[Genesis 6:5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.] 

[One of the first things we need to learn from the account of Noah’s Ark in the Bible is that it is possible for our young people to be godly in the face of an ungodly world and culture.  Do not allow yourself to feel discourage or defeated because our culture is bad and seems to be getting worse.  Noah’s children were godly, faithful, and obedient to God’s call, right along with their father.] 

Notice in our Text, 

A.    The Vision of the Voyage (John 5.39; Luke 24.25-27) [- The Symbolism of the Ark – The vision of the account of Noah’s Ark is best understood through the symbols that permeate the story.  These symbols have been taught in the Church since the beginning of the Church.  As a matter of fact I believe that these symbols were first taught by our Lord Jesus Christ.  The Bible reveals,] 

John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.  

Luke 24:25-27 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.  

[So what are the symbols found in the ark?] 

1.      The Substance of the Ark  (vs 14; Philip 2.6-8; 1 John 3.5; 2 Cor 5.21) [- Make thee an ark of gopher wood; . . . ]  

[Gopher wood is Cyprus wood, which is the most incorruptible of woods] 

[Wood in the Bible represents humanity or the flesh of humanity.[1]  In the ark the wood represents the fact that Christ took on flesh or the form of humanity.] 

[Philip. 2:6-8 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.]  

[In this case this wood represents the incorruptible humanity of Jesus Christ.  Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ became a man that He might be our Savior, just as the ark was the means of the salvation of Noah, his family, and every life that took refuge within that ark.  Jesus could be our salvation only because we owed nothing on his own account, He was without sin, hence the incorruptible nature of gopher wood.] 

[1 John 3:5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.]  

[2 Cor. 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.]  

2.      The Safety of the Ark (vs 14; 1 Pet 1.18-19; Heb 9.11-12) [-  Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. - Pitch is like tar.  Its purpose is to keep the water out. ]  

[The water in this case represented judgment.  If you were in the ark the judgment was kept out because of the pitch or tar.] 

[Atonement - The Hebrew word for pitch is also translated Atonement.  The word atonement means to cover.  Notice the ark was covered within and without.  Demonstrating the complete nature of the atonement provided by Christ.] 

[You are eternally safe once the pitch of Jesus blood covers your sins.] 

[1 Peter 1:18-19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:]  

[Hebrews 9:11-12 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.]  

[Jesus is the ark; his blood is the pitch that keeps God's judgment out.] 

[If you are in Jesus God's judgment is kept out of your life.] 

3.      The Sufficiency of the Ark (vs 14- 15; John 3.16; Rom 10.13; 2 Pet 3.9; John 6.37) [- Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. ¹⁵ And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. - The ark contained many rooms and over 3 million cubic feet of space. That is a lot of space.  There was enough room in the ark for at least two of every type of animal.  God made sure there was enough room in the ark to save all that would be saved.] 

[There is room in the ark of the Lord Jesus Christ for you.] 

[John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.]  

[Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.]  

[2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.]  

[John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.]  

[There is Room at the Cross for You.] 

[The cross upon which Jesus died
Is a shelter in which we can hide;
And its grace so free is sufficient for me,
And deep is its fountain as wide as the sea.] 

[Tho millions have found Him a friend
And have turned from the sins they have sinned,
The Savior still waits to open the gates
And welcomes a sinner before it's too late.] 

[The hand of my Savior is strong,
And the love of my Savior is long;
Through sunshine or rain, through loss or in gain,
The blood flows from Calv'ry to cleanse ev'ry stain.] 

[There's room at the cross for you,
There's room at the cross for you;
Tho millions have come,
There's still room for one-
Yes, there's room at the cross for you.] 

4.      The Shape of the Ark (vs 15; 1 Cor 15.31; Matt 10.38-39) - And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. - It had no prow or helm.  There was no way for captain Noah to steer the ark.  Had Noah put a helm on the ark he wouldn’t have known where to head anyway.  Noah would have to trust God.  It was God who steered the ark.]

