In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes that the world, despite its glitter and glamour, is under judgment and wrath. He warns against getting too excited about worldly things, such as elections, as they are temporary and doomed. The preacher references the story of Noah and the ark, highlighting the importance of striving to enter through the narrow gate and being obedient to God. He also draws parallels between the days of Noah and the last days, emphasizing the need for a deep understanding of the story and its implications.

Genesis chapter 6. Father give us the word this morning in Jesus' name. Genesis chapter 6, verse 5. 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. It was just sin exponentially growing. I think I made comment on this a few weeks ago, imaginations. You think of all the virtual reality games and videos and everything like that. It's the imagination. There's many places to indulge in fantasies. They repented the Lord that he made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. So, God is not impassive, is he? He cares. Actually, sin hurts him. It's amazing. Amazing verse right there. God really does care, and it hurts him when people distort the image of God. He didn't make us to be the way we've turned out. That's for sure. He did not intend this. The Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air. For it repents me that I have made them. Astonishing. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. I want to talk about the flood today. The first thing I want to notice by this scripture I just read there is that this is a moral universe that we live in. Things happen for reasons, not just impersonal things or natural forces. He starts the story of the flood off with a moral. This is a moral universe that we live in. And the reason for the flood, which was worldwide, by the way, was because of the depravity of man, the fall of man into deep, deep sin. We talked about that a couple weeks ago. Now, first we talk about Noah. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations. And Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt. For all flesh had corrupted his way on the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them. And behold, I'll destroy them with the earth. I often talk about these Bible stories, how they lose their power, because we live in a, you know, coloring book world, where every coloring book has a cute picture of Noah. You know, he's bald, he's got a big white beard, he's got a soft gown, you know, all the happy animals. You relegate these stories to something just completely irrelevant, okay? And probably the most important one is Noah itself. Noah's a huge, huge story, okay? Its context is he lives in violent and corrupt times, where depravity is fully expressed, where even the good are defecting away from God, okay? And it says in verse 8, though, that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Then verse 9, these are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God, okay? So Noah, who is Noah? Noah is a type of all believers. In the middle of a depraved time, in a time of defection, in a time of total depravity, just like the day we live in now, Noah found grace. Noah found grace. And then it says that Noah was a just man. And then it says Noah was perfect, which means complete. And then it says Noah walked with God. Listen, if you're a Christian, that's the story of your life. What comes first? Grace. You were a sinner, but God gave you grace. Anyone here? And then you get justified, was a just man. And then you are declared to be complete in Christ. Noah was perfect in the sense of completeness. Everything that he was lacking, he was made up for. That's what it means, be perfect, complete. And then out of that comes your walk. Noah walked with God. By the time you get to the end of the story, four times he says, Noah completely obeyed God. But the obedience is a result of everything else. The grace, the calling, the walk. And then by the time the story's done, he walks with God. Noah is a type of every believer. The days of Noah are a type of the last days. Jesus said, as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the day of the coming of the Son of Man. So it's really important to get a good understanding of this story. Not a coloring book view, but I mean this is real, man. This is huge stuff. One of the biggest stories in the whole Old Testament. Peter tells us that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. Some people laugh and smirk about Noah. Jesus believed in Noah. Jesus is the one that said, as in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. Jesus believed in Noah. Peter believed in Noah. Peter says, Noah was a preacher of righteousness. So out of his walk, out of being justified, out of being saved by God, Noah became a preacher. And what was his message? Righteousness. Now what does it mean that he preached righteousness? Well, it means he wasn't a feel-good preacher. He called people on their sins, and he held up the standards of God, and showed the people how far short they came of it. But then he also offered a way, God's way, for them to be reconciled to God. He was a preacher of