in the

  139. world everywhere that we look. And the Bible said that's the

  140. way it was in Noah's day before the flood.

  141. And then it was said it would be like that again today.

  142. And that's where we're living. The Bible said that violence had

  143. had filled the earth. Every intent, as I mentioned, of

  144. the thoughts of man's heart was evil continually, every

  145. invention of man. Do you realize that everything

  146. we have was first a product through the mind, no matter what

  147. it is, If it's if it's this floral arrangement, someone had

  148. that in their mind and created that.

  149. The coat that I'm wearing, the clothes you're wearing, it

  150. started in the mind and that then became material and real.

  151. When men think evil, when men think wicked, they create evil

  152. and they create wicked. And that's what it was like.

  153. And God said it is so bad. He said that I am sorry that I

  154. even made man think about that corruption.

  155. And the Bible said as it was, so it shall be.

  156. But then I want you to realize that there was another parallel

  157. because God actually pronounced judgment then.

  158. And this is something we don't hear a lot about because we know

  159. that God is love and we understand that.

  160. But how many know God is a just God?

  161. How many know that God is a God of judgment?

  162. And he said destruction will come upon these people.

  163. And, you know, we can get caught up sometimes and think about

  164. this in the fascinating details of of the Ark, for example, and

  165. we can think about its construction and how fascinating

  166. and it truly was how that thing was built.

  167. And I've never been to the Ark Encounter you that have been you

  168. could do a better job with this part of my message than I can.

  169. And it's it's unbelievable, the marvel of just the ark itself.

  170. And then we can get so caught up when we think about how these

  171. animals came and walked up the gangplank and twos and sevens,

  172. and all of the things that were accoutrements in that ark, how

  173. it was all built and done. But we should never forget why

  174. they even there even had to be an art.

  175. Why was there ever an art to be built?

  176. It was because that the Bible said the wickedness of man was

  177. so great that God said, I will bring judgement upon the earth.

  178. Are you with me? Judgment will come upon this

  179. earth. Don't forget, we would have

  180. never needed that ark had man been obedient to God.

  181. And the Bible said, as it was, so shall it be.

  182. And God gave a word, and that word was, I will send a flood

  183. upon the earth. Well, we know now that this

  184. earth will never have a flood that destroys all of it, because

  185. God gave us that promise. But the earth will be eventually

  186. destroyed. Listen to what Peter says in

  187. second Peter 310 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in

  188. the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great

  189. noise. Then the elements will melt with

  190. fervent heat. Both the earth and the works

  191. that are in it will be burned up.

  192. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what

  193. manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and

  194. godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day

  195. of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being

  196. on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat.

  197. Talk about global warming. This is global warming.

  198. The Bible says the elements will melt with fervent heat.

  199. But oh thank God, there's a better word for believers

  200. because the next verse says, nevertheless, we according to

  201. his promise, we look for new heavens and the new earth in

  202. which righteousness dwells. So God doesn't just pronounce

  203. judgement, but he pronounces a way of escape and a way out, and

  204. he promises something much greater.

  205. Thank God there's something better coming.

  206. Church, something better is on its way.

  207. But the people, they were oblivious to it all and they

  208. just continued life as usual. They were eating and drinking

  209. and marrying and giving and marriage and they were very

  210. socializing people and, and, and they acted as though they would

  211. live forever. There were, there were going to

  212. be no consequences for the way they live their lives, no

  213. consequences for the wickedness, none whatsoever.

  214. They were living and saying things have always been this

  215. way. We've heard a lot, but we've

  216. never seen anything. So life continues on.

  217. We don't worry about that. Just eat, drink and be merry.

  218. Just go about life. Peter talks about this also in

  219. second Peter chapter 3 verse 3 says knowing this first that

    2 Peter 3:3

  220. scoffers will come in the last days walking according to their

  221. own lust and saying where is the promise of his coming?

  222. You people keep saying the Lord is coming.

  223. Well, where is it? For since the fathers fell

  224. asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of

  225. creation. For this they willfully, they

  226. willfully, they willfully forget that by the word of God the

  227. heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water, and

  228. in the water by which the world that then existed perished,

  229. being flooded with water. So God is saying in his word

  230. that people will be scoffers and they'll say, where's the promise

  231. of his coming? You people have been talking

  232. about it forever. Nothing ever changes.