[Symbol of a coffin - As we consider the measurement of the ark it was shaped very much like an ancient coffin.  This is another symbol of note because we must die to self to live for Christ.] 

[1 Cor. 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.]  

[Matthew 10:38-39 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.]  

5.      The Structure of the Ark (vs 16; 1 Cor 15.51-53; Eph 1.13-14, 4.30; Matt 6.22; Luke 21.28) - A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.] 

a.      [It had three floors – Our Complete Salvation - This could represent:] 

1)      [The Trinity of God - The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost of whom all where a part of our salvation.] 

2)      [Tripartite Humanity - Body, Soul, and Spirit.  All of which will are redeemed and will be glorified one day.  Our glorification will be a physical glorification not merely a spiritual one, as some faith system suggest.] 

[1 Cor. 15:51-53 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.]  

b.      [It had one door at the bottom that was sealed by God – Our Eternal Security - Noah couldn't get out of that ark if he wanted to. Likewise, we are sealed into the family of God by the Holy Spirit] 

[Ephes. 1:13-14 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.]  

[Ephes. 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.]  

c.       [It had a window at the top that was controlled by Noah – Our Hope and Affections – When you consider the Ark, Noah and his family didn’t have control over anything.  They could not control where the ark went.  They could not open or close the door.  They certainly did not have control over the animals.  There was only one thing Noah could control, it was that window, but it led Noah and his family to look in only one direction, Noah could only look up to see anything.] 

[The example here is simple, when life gets tough, really tough, there is only one place you need to look, and that is up towards your Heavenly Father.] 

[Matthew 6:22 ²² The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. ]

[In Luke 21 Jesus was telling His disciples about the terrible things that would occure toward the end of time.  Do you recall what Jesus told His disciples to do when things started to get really bad?  Jesus said, 

[Luke 21:28 ²⁸ And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. ]

6.      The Sustenance in the Ark (vs 21; 1 Pet 2.2) [-  And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. - There was a store of good food in the ark.  Everything that Noah, his family and the animals needs was provided in the ark.  Likewise, God provides physical and spiritual nourishment for us.] 

[1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:]  

7.      The Schedule of the Ark (Gen 8.4) [-And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. - When it landed.  The first month in the Jewish calendar is October.  The Seventh month is April.] 

[The Ark landed April 17^th.  The Passover is April 14^th.  It landed three days after the Passover.] 

[The Ark landed on Resurrection day.] 

B.     The Victory of the Voyage (Eph 2.8-10) [The Salvation of the ship - How they got onboard.  There is an incredible picture of salvation contained in this text which is reminiscent of our New Testament salvation.  Consider our New Testament salvation and presented in,]   

[Ephes. 2:8-10 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.]  

The Prepositions of this passage.  By, Through, and Unto. 

1.      By Grace (Gen 6.8) [-But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord - God's Part - Salvation is a covenant of Grace,] 

[Genesis 6:18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.]  

[God graciously provided the ship of salvation for you and I, the Lord Jesus Christ.] 

[1 John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation [satisfaction] for our sins.]  

2.      Through Faith (Gen 7.1; Heb 11.7) [- And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation - Noah's Part] 

[Ephes. 2:8-10 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. ] 

[Faith is the gangplank that gets us into the ship called grace.] 

[Hebrews 11:7 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; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. ] 

[Captain Noah and his family just needed to come up into the ship.] 

[All you need to do to be saved is get into the ship of Jesus Christ.] 

[John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.]  

[Now there are many who would ask, "I know I must live a good life in order to be a Christian.  Where do good works come into this picture?"] 

3.      Unto Good Works (Genesis 9.1) [- And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth - The Result] 

[Ephes. 2:8-10 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.]  

 [Because they were saved they could serve God.] 

[You serve God because He has saved you not so that He will save you.]