I'm not going to highlight one particular text, but I wish to make some comments upon the chapter as a whole. The title for the sermon this morning is A New Beginning. A New Beginning. This is really what we have in this chapter here. We have, if you like, to put things in colloquial language for us. We have God operating a mopping up service. It's the end of a storm, a time for renewal and rest after tribulation. The end of a storm and the beginning of new life and hope for God's people and God's creation. After going through a storm like no other and being cooped up in a confined space for over a year, finally Noah and his family exit the ark into their new world. And it would have been a sense of relief for them, but also with a sense of anxiety and apprehension What were they going to face? How were they going to cope? Many things would be upon their minds, but certainly there would have been joy, relief, freedom, being able to breathe fresh air again, and to have the freedom of the world at their fingertips. Last Lord's Day, we looked at Genesis chapter 7, And we chose there our text, verse one. And the title was Come Into The Ark. And we noticed there that there was a gospel invitation. And we meditated upon that. But before that, we noticed and we sought to stress that the flood was global, not local. And the flood covered the whole of the globe. And we noticed the call of God, the grace of God, and the long suffering of God. But we didn't have enough time to bring out all that we wanted to say. And we noticed particularly in point two that God even provided for the animals. He was careful and mindful of the animals. And the particular point that we want to highlight maybe this morning in our introduction, that in chapter 7, verse 4, we notice, for yet seven days I will cause it to rain upon the earth. Here God was being more gracious. He was being more long-suffering. He told Noah to go into the ark. in verse one and Noah went into the ark and you would imagine and it would not be difficult but here with the people were round about him this huge ark was in some place some site we don't know where but Noah was going into the ark him his wife his sons and their wives, and all the animals, and what a spectacle it would have been. And the people round about would have been watching this, and they would have been saying to themselves, here we have wild animals going into the ark two by two. Something is going on here. This is not normal. Noah would never be able to do this in of himself. Obviously the Lord's hand was upon the animals so that they went in in an orderly manner and all the food that was required for a year and over a year in the ark, all the food for the animals and all the food for the people there was provided and all of this had to go in There would have been some kind of plank for them to walk up and the people round about, no doubt, they were laughing. Look at Noah. What's happening? Noah, there's no rain. What are you doing? Have you lost your head? That's what they would have been saying. But Noah went into the ark and verse four, For yet seven days I will cause it to rain upon the earth. God was being long-suffering. God was saying, well, you're going into the ark now, but in seven days, in seven days, the flood is going to come. And the people were going to see this spectacle, and they had opportunity to make provision. They had opportunity to go into the ark. All of that was there for them because the Lord extended his mercy for yet another seven days. And we're inclined to believe, friends, that Noah had been building this ark for well over 100 years. Yet God, who is long-suffering, said, yet another seven days. Well, here you are. Many of you were here last Lord's Day and you heard the call of God. And now here it's another seven days. And have you answered his call? You have presumed that God will keep on calling. Well, we know as we looked at chapter seven last Lord's Day, the time came when God shut the door, not Noah, but God shut Noah and his family and the animals in so that no one could get in. Now what we want to say this week is something from chapter 7 and something also from chapter 8. It's the fact that seven days is mentioned a number of times. It's mentioned in verse 4 that I've already quoted from chapter 7. It's also mentioned in verse 10 of the same chapter, and it came to pass after seven days. If you turn to chapter 8 and verse 10, and he stayed yet other seven days. And then verse 12, and he stayed yet other seven days. What's all this seven days about, you may well be saying? Well, we will go back to the very beginning when God instituted the Sabbath day. Seven days. We don't hear much about the Sabbath day in Genesis from after chapter two. We acknowledge that. But the very fact here that we have in this chapter and in the previous chapter references to seven days continually, this is reminding us that God was instructing Noah on the Sabbath day. Seven days, seven days, seven days. These things are there for our instruction. That we might realize, friends, that the obligation of the Sabbath day is perpetual. It maybe is not heavily promoted in the book of Genesis. That is true. But you're not to say that it was not observed. It was. Noah observed the Sabbath day seven days, seven days, seven days. This is telling us something. Well, I may have some news for some of you. God has not abrogated the Sabbath day. Oh, yes, it has been changed. That is true. The day. The original Sabbath day, I'm not going to develop this because we've looked at it, but to refresh your minds and memories, the original Sabbath day was there primarily to be reminded about the greatness of