  233. But the Bible said they have willfully forgotten, They have

  234. chosen to forget that the world that then existed was destroyed

  235. by water, but the heavens and the earth, which are now

  236. reserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day

  237. of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

  238. I know this is different, but it's the word of God, is it not?

  239. I'm preaching to you from the New Testament as well as the old

  240. what? What it means is that careless

  241. attitudes prevailed. People didn't care.

  242. They live any way they want to live, do what they want to do,

  243. and I'm going to be all right. They will lukewarm.

  244. As I mentioned, they were the eat, drink and be merry crowd.

  245. You remember the story that Jesus told in Luke 12 was a

  246. parable. It was a parable about a rich

  247. fool and I'm using the Lord's words a rich fool because the

  248. Bible said there was a rich man that fared sumptuously every

  249. day. And he was he was just blessed

  250. and everything he had was turning to gold as it were.

  251. And he said I've got so much, I don't even know what to do with

  252. it. He said I'm I'm going to tear

  253. down my barns, my warehouses. I'm going to build bigger

  254. warehouses. I'm going to fill up.

  255. I have got so much. I'm just going to sit back.

  256. I'm going to retire. I'm just going to sit back.

  257. Take it easy. I'm going to eat, drink and be

  258. merry. I'm going to be good for a lot

  259. of years. I don't need anybody.

  260. I don't need anything. I got not at all.

  261. And then a voice came. Thou fool, this night your soul

  262. should be required of you. So here was a man who was

  263. prepared for retirement but not prepared for death.

  264. Say it again, I will. There's a man prepared for

  265. retirement. Good thing to do, but not

  266. prepared for death. Bad thing to miss out.

  267. Just going on with life. Everything is everything is

  268. good. He didn't prepare to know how

  269. many know life is fragile. We could be here today.

  270. I'm standing here preaching to you.

  271. I could be gone tomorrow or even the same day.

  272. I hope not. But if good could be gone.

  273. But the Bible says Noah found grace.

  274. I'm so glad we have a God who in the midst of judgment, in the

  275. midst of his wrath, and he was angry.

  276. And the Bible says that God is angry with the wicked every day.

  277. But even in that anger and even in that wrath, grace and mercy

  278. are always present. Did you hear what I'm saying?

  279. Grace and mercy are always, always, always present.

  280. And a way of and a way of escape is going to be prepared.

  281. Genesis back to chapter 6 and God said to Noah, the end of all

  282. flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with

  283. violence through them, and behold, I will destroy them with

  284. the earth. Make yourself an ark of Gopher

  285. wood. Make rooms in the ark, cover it

  286. inside and outside with pitch. In the midst of the wrath and

  287. judgment of God, there would be a way of escape.

  288. There would be grace as I mentioned and mercy shown.

  289. God said I'm going to make a way for you.

  290. You don't have to die in this flood.

  291. You don't have to perish. Thank God.

  292. Now listen, there was only one way though.

  293. There was only 1 arc. Only one one way.

  294. How many realize that we are blessed that there's anyway, you

  295. know, people get frustrated sometimes and they'll say I just

  296. like you Christian, because you're narrow minded.

  297. Well, I guess so. Matthew 713, Jesus said enter by

  298. the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that

  299. leads to destruction. And there are many who go in by

  300. it. So I would have to tell you that

  301. it was Jesus who said in John that I am the way and the truth

  302. and the life and no one comes to the Father except through me.

  303. And I would. I definitely tell you that I do

  304. believe in a narrow way, but I am so thankful that there is

  305. some way. I am so thankful that God didn't

  306. leave me without any way how that I can be saved, that I can

  307. be washed in the blood of the Lamb.

  308. But the Bible said why? It is that road that leads to

  309. destruction and there are many who go in by it.

  310. So what is happening? God is saying to that generation

  311. and to ours, sin will destroy you.

  312. We can, can I, can I say this and I want every Christian to

  313. take this home with you because sometimes it's so misunderstood.

  314. You know, when we, when we have to, when we do have to preach

  315. and God does call us to preach. The Bible talks about the whole

  316. counsel of God. The whole council of God is good

  317. stuff, fluffy stuff, sweet stuff, but it's also bitter

  318. stuff sometimes. But we bring that word because

  319. we love people. I just want you to know that

  320. when we preach and we we might call out particular kind of

  321. major types of of sinful behaviors, etcetera, that is not

  322. a sign that we don't love you. It is actually a sign that we do

  323. love you. And I can tell you now that I

  324. have preached from this pulpit. I have preached words that I

  325. knew because I knew what was going on in certain situations.

