The Obedience of Faith

Hebrews 11:7

This morning we are going to look at a third example of faith from Hebrews 11. So far the author has outlined for us through Abel that faith suffers for Christ. Faith in each of these cases expresses itself in action. Sometimes that action results in suffering.

In Abel’s case that suffering was a suffering unto death. These Old Testament stories are sometimes not thought through as deeply as we should. Believer are you willing to suffering and face death for your faith?

The second person we saw, both last week, was Enoch. Different outcome, but the same faith in the same Christ. Enoch, Jude tells us, preached against the wickedness of his time, and God took him. I like that ending much better.

What is being demonstrated for us in these Old Testament cases is simply what Hebrews has been teaching us from the beginning. Namely, that faith acts - Christ acted first. Faith suffers - Christ suffered first and for us. Faith also gives us entrance into God’s presence. Enoch was taken up into the presence of God. Christ stepped through the curtain by his flesh and invites us in.

And the reality is that we took will be taken up with Christ. Death isn’t the end. But in fact we can and do commune with him now.

Each of these men had a faith that was the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen.

Well, this third case, the case of Noah is also very much in line with a major theme in the book of Hebrews. Hebrews has been warning us of the dangers of not listening to God throughout the book. 4 times so far we have seen this, and there is another one coming.

Well Noah demonstrates that faith obeys and heeds the warning.

So let’s look at this passage together and see what Noah teaches us about our Savior.

Notice Noah is warned, and so he fears.

We were actually discussing fear in scripture in our community group on tuesday. Fear is often thought of as a bad thing. The fear of the Lord in scripture is not a bad thing. You know if i’m afraid of an inanimate object, or something with no power over me, that’s silly.

I used to have a Jeff Kent poster on my closet door that would scare me at night because it was always looking at me. That’s a silly fear.

The fear of the Lord is not a silly fear, in fact it is the beginning of wisdom. Fool’s despise it.

The simple fact of this text is that God warned Noah that judgment was going to fall on humanity because of their wickedness and Noah feared.

Now why would Noah fear? Well he understood he too was a sinner and under condemnation. He also understood his need for a savior, and that God was that one and only savior. Well how do we know this? Because he listened to God and built the ark!

See if he didn’t think he would be killed that would mean he didn’t believe he deserved to die. And if he didn’t believe he would be killed he certainly wouldn’t see a need to build an ark. And if he thought maybe he would be killed but he was going to find his own way to survive he wouldn’t have listened to God’s instruction.

But see he feared the Lord. This is the purpose of the Law it is to show us ourselves and our need for a savior. And knowing that the Law comes from the Holy One himself tells us that only the perfect Law giver can be the perfect savior.

Isn’t this true? How many times must we be warned?

Listen to Proverbs 2:1-15

Proverbs 2:1–15 ESV

1 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, 2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; 3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, 4 if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; 7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, 8 guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. 9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; 10 for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; 11 discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, 12 delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech, 13 who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, 14 who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, 15 men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.

The Lord gives wisdom to those who fear him, and the wise are delivered from the way of evil.

Do you find yourself on the path of evil right now? You probably lack wisdom. And if you lack wisdom you probably aren’t fearing the Lord! And if you aren’t fearing the Lord you certainly aren’t hearing the warning.

We need wisdom don’t we we? Paul says in 1 Cor 1:30 that Christ is himself the wisdom of God. By wisdom the Father created the world. If you call out for Christ, the wisdom of God, he was come into your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, and deliver your from the way of evil.

We need a work of the Spirit of God in us, the indwelling of Christ to fear the Lord as we should. And he will save us.

Notice, there’s so much here, but Noah so believed this that he constructed an ark for the saving of his household.

Believer’s this is your primary mission field. If you fear the coming judgment of God and have trusted Christ, yours is a speaking, loving, acting ministry to your family now. Go love them as Christ loved the church.

Noah spent 100 years building this ark. This is why the text says that this again was a faith—a conviction—of things not seen. He trusted God’s word. And he spent those 100 years saving his family and condemning the world.

His life and message, his obedience resulted in the salvation of his family and the condemnation of those who didn’t listen. They didn’t fear the Lord, up until the water was at their nostrils, then it was too late.

By this the text says that Noah became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

This means one of two things. I’ll give you both because they are both good. Either this means, as Paul uses this phrase in Romans 8:15-17 and Galatians 3:18-19 that he was an inheritor of Christ’s righteousness by promise. Meaning Noah received his salvation not by his works but by the promise of God.

And of course this is true. Noah’s works didn’t result in his salvation. His faith evidenced itself in his work, and his salvation was both physical and spiritual. God saved him by his word.

Or second, the inheritance that the text is speaking of is the New World that Noah and his family landed on after the judgment which points us to our inheritance in the New Creation after the coming judgment.

We are warned that judgment is coming on this earth because of sin, and that it was be a worse judgment than a worldwide flood. Because this judgment will not result merely in physical death, but in the souls of those who do not fear the Lord being cast into everlasting fire that cannot be quenched, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

But Hebrews 1:6 tells us that at the resurrection the Father declares of his Son who rules over the New World “Let all God’s angels worship him.” and in verse 8 he says of the Son “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.”

Believer these warnings are for you, but the consequence of our disobedience fell on Christ. And in fearing the Lord and crying out for Christ the wisdom of God the Lord saves us. 1 Peter 3 tells us that Jesus was the ark, and by the waters of the Spirit’s baptism you have passed from death to life.

Praise be to God.