"But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundred-fold, some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold." Matthew 13:8

"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." Genesis 6:16

"Pilate therefore said unto Him, Art Thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth My voice." John 18:37

"Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Matthew 6:34

Greetings, beloved! ...even greetings of peace and great joy which are unto all who have been born anew into the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, and who have come into the knowledge that His Kingdom is for our here and for our now!

In my last message we were considering Noah as a type of Jesus Christ. The Ark he built was also a part of the same symbology. I showed you how the three sons of Noah – Shem, Japheth and Ham – answered to the three categories of our Lord's parable about the sower of the good seed, some of which brought forth one hundredfold, others sixty-fold, and some only thirty-fold.

That Ark which Noah built tells the same story, and that in more ways than one. Clearly was Noah instructed to build it in three stories: an upper, middle and lower deck. These foreshadowed the three arenas of activity which Christ has planned for those who belong to Him, and that according to their respective qualifications. Look about you upon the members of Christendom, and especially upon church memberships: are they all the same? Are there not some of them truly devout? Some seem actually fearful lest they do the least iota of wrong. Some are upright and fully honorable in all their dealings and their word is ever reliable. And from there they range downward in standards of conduct to that of a show of religion in church on Sunday, while something vastly different Monday through Saturday. To assume that all these are going to be given wings and harps of gold is but an idle dream. Death changes no one. Put such a mixture of characters into Heaven (or into any place you care to name), and soon Hell will break loose with a bang, even as it has here on earth.

I repeat: death changes no one, and I challenge you to find the faintest Biblical indication that death changes anyone. But I can show you plenty to the contrary. Therefore, it would become impossible – even for God Almighty – to take that mixture of characters we observe in church, transport them to Heaven and still maintain it as "Heaven." Therefore, of necessity God must separate into groups or categories, as indicated by the three stories built into Noah's Ark. Naturally, the top deck symbolizes that arena in the Heavens to which a small, select group is transported from earth. They are the one hundred-fold. The middle and lower decks symbolize the sixty and the thirty-fold, both of which remain here on earth. The sixty-fold possess the Kingdom, while the thirty-fold are in a ministering capacity, and also sent out to labor among the nonChristian nations.

Again the same is shown us by the types of life preserved within Noah's Ark. Indeed, we would find more than three categories were we to enter into fine division or classification. But we find three outstanding and distinctly separate categories: namely, man, animals, and birds which fly in the air. No doubt we would all like to place man in the top category, neither do I argue that perspective. Still, the fact remains that man is basically an earth-dwelling being, and his number is also six, which we find in affinity with the sixty-fold which some of the good seed produced.

Then we have the animals which are strictly bestial, and belong to the mammal category, the same as does man. They symbolize the thirty-fold, which I showed you in my last message have only entered into an intellectual acceptance of Christ; for the seed of truth has taken no root within the heart, and therefore they have no part in His true Church. We may see plenty of them in church whose religion is mostly confined to Sunday.

But among the life which Noah preserved within the Ark, we find birds. Although they rest and nest on earth, their element is the aerial heavens to which they are native. Thus, they symbolize man who rests and nests here on earth, but whom God finds worthy to be taken out of this world through a transformation of the body, giving him power to become native to the air, or the heavens – even as are the birds.

We could even turn back a few chapters to where we read about the father of Noah, whose name was Lamech; we are told that he lived to be 777 years of age (Gen. 5:28-31). Here we have the number of the Church in triple repetition. Seven is the number of the Church which was commenced on Calvary's Cross. As Lamech fathered Noah, so similarly did the spirit or desire to redeem man become the "father" of God's human incarnation, which took Him to Calvary's Cross. Thus we see that it was in the original plan to redeem man through the avenue of three categories, as shown by the three sevens of Lamech's age.

Now let us take a look at how all lived on board Noah's Ark. God had instructed Noah to put aboard the required food for all creatures to be preserved within the Ark. Ordinarily the ox, the sheep, the horse and others have to trudge from place to place to find sufficient grazing. The lion and all creatures of prey must hunt to get their food, while a great multitude of these creatures are in constant danger of their lives because of bigger, faster, fiercer predators.

Bear these factors in mind as we take a look at life within the Ark. Perhaps the grass, the fruit, the vegetables and grain aboard the Ark were not as fresh as under normal conditions, nevertheless the grass eater had all the required food supplied without covering many miles for it, and similarly with a lion and tiger and other beasts of prey: although we know not what they were fed, we do know that there was no hunting required in order to live, and similarly with the eagles, the hawk, and right down to the little sparrow: all their requirements were supplied for them right there. Neither was the sheep in danger from the wolf, the bear, or the lion. Neither was the sparrow in any danger from the hawk or the eagle. All alive aboard the Ark had their every need supplied, with an absolute freedom from all forms of fear. They were fed, they were watered and protected. They were also shielded from every raging element without.

