One Window toward the Heaven for Light Following this, we come to the matter of light. In the ark there was one window towards the heavens (6:16). That was the skylight. The Hebrew word for window has the same root as the word for noon. This means that when you are under the window, you are in the noontime. You are in the sunshine and are full of light. Whether you are in the first, second, or third story is proved by the degree of light that you have. I have seen a good number of fervent Christians. In a sense they were on fire, but they were not so much in the light. I have also met some other dear saints whose presence made everything clear. I had many good times with Brother Nee. Whenever a person sat down with him, all of his darkness vanished, and everything became clear. In his presence it was noontime. What story are you in? The story you are in is indicated by the amount of light you have. The more light you have, the higher you are, and the less light you have, the lower you are. There was only one window in the ark. Today people argue a great deal about different ministries. I do not care for the number of ministries. There is only one window and only one light. The apostle Paul said that we must reject the doctrines different from what he preached and taught (Gal. 1:6-9; Rom. 16:17; 1 Tim. 1:3). In God’s economy and in God’s church there should be only one window. The light should not come from the north, south, east, or west, but from the sky. In the building of God, there is only one window, one revelation, and one vision. The light comes from above. One Door on the Side The ark had one door on the side (6:16). No one has ever dropped into the ark from the heavens. We all came in through the side. There is only one door, one way, to get in. Some may argue that there are twelve gates in the New Jerusalem, three gates on each of the four sides of the city. But do you not know that the three are in one? What is three? It is the dispensing of the Godhead. In the ark there is one opening for the light and one entrance for all to get in. We all, including the apostle Paul, came through the same door. The door is Christ. Material—Gopher Wood The ark was made of gopher wood (6:14). What is gopher wood? It is a cypress, full of resin; it is a kind of resinous wood. It can stand the attack of water. A wood without resin cannot withstand the attack of water. Gopher wood was able to withstand the attack of the flood water. Song of Songs 1:17 speaks of cedar and fir. Fir is very similar to cypress. Nearly all of the best versions translate the Hebrew word for fir as cypress. In typology, especially in the Song of Songs, cedar wood typifies the resurrected Christ. The resurrected Christ is the cedar wood that grows on the top of Mount Lebanon. Cypress is a figure of the crucified Christ. The crucified Christ can withstand the waters of death. He tasted death, and death could do nothing to Him. The ark made of gopher wood passed through the flood, and the flood attacked it again and again, but no damage was incurred. This signifies the solidness of Christ as the crucified One. Christ is the real gopher wood. He is the true cypress, full of resin and strong to withstand any flood. The flood waters of death cannot damage Him. Covered within and without with Pitch Christ is not only the crucified One, but also the One who shed His blood to cover us from the penalty of our sins. So, the ark was pitched within and without with pitch (6:14). The Hebrew word for pitch has the same root as the Hebrew word for atonement. The main meaning of this Hebrew root is “to cover.” The word for the cover of the ark of the testimony, the mercy seat, also comes from this same root. This means that in Christ we have the full covering. We all are covered with His redemption. Death cannot damage Him, and so no condemnation or judgment can reach us, because we are under the covering of Christ’s redemption. The pitch signifies the redeeming of Christ, which covers God’s building within and without. The covering within is for our sight, and the covering without is for God’s. Perhaps when the flood was attacking the ark, the people within were frightened. But whenever they looked at the pitch within, they could be at peace. The pitch inside the ark was for their peace. The pitch outside the ark was for God’s satisfaction. The covering of the pitch without was also for Satan and the angels. This is a picture of the blood. Whenever we look at the blood, we have peace. Whenever God looks at the blood, He is satisfied. Whenever Satan looks at the blood, he is unable to attack. Whenever the angels look at the blood, they rejoice. A Type of Christ The whole ark is a type of Christ (1 Pet. 3:20-21). Christ is not a canoe, but an ark. A canoe is a curved piece of wood; an ark is composed of many pieces rightly framed together. An ark is a building. A canoe is individual, but an ark is a corporate entity. My Christ is an ark. We can never be safe in a canoe. However, when I am in the ark, I can sleep well regardless of how terrible the storm may be. We are in the ark. Some Christians may have Christ as a canoe, but our Christ is an ark. Since the ark is a type of Christ, how could Noah have built it? Nevertheless the ark was built by Noah. Many Christians simply preach the gospel, expecting that one day God will send the ark down from heaven. If you say that we must work to build the ark, the salvation, people will condemn you, saying, “We are saved by grace, not by work.” Noah was saved by the ark which was built by his work. Philippians 