righteousness. Hold your finger in Genesis and look with me in Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11. The clouds were gathering in his day. The gloom was deepening. Evil was going up notches. New levels of evil were being attained. To come to what we talked about a couple weeks ago, the Nephilim, the fallen ones. Hebrews 11, verse 6. Without faith, it's impossible to please him. For he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he's a rewarder of those who dogently seek him. By the way, did you come to God this morning? I don't believe in just coming to church, or going to church, or going to a worship service. Every time it's coming to God himself. You don't need me, and you really don't need, quote, church. Your deepest need is God. It just so happens that God is here, where two or more gathered in his name. Our deepest need is God, day by day, and week by week, 24-7. My deepest need is God. Those that believe will come to him, and believe that he's a rewarder of those who dogently seek him. I believe he's on the receiving end of every one of these songs and prayers. Otherwise, believe me, I wouldn't offer a prayer. I wouldn't offer a prayer I didn't think he was on the receiving end of. Anybody here? By faith, Noah, he says in verse 7, being warned of God, of things not seen as yet, he moved with fear. God warned me one time that I wasn't ready for the Judgment Day. Man, it made me move with fear. I told the testimony, so I don't need to tell it now, but I was moved. Got me out of my comfort zone, took me out of Mass and into an Assembly of God church, took me down the aisle 35 times for an altar call. Finally, it took me to 2 Corinthians 5, and I found the cross of Christ, and I found my peace and my rest. Remember what Noah's name means? Rest. He's moved with fear. He prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by which he condemned the world. And this is the phrase I want to point out, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness, which is by faith. Part of Noah's faith, and part of Noah's walk as a believer, is that he condemned the world. Now, don't read that through 21st century goggles, okay? What does it mean that he condemned the world? He went around pointing his finger at everyone? No. What it means is that by his actions and his faith, and even his preaching, he declared about the world the same thing God says about it. It's under judgment, and God's attitude toward it is uncompromising. You're not going to make the world a better place. By what Noah did... Hey, what are you building, Noah? I'm building an ark. Why? God told me to build an ark because the end of all flesh is coming. And I'm sure they laughed their heads off, and I'm sure the feel-good preachers of the day said, Noah's a nut. We're going to make this world a better place. You know, with all this new technology, and this new music, and all this new feel-good stuff, we're going to make this world a great place. But Noah condemned the world by the ark. He said, no, this world, that whole ark was a testimony. This world is under judgment, and God's attitude toward it is uncompromising. It will not become a better place. He condemned the world. He didn't have to point his finger. Every time he hit the hammer on one of the boards, he's condemning the world by faith. Noah's a type of a true believer in a depraved age. Noah is also like a brand new Adam. What do Adam and Noah have in common? This, that everyone currently on the face of the earth descended from both of them. We're brothers. We're all brothers. Of one blood, he made us all. That's why I don't really believe there is such a thing as races. There couldn't be, how could there be race? Races and racism is an evolutionary thing, and not a Christian thing. Of one blood, he made us all. Anybody here? We all go back to Noah and even further to Adam, but certainly Noah, out of Noah came everyone else. When Noah got on that ark, you got on that ark. You realize that? When Noah got on that ark, everyone in this room got on that ark. When Adam plucked that apple, you plucked that apple. Noah's like a new Adam. Why do you need a new Adam? You need a new Adam because you're going to have a new creation. You're going to start all over again. So, like God brought all the animals to Adam, God brought all the animals to Noah. He's a new Adam for a new creation. And finally though, what I have to say about Noah is that Noah is not just a type of every believer, not just a new Adam. Noah is a type of Christ. Why? Because in the whole world of the time, and who knows, there could have been six billion people in the world like there is today. I'm not joking. We get this idea of prehistoric times like Fred Flintstone or something living in a cave. No, that too comes from evolution. The idea is not that we went from the primitive to the advanced. The idea is that we were really advanced one time, but we've been degenerating ever since. And sure, maybe we got the technology and everything, but we're being degraded. But in the whole world, by the time of the judgment, it only says there's one man that was just before God. One man found grace. One man who was righteous. That's Noah. And someone says, yeah, but