  326. I knew it was wrong. I had to preach not because I

  327. was wanting to point anyone out. I don't want to ever do that,

  328. but it was a part of the Word and I knew it.

  329. But I was just as quick to go after a service and embrace a

  330. person and tell them I love them because I want to tell you.

  331. It's not personal. I'm trying to bring the Word of

  332. God because it's what God, I'll tell you, if I had my way, it

  333. might would be totally different, but I can tell you

  334. it's not my way and it's not the highway, it's God's way.

  335. But if we truly, if we truly love people, yes, we will

  336. definitely call out sin. We have to do that.

  337. The Bible tells us, but we will also love those people.

  338. We will also because they are worth everything to Jesus.

  339. Can you hear what I'm saying? Those that are disobedient to

  340. God are still loved by the Lord, Amen.

  341. That's better preaching than you're responding right now.

  342. But anyway, I'll let you all for that, OK.

  343. A day of grace was given. That's another parallel.

  344. It was extended and I want you to think about Noah's because he

  345. was a preacher of the Bible. Said Bible called him a

  346. preacher, said he was a preacher of righteousness.

  347. But do you realize that outside of his family and it's

  348. estimated, we don't know. The Bible doesn't give us exact

  349. number of years that he preached.

  350. But based on the fact that he was 500 years old when his sons

  351. were born in 600 years when he went in the ark.

  352. And, and if you do all of the the math and all of the the

  353. possibilities, it looks like he could have preached because

  354. there was a warning given about 120 years.

  355. God said so he could have preached as long as 120 years

  356. and he had no converts. Someone said, I heard someone

  357. recently say that Noah was the most unsuccessful preacher in

  358. the world. I, brother Jarrett call me

  359. yesterday afternoon, believe it was and he was at Hope Rescue

  360. Mission in Reading on Friday night and brought the word of

  361. God. I believe brother Jose was with

  362. him providing music. He brought the word of God and

  363. three people got saved. He was so excited about that,

  364. and so was I. Brother Jarrett, do you realize

  365. that you had more success in one Friday evening than Noah had in

  366. 120 years? You did a good job, my brother.

  367. You know, we judge everything by numbers today.

  368. It's a big mistake because if you judge by numbers, Noah was

  369. totally a failure. Listen to what it says about

  370. him. Second, Peter, we were still in

  371. the New Testament, chapter 2, verse 4.

  372. For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them

  373. down to hell and delivered them into changes of darkness to be

  374. reserved for judgment, and did not spare the ancient world, but

  375. saved Noah, one of eight people, eight people, a preacher of

  376. righteous. What did he preach?

  377. Righteousness. He preached righteousness,

  378. bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly and turning

  379. the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to

  380. destruction, making them an example to those who afterward

  381. would live ungodly and delivered righteous Lot.

  382. Lot comes into this now. He was oppressed by the filthy

  383. conduct of the wicked. For that righteous man dwelling

  384. among them, tormented his righteous soul from day-to-day

  385. by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds.

  386. Then the Lord, I love this. Then the Lord knows how to

  387. deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the

  388. unjust under punishment for the day of judgment.

  389. Thank God that those that are saved are not appointed to

  390. wrath, but are appointed to receive mercy.

  391. Can you say, man, I got to hurry here, people?

  392. You're not going anywhere though, are you?

  393. People had an opportunity as that art was being built.

  394. They could have come in. They watched it being how could

  395. you miss it, you that have been to the Ark, and how could you

  396. miss it? Who in the world in his right

  397. mind is building this monstrosity of a, of a motorless

  398. sail, the ship on dry ground? What in the world?

  399. I am sure that there was a lot of people going by seeing that

  400. thing. Somebody said he's a religious

  401. fanatic. He's just a religious fanatic.

  402. And did you know that the Bible even goes on to say that after

  403. Noah was in the ark, it was 7 more days before the rain

  404. actually started? And it's estimated, again, the

  405. Bible doesn't give us specifically, and I don't know

  406. what they say, the Ark Encounter, but that he probably

  407. took at least 60 years, maybe 70 years to build this thing.

  408. Can you imagine working on something like this for 60 to 70

  409. years? And who?

  410. Who do you have to help him? He had three sons, Shem, Ham,

  411. and Japheth. Sounds like a later version or

  412. earlier version to Three Stooges, doesn't it?

  413. Shem, Ham and Japheth. There was a Shem in there,

  414. wasn't it? Or a Shep or something.