2:12-16 says, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure…that you may become blameless and guileless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life.” What does it mean to “work out your own salvation”? It means to hold out the Word of life, to illuminate, to enlighten, to live out Christ. This is through God’s working within us both to will and to do. As God is working within us, so we have to work out our salvation. Although we have been saved, God is still working in us that we may work out our salvation. Thousands of people have been saved, but how many have the life described in Philippians 2:15? Many are not working out their salvation. Are we now working out our salvation? Noah built the ark that eventually saved him not only from God’s judgment, but also from that crooked and perverse generation. We must work out this kind of salvation. There is no doubt that we have been saved from eternal perdition. But Noah was not only saved from perdition; he was also saved out of that evil age into a new age. The ark which he built terminated the old generation and ushered in a new one. That was the kind of salvation that Noah was building. It was not simply a salvation from eternal perdition, but a salvation from that crooked and perverse generation. That kind of salvation was not only prepared by God; it was built through the corporate cooperation of the saved ones. No one who has been saved will ever perish. Nevertheless, you need a further and higher salvation that will save you from this crooked and perverse generation. Have you been saved? What about the coming age? Will you have a share in it? Will you be there when Christ returns to take possession of the whole earth and to exercise His reigning power over it? Will you share in His reign? Although we all have been saved from eternal perdition, many of us are not working on something which will bring us out of this evil age. The ark which Noah built was a salvation that not only saved him from God’s judgment, but that also separated him from that crooked and perverse generation and brought him into a new age. As far as God’s judgment is concerned, we all have been saved, but as far as God’s economy is concerned, we are lacking. God has condemned the world, but you still love it. God has warned you to escape from this age, but you still keep yourself firmly planted in it. You are short of the further and higher salvation. The salvation mentioned in Philippians 2 is not salvation from perdition, but from the crooked and perverse generation. While the apostles were preaching the gospel, they were also building the ark in which they would enjoy full salvation. What was that ark? It was the corporate Christ. While the apostles were preaching the individual Christ, they were building up the corporate Christ. Through that corporate Christ, thousands of people were not only saved from God’s judgment, but also from that crooked and perverse generation. Today, if we are faithful to God, we must do the same thing. On the one hand, we preach the gospel; on the other hand, we build the ark. What we preach is what we build. What we preach is not a theory or a doctrine. We preach what we are building up. By our life and work, we build up the very thing that we are preaching to others. Eventually, we shall enter into that which we are building. Others may also enter in. The builded ark will save us from this condemned generation. Do you not believe that we are building the ark? I am so happy that we are building the ark. My friends and relatives always ask me, “What are you doing?” I reply, “I am doing something which is difficult for you to understand. The only way for you to understand it is to get in it yourself.” We are not just preaching, but also building what we preach. Do we preach Christ? We are building Christ as well as preaching Christ. This means that we are living by Christ and with Christ. We are living out Christ. We hold on to Christ and live Him out. This is our building work. At the same time, we are building the church. The church is the corporate Christ (1 Cor. 12:12) which, in a sense, is today’s ark. Thousands of people have been saved by entering into the church life. Many can testify how they have been saved by coming into the church. Although you might have been saved for many years, you were not separated from this crooked world until you came into the church. That corporate ark separated you. Once we came into the church, no one had to tell us to come out of the world. We simply began a life of “churching,” coming to the meetings again and again. Eventually, the long hair and so many other things of this age disappeared. By churching, everything of this crooked age will disappear. What is able to save us from this perverse age? Churching can save us. We are building the ark that can save us as well as others from the age condemned by God. Not Only for Mankind but Also for All Living Things The ark was not only for the salvation of man, but for the salvation of all living creatures. What does this signify? Hebrews 2:9 says that Christ tasted death not only for every man, but, as the Greek indicates, for everything. So, Colossians 1:20 says that God has reconciled all things to Himself through Christ. The creatures as well as the human beings were in the ark. Christ has accomplished an all-inclusive death for every creature, for all things. Thus, the ark was not only for the salvation of man, but for the salvation of all living creatures.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 01:16:21 +0000