The Weary Dove’s Return

The Weary Dove's Return

(No. 2373)

A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY, AUGUST 12, 1894.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, MAY
20, 1888.

"But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot and she returned
into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole
earth. So he put out his hand and took her, and drew her into the ark
to himself." Genesis 8:9.

NOAH knew that God would, in due time, let him out of the ark. He was
quite sure that the Lord had not put him into the ark to make a great
coffin of it–that he and all those living creatures that went in with
him should perish there. And, because he believed in God, he,
therefore, removed the covering of the ark and looked abroad,
expecting, by-and-by, to see not only the tops of the mountains, but
also a dry and green earth once more. True faith often goes to the
window. If your faith turns her face to the wall and expects nothing, I
do not think it is genuine faith. Faith has eyes and, therefore, she
looks afar off, and she often watches as the watchman of the night
looks for the gray dawn of the morning. You remember the story of the
child who went to a Prayer Meeting which was called together to pray
for rain? She expected that God would send the rain, so she took her
umbrella with her because she needed to get home dry. I wish that you
and I had learned the same simple art of faith. Having prayed, and
having believed, let us expect! Let us open the window and look out!
God never failed an expectant people, yet, but a great many of His
people fail to expect. And if you do not expect, you are not likely to
receive! David said, "My soul, wait only upon God, for my expectation
is from Him." And when your expectation is from Him, it will not be
disappointed. It is a great pity when we keep the shutters up so that
we cannot look out of the window to see the dry land.

Next, because Noah expected the earth to be dry, he sent out the raven.
And when the raven did not answer his purpose, he sent out the dove.
After the dove came back with no tidings, he waited seven days and then
sent her out again. And when she returned with only an olive leaf in
her mouth, he waited seven more days and then sent her out again. Oh,
dear Friends, often send out your doves! Be looking for blessings! You
have asked for them–God has promised to give them–send out your doves
to see whether the blessings are not there! And if you do so constantly
and perseveringly, verily, I say unto you, you shall have your reward!

Still, notice that Noah, when he had the best evidence that he could
get that the earth was dry, did not dare to go out of the ark till God
opened the door. So, gather all the information you possibly can about
your position and act according to the rules of commonsense. But, after
you have done that, still wait upon God! When you know from your ravens
and your doves that the earth is getting dry, do not come out till He
that shut the door opens it for you. Dear people of God, I wish that we
had more of that old habit of looking to Providence! We have become so
wise, nowadays, that we do not require the fiery-cloudy pillar! We run
without Divine guidance, but, mark you, we often have to run back,
again. We are guests at the table of Providence and if we will let God
carve for us, our plate will always have plenty of food on it–but if
we get to carving for ourselves, we shall cut our fingers–and not cut
much else! And we shall have great cause to be ashamed that, instead of
trusting God, we took to trusting ourselves! Do not trust your raven or
your dove, trust your God! And if you go where He guides you, you will
go the right way, even if it should be a rough way. And you will have
to say, "Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Now, to come a little closer to the text and to what we are about to
say upon it. I do not know where the raven rested, whether he did, as
some suppose, alight on the corpses floating on the flood, which I
hardly think is likely, for

God was preparing the earth for Noah to come back to it, and He would
not leave it strewn with carcasses, as some have imagined. Whether the
raven returned to the ark, but refused to come in, or whether it found
a resting place on the slimy boughs of trees, or on the tops of the
mountains, which we are told began to be visible, I cannot tell. This,
I do know, that, wherever the raven rested, the dove could not do
so–there was no clean place fit for the dove's clean nature. So it had
to return to the ark and when, weak and weary, it could hardly reach
the ark, being heavy with the damp, perhaps mired with the filthy water
into which it may have fallen in its weariness–while just able to get
as far as the ark–it might have perished in the waters had not Noah
perceived his little bird coming to the window. I suppose he was
already there looking out for her and he stretched forth his hand, and
caught her, and pulled her in, and she was safe in the ark again.

There are three lessons which I am going to try to teach you from this
simple little incident. I. The first is, that THUS GOD RECEIVES HIS
SERVANTS. He receives them unto Himself, just as Noah received this
dove into the ark.

