Prof Zebulon No E109

A) Creation (Worldwide Flood)

The Biblical account of Noah’s ark and the flood that the Lord sent “to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life from under heaven and everything that is in the earth shall die” (Gen 6: 17b) is probably the most familiar passage in the entire Bible. Genesis 6, 7 and 8 contain very specific details of this event and in chapter 9, the world as Noah had known it, completely changed; is was a new world for the animals also. Habitats had been altered, food sources had changed and some animals did not survive these changes; dinosaurs are an example. While the flood waters were receding in the area of Mount Ararat in Turkey adjacent to the Russian and Iranian border, elsewhere in the world tremendously rapid climate changes were occurring at both poles which account for certain animals being found intact and frozen in large ice mountains. A now-extinct mammoth was found trapped in one of these Arctic glaciers with undigested food still in its stomach. In the Australian mountains, thousands of shellfish fossils have been found; some have been found also in the Grand Canyon in Nevada. The flood was worldwide in scope and the ark ended up in a very treacherous mountain range to which many, many expeditions have been put together to find it. We know it’s there because the Bible says so, but up till now no one has actually found it; at least no one who has documented proof. Many stories have emerged over the years about sightings of the ark; a satellite even picked up an image that resembled a rectangular box sticking out of the side of a mountain. The terrain in that region is very dangerous and the weather is most uncertain. On top of that, the government of Turkey is not cooperative and restricts helicopter landings or large expeditions. The Institute for Creation Research have sent geologists and other scientists 13 times to Ararat but have all come back empty handed. They were shot at, attacked by dogs and risked crossing almost bottomless canyons to get to the area where they thought the ark might be. If the ark were found, it would be very beneficial to the Gospel message and yet in the back of my mind, I wonder if God really wants us to find it……. “For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God. Not by works lest any man should boast” (Eph 2: 8,9)

J) Doctrine (Calvinism P)

This brings us to the last of the 5 points of Calvinistic theology – P, for perseverance. As the other points, this one is the logical consequence of the salvation that Christ wrought for mankind on the cross. Calvinism sums up what Romans 8 so divinely states: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” (vs29, 30). Therefore, it only stands to reason that when God saved us, He made sure that our salvation was secure in Him. Other verses in Romans 8 state: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (vs 38,39). How can it be clearer? The Bible also states : “But he that shall persevere unto the end, the same shall be saved.” (Matt 24:13) Those who persevere to the end do so because they are saved, they do not persevere to be saved. One of my favourite verses on the subject of saving and persevering is found in the epistle of Paul to the Philippians in verse 6: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” Salvation is God’s gift to man; let us now go and tell all who need to hear these words. Let us be like Charles Haddon Spurgeon who did not mince his words but preached the Gospel of God’s grace in truth.