Noah - Faith to Save a People

Introduction

In these ‘Heroes of the Faith’, we’ve examined:

John the Baptist

I. His Life - He was Influenced Greatly by His Parents; He was Moved by Jesus; He was Different; He was Loved by Some, Hated by Others

II. His Labour - He Spoke Boldly; He Served Humbly; He Suffered Doubt; He Succumbed to Persecution

III. His Legacy - He was Recognized by Christ; He’s Remembered Positively by God’s People

Abel - the Son of Adam

I. His Life - The 4th Soul Upon Earth (Gen. 4:1-2); Audience of 1st Hand Testimony of God; His Offering Satisfied God; The First Martyr

II. His Labour - By Faith, He Gave a Worthy Sacrifice; His Works by Faith Testified of His Righteousness (Heb. 11:4); Though Younger, He was a Leader (Gen. 4:1-2); He Serves as the Contrast to Wickedness (1Jn. 3:12): In Offering; In Heart Condition; One will Reveal the Other; In Death His Blood Cried Out for Justice (Gen. 4:10) - And God Noticed It

III. His Legacy - His Testimony Still Speaks (Heb. 11:4); He was Used by Christ for Instruction (Luk. 11:49-51)

Today we're going to speak about a man pretty well known by the name of Noah.

I. His Life

Builder of an Ark (Gen. 6:13-22)

What Noah is surely known for, by and large, is that he was used by God to build the ark of Noah.

I said he was builder of an ark because there was more than one important ark found in scripture.

This was the First

Moses’ was the Second

The Ark of the Tabernacle the Third

All three picture Christ and all three are important.

The Ark of Noah was by far the largest undertaking of arks in Scripture, yet probably only the second in value (given that the Ark of the Covenant was covered in Gold).

The time frame of the building of the ark took about a hundred years. That is a lone work project.

In Genesis 5:32 we see Noah is 500 years old when he begins bearing sons.

God declares in Genesis 6:3 that the earth will last no longer than a hundred and twenty years

Then in Genesis 7:11 we see in the 600th year of Noah's life, the floods came.

Noah was a builder of an ark.

He was Shepherd of Seven Souls (Gen. 7:13)

We are told in Genesis 7:13 that there were eight people that got on the ark. Noah was only one of them. He had his wife, his three sons, and their wives. Ultimately Noah was the shepherd of that family.

Let's consider this for a moment. Noah knew that God was going to judge man.

Noah also knew the way to escape that judgment and…

So Noah was ultimately responsible for these souls in his care.

Husbands, understand this: There are souls in your care. You are the shepherds of your family.

Momma’s, there are souls in your care. You are shepherds to your children.

Teachers, there are souls in your care. You are shepherds to your students.

Life and death hung in the balance depending upon Noah’s FAITH and FAITHFULNESS. That’s not an understatement. Nor is it an understatement to say that life and death hang in the balance in your hands as parents and leaders of others.

He was a shepherd of seven souls.

He was a Steward of God’s Creation (Gen. 6:19-21)

Not only was he a shepherd of seven souls but he was a steward of God's creation.

God entrusted him to care for and feed the animals upon that ark. Which of course would have been a huge undertaking.

(Ill.) When I was a child we had a hamster, if memory serves me correctly. We liked the idea of having a hamster more than we liked having a hamster and I don't believe we were very good stewards of taking care of that hamster. In fact if I'm not mistaken, he ended up hanging himself.

My point is we should be good stewards with everything that God entrusts unto us.

Certainly things of this world:

God has given us things such as coal, oil & gas. We’d be fools not