God and his creation. Well, our Christian Sabbath is the first day of the week. And why is it the first day of the week? It's the first day of the week, for that's the day when Jesus rose. That's the day when He came out of the grave. That's the day, if you like, of a new creation. The risen Christ. And the church, the early church, changed. There was a period of transition. When, yes, they would have observed the old seven-day Sabbath and the new Sabbath, the Lord's Day. They were in a period of transition. You can understand that. the point the minister is making, and I believe the point that the word of God is making to us, that we have a Sabbath. It's the Lord's day. It's a day devoted to God. We have seven days in the week, six days for ourselves, We can't do anything in these six days. We won't, no. We're not to sin, of course. But we have freedom in these days too. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work. But the seventh day, or in our case, in New Testament times, the first day of the week, is to be devoted to God. It's to come to his house. It's to be found in the public means of grace. It is to be a day of rest when we don't engage in the things that we would normally engage in, in the normal, lawful things that we would engage in during the other six days of the week. It's time for us to read our Bibles privately and in families. It's time to meditate upon Christ and what he has done. This is what this is leading us to. It is for our own benefit. The Lord knows us. The Lord knows we are weak. He knows our frame. And that's why he has given us this day. It's for your benefit. Well, let us look in at chapter eight. We want to highlight one or two things. Verse one, for instance, and God remembered Noah. Oh, what wonderful words here, right at the very beginning. You know, God cannot forget anything. God knows everything. He never needs to be reminded. You don't have to send him a note. And when we pray, As we should pray, as we're commanded to pray, we're not reminding God. He knows what we need even before we ask. Is that not wonderful? Is that not a great encouragement to go to God? He knows what we need. Yes, we are to tell Him. That's to humble us. That's to make us realise that we depend upon Him. But He knows exactly what you need even before you ask. I wonder, can we adopt, if you like, Noah's mindset and the mindset of the eight people in the ark? What a tremendous experience they went through. It would have been a fearful experience. The rain plummeting down upon them. All they heard was the rain. We hear it here sometimes. We hear the noise of the rain. What must have been it like to hear sheets of rain descend upon them continually and then to hear the bowels of the earth explode as water came out all over the place. They would have heard all of that. And they might wonder to themselves, are we going to survive? Are we? And then they would have heard the cries and the screams and the howlings. Oh, people were running up to the ark. It was covered in pitch. Maybe they were trying to cling on to it, but they couldn't. The water came down and the pitch became slippery, and they fell into the water. They couldn't climb up to the ark. And Noah would have heard all of that. Oh, he would have heard these cries. How long for? We don't know, but he would have heard it. And here he was, along with his family. In the ark, you hear the animals. The animals, how would they react? You know, some animals, the horses for instance, do they not panic? Are you not told that when, if you're in a motor vehicle and you find that there's a horse and a rider in front of you, you don't toot the horn at the horse, do you? No, why? Because the horse will take off. What must it be like for all the animals there, hearing all this, confined with no sight to see? Only one window, and there's no evidence that they would see out the window, but they would have heard all of these things. And you know, friends, as it is with yourself, when you don't see things but you hear things, your mind works overtime. And you know, there was one voice that was silent. God. He never spoke to Noah. He never spoke to his family. Never uttered a word. They were all in the ark for over a year. Heaven was silent. What must have been like for Noah? Here he was. He was a man of faith. He stepped out in faith. He did what the Lord would have him to do and he was exactly where the Lord would have him to be. But God never uttered a word to him. God did not draw near and comfort him. God did not speak to him as Jesus spoke to the Apostle Paul. We looked at it when we went through the book of Acts. There he was in Corinth and he was fearful and the Lord appeared to him and comforted him and said to him, I have much people in this city. Continue. No one will lay a finger upon you. You are mine. But Noah got nothing like that. Nothing like that. How would you feel? Maybe how do you feel today? Here you are a believer. Here you are, you walk in the life of faith. You are seeking to be obedient to the Lord. You've taken up the cross, you follow him. You're not a nominal Christian, you're a genuine Christian. But the Lord is not speaking to you. No, he is silent. How do you feel? What's it like? Maybe you're wondering, has the Lord forgotten me? You know, maybe that's exactly what it was like for Noah. Maybe he said in his dark moments. Has the Lord forgotten me? Have I made a mistake? Am I going to get out of this floating grave? And then we hear these cheering words, and God remembered Noah. What a wonder. What does it mean when God remembers? We've already said he cannot forget. So what does it mean then when he says, when the Bible says that God remembered Noah? It means to pay attention to, to fulfill a promise and to act on behalf of somebody. Noah, it's time to come out of the ark. God remembered his promise. We noticed it when we first looked at Noah. Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord. Now it was time for God to honor the faith of Noah. He remembered him. God remembers his people. He never forgets. If you belong to the Lord, no matter what experience you're going through, No matter if the hosts of hell are fighting you, God remembers you. He never gives up. He never abandons His people. Never. Never can. God cannot deny Himself. That's the God of the Bible. That's the God that you have your faith in. The triune God. The God who chose you before the foundation of the world. The God who sent forth His Son in order to die in your room and place. and the God of the Holy Spirit, that one who regenerated you, that one who brought you into his kingdom, and that one who has sanctified you, even through all your experiences, terrible as they may well be. And no one else may know anything about them, but God does. And God remembers his people. Christian, stand up. Christian, be assured the world may forsake you, fellow Christians may forsake you, but not God. He remembered Noah and he remembers all his people. We're told in the Bible that God remembered Abraham and he rescued Lot. Lot who was more concerned about the world, yet because of his relationship to Abraham, God remembered his covenant that he had made with Abraham and he rescued Lot. What a God we have. Is he not worthy of our worship? Is he not worthy of our trust? The Lord remembered Rachel and Hannah These poor women were barren, and to the Jews of that time, to be barren was a terrible thing. It was a slight you were looked down upon, not like today. These women longed for children, but God wouldn't give them children. They were barren until he remembered them. What a wonderful thing to be remembered. In Exodus, we're reading it as we go through our family worship, Exodus. The people are in bondage. Pharaoh and the people, they forgot all about Joseph, the one who had saved them. He, we're told in the scriptures that the Pharaoh at that time, he knew not Joseph. He didn't know his history. He didn't know the blessing of Joseph. And now he was persecuting Joseph's family and Joseph's people and they were in hard bondage in Egypt. And it was a terrible time for them. Oh, but what a wonderful word came one day. The Lord remembered his covenant. The Lord saw the bondage of the people and the Lord was going to do something about it. Here, friends, as a congregation and as a church and as a denomination, friends, we must take this message to ourselves today. We must realize that God will remember us. God cannot forget his people, and he will remember his cause. And although we might be living in the decline of the Christian profession, the Christian church, in these days, the day will come when God will visit his cause. And this is the cause that's there for, to be faithful, to be like Noah. When we don't hear the voice of the Lord, when we get no encouragement, to be faithful. We could think of Job. Job was maybe around this time, we don't know exactly. But you know Job, a man righteous. He was stripped of everything apart from his life. God was testing him. The devil basically said that Job is only following you because you're good to him. Take away all his possessions, take away his health, take away his family, take away his animals, and he'll soon curse you. Basically, that's what the devil was saying. And the Lord let the devil tempt Job. And what happened? Well, Job was brought low. His counsellors, his friends came to counsel him. And basically what they said is, you're a sinner. God is dealing with you because you're a sinner. Own up, admit it. That's your problem. You're a hypocrite. What does Job say? Well, he said many things, but he said something here that's very appropriate for what we're looking at today. Job said, but he knoweth the way that I take. When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. Job knew he was not perfect. He never claimed to be perfect, but he was righteous. And I don't know the way he's taking me. I don't know what's happening. But this is my hope and this is my confidence. He knows the way. He knows how he's dealing with me. And when he is finished with me, I shall come forth as gold. This is what happened here. Noah came forth as gold. His faith was vindicated. The people laughed at him. A flood? There's no flood coming, Noah. You're a madman. Noah went ahead, built the ark, the flood came, the world was destroyed, but he and his family were saved. His faith saved him. And it's the same for the Christian. And also we notice here in this verse to encourage us, the Lord remembered Noah and every living thing and all the cattle that was with him in the ark. Does this not again emphasize to us the loving care and the tenderness of the great God of heaven? Oh, the devil would seek to portray our God as someone who's harsh, someone who is vindictive. Not so. Not so. God remembered Noah and all the animals there as they were cooped up in this I'm saying a smelly ark. It may not be. Others are able to tell us that it was designed in such a way that the smell would not be prominent. I'm not certain. But it wasn't a five-star hotel by any manner of means. And the Lord remembered Noah and the animals. Oh friends, therefore is this not worthy of our God? Shall we not trust this one who looks upon his people and even looks upon dumb animals? Does he not care for all of his creation? Does he not care for you? Can we not say that this