REFLECTIONS.
WHAT a precious consideration is it to the faithful, that amidst all the judgments of God, upon the wicked, the Lord is never inattentive to the interests and safety of his people. Before the flood sweeps away the sinner, an ark sha11 be provided for the saint. Before that the wicked shall be driven, with everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, Jesus will make up his jewels, and be glorified in them that believe. In that decisive hour, Lord, may it be my portion to be found in Thee. Reader! pause over this wonderful deliverance, in the instance of Noah and his family, and consider, whether in the ark, you do not behold a type of the Lord Jesus, preserving his church and people.
Doth not his Godhead appear in the fulness and all-sufficiency of his salvation? Is not the almightiness of his merits and death demonstrated, in bearing up the whole weight of redemption, when the wrath of God, like the torrents and tempests descending upon the ark, destroyed everything but this place of safety? And who doth not see, that in the blood and righteousness, the doing and suffering, of Christ Jesus, the eternal safety of the believer alone is found, O! for an ardent faith, to believe the record which God hath given of His Son.
Let us not dismiss the contemplation of this interesting subject, until that we have taken another and another view of the ark of safety. While God, as a kind Father, foreseeing the storm approaching, doth not think it enough to call his children from the field, but takes them by the hand, to bring them home into the house; so, the same mercy, which provides the shelter of the Saviour, provides help to the sinner, to embrace it. The call of grace, is not, to Noah, Go thou into the ark, but come; evidently teaching, that while God the Father hath so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son, for salvation, he gives also his Holy Spirit, to render that salvation effectual. Holy and Eternal Spirit! while thou kindly enablest me to hear the voice of entreaty, calling me to enter into the ark Christ Jesus; and while thou, as graciously, art pointing to Him, as the Way, the Truth, and the Life; Oh! add another blessing to the undeserved favour, and make me willing, in the day of thy power; work in me, both to will and to do, of thy good pleasure.
One word more, before we close the Chapter. As all are not Israel, which are of Israel; so, let it be remembered, that all who went into the ark, were not like faithful Noah. Men, by virtue of the profession of religion, may mingle with the people of God, may be found at ordinances, and, from their connection with them, may receive many temporal deliverances. Hence, we find Ham, among the household of Noah, in the ark; and Judas among the disciples of Christ. But all this is widely distinguished from the possession of the divine life. Tares may, and will spring up with the good seed. And we know who it is that hath said, Let both grow together until the harvest. But the hour is hastening, when a perfect discrimination shall take place, and then an everlasting separation will follow, between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God, and him that serveth him not. My soul! be it thy earnest prayer to God, never to rest in a name to live, while virtually dead before him. Grant, dearest Lord! that, while fleeing to the Lord Jesus, as the Ark, for refuge, Christ may be formed in my heart, the hope of glory.