Upon this I remark, first, that sometimes God's servants wander. How I
wish that they never did! Oh, that we so loved our Noah that we never
left Him and never went away from Him who is our Rest! We are tempted
and the flesh is frail. Oh, how sadly have some good men wandered! We
speak this to our shame. We make no excuse for ourselves. We have
wandered like silly doves–we have left the place of peace and safety
and joy–and we have gone abroad, flying, we know not where! Perhaps I
speak to some such at this time.

Now, if you are one of Christ's doves, you will never rest till you go
back to Him. Time was when you could have found pleasure in the ways of
sin, but you cannot do so now. You may try to find it, but you cannot.
When you were a raven, you might have done so, but now that the Holy
Spirit has made a dove of you, you are spoilt for the raven's ways.
When a true child of God wanders into sin at any time, and goes back to
the old haunts, he thinks to himself, "I used to enjoy myself in this
place of amusement. I used to make merry with such and such company.
The pipe and the bowl were once like Heaven on earth to me. But now,"
he says, "I do not know how it is, but these things seem so vapid, so
empty. There is not the life, there is not the vivacity about them that
I knew in my younger days. It seems to be all a more hollow sham, now."
Ah, my Friend, it is not these things that have altered–it is you that
the Grace of God has changed! If God means you to live in Heaven, you
shall never find your Heaven in this world! If He has chosen you to be
His, and means you to be His, and has put His Spirit within you, you
must be always restless till you come back and find rest in Him.

"May I come back?" says one. May you come back? Your Noah is at the
window waiting for you! Speed towards Him with both your wings! Rest
not till He puts forth His hand to you and grasps you, and draws you
into Himself. "But will He have me? Will He have me again?" O bird of
the weary wing, He is not weary of you! O bird of the wet wing that has
been soiled in the filthy flood, He will not reject you! He washed you
once–He will wash you again! He waits to be gracious! Jesus loves to
receive backsliders. It is the joy of His heart, not only to make a
sheep out of a goat, but to find one of His sheep that has gone astray!
Not only to adopt a stranger into His family, but to restore the
prodigal son! That is the meaning of that parable–it is the
backslider's parable. Oh, that you would understand it and know that
the infinite mercy of God is as ready to receive a returning backslider
as Noah was to receive his wandering dove!

Now I will turn to another point. The dove in this narrative was not to
blame, for it had not gone astray, but Noah sent it out and, every now
and then, the Lord Jesus sends a dove of His to go and spy out the
world. It is a business upon which we must go if He sends us. Now, what
is our report of the world? Our report is that there is nothing in the
world upon which we can rest the sole of our foot. The world is said to
be progressing, advancing, improving, but we cannot discover it. The
same sin, the same filthiness, the same universally abounding unbelief
that our fathers complained of, we are obliged to complain of still!
And we are weary with the world, weary with the 19th Century and all
its boasted civilization. There is nothing upon which the sole of our
foot can rest.

"What of the Church?" asks one. Well, look at the Church, too. There is
nothing to rest on. There is much for which to be thankful, but there
is nothing that can content a spirit that seeks after the Truth of God
and holiness. I speak what I know, for with weary wings have I fled
across the waters, and with anxious eyes have I scanned the horizon,
but there is no place of rest for the sole of my foot! What then? What
then? Is the servant of God weary with his flight? See what Noah did to
the dove, for this is what the Lord will do to His servant–"he put
forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark."
O dear child of God, if you cannot rest in the Church, you can rest in
Christ! If you cannot

rest in the world, you can rest in the Lord! "He pulled her in unto
him." It is a delicious sensation to get away from all men and all
things to Christ, Himself. He never seems so sweet as when all else is
bitter! He never appears so substantial as when all else melts before
you. "He pulled her in unto him." She had done her work; she had taken
her flight; she had made her investigation. Now she has come back and
she is in his bosom. "He pulled her in unto him." May that be the
portion of all my dear friends in Christ who at this time feel heavy
about the signs of the times! May the Lord draw you into nearer,
dearer, sweeter fellowship with Himself than you have ever enjoyed
before, and this will be your best reward!