his family was saved too. That's right. They were saved by his righteousness. They were saved by his righteousness. Doesn't say Shem, Ham, and Japheth were righteous. Noah was righteous. Basically, by going into the ark with Noah. In a sense, they were baptized with Noah. The ark is an awful lot like a coffin, especially if you see the actual shape of it. Once again, don't go by coloring books. It's like a big shoebox. About the size of a World War I battleship. And engineers tell us that that's the perfect shape, not to go anywhere, just to stay above the waves. He is a type of Christ because he took the human race, literally, from the old creation to the new creation. That's what Jesus did. We talked for a minute about the ark. The ark is a type of Christ. There are three arks in the Bible. There's this ark. There's the little ark that Moses was put in. Another one of those beautiful coloring book stories, but full of significance. It's more an adult story. And then there's the ark of the covenant. All of them are types of Christ. Christ is the ark of the covenant. Remember when the Jews take the ark of the covenant into battle and basically turn it over to the Philistines? That's a type of Christ being handed over to the Romans by the Jews. The ark is a type of Christ. It says that the ark had one door, only one. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by me. God is building an ark and there's only one door. It's Jesus. He said, I'm the door. Whoever goes in by me will be saved. All the others are thieves and robbers. You come by me. The ark has one window. I'm no engineer. I'm not going to sit here and show you the whole thing, but you can find it. Google it, okay? Up at the top, there's one window, 18 inches high, that goes completely around the ark to let in the light. The windows, all we have as a Christian to let in the light is one, the Holy Spirit, the Word. The windows above them. See, when the judgment came, God didn't want them looking down. God wanted them looking up. Jesus said, lift up your heads for your redemption draws nigh. Isn't faith nothing more or nothing less than the upward look of utter dependence and calling out to God, amen? Isn't that what prayer is? Do we not look up? No, it looks up anxiously. The family looks up. God says in Colossians, hold your finger Genesis, God says in Colossians chapter 3, look at a few scriptures with me today and hearken unto the Word of God. Colossians chapter 3, if you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things of the earth, for you are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. Going into the ark is like dying. You die because there's a whole world out there and you leave it. You go into the ark, it's like dying. You go into a coffin. You are dead, but your life is hidden with Christ in God. Go back to Genesis. Set your affections on things above. The ark is a type of Christ because what they did is they took pitch, some kind of tar, some petroleum thing or whatever, bitumen, and they coated the whole ark. This thing's as big as a World War II battleship. Took about 120 years to build it. And they painted outside and in with pitch. Only the word for pitch, there's two Hebrew words for pitch. One would be talking about the actual product itself, bitumen, but the author of Genesis, the Holy Spirit, used the word kofar, which means to cover and is used of atonement. Basically, the idea is this ark became watertight because it's totally covered inside and out. Therefore, it's able to go through the coming judgment of God. Now, you need a Noah because the judgment's coming and we don't have the righteousness we need. You need a new Noah. There's a better Noah than Noah. Remember what Jesus always said, there's a greater Solomon. There's a greater wisdom than the Queen of Sheba. There's a greater than Solomon. There's a greater than King David. Well, there's a greater Noah. This Noah, after the flood, he gets drunk and passes out naked. And so he says, he's a Noah. He brought the old world into the new world, but he's not the ultimate Noah. The ultimate rest is a greater Noah. You need that Noah because there's judgment coming and I'm afraid that no one is able to go through the judgment alone. No one is going to be able, like it says in the book of Isaiah, who can stand the fire? Only the righteous. So this ark is a type of Christ because it went through the waters of judgment for us. He put us in Christ. This is the great revelation in my life. You see the cross. I was a Catholic. I looked at the crucifix. You see the cross. You think, I know that means something, but I don't know what. I know he loves us. I haven't said that. No, he loves us. What's it all mean? Are we to pity him? I wasn't being sarcastic. What's that mean? When the Holy Spirit had mercy on me, I could see my sins on that cross. And then if you grow in the grace of God, the Holy Spirit keeps on showing you because you should never stop growing. I could not only see my sins on that cross, I didn't see myself on that cross. The cross is the big negative. He sums up in himself the whole human race and he takes us to judgment and death in himself. The ark is the big negative because whoever