This is the beautifully symbolic picture I am perpetually striving to put across to you: that every person who names the Name of Jesus Christ in faith, having accepted Him as the totality of their redemption, need have no further fears nor worries, neither to be subjected to the slightest stress. Christ our Savior has made every provision for us. Even before we were born every needful thing had been provided unto the very end of our manifestation here on earth. Careful thought and meticulous planning entered into that arena which He prepared for us, knowing beforehand into what group we would enter. Every care had been taken to protect and to shield us from all harm. As Noah built cages or separating partitions to keep the wolf from the sheep, and the hawk from the sparrow, so has Christ prepared beforehand to shield us from every imaginable danger and every possible harm. Every necessary precaution was taken by the Christ to protect us from the raging elements without, and from every lurking danger or accident by our side.

Why then do we see Christendom – by and large – in the same "kettle of stew" as we find those of nonChristian faith? Christ gave the answer: "According to your faith be it done unto you" (Matt. 9:29). That was not an isolated statement by our Lord, but a frequent and perpetual repetition. Because the early Christian fathers fell asleep when night had settled in, the enemy came and sowed the tares (Matt. 13:25). Christendom ate thereof and became sick and blind; they lost their true perspective; they forgot the wonderfully good news of good and glorious things which Christ our Lord has prepared for those who love Him. And so the harping has ever been about "pie in the sky" for the soul, after one is dead. But Christendom has believed, and still believes, that they are the pawns of the Devil here and now; that their rightful lot is one of trouble and grief, of disappointment and tragedy, of sickness and misery, of failure, old age and death. Therefore, "according to their faith" has it come to pass. Through their carnality, blindness, and consequent rejection of the completeness of their redemption for our here and now, Christendom has effectively shut out the mercies of Christ for their present good. They have relegated all the work of Christ to apply to the "soul" in the mists of a future and unknown world and a hoped-for tomorrow. That, then, is the best they had any right to expect; for "according to their faith has it been done unto them."

Hear The Voice of Tomorrow: we have been commanded to bring happy tidings of marvelously good things unto all who hear the call of God and enter into the Ark of preservation which has been prepared for us by the Spirit of rest. That is, Christ is our peace with God, and freedom from all stress and tribulation.

It has happened unto Christendom even as it did unto the ancient Chosen People, the leaders of which Jesus addressed and accused of having taken away the Key of Knowledge; they entered not in themselves, neither permitted anyone else to enter He said (Lk. 11:52). Christ delivered those Keys to His followers, but again the same sad story repeated: men fell asleep and the enemy substituted a counterfeit key. That counterfeit key will not open the lock; the portals to the Kingdom remain closed. Yet briefly within the Kingdom gates are verdant tapestries abloom with happiness, and sunlit roads to haciendas of delight. The branches are loaded with fruit, the barns are full of grain, the tables sag under the weight of a banquet spread. How can you believe that the very King of this universe, Who is not merely its King but also its absolute Owner, has prepared in the fashion of a miser for His children? How can you refrain from believing that He has prepared in great abundance, even lavishly for all His children? How can you help but believe that this King Eternal has not provided for a wonderful life for every one of His citizens here and now?

I know the common retort in the church – that the mercies of God are for the human soul after one is dead. But I repeat my frequent challenge to you or to anyone who thinks he knows his Bible: show me the place where Jesus the Christ spent as much as sixty consecutive seconds talking about the human "soul" after one is dead. You just can't find it. But on the contrary, you find that Jesus answered Pilate that in order to become a King had He been born (Jn. 18:37).

Was He not a king previously? Study up on your Old Testament and you will find that the Lord is referred to as the "King of Israel" not only once or twice, but in a dozen and scores of places and times (Isa. 43:15, 44:6; Zeph. 3:15). Therefore, He needed not to be born into human flesh in order to become a king, except to become an earthly king over an earthly kingdom here and now. But since the Jews of old did not want to give Him a throne to rule over them, He permitted death to overtake His body, and then raised it up into a glorified body which could reign over the entire earth in His spiritual Kingdom superimposed upon this world. And that He did! Therefore, you and I need only become citizens of that spiritual Kingdom, and live as His citizens, even as His sons and daughters, accepting the totality of His preservation and provision as shown us by Noah's Ark, in order that we may sing as happily as the larks from morning until sunset, and sleep with an anthem of joy upon our lips and our hearts overflowing with love!

Such are the grandeurs which Christ has prepared for those who love Him, and who have come into the light of truth, using the Keys to the Kingdom for our here and now. Therefore, said the Christ, do not be concerned over tomorrow, for God had already made preparations for it (Matt. 6:34). Then He pointed to the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, and concluded by saying that we were immensely more important than they (Matt. 6:26-30). Therefore He said: fear not (Matt. 10:29-31)! For, after their likeness, we are not to be concerned over tomorrow, because Christ our King is Lord of tomorrow. He is supreme, He is absolute, and your life is in the palm of His Hand. He has traced its pattern; He has provided for every contingency, and He wants you to start singing at the top of your voice!

WHAT A CHORUS it shall be when His sons and daughters sing together from joy irrepressible!

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