Again, to give another case, the Lord's servants are sometimes sent
forth that they may bring something back with them. You Sunday school
teachers go out on the Sabbath hoping to bring some child back with
you. You street-preachers (and may your number be multiplied!) are
trying to bring something or somebody to Jesus! Workers of different
sorts who are here, tonight, you go flying abroad to try to find
someone for Jesus. It may be that you have not picked up even an olive
leaf, yet–not one "son of peace" has, at present, received your
benediction. Well, this dove was welcome though she brought nothing
back. She came back with nothing in her mouth the first time, but then
we read, "Noah put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto
him into the ark."

What, though no child is saved as yet? What, though no hearer in the
street has responded to the invitation of love? What, though you have
labored in vain and spent your strength for nothing? You are accepted
of your God if you have done your best, trusting in the power of the
Holy Spirit and, tonight He pulls you in unto Himself. If you are
weary, O Martha, come and sit with Mary! If you are encumbered with the
serving, come and be refreshed with the communing! After all, you can,
perhaps, glorify your Lord more by receiving than by giving. You shall
find it more blessed to yourself to receive Christ than if you could
bring a soul to Him–He can make it to be so if He pleases. At any
rate, your hope of going out, again, and bringing in an olive leaf,
by-and-by, will lie in your coming in, now, and getting in unto your
Noah and resting on Him until He sends you out again!

Only one more observation will I make on this first point and it shall
be a very brief one. As far as I can see, this dove was sent out in the
morning and she came back in the evening–and Noah pulled her in unto
him. Brothers, let that be a picture of every day in your lives. When
you wake in the morning, perhaps the factory bell is ringing. At any
rate, it is time for you to be off to business. You must think about
your business. Perhaps yours is a work that is mental. You must give
your mind to it, so all day long you feel like the dove flying abroad.
Well, take good heed that when the sun goes down, you make your way
back home to your Lord! Lock up your heart every morning before you go
out and give Christ the key to keep till you come home. And then, when
He opens it at night, the sweet perfume that you had in the morning
will be there in the evening! It is best if we can keep up our thoughts
of Christ all day long, but perhaps we cannot–then let the dove, that
flew away in the morning, be sure to fly back at night! It is where you
go when the day's toil is done that tells what sort of a man you are!

I think I have, before now, used the simile of the crows. You cannot
tell where the crows live early in the morning– they are out on the
land following the plow. Farther on in the day they are inspecting a
field of turnips, perhaps, watching to see if they can find a fly or a
worm. Where do they live? Wait until the evening, when they get
together, and then you will see that they make a straight line for
those tall trees where their nests are! Where do your thoughts go at
night? Where do they go when your day's toil is done? When you have
done with the business of the day, which is like the crows picking up
the worms, which way do you go? That shows where your soul lives, so
take care that in the evening you make your way back to your Noah. Oh,
how sweetly does Christ come to us in our evening prayer and put out
His hand and pull us in unto Himself–and we rest once more–

"As in the embraces of our God, Or on our Savior's breast."

Thus have I spoken to you upon my first division, showing that God
receives His servants as Noah received the dove.

II. I will now go on to the second part of my subject which is equally
practical and will be useful to another class of people. THIS IS WHAT
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST DOES TO SINNERS. I have spoken, first, of His
servants. Now I want to speak of sinners who are seeking His face.

Note, then, that the Lord Jesus Christ does not despise the condition
of the sinner who comes to Him. I have imagined that this dove might
have fouled its wings. Certainly it was not the beauty that it was when
Noah sent it out in the morn-ing–but he did not, therefore, refuse to
take it into the ark. It was very weary and ready to drop into the
waters, yet

Noah did not refuse it, but there he stood, at the open window, to meet
it when it came! And you feel very foul, very unworthy, very unfit, and
very unsafe–nevertheless, Jesus Christ will not refuse you! Whatever
your condition may be, He casts out none who come to Him. Come as you
are! Come even though you feel that you cannot come! Come anyway, for
He will not reject you.