  415. But, but I can imagine people going by.

  416. So what this whole preacher doing here?

  417. This old preacher, what? What's his kids do?

  418. What do they do for fun? You don't ever see him at the

  419. wild parties. They're not drinking and

  420. drugging. They're missing out on life.

  421. What do they do? Sunday school, youth group,

  422. winter fast, youth camp, whatever.

  423. This missing out on everything. Can I say something to you young

  424. people and young adults? You're not Jesus in your life.

  425. You're not missing out on anything.

  426. That is good. Somebody, somebody said that old

  427. man is preaching that it's going to rain.

  428. By the way, if you don't know this, there never been any rain

  429. yet on the earth because the Bible says in Genesis, too, that

  430. God watered the earth from beneath.

  431. There had been no rain. Here's an old preacher telling

  432. you that something's coming. That's never happened before.

  433. It's going to rain. What's rain?

  434. Rain is water coming from the sky.

  435. He said it. They're laughing it off.

  436. It's not going. It's never happened before.

  437. You can talk about a rapture all you want.

  438. You can talk about a Christ coming near.

  439. That's never happened. It's never going to happen.

  440. But he said it. He preached it, water's coming.

  441. It's laughable. Why would God allow so much

  442. time? Second Peter 38 says, But

  443. beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one

  444. day is as 1000 years and 1000 years as one day.

  445. The Lord is not slack concerning his promises.

  446. Some count slackness, but it's long-suffering toward us, not

  447. willing, no willing God that any should perish, but that all

  448. should come to repentance. Forget it if you think God has

  449. condemned you to hell, He wants you saved.

  450. Second, our first thesauts 5 and one.

  451. But concerning the times and the seasons, brother, you have no

  452. need that I should write to you for yourselves.

  453. Know perfectly the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the

  454. night. For when they say peace and

  455. safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains

  456. upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape.

  457. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this day

  458. should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and

  459. sons of the day. We're not of the night nor of

  460. darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as

  461. others do, but let us watch and be sober after seven more days

  462. after Noah went into the ark. Chapter 7, verse one we read in

  463. verse 11, in the 600th year of Noah's life, in the second

  464. month, the 17th day of the month.

  465. On that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up in

  466. the windows of heaven were open. I wondered what that was like.

  467. Noah's now in the ark, his family's in the ark.

  468. The doors closed. Somebody is walking down the

  469. road. What is that?

  470. Strange. I just felt a drop of water.

  471. Oh, pitter patter, pitter patter.

  472. What is happening? All of a sudden the rings are

  473. coming from heaven and the Bible says even the fountains of the

  474. deep are opened up. Things are happening.

  475. It never happened before. The old preacher.

  476. Maybe he was right. Maybe he was right.

  477. Let's get down to the ark. Let's get to the ark.

  478. No, I can see them beating on the side of that ark.

  479. No, we've changed her mind. Open the door, let us in.

  480. Genesis 716 says. So those that entered, male and

  481. female of all flesh, went in as God commanded him, and the Lord

  482. shut him in. You're asking Noah to open a

  483. door that he never shut. Are you with me?

  484. I said. You're asking Noah to open a

  485. door that he never shut. God shut the door.

  486. And when God shuts the door, no man opens.

  487. The Bible says it wasn't that they didn't have opportunity.

  488. We can say, well, that isn't that terrible.

  489. No, it's not because God gave every warning possible.

  490. He gave every opportunity, but man ignored his warnings.

  491. And people are living their lives today in so many places

  492. that they feel like, well, I'll just live my life and sow my sow

  493. my wild oats. And later I'll come to the Lord.

  494. Later I'll get saved. I'll get saved on my deathbed.

  495. You have no guarantee of your deathbed.

  496. You have no guarantee of tomorrow.

  497. Why are you preaching this, this Sunday?

  498. I don't know, but I'm preaching it.

  499. This is what the Lord laid on my heart.

  500. What I'm saying is that there is a day of grace, but there is an

  501. end to the day of grace. Second Corinthians 62, Paul

  502. says. For he says, in an acceptable

  503. time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have

  504. helped you. Behold, now, when is now, when

  505. is now, is now Monday is now to tonight or is now now?

  506. Is it right now in this place that this right now is the

  507. acceptable time? Behold, now is the day of

  508. salvation. We're just going to mess around.

  509. We're just going to do what we want to do, and we hope that we

  510. get in before it's too late. They couldn't get in.

