Noah’s Faith and Obedience
HOR Book 1 Studies • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Scripture reading: Genesis 6.
Introduction
Today we are looking at the story of Noah. But before we begin, can anyone tell me who is Noah?
It’s important to study about Noah, because Jesus said that the end time will be like Noah’s time.
36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Now, what was it like back in Noah’s time?
1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.
So we see that people began to multiply. There’s now more people. And the sons of God saw the daughters of man were attractive, and they married whoever they chose.
I want you to understand this. When there are many people, it’s easier to do stupid things.
Think about this. What is natural? Wisdom or stupidity? Which is natural? Someone who is good at maths, or someone who is bad at maths? The one who is bad at maths. Why? Because maths is something that has to be taught, and unless you put in the effort to learn, and unless someone is willing to put in the effort to teach you, you will never be good at maths.
The same thing applies to culture. If you see the people all around you living in a certain way, it makes it easier for you to do the same. If all the people start marrying whoever they want, doesn’t matter if they’re Christian or not, then it becomes a normal thing to do. In fact, it becomes weird for you not to do it.
And in the culture of Noah’s time, the sons of God started marrying the daughters of man.
Who do the sons of God here refer to? Those born in the line of Seth. Those who belong to the line of faith. And who are these daughters of men? The line of Cain. Those who live without God.
So what you have here are Christians marrying non-Christians.
Do you know what you’re saying if you marry a non-Christian?
You’re saying, “I want to spend 50 years with this person who lives in rebellion against God. I want to live together with this person and bind our souls together. I want to raise kids with this person who does things that God hates. I want to share my joys and sorrows with this person who lives under the wrath of God.”
Is that how a true Christian would think? Of course not.
How does God respond to this? Would God be happy?
3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. 5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
Now, what happens as a result? Sin spreads even more throughout the culture. Now, even the sons of God have created ungodly families and ungodly offspring. And so the whole earth was filled with evil.
And can God sit still in the face of wickedness? No. He’s a God of justice. So what must He do? He has to bring about judgement. That’s the flood. God’s judgement against sin.
Now, what happens next?
God comes to Noah and gives Noah His Word.
13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
And then God says, “Noah, I’m going to establish a covenant with you. So build an ark, and you and your family will be saved from the flood.”
And does Noah obey or not?
22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
5 And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.
Now, let me ask you. If you hear a voice in your head, and it says “I am God, go build a ship.” Would you do it? Build or don’t build? If it were me, I’d go see a doctor first.
So why did Noah obey? Is it because back then they didn’t have IMH?
How did Noah hear this voice, and know that this is the voice of God?
In order to answer the question, we need to look at what the Bible says.
First, the Bible tells that Noah was a righteous man who walked with God.
9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.
How did Noah walk with God? Who taught him about God? His forefathers.
By the time Noah was born, Adam was already 126 years in the ground and Enoch was already 69 years in the sky. But he would have met Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel and so on. But the majority of his life would have been with two people. Methuselah and Lamech. He spent 600 years with grandpa and 595 years with papa.
Now, do you remember the meaning of Methuselah’s name? When he dies, judgement will come. If anyone knows about the judgement of God, it’s Methuselah.
But then there’s Lamech, and Lamech is a man of hope. He put so much hope in God’s salvation that he called his son Noah, meaning rest or comfort.
28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.”
Do you know what’s going on? Lamech thought his son was Jesus Christ. He thought his son would bring an end to the curse of sin.
But wait a minute. How could Lamech know about the curse? Only two people were there when God pronounced the curse in Genesis 3. Who were they? Adam and Eve. So what this means is that Adam heard the Word of God in the Garden, and he passed it down the the next generation, and the next, and the next, even until Lamech.
And Rev. Abraham Park showed that Adam died when Lamech was 56 years old. So Adam had 56 years to share God’s Word with Lamech. And Lamech heard and believed, and passed on the faith to his son Noah.
So imagine with me. Methuselah would have told Noah about God’s judgement. He is a God of justice who punishes sin.
Lamech would have told Noah about God’s mercy and grace. He is a God of love who saves them from the curse of sin.
From Methuselah’s perspective, God is a righteous judge. From Lamech’s perspective, God is a Savior.
And there is no other religion in this whole world that has God as both judge and savior. It’s always either or. The God of the Muslims is all righteousness and no mercy. The Buddhists believe in collecting good karma so that you don’t reincarnate as a chicken. And then on the other side, you have the liberal church that says “Love is love” and all they care about is accepting the gays.
Noah knew that the true God was the God who judges sinners and also saves them.
Now, let’s see again what God says to Noah. And I want you to see if you see both judgement and salvation.
13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.
Did you see it? Verse 13 is judgement against sin. Verse 14 is salvation.
Noah would have seen that this is a God of judgement and salvation, a God of justice and mercy. Noah would have recognized this as the God of Methuselah and Lamech. That’s why Noah could obey God’s Word and build the ark. He had faith in God, taught according to the Word of God revealed to his ancestors.
7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
Conclusion
So finally, let’s think about how this applies to us.
Because for many years, the story of Noah was a story that made me feel I’m not good enough. People kept teaching Noah like this. This is Noah, Noah obeyed God, be like Noah.
Is that the Gospel? This is Jesus, be like Jesus. What is that called? This is why we studied Philippians. In Philippians, Paul calls this what? Confidence in the flesh. Philippians 3. Confidence in the spiritual things that are not Jesus Christ. Confidence in your actions and your obedience.
If you know the Gospel, you know this isn’t how you are saved. We are not saved by our works.
But at the same time, true faith always bears the fruit of obedience. Yes, your ark will not be as big and beautiful as Noah’s ark. But you’d be building something.
If there is no obedience in your life to God’s Word, the Bible says that there is no reason to believe you are a true Christian.
3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,
Now, Noah would have saved some obstacles in building the ark. He would have lived in Mesopotamia, which nearest body of water would have been between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. He would have been a laughing stock. It’s like buying a surf board for a swimming pool.
And in the eyes of the world, Noah was a complete fool. But on the day of judgement, he was proven wise, and all who didn’t listen to him were showed to be fools. And likewise, our faith and obedience and sacrifice to the Lord will seem foolish to the world.
There was a man in the US who would walk up and down the street wearing a sandwich board. On his front, it said “I am a fool for Christ”. And on the back it said “Whose fool are you?”
Let us not be discouraged, but work for the night is coming, and on the day of judgement, I pray you will stand among the wise who put their faith in God’s Word and obeyed it. Amen?
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
One last point. If you read the whole story of Noah from beginning to end, you’ll notice that Noah speaks only one time at the very end. In the three chapters from Gen. 6-9, it is God speaking, and Noah obeying. God speaks seven times. Noah speaks only once.
I pray that we will have the same faith. Amen? Let your life be God speaking and you obeying.