The first thing that Noah did with this dove was to display his
power–"He put forth his hand." I have known the Lord display His power
very remarkably when poor souls have been coming to Him, putting forth
His hand, sometimes in Providence, doing some extraordinary thing to
bring them to decision. Sometimes He has used a sermon, or a stray word
from some gracious soul, or He has put forth the power of His hand in
the preaching of His Word. Sometimes He has used a religious book, or a
little tract as His agent. It has not mattered what the instrumentality
has been, it is the power which God has put forth which has been the
means of laying hold upon the coming sinner! Sometimes there has been
no book and no sermon, but the Holy Spirit, without any apparent means,
has made an impression upon the conscience and upon the heart. There
has come over the sinner, when he has begun to seek the Lord, a
singular melting power, a feeling of solemnity such as he never had
before. He cannot understand it. He seems to be on the borders of a new
world. He hears the chimes of bells which he never heard before,
ringing out of invisible places, and summoning him to his God! I know
what this experience means and I pray that some of you may know
it–that just now, at this very moment–our blessed Noah may put forth
His hand to you poor fluttering doves! You cannot do anything, but
Jesus can! You cannot save yourselves, but He can save you, even as
Noah put forth his hand and saved the dove from perishing.

Then we read, next, that Noah took the dove, seized her, captured her,
held her. That is what my Lord does. Jesus takes hold of sinners. Oh,
that He might get a blessed hold of some of you, tonight! I have
sometimes thought that Noah stood something like this [leaning forward,
with hands outstretched,] looking out of the window, and when the dove
came back and was ready to drop, he caught her between his hands, as
one would tenderly hold a dove, encompassing her, and then he pulled
her in unto him. What a blessing it is when the Gospel of Christ seems
to surround you and you get a hand beneath you, and a hand above you,
and you feel as if Christ had laid hold of you and was leading you
joyfully captive! Some of you remember when that happened to you–when
the hand of Jesus was first held out, and then was put round about
you–and you were taken prisoner and held in gracious bondage to the
love and power of Christ!

Then we read that, "He pulled her in," and thus Jesus draws in sinners.
There is something of a pull needed. Oh, what blessed pulls the Lord
sometimes gives to bring sinners to decision and put an end to their
hesitancy! They want to wait a little longer, but the Lord Jesus will
not have it! Providence and Grace end their delays. They are very
fearful, fluttering like this dove, afraid of her best friend, but the
Lord Jesus Christ gives a pull that ends their fears and kills their
despair. They are His and His powerful love wins the day! Sometimes, it
is ignorance that keeps sinners back from Christ, for God's doves are
often very silly creatures. They do not know the way into the ark. They
miss the window. But Jesus does with them as Noah did with the
dove–"He pulled her in." I hope I am not talking beyond the experience
of many of you, or, if I am, I pray my Master to make this to be your
experience even now. May these poor simple words of mine induce some of
you to come to Christ at once! Why will you perish? Why will you delay?
Why not be pulled in tonight, even as the dove was pulled in by Noah? I
cannot pull you in. I would if I could, but Jesus can! And He cannot be
less willing to bless you than I am!

Notice where Christ draws sinners. Noah pulled the dove in unto himself
and that is what Christ does with His poor fluttering doves! He draws
them to Himself. You say that you need a lot of things. No you do
not–you only need Jesus. If you have Him, you have everything! You
need to be pulled into peace, to joy, to holiness, to rest. Yes, but
what you really need is to be pulled into Jesus and you will get all
the other blessings! Drawn to His wounds, poor doves, you shall find
your hiding place! Drawn to His wounds, poor doves, you shall find the
truest cleansing! This is what your Master must do for you, even as
Noah pulled the dove in unto himself.

And when he had pulled her into himself, then she was in the ark and
she soon found other doves. Thus, Jesus draws sinners in unto
salvation. When He draws a man to Himself, then He draws Him to the
Church and he comes where he shall meet with fit society that shall
console him and help him during the rest of his days. I cannot preach
as I would, but I know that I am telling you that which, if my Lord
will but bless it, will save and comfort your souls! I pray Him to put
me on one side, altogether, and to come–and with His own pierced hands
pull you in unto Himself!

III. So I finish with this third point. THAT WHICH JESUS DOES TO HIS
SERVANTS AND TO SINNERS, HE WOULD HAVE US DO. Now, you people of God,
listen to me, and do what I now entreat of you in my Master's name.