  511. The rains came. The old preacher was right.

  512. Here's one more, one more parallel, and that is it.

  513. Of all the people, only one family was saved.

  514. Only one family got saved. We read from Genesis 618.

  515. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall go into

  516. the ark, You, your sons, your wife and your son's wives with

  517. you. The Bible said Noah found grace

  518. in the sight of the Lord for about a year.

  519. I think if you do the math again with the scripture, the art, you

  520. know, we think 40 days and 40 nights, That's just the rain.

  521. They stayed in that thing for a year, about 300 and 73171 days

  522. they were in that ark. Can you imagine what that was

  523. like? Brother Hugo and Becky, please.

  524. I don't see Sister Becky. Is she here?

  525. I see you. I'm so sorry I didn't recognize

  526. you sooner. Thank you for being back safely

  527. from Columbia, South America. God bless you.

  528. We love you. Forgive me for my failure to see

  529. you, but but I'm. I'm thinking about because you

  530. work at sight and sound. I'm thinking about, you know,

  531. when I went to see Noah, I thought I was in the thing for a

  532. year and it seemed like that thing was never going to end,

  533. you know, So I'm just saying that they're in a boat.

  534. Get this daughter in You can't tell me that they went a year

  535. without an argument that somebody wasn't upset with

  536. somebody. Do you not realize that they're

  537. in there with all these animals? It probably stinks, probably

  538. smells. But here's what I can tell you.

  539. I would rather be in a smelly ark than a devastating flood.

  540. Can I tell you that there was only one family saved and

  541. there's still only one family that's going to be saved, and

  542. that's the family of God. Hallelujah.

  543. I said the family of God is the only family that will be saved.

  544. People who put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, listen to

  545. what it says. Think about this.

  546. It tells us something wonderful. Think, I just want you to think

  547. about again and can I make a comparison?

  548. You're in the church. The church can get smelly

  549. sometimes too. We're not perfect, are we?

  550. We get on each other's nerves sometimes and we can get, we

  551. can't even get hurt sometimes. But I would tell you it's better

  552. to be in something secure, hurt and to be in a world that's

  553. going to hell. You hearing me because I can

  554. tell you that thank God in the midst of all of it and we you

  555. can have broken relationships, but thank God, Jesus, like a

  556. good neighbor Jesus is there. Amen.

  557. I said like a good neighbor, Jesus is there always to help us

  558. and the Bible tells us want something wonderful about that

  559. and I'm going to close set the 1st combat worship team or I

  560. might not ever close first. Peter chapter 2 verse 6 says

    1 Peter 2:6

  561. therefore it is also contained in the scripture.

  562. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone elect precious, and

  563. he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame.

  564. Therefore, to you who believe he's precious, but to those who

  565. are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected has become

  566. the chief cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of

  567. offense. They stumble being disobedient

  568. to the word to which they also were appointed.

  569. But now listen to these next words, because these are the

  570. most encouraging you're going to hear.

  571. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy

  572. nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the

  573. praises of him who called you out of darkness into his

  574. marvelous light, who once were not a people.

  575. But you are now the people of God who had not obtained mercy.

  576. But now you have obtained mercy. You're in the body of Christ,

  577. washed in the blood, safe. And we don't have a boat any

  578. longer. That's our ark.

  579. But our ark is the old rugged cross.

  580. And thank God, in that cross we are safe.

  581. In the blood of Jesus, we are saved in the sacrifice of the

  582. Lamb of God. We are saved by the glorious

  583. gospel of Jesus Christ. Are you in the ark?

  584. That final parallel for them was when God shut the door, but

  585. until that door was shut, they could have come in, they could

  586. have come in again, Paul tells us in 2nd Corinthians 6.

  587. We then as ambassadors or workers, together with him also

  588. plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain, for he

  589. says in an acceptable time I've heard you, I've heard you, and

  590. in the day of salvation I've helped you in God.

  591. Good. He said the day of salvation, I

  592. have helped you. He said two things.

  593. I've heard you and I've helped you.

  594. How many can say Amen to both of those?

  595. God heard us when we said God be merciful to me, a Sinner, and he

  596. helped us when we fell, when we fell short.

  597. I don't know about you, but I've fallen short.

  598. But thank God, he has helped us, I've helped you.

  599. He said, behold, now is the accepted time, now is the day of

  600. salvation. Thanks for joining us today.

  601. If you'd like to connect, visit us at Reams Town

  602. churchofgod.org, follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and

  603. subscribe to this podcast so you never miss an episode.