God instructs Noah to build the ark.

12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

14 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.

16 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.

17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring à flood of waters upon

the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

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.

19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.

21 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.

22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

I.ECTURE 14.

God has established a covenant with us.

This is the first passage of Scripture in which God speaks of Himself as entering into covenant with man; "With thee will I establish my covenant." The expression is one which may well fill us with astonishment at the condescension of God, in connexion with our own unworthiness. Like many others which occur throughout the Scripture, it represents the Almighty Maker of heaven and earth, as influenced by feelings, or bound by considerations, similar to those which affect his creatures. This doubtless is thus ordered for our advantage, that all mankind, not only the best educated and most refined, but all, might be able to understand the Bible, all might be able to feel of God, that though He is far from being such an one as ourselves, yet He takes deep interest, and exercises continual controul, in all that concerns us his reasonable creatures.

And more especially does our heavenly Father look with the eye of watchful love upon those who in return for his affection give Him the true homage of their hearts. When his mercy towards others has to give place to the necessity of judgment, He has for these still deliverance in store. When all flesh, and the earth on which they dwelt, must needs be destroyed by a flood, He contrives for righteous Noah, and for his children, an ark pitched within and without, furnished with all things needful for their support during the continuance of the waters on the face of the earth, and supplied with a sufficiency of every kind of animals to stock the earth afresh when it should again be dry. But God not only made this merciful provision for Noah and his family; He also gave them notice of it beforehand. He assured them of safety by the means of it. And He commanded them to take the necessary steps themselves towards enjoying the benefits thus assured to them. And they also for their parts performed what God commanded; being aware that when God established his covenant, they were as much bound to discharge their duties therein specified, as He to fulfil his promises.

And thus it is with that better covenant, which it has pleased God to establish with ourselves. When all flesh had again corrupted itself upon the earth, He said to us, instead of "Make thee an ark of gopher wood," "Save yourselves from this untoward generation." Acts 2. 40. Would we know by what means we may be saved? He tells us plainly what is the fashion of that church wherein we may be borne safely through the waves of the world. It is "built on the foundation of the prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone." Eph. 2. 20. And the foundation has this seal, "The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." 2 Tim. 2. 19. And in this building there is room for great and small, for swift and slow, for "male and female." And there is provided milk for babes, and strong meat for men; yea food of which he that eats shall no more hunger, water of which he that drinks shall thirst no more. Only then let us follow the example of Noah; "according to all that God commanded him, so did he." Let us do according to all that God has commanded us. And we may rest most entirely assured, that according to all which God has promised, so will He perform.

O God, who hast established thy covenant with us, grant that we may so fulfil thy good pleasure, as to attain unto the enjoyment of thy glorious promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Noah goeth into the ark.

1 And the LORD said unto 7 And Noah went in, and his Noah, Come thou and all thy sons, and his wife, and his sons' house into the ark; for thee wives with him, into the ark, have I seen righteous before me because of the waters of the in this generation. flood.

2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. 3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.

4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth.

9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the 5 And Noah did according great deep broken up, and unto all that the LORD com- the windows of heaven were manded him.

opened.

12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

LECTURE 15.

The disobedience of the faithless.

"Come thou and all thy house into the ark," was the invitation of the Lord to Noah. And at a time when all the rest of the world were "eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage," Matt. 24. 38, he complied with this call, and came into the ark, and "did according unto all that the Lord commanded him." Let us listen, and we shall be able to hear the same voice addressing us, and saying, "Come thou and all thy house into the ark." Come out from amongst the heedless, the disobedient, the perverse. Come out from a world that lieth in wickedness. Come into the church of the living God. Come into the community of saints. Come thou, and not thou alone, but also all thy house. Come all thy house, and also all, whomsoever thou canst persuade to come with thee. Already there are many more than the world supposes, who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity; but yet there is room. And there is no one duty more obviously incumbent on every one, who is himself in a place of safety, than to help to save all them that dwell around him.

66 a

"The secret of the Lord is among them that fear him." Ps. 25. 13. Noah, whom alone God saw righteous before Him in that generation, was the only one who seemed aware of the coming flood. And yet we doubt not that what God revealed to him he declared to others. For he is called by the apostle preacher of righteousness." 2 Pet. 2. 5. And he would not fail to confirm his preaching, by an argument so powerful as the notice of approaching judgment. But preaching has little effect upon the mind unless it also moves the heart. They who had notice one hundred and twenty years beforehand, thought it safer to put off repentance some time longer. They who had afterwards notice that within seven days the rain would commence, thought they might delay yet a little more. And we read not of any one out of all mankind, so much as offering to follow Noah into the ark, whilst yet the flood had not begun. They repented not, because they did not believe. They would not believe lest they should be constrained to repent. How does unbelief both blind the judgment, and harden the heart! "The end of all things is at hand." 1 Pet. 4. 7. This is the warning which has been proclaimed to us. It is allowed on all hands to be unquestionable truth. But it weighs no more with many, than if it were unquestionably false. They see the faithful taking refuge in the ark; but they stay contented without, in the world. They trust that the world will last their time as it is. And they consider not, that whether they die first or not, the perdition of ungodly men is as sure to take place at last, as the burning up of the world by fire.

What a lesson might such unbelievers learn from that which is here told us of the brute creation; how the "clean beasts," those which were fit for sacrifice, seven pair of each, and the beasts that are not clean," and the "fowls," and "every thing that creepeth upon the earth," "went in two and two, unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah." Well might the prophet say concerning faithless professors in all generations, "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider." Is. 1. 3. Guided by an Almighty hand, the cattle knew their way into the ark. Warned by the same Jehovah's voice, mankind set at nought all his counsels, and would none of his reproof. Oh shame that we should have to learn obedience from creatures devoid of reason! And if we do but learn the lesson, whether from Noah, or from the animals, or from the waters of the flood, oh thanks be to God for teaching us!

The waters prevail. All things living die.

13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, and every bird of every sort. 15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.

16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him and the LORD shut him in. 17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth: and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.

20 Fifteen cubits upwards did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man :

22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.

LECTURE 16.

That Christ is an ark of safety to all them that believe. On comparing the different parts of this account of the flood, it appears that Noah and his three sons and their wives went into the ark seven days before the rain began. And it is especially noted, that they and all the other living creatures went in "the selfsame day." And then it is added of Noah, that "the Lord shut him in." These circumstances throw fresh light on the liveliness of his faith, and probably also on the ardour of his charity. He went in and took his family and all that God had commanded him, whilst all things still continued as they were from the beginning of the creation; and whilst the scoffer was doubtless loudly demanding of the flood, where is the promise of its coming? Let us also repent whilst yet the sun of our prosperity shines fair, before the storm of tribulation overtakes us. Let us give to God the days of our youth, and health, and strength. Weakness