In the first place, look out for souls. Now, Noah, go to the window!
There is that dove, you know, fluttering some-where–go and look out
for it, go to the window, Noah! He does not need to be told to go, for
there he is. Noah loves his dove, so he is watching for her at the
window. Dear people of God, often go to the window! In your families
look for the salvation of your children. In your workshops look for the
salvation of your employees and those with whom you work! Perhaps that
is a new thought to some of you. If you can get them to work for a
little less money, you look out for that, but oh, that you would look
out for their salvation! To see your employees saved is the best profit
that you can, any of you, have! Watch for their souls and do so, not
only at home, but when you come to your place of worship. We have
friends in this Tabernacle who are looking all over the place while I
am speaking. I do not say that they are not attending to my message,
but I do not think they are attending so much to my words as to those
to whom I am speaking! I have frequently seen a Brother making his way
very quietly down to a certain spot where he has noticed some of you
sitting very attentively, some newcomers, perhaps, who have never been
here before, and it is more than likely that he will speak to some of
you before this service is over.

I hope somebody will ask you whether you are saved and, if so, you will
begin to find that there are some who desire to bring you into close
quarters! I think that it ought to be so. I cannot bear the thought of
your coming here without getting a blessing. I have to fire the Gospel
cannon from this platform–it is loaded with grape shot and it often
does great execution–yet many of you may not be hit that way, but,
happily, my friends can come to you with their little pocket pistols
and so reach many whom I miss! Get to close quarters with them,
Brothers and Sisters! Find out whether they are saved or not! We need a
great deal of this kind of work. Now then, Noah, go to the window and
look out–be you an old Christian or a young Christian–be on the look
out for sinners!

Noah goes to the window and, sure enough, there is his dove. Then Noah
stretches out his hands, as I want you to do. Stretch out a hand to
sinners. Do it very gently, for doves are not bears, you know–the
souls of men are not like the skins of tigers. Stretch out your hands
to sinners, but do it in a very loving and gentle way. Try, if you can,
to let them see that there is a friend near who will be happy to help
them to Christ. Stretch out your hands and if you can, lay hold of
them. I do not know how Noah caught his dove, whether by the wings, or
the legs, or the neck, but he did catch her, and pulled her into the
ark. Now try if you can to lay hold of a soul for Christ–get a firm
grip on it! This is not child's play! He that can catch doves with his
hands is a wise man and he that would win souls must be wise. Try to
catch souls, if you can, but do it gently. Remember that they are doves
and, therefore, be very tender and very gentle with them. But, being
doves, they are apt to fly away–therefore hold them fast–and do not
let them go.

Perhaps they will not like you to touch them. Never mind that–go on as
mildly and lovingly as you can, yet do seek to give them a pull and do
not rest until they are with you in the ark, that is to say, till they
are in Christ! Till they are trusting Him, till they are resting in
Him, till His precious blood has washed them and they are saved, as you
trust you are!

I do not think that we are half earnest enough in dealing with our
fellow men. I remember a young man who, when dying, said to his
brother, "I am afraid I am lost, my brother, and I cannot help saying
to you, 'Why were you not more earnest about my salvation?'" His elder
brother answered, "John, I have spoken to you once or twice about your
soul." "Once or twice!" replied the other, "You ought to have been
always at me." "Well, but I did frequently speak to you about Divine
things." "But," said he, "if you knew that I was perishing, why did you
not shake me? Why did you not do something unusual with me? Why did you
not weep over me? Why did you not force me to think? My soul is lost
and you have shown but very little care about it."

Perhaps that was a very hard thing to say, and an unkind thing, and a
self-excusing thing, but do you not think that some people might say
that of you and of me? We have never been earnest enough in seeking the
salvation of their souls. Mr. Rowland Hill's story about this matter is
a good one. He said, "I hear them say that poor old Mr. Hill makes a
great noise and often shouts when he is preaching, the poor old
gentleman gets quite excited." "Yes," added Mr. Hill, "and I was one
day walking out at Wotton-under-Edge, and I was going by a gravel pit,
or a chalk pit, and it fell in and buried a man. And I went running
down into the village as fast as ever my old legs would carry me,
crying out that there was a

man likely to be buried alive–and the people rushed out to try to save
him! And they did not say, then, as they do, now, 'Poor old Mr. Hill is
making a deal of noise.'"