believes goes into the ark and in a sense they die and they go through the judgment of God and when they come out the other side and they open the door, they're in a new creation. What Christian ritual do we practice that testifies of this every single time we do it? Anybody? Baptism. Baptism is condemning the world. A baptism is a powerful statement. That's why every Christian should have a valid New Testament baptism. It's a powerful statement because what you're saying by baptizing is, I enter into Christ, I see that this world is doomed, this world is under God's judgment. His attitude toward it is uncompromising and by stepping into this water, I die with Christ and I'm raised with Christ and now I'm in the new creation that's coming. Hallelujah. How many believe in that today? Oh yeah, baptism saves. Not by the physical act of washing, but by the faith that takes you from the old creation into the new creation and by the vehicle of the faith and the object of faith, the real ark which is Christ himself. Go into Christ, die. Go into Christ and let God shut the door behind you. Go into Christ and go through the judgment of God and come out the other side. Amen? It's pitch which his atonement is covering and it's inside and out. This isn't some just mere external thing, it's real. Absolute watertight security. See, it's Christ that went through the waters. I'm going to read Psalm 69, first couple of verses here. Christ is like the ark because he goes through the waters of judgment for us. He takes us through them. We're in him. These are mysterious things that can't always be fully understood, only accepted. Psalm 69. Save me, O God, for the waters are coming to my soul. I sink in the deep mire where there's no standing. I'm coming to deep waters where the floods overflow me. Whose prayer is this? This is Jesus's. I'm weary of my crying. My throat is dry. My eyes fail while I wait for my God. For they that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head. They that would destroy me being my enemies wrongfully are mighty. Then I restored that which I took not away. Jesus paid for our sins. Amen? He goes on to talk about how he's drowning. You look at this whole thing, and I mean, it's the crucifixion itself that he describes. Verse 21. They gave me gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Let their table become a snare for them. But notice the opening. Verse 14. Deliver me out of the mire. Let me not sink. Let me be delivered from them that hate me and out of the deep waters. Let not the water flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up. Let not the pit shut her mouth on me. This is the one who went through the waters of judgment. This is the one who went through the real flood of condemnation. This is the true ark of God who went in one and came out the other side, and with us, with him, everyone who is in him. Are you in Christ today? Are you in the ark of God? The ark of God is like salvation. The ark of God is like Christ. Look at Genesis 7, verse 1. 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. First of all, the Lord doesn't say, go into the ark, as if the Lord's outside the ark, and he's sending them into the ark. Notice, the Lord says, come in. Come on in. The Lord's there. He invites man to come in. And Jesus, in that great chapter on rest, says, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Remember, Noah's name means rest. Come thou and all thy house, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you and your household should be saved. Come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous. Well, Pastor Bill, I'm not righteous, I've got to be honest with you. I'm shot full of corruption and holes. But notice how the Lord says, that thee have I seen righteous. Even as in those days, it was the righteousness of Noah that saved his children and wife. In these days, it's the righteousness of Christ. By Christ's righteousness, God sees us as righteous, because he himself is the propitiation for our sins. Not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. Amen? And then there's this transition from the old to the new creation. There's this time where the old creation is still going strong, and in the midst of it is the new creation. There's an overlap. It's not like one ends and the other begins. Before the one ends, the other has already started. People laughing at Noah. What is that? That's the ark. They don't realize that is the new creation. That is going to be the only piece of dry real estate on the face of the whole world very soon. And they're laughing, and they go on. And I'm sure, because Jesus said it would be as in the days of Noah. I'm sure. It's not that they were atheistic or godless. Remember, Cain himself had a theology. There was a theology of the first murderer, even as there's a theology for murderers and homosexuals today. I'm sure the feel-good preachers made Noah look like an idiot. They don't realize that this is the new creation they're saying. It's almost laughable. Now, the Bible says, if any man be in Christ, what? It's a new creation. Only what the Bible actually said is not he is. If any man be in Christ, behold, literally is what it says, a new