TAKING UP YOUR CROSS   . . .

                                   as seen through the pattern of NOAH.

                     Jesus said:

                        Luke 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.  (27) They did eat,  they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.  (28) Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;  (29) But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.  (30) Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.  (31) In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.  (32) Remember Lot's wife.

 (33) Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.  (34) I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. (35) Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. (36) Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. (37) And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.

    The CONTEXT of this passage is when and how  THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN  will come into full reality. You will notice that the actions of  Noah and Lot take place ‘in the day’ while the other separations take place ‘in the night’.

     Verse 33 is the dividing line. Let us look firstly at this key verse. ‘Anyone SEEKING or endeavouring to save or keep their own life, ways and thinking SHALL lose it: anyone who LOSES (not seeking to lay it  down) their own life, ways and thinking, shall save it.’  The context is about Noah.

                             THERE IS NO SEEKING TO LAY  DOWN ONE’S OWN LIFE 

                                       IT JUST HAS TO BE FULLY DONE!

    To seek to save one’s life-style is VERY natural as is one’s  own way . .  . it is just NORMAL!  To lay down one’s life is NOT normal and can only be truly accomplished IN OBEDIENCE to a higher, more trustworthy word of direction. i.e. hearing and thus KNOWING what God desires for you!

    The Kingdom of God is manifested when the Son of Man is revealed (unveiled) from within you through obedience to His heard word within and that takes place also ‘in  the day’“ full surrender. The ARK was a step of faith to build it and then a further step to go inside it. It was step into the ‘unknown’ . . . full trust in the Speaker of the word was a necessity. That ark, as we will see, was dark and very confining! His understanding as to ‘how’, ‘why’  and ‘what’ were truly surrendered to the Instigator (that’s why HE IS LORD!) of the whole dealings.

    Unbeknown to Noah at that time, God was in the process of taking him (corporate) higher into His purposes. Likewise Lot obeyed and left where he was ‘at home’ for the unknown — against all natural reasoning.

    Where to?  Answer:  To experiencing Resurrection Life and being at the Right Hand of the Father.

Taking up one’s cross = acknowledging that one’s own natural thinking imust die.

It is a dying to self = a dying out to the EFFECTS of the sin that was in your life.

The Hb. word for ARK = COFFIN. . .  if that doesn’t signify ‘death’ to self, what does?

The ARK was made of trees. Jesus Cross was a tree  (Gk. for ‘cross = STAUROS = beam, branch.

The ARK was covered with ‘atonement’ (pitch) inside and outside.            Jesus was our atonement.

The ARK and Noah was lifted up from the earth Jesus was lifted up from the earth.

The ARK’s journey was to bring those in it to the full purpose of God . . . i.e. to the image and likeness of Christ (God).      Jesus purposed each one of us to be changed from glory to glory into His image by His Spirit being Lord in your life. (II Corinthians 3:17-18).

NOAH left the earthly realm     JESUS left the earthly realm.

Jesus died etc. so that we might become ONE with Him and ONE in Him.

    Noah went with God until all the sin and sin-effects were brought into one expression of a BLACK RAVEN so that HIS SPIRIT, then one with us, could be released to bring back the evidence of the NEW HEAVENS and the NEW EARTH.

    Let us look at the account in Genesis 6 and see what ‘taking up one’s cross and following Jesus’ really consists of.

(8) But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.  (9) These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

Noah was ‘saved’ as he had found grace: he was justified as God labelled him just; Noah was mature enough to be trusted by God which resulted in his hearing God speak to him and he then moved by faith.

 (10) And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

    With his wife, his 3 sons and their wives, Noah represented 8 people. . . declaring a new beginning for them and a coming into resurrection life for them all.

 (11) The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

 (12) And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh ad corrupted his way upon the earth.  

    ALL flesh has corrupted God’s way/will in the earth.

(13) And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

    In the Old Covenant you will see God destroying the wicked as a picture of His New Covenant destruction of the ‘flesh’ that is in all the earth . . . ours’ and ‘out there’.

 (14) Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

    The ARK was made of WOOD (man) and was covered on the inside and on the outside with PITCH.

PITCH in Hb. KAPHAR = atonement or Mercy Seat.

ROOMS = separate dealings of God.

 (15) And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

    300c long = Complete deliverance;

    50c wide = by the Holy Spirit;

    30c high = to bring to maturity (perfection).

(16) A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above;

    The WINDOW in the top that pointed towards heaven. 1c x 1c = 1 sq.c.  = Unity of the faith. (unity of the Spirit was at the point of entry).

 and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

    The DOOR was at the ‘earth’ level. THREE storeys inside the Ark. 3 = a complete expression of God.

3 levels . . . the bottom = Passover Feast; the middle = Pentecost Feast; top floor = Tabernacles Feast which will bring forth a genuine unity (not uniformity).

(17) And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

    God’s plan, motive and purpose is, that through the Cross, He He will deal with all flesh that so easily sins and corrupts His way in the earth.

  (18) But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

    God makes a covenant with Noah.  Noah means ‘rest’. God’s covenant will be with the Noah-type company in this hour who desire to enter into His rest.

 (19) And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. (20) Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.

    Every aspect of your nature will go in with you . . . the good, the bad and the ugly! Nothing is left outside this dealings. Everything comes under His eye. There will be a supply of sustenance while you go through these processings. Your earth will get covered up (hidden from your sight); All human help and efforts are gone for good!

(21) And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

(22) Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

    Noah was 100% obedient.

Genesis 7:1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

God said, “Come” into the Ark, Noah.  Where was God when He spoke those words? If He wasn’t already in the Ark (i.e. fully identified with the Cross) He would have had to say to Noah, “Go into the Ark”.

 (2) Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.

 (3) Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.

(4) For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

 (5) And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.

(6) And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.

(7) And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

(8) Of clean  beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,

 (9) There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

 (10) And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

  (11) In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

Noah had to be 600 years old = warfare . . . God had brought him to a point in his life where he was willing to wage war on his lacks.  17th. Day = a day of VICTORY (17).

(12) And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

    40 days of testing to see if Noah wanted to quit. He was on probation . . . and he had no complaints.

(13) In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; 

(14) They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.

 (15) And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.

(16) And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.

    They chose to go in . . . they chose to take up their cross and follow God. . . and then the LORD shut him in. Even while they were in the Ark, the unclean things could (as it were) still reproduce themselves. . . and so could the clean aspects of the life.

 (17) And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

 (18) And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

 (19) And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.

 (20) Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

 (21) And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:

                            IT WAS TIME TO COME FORTH OUT OF THE ARK.

Genesis 8:4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

    ARARAT,  Hb = the curse reversed.   The Ark rested on this mountain on the 17th.  day (17 = victory)  of the 7th. Month which is the month of the Feast of Tabernacles. In fact right in the middle of Tabs. which celebrates ‘resurrection life’ — that life of the New Heavens and the New earth.

(5) And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen. (6) And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:

40 more days of testing.

(7) And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

    The RAVEN picturing the sin and its effects in every detail AS ONE SPIRIT (bird) being removed from the Ark first. There is no rest for the flesh. The Raven could only feed on dead flesh and there was none around in the new heavens and the new earth.

 (8) Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; (9) But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.

    The DOVE found no rest for HER foot.  SHE speaks of the RENEWED MIND (f).

(10) And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;

(11) And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

    The DOVE of the anointing brought forth from the new land of Promise EVIDENCE of the new dimension of life. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit equates with the Dove . . . such a baptism is a doorway into the full purpose of God.

 (12) And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.

 (13) And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.

(14) And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.  

    ‘Go forth and multiply and refurbish the earth.’

(15) And God spake unto Noah, saying,

(16) Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.

(17) Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.

After releasing the fullness of the Spirit through the dealings of the Cross, we are instructed to go forth in all the earth reproducing the FULL LIFE which we now have.

The three levels can also be SPIRIT, MIND AND BODY which parallel the three Feasts mentioned earlier.§