Oh, that we were as earnest about the souls of men as we can sometimes
be about their bodies! Do try, then, you who love the Lord, to pull
them in, even as Noah pulled the dove in unto himself into the ark.

I leave the text with you. When I cannot preach, I always wish that all
of you may be preaching. If the preacher seems to speak feebly, take up
what he has said and work at it, and go and do better with it. And if
you will do so, it will be better than if I, alone, had done better.
The Lord bless you, for Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: Genesis 8.

1. And God remembered Noah. Noah had been shut up in the ark for many a
day and, at the right time, God thought of him, practically thought of
him and came to visit him. Dear Heart, you have been shut out from the
world, now, for many days, but God has not forgotten you. God
remembered Noah and He remembers you.

1. And every living thing and all the cattle that was with him in the
ark. Does God remember cattle? Then He will certainly remember men made
in His own image! He will remember you, though you think yourself the
most worthless one on the face of the earth! "God remembered Noah and
every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark."

1. And God made a wind to pass over the earth and the waters subsided.
Winds and waves are wholly under God's control. I suppose that this was
a very drying wind, so the waters began to turn to vapor and gradually
to disappear. It is God who sends the winds. They seem most volatile
and irregular, but God sends them to do His bidding. Blow it east, or
blow it west, the wind comes from God! And whether the waters increase
or are subsided, it is God's doing. Are the waters very deep with you,
dear Friend? God can dry them up and, amazingly enough, he can stop one
trouble with an-other–he can dry up the water with the wind. I have
known Him act very strangely with His people and when they thought they
were quite forgotten, He has proved that He remembered them, and both
the winds of Heaven and the waters of the sea have had to work their
good! There is not an angel in Heaven but God will make him to be a
servant to you if you need him–there is not a wind in any quarter of
the globe but God will guide it to you if it is necessary–and there
are no waves of the sea but shall obey the Lord's will concerning you.

2. The fountains, also, of the deep and the windows of Heaven were
stopped, and the rain from Heaven was restrained. God works upwards and
stops the windows of Heaven. He works downwards and stops the breaking
up of the fountains of the deep–

"He everywhere has sway,

And all things serve His might." Be not afraid! He can open the windows
of Heaven and pour down abundant blessings for you, and He can let down
the cellar-flaps of the great deep and stop its flowing fountains–

"When He makes bare His arm,

What shall His work withstand?" 3-5. And the waters returned from of
the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days,
the waters were abated. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the
seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. 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. God
told Noah when to go into the ark, but He did not tell him when he
should come out again. The Lord told Noah when to go in, for it was
necessary for him to know that, but He did not tell him when he should
come out, for it was not necessary that he should know that. God always
lets His people know what is practically for their good. There are many
curious points on which we should like to have information, but God has
not revealed them, and when He has not revealed anything, we had better
not try to unravel the mystery! No good comes of prying into
unre-vealed Truths of God. Noah knew that he would come out of the ark
one day, for was he not preserved there to be a seed–to keep the race
alive? Noah was not told when he would be released and the Lord does
not tell you when your trouble will come to an end. It will come to an
end, therefore wait and be patient, but do not want to know the time of
your deliverance. We would know too much if we knew all that will
happen in the future. It is quite enough for us if we do our duty in
the present–and trust God for the rest.

Still, I think that Noah must have been very pleased when he felt the
ark grating, at last, on the mountains of Ararat. He could not build a
dock for his big ship, but God had prepared a berth for it on the
mountain side. Now, as he looked out, he could see, here and there, a
mountaintop rising like an island out of the great expanse of water.

6, 7. And it came to pass at the end offorty days, that Noah opened the
window of the ark which he had made: and he sent forth a raven, which
went forth, to and fro. Sometimes alighting on the ark, then flying
away again.

7-10. Until the waters were dried up from of the earth. Also he sent
forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the
face of the ground; 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. And he stayed yet another
seven days. I wonder whether Noah sent out these creatures on the
Sabbath mornings. The mention of seven days and the resting in between
seems to look like it. Oh, dear Friends, sometimes people send out a
raven on the Lord's-Day morning and it never brings them anything. Send
out a dove, rather than a raven! Come to the House of God with quiet,
gentle, holy expectation and your dove will come back to you! It may be
that it will bring you something worth bringing one of these days, as
Noah's dove brought to him.