creation. Behold, a new creation. Emphasis isn't on the man, although he makes the man new from the inside out. The emphasis is on what it means to come into Christ. It means to be a participant of the new creation. It's like back in the days of Noah when they're building the ark, and the people are laughing, and the old creation goes on. Jesus said, they'll be marrying, they'll be giving in marriage, they'll be building, they'll be planting, they'll be planting businesses. Business as usual in the old creation. And there's the oddball. There's an overlap where they have to be, the new creation has to be in the old creation. It's like Noah and his children are the people of tomorrow. It's very difficult at that time. Isn't that our posture right now? Don't you know that we're the people of tomorrow? That really the future is ours? The meek shall inherit the earth? Don't you know that we have the powers of the age to come? And don't you know that when you were born again, it's not just an individual thing of the forgiveness of your personal sins, but being born again brings you into a new creation that's about ready to break forth. But all new creation is painful and messy. Just ask all the mamas here that have babies. Anybody here? I don't want to go through this. Once you start thinking that way, lift up your head and rejoice. Redemption draweth nigh. Amen? The end of the world is going to be just like the birth of a baby. The birth pangs keep coming closer and closer and closer together. And even the people of the new creation go, I don't want to go through this. Is anybody here? Oh good Lord, I don't want this. I don't want this. Well, you don't want to be too, you know, God makes you uncomfortable when he wants to bring a change. Someone says, I could, I feel so good in the early months of my pregnancy, I could be pregnant forever. God knows how to change that. Amen? No, I want this baby out of me. And I'm willing to go through whatever it takes to get this baby out of me. So it is with the Christian at the end of the age. Don't get too comfortable being pregnant. God knows how to make us uncomfortable. God knows how to put us in transition. God knows how to bring the birth pangs on to where we're going. All right, whatever it takes. I'm sick of this world. I'm through with it. It has nothing for me. It offers nothing to me. And I see it now. Well, behind the glitter, behind the glamour, I see it. It's under judgment. It's under wrath. And you know, in the book of Revelation, it talks about Babylon the great. It talks about all you could buy there. A big shopping mall, a shopping mart, a home shopping network, Babylon the great. But then he strips away the cover and he says, the haunt of every unclean spirit and every evil bird. You go, whoa, it looks good from one standard, from one perspective. But my goodness, wow, what is it really? This world's doomed. Don't get excited about the election. There is no political solution. The Lord is coming to judge the world in righteousness. The new politics is the government will be upon his shoulder. How many believe that? He's invited to come into the ark. And then Genesis 7, 11, in the 600th year of Noah's life, in the second month, the 17th day of the month. First of all, notice the precision. This actually happened on a calendar day. Okay. There's no myth. I mean, this really did happen on a specific day of a specific year and a specific time. He says, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up and the windows of heaven were opened. And you know what I see in that? Same thing we're going to see at the end of the world. I see uncreation. Because if you remember the creation story, one of the things he does is he divides the waters beneath and the waters above. This makes life livable for us. We can live here. He makes the whole earth so that we can live here and we can enjoy it. It's like the garden of delight and the best place possible for humanity in the beginning. But at the end, it's uncreation. Don't separate the waters above and the waters below anymore. Let them meet together. My goodness, man, these subterranean reservoirs of water come pumping up from the bottom. Rain comes down from the canopy of moisture. The ocean above comes down and the waters from beneath come up. And sheer terror comes at the judgment of the holy God, at the righteous judgment of a holy God whose heart sick that he made man and would wash away the earth of the corruption. It's uncreation. This is what you see in Revelation. Uncreation. In the beginning, let there be light. By Revelation 16, let there be dark. Let there be fresh water. My goodness, it's great to swim. It's great to drink. It's great to fish. It's great to be around the water. Let there be fresh water. At the end, wormwood. Blood. Let the oceans teem with life. In the end, oceans, blood. What is it? It's uncreation. It's reverse creation. After all, the ark itself for a short time is the new world. It's got three tiers, just like the world does. What does the Bible talk about? Heaven above, on the earth, underneath the earth. He tells us in the book of Genesis that the Lord shut the door of the ark. The Lord comes to Noah seven days before the flood and