Jesus - the Ark of the New Covenant
2 Corinthians 4:7-15
Cast Down but Unconquered
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you.
And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,”we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
Matthew 7:14-27
Build on the Rock
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
Exodus 2:1-3
Moses Is Born
And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank.
We expect as Christian to be exempted from trouble. However, in this world we experience the same problems as our friends who are not saved. However, we worship a God who does not protect us from the Fire, but he is a God who can protect us in the Fire.
You need to understand
- It’s not about what you are going through
- It’s not important what you are going through
What matters is
- In what are you going through?
- Are you in the Ark?
Noah was in a flood that wiped away the earth; However, Noah was in the Ark. The ark was designed to go through the flood, but not sink.
2 Corinthians 4:7-15
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed
In the scripture above “We” refers to earthen vessels. Imagine an earthen vessel being hard-pressed on every side.
It’s not important what you are going through, but in what are you going through, is what matters.
Noah was not protected because of his condition, but because of his position. He was in the Ark. Moses was protected because he was in the Ark.
We have a solid rock on which we can stand. We have a position in Christ. Christ is the Ark of the New Covenant. God will make a difference
The problem with today’s Church is we are “Emotional babes”, we all want feelings.
Consider the person who built his house on the Rock. In case he had stepped out and seen the storm, had seen what happened to the other person, if he had see how the other person’s house on the sand had fallen, he would have felt his house will also not survive the storm.
We miss out on a lot of things because of our feelings. Feelings are not based on facts. Feelings are not stable. We keep sinning because we go by feelings when the fact is, we are dead to sin.
The Word has got all the answers. We should learn to stand on the scriptures and make it our solid foundation.
We go through troubles because of the following reasons.
- We make foolish decisions and blame God for it. We feel that God should have stopped us from making that decision.
Proverbs 19:3
The foolishness of a man twists his way,
And his heart frets against the LORD.
- Other peoples choices affect us and we blame God for it
When we have such a thought, we should have no doubt that it is from the devil.
John the Baptist knew who he was. He knew for whom he was preparing the way. When he was asked he quoted Isaiah 40:3
The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.
John knew the book of Isaiah very well. However, when Herod put him in prison, John did not feel Jesus anymore. John sent 2 of his disciples to Jesus to check with him “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
Matthew 11:4-6
Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
Isaiah 35:5
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then the lame shall leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the dumb sing.
This was the Job description of the Messiah. Jesus chose to answer John from Isaiah.
We should not look at what we are going through; we should look at the Word. When Noah built the Ark there was no sign of rain. He spent many years building the ark. When he had finished the Ark, it had everything but a rudder. The Ark was the rudder for Noah’s life. We need to take our eyes off everything. The Ark is prepared in such a way that nothing affects us.
Acts 28:3-6
But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.” But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.
There would be people around you waiting for you to die. Paul knew God had promised him that he would be brought before Caesar. He knew that no Viper could kill him because he was in the purpose of God.
The biggest lie of the devil is “God’s word is not practical”
You are not just an earthen vessel, you have God in you. The Word says “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
Mark 11:24
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Your relationship with God is most important. When you have a relationship with God, you will know His will. The moment you pray, you know it’s done. It is not mind over matter.
Faith is not twisting God’s arm to do something for you. God never reacts, he always acts. As for forgiveness of Sins, healing and deliverance it’s a finished act. Finished act is called a Fact.
Matthew 7:7-8
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Mark 11:23
For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
When you ask but have doubt, it is like faith pulling you on one side and doubt on another. When the force is equal, you don’t move, nothing happens. When there is a plane crash, no one doubts the Laws of Aerodynamics, Law of Faith always works. Word of God always works.
At some point in our Christian walk we need to acknowledge that the Bible is not just a book. It is God’s Word.
Amen.