morning to you? Can we not impress you with the fact that God cares for you? You know it. You got up this morning only because God cares for you. He has provided for you everything you've ever needed. Maybe not everything you wanted. That would be like a spoiled child. And God is a perfect parent. But he cares. And can we say, yes we can, we will. Has he not shown his care, his love to sinful mankind in sending forth his Son, Christ Jesus? We can, we will. Will God remember Noah? And he will remember his cause and his people. He cannot forget. What else can we say then? Well, secondly, we notice God renews his world. We find this really from verses 1 to 14. I'm not going to highlight it, but here was Noah floating around. The world was a global water. He was floating around. God harnesses the wind. sends a wind upon it, upon the earth, in order that the floods may evaporate and that they might go to the places that God has assigned for them. The great God of heaven who created heaven and earth, can he not control the elements? Are the waters not in his hands? Are the winds not in his hands? The very insects, are they not in his hands? The locusts, when they came to the plague of Egypt, are they not in his hands? Can he not summons them from the east or the west? Of course he can. The frogs, the lice, he can do all of these things. He has many arrows in his quiver. He can use the most literalist of his creatures to perform wonderful things. And this is what we find here. Eventually, the earth was going to be dry and the waters would be consigned to the places appointed to them. This does not remind you about the Lord Jesus Christ. On that occasion, when he was in a storm, he was asleep in the back of the boat. The disciples, what were they? Many of them were experienced fishermen, and they would have known storms and tribulations in the waters. It was commonplace, nothing unusual, but they were frightened, they were fearful. This was a bad storm. Their lives were in danger. They go to the Savior. What does he say? Quiet, be still. That's all. Quiet, be still. And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? Even the wind and the sea, they obey. We have rain today. It's because the Lord has sent the rain. When it stops, it's because he has stopped it. When it rains in one part of the world, it's because the Lord has sent the rain. When there is a drought, it is because the Lord has said, no rain shall fall here. It's the same with all the weather. It's under the control of God. Does this not fill your heart then with confidence? The world is upside down. concerning climate change, and I'm not going to elaborate here, but the Christian is one who relies upon God, and he orders and directs all things, even the weather. And he renewed his old world there to be a new world, and when Noah came out of the ark, he would have been surprised because the landscape had changed. The volume of water that encircled the earth changed the very environment. That's our God. Are you not going to trust him then in the little things of your life? Does this not call forth faith? I do believe, if I'm reading the media correctly, that many young people are really anxious about climate change. They're fearful. Are you fearful of climate change? When you fear God, you'll not fear anything else. When you have that true fear of God, not that fear that accompanies punishment, no, no, no. That fear that reveals itself in adoration, in resignation to the will of God, in delight in Him, Recognizing and acknowledging, shall not the judge of all the earth do that which is right? Is your hope in God? Know as was, and God renewed. the world as we have it today. Well, fourthly, finally, maybe we have God rewards faith. Verse 15, after Noah had sent out the raven and the dove, and the dove came back with the olive leaf in his beak, indicating that things were somewhat back to normal. Noah didn't jump out. Noah didn't say, well, that's it, I'm off. No, no. Noah again exercised faith in verse 15, and God spake unto Noah, saying, go forth off the ark. We notice, friends, that when the ark was ready, Noah didn't go into the ark until the Lord told him to. He didn't come out of the ark until the Lord told him to. Obedience to the Word of God. That's what faith is. It's believing God's Word. It's not running ahead of ourselves. It's not taking upon ourselves our initiatives or our desires or our hopes. It's waiting upon the Lord. This is what we find here. And all throughout Noah's life, up until this point at least anyway, he had faith to walk with God, to work for God, to witness for God, and therefore he was going to wait upon God. And that can be difficult. That can be difficult for the Christian. But he wouldn't do it, anything. until God spoke to him, because he recognized, as the psalmist does, my times are in thy hand. A wonderful verse that we find in Psalm 31, verse 15. I'm quoting part of it. My times are in thy hand. Do you take this position? The believer does. The believer who's resting upon God does. My times are in thy hand. The book of Hebrews commends Noah. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house. And he was vindicated. His faith was proved and demonstrated. God honored it. He became the head of the new human race. because he was obedient and did not run ahead of himself, but was willing to wait upon God, recognizing that God knows best. My times are in thy hand. Well, there we have it then, a new beginning after a dreadful storm But Noah came out, shining colors, the head of a new humanity. And God was going to bless him and his people. Amen. And may God be pleased to bless his word to us. Let us pray together.