says, all right, you've got seven days. You and the animals get in there. And so there's all this activity. Animals coming in. Noah himself comes in, his family. And it says the Lord shut the door. Okay, now the people of the age, it's just like now. There's a lot of people believe in Bible prophecy. A lot of people believe in the end times. A lot of people believe in Nostradamus. A lot of people believe in a lot of stuff. And so they're always looking at the signs. It's a curiosity. It's an interest. It's intriguing, but it hasn't happened yet. In the ancient world, they're looking at the ark, you know, even if they're mocking, maybe in their quiet time, they look, oh yeah, the door's still open. Methuselah's still alive. I've still got time. They look. I always feel good when I come home from drinking, and I go by the ark and the door's open. And I woke up, hung over. But I went outside real quick. Oh, yeah, good. Door's open. But one day the Lord shut the door. Anybody here? Oh, good Lord. Go to Luke 13. Methuselah died, see? His name was the prophecy. When he leaves, it shall come. But by then, they're so hardened in their sin. They're so set in their way. They're so grooved in their rejection of God. It doesn't really touch them that much, but they do check the ark out. Oh, yeah, okay, door's still open. But then the day that God sent Noah into the ark and his family, God didn't wait for it to start raining to send Noah in the ark. He put Noah in the ark seven days before when everything was still business as usual. That in itself took faith. Die to the world. Leave it entirely. Go into the ark. Go hide yourself from the indignation to come, as Isaiah says. They all go in the ark. There's no rain. But on the seventh day, my goodness. What did I have you turn to? Oh, Luke 13. That's right. Thank you. Luke chapter 13, verse 23. Now, young people, you can take heed too. You're in a special position because you're raised around the church. And so maybe your version of the door is open as well. The rapture hadn't happened yet or whatever. Hearken unto the word of God. I mean, seek the Lord while he can be found. Call upon him while he's near. Be real and serious with God and with Christ. Understand this stuff is real. It's so real. Noah is not just a coloring book project. Noah is a real person who Jesus believed in, Peter believed in, Matthew believed in, Mark believed in. You can see the evidence of what happened, even though, we'll talk about this, even though the world's willfully ignorant of it. Some catastrophe happened. You see something like the Grand Canyon. You can see beauty, sure. But you often see something radical happen here. Why do you think they found a flash frozen woolly mammoth up in the polar regions? And because he was flash frozen, they could cut open his stomach and they found that he'd just eaten ferns and vegetation and jungle vegetation up in the North Pole. What happened here? Why do you see like sedimentary cliffs, hundreds of feet high, and they go like this, as if a blanket was just... What happened? Didn't happen gradually. Fossils couldn't happen gradually. They have to happen like that. It's a cataclysm. The fossils like they find, the fossils scream out. If a fish dies in mud, it's going to rot and disintegrate, especially after about 100 years. What made these things stable, solitary and intact? Animals running. What happened? They don't want that, so they don't believe it. They're willfully ignorant. Luke 13, 23. Then said one unto him, Hey Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the straight gate, the narrow doorway. For many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in and will not be able. Oh, anyone would enter in once the raindrops start falling. But God sent Noah in seven days before. There was no rain there. That's when God shut the door. When once the master of the house is risen up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand without it, to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us. Open the door, Lord. And he'll answer and say to you, I don't know where you're coming from. Then shall you begin to say, we ate and drank at your presence. You taught in our streets. I went to Sunday school when I was a kid. We took communion. But he'll say, I'll tell you, I don't know where you are, where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity. Be careful of false conversion. The sign of it is if you're a worker of iniquity, what's that mean? Iniquity means lawlessness. In other words, in modern vernacular, you do your own thing. You saved, you baptized, you take communion. But when it really comes down to it, whatever you want, that's the rule of life. Beware of it. Be careful. The Lord warns of it. But he'll say, I'll tell you, I don't know where you are. Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Real regret. I hate to think of what Noah and his family heard outside that ark, man. I hate that. Go back to the book of Genesis. We'll close. Or no, go to 2 Peter 3. The Lord shut the door. That's because it's God's work. Salvation is God's work from beginning to end. The ark wasn't Noah's idea. The pattern came down from heaven. And God is the one that shut the door, not Noah. 2 Peter chapter 3. See, we live in a time, though, the two great big debates. You wouldn't have thought they'd be big debates at this time. 30 or 40 years ago, you wouldn't have thought they'd be big debates because it just looked like science is going to make religion obsolete. But do we not live in religious states, much more religious than we ever thought 30 years ago? That's the debate about creation or evolution. And Peter predicted a long time ago, Peter predicted that there'd be a debate about the flood. Believe it or not. 2 Peter chapter 3. This second, this beloved, I now write unto you in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and the commandments of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first, that there will come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. What's he actually saying? You see, the New Testament word for the flood is cataclysmos. Some huge worldwide cataclysm happened, and man did it ever, and you can see it everywhere. Cataclysmos. But about 200 years ago, a guy that preceded Darwin named Lyle came up with this theory of uniformitarianism. What's that theory? There was no cataclysm. Everything's the way it's always been. It's uniform. There's no great worldwide cataclysm. Exactly what Peter predicted. That's why, I just saw it yesterday, a newspaper article in the Gazette about, the flood is local, not global. Okay. What's the Gazette or anybody care about the flood? Oh no, they got to explain that there was no cataclysm. Why would you be so eager to see? Why would they not want creation? Because creation has implications. What's the implications of creation? If God made you, God owns you, God has a say in your life. Anybody here? Now, why wouldn't they want the flood? What's that imply? The flood's implication is a lot stronger than creation's. It implies that the God is so holy that one time he was repulsed by what man had made of himself and literally wiped off every man, woman, and child but eight off the face of the earth. Yikes. On the one hand, they don't want to say that God made them. But on the other hand, they really don't want to say that there's a judgment coming. Anybody here? For this, verse 5, they willingly are ignorant of. Why do you find seashells on mountaintops? What happened? What's a seashell doing in a desert? Anybody? Fossil fish on the top of a mountain? Verse 5, the ignorance is willful. That's what makes it inexcusable. There's people in here like that. Will not, you won't. It's not you can't, you won't. For this, they willingly ignore that by the word of God, the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water, in the water, is creation. Whereby the world that then was, notice what he calls it, the world that was, the old creation, being overflowed with water, perished. But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word, kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and the perdition of ungodly men. Next time it won't be water, it'll be fire. Beloved, don't be ignorant of this one thing. One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years are as one day. The Lord isn't slack concerning His promise. As some men count slackness, but as longsuffering to us, we're not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. I think of Methuselah when I read that. Oldest living man, and his name means when he goes, it comes. The day of the Lord will come, arching unto the word of God. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with a fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein, they'll be burned up. You need a Noah. You need an even better Noah than the one that brought the world from the old into the new. You need an everlasting Noah. I'm here to tell you, got one. His name is Jesus Christ. That's the sign of the dove. Remember when he's baptized? Dove. Seeing then that all these things should be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness? Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire will be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with a fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. And I close. We're the people of tomorrow. There's a new heaven and a new earth coming. There's a new day of righteousness about ready to break out. And all you got to do is go into the ark. No, I won't say go into the ark. I'll say like he said, come. Come to Jesus. Throw yourself into the ark. Hide yourself from the ignatiation to come. See Jesus for what he is, a refuge from the wrath to come. Father, in the name of Jesus. Oh God, I pray that you'd waken up this sleeping generation, Lord, so they don't realize what's happening. They don't realize what's coming. And I pray that you'd quicken all the Christians, that we would long for the new heaven and the new earth, of which we're already a part, Lord. We're the new creation, and yet we're still in the old creation. We're the people in transition, the people in the doorway, the people of tomorrow, oh Lord. Let us live like it today, as Peter said, in righteousness and holy conversation, in the fear of the Lord and in love, oh God. I pray for the powers of the age to come. In Jesus' name, and everybody said, God bless you.