NOAH

NOAH

What a time that year must have been to Noah! Shut into the ark he had to find his all there, and thus set forth in type to us that one could so walk here, finding all we need in our ark! There is a double line running parallel. Paul, in the Philippians going on, “this one thing I do”, (Philippians 3: 13) and in the Ephesians sitting down with Christ above and out of everything. Noah preparing the ark and Noah in the ark. During the first the “groaning” would occur. The difficulty of preparing keeps one in conflict with all the elements here, and we ought not to seek to be outside of pressure, for pressure, if we are in earnest, has only the effect of making us cautious and braced up; as a man walks more carefully on a craggy rock than on a smooth road. The church - that is the saints - is our sphere to love in, but we are in a world where we are hated, and though the world is often kind it is never to be trusted. Darius sacrificed Daniel; a Judas sold our Lord. They forget everything when self-interest leads against us. But what a thing it is to accept, and how unwilling we are to accept it. How often do we seek the countenance of a worldly relative or acquaintance?

In the church is the place to set out Christ. You can only offer Him as a Saviour to the world from the door within which you are yourself. But among His people you can unfold what you know of Him. You ^[p. 168] require His grace in you to serve the saints; all of Him is needed and can be used there. The world hates us; it is not only against us, but it has hatred towards us. The Holy Spirit is here to testify of our absent Lord; He is with us and for us, our only Friend in that sense, but the world is against us.