10, 11. And again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; and the dove
came unto him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf
pluck off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
The waters were abated as far as the fruit trees–not only the tallest
forest trees, but some of the fruit trees were uncovered from the
water. The dove had plucked off "an olive leaf." Perhaps you have seen
a picture of the dove carrying an olive branch in its mouth, which, in
the first place, a dove could not pluck out of the tree and, in the
second place, a dove could not carry an olive branch even if she could
pluck it off. It was an olive leaf, that is all. Why cannot people keep
to the Words of Scripture? If the Bible mentions a leaf, they make it a
branch, and if the Bible says it is a branch, they make it a leaf.

12. And he stayed yet another seven days; and sent forth the dove;
which returned not again unto him any more. Noah could read something
from that leaf that the dove brought to him, but he learned more when
she did not return to him. He knew that she had found a proper resting
place and that the earth was clear of the flood!

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. That was a happy New Year's day for Noah! He was glad to
find himself at rest once more, though not yet at liberty.

13. And Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold,
the face of the ground was dry. Why did not Noah come out? Well, you
see, he had gone in by the door and he meant to come out by the door.
And He that opened the door for him, and shut him in, must now open the
door for him and let him out. He waits God's time and we are always
wise in doing that. You lose a great deal of time by being in a hurry.
Many people think they have done a great deal when they have really
done nothing. Better take time in order to save time. Slow is sometimes
faster than fast. So Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked
out, but he did not go out till God commanded him to do so.

14. And in the second month. Nearly two months Noah waited for the
complete drying of the earth.

14. On the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.
"The face of the ground was dry" in the first month. "The earth was
dried," the second month. Noah might have thought it was dry enough,
before, but God did not think so–there was enough mud to breed a
pestilence–so Noah must wait until God had made the earth ready for
him.

15- 16. And God spoke unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark. Noah must
wait till God speaks to him. Oh, that some people would wait for God's
command, but they will not! He shall bless your going out and your
coming in if you will go forth and come in when He bids you. "Go
forth," says the Lord, "Go forth of the ark."

16- 19. You, and your wife, and your sons, and your sons' wives with
you. Bring forth with you every living thing that is with you, of all
flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that
creeps upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and
be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. And Noah went forth, and his
sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him: every beast, every
creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatever creeps upon the earth,
after their kinds, went forth out of the ark. That was a very wonderful
procession! It was the new beginning of everything upon the earth!
Whatever evolution or any other folly or evil of man may have done,
everything had to begin over. Everybody was drowned save these great
fathers of the new age–and all must begin from this stock.

20. And Noah built an altar unto the LORD, and took of every clean
beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the
altar. Commonsense would have said, "Spare them, for you will need
every one of them." But Grace said,

"Slay them, for they belong to God. Give Jehovah His due." I have often
admired that widow of Zarephath. When she had but a handful of meal,
she made a little cake for God's Prophet, first, but then God
multiplied her meal and her oil. Oh, if we would but seek, first, the
Kingdom of God and His righteousness, all things would be added unto
us! Out of the small stock he had, Noah took of the clean beasts and of
the clean fowls, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

21. And the LORD smelled a sweet savor. Noah's faith was pleasing to
God. It was Noah's confidence in a bleeding sacrifice that gave him
acceptance with the Lord. God thought upon His Son and that great
Sacrifice to be offered long afterwards on the Cross and He, "smelled a
sweet savor."

21. And the LORD said in His heart, I will not again curse the ground
any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil
from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living,
as I have done. God always speaks comfortable words to those who bring
an acceptable sacrifice. If you would hear the voice of a Divine
promise, go to the atoning blood of Jesus. If you would know what
perfect reconciliation means, hasten to the Altar where the great
Sacrifice was presented.

22. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat,
and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. They never
have ceased. We have had, this year, a long and dreary winter. It
looked as if spring would never come. Only a few days ago the chestnuts
were just beginning to turn green and then there came the little
spikes. And now you can see them in full flower. How faithfully God
fulfils His Covenant with the earth! How truly will He keep His
Covenant with every believing sinner! Oh, trust in Him, for His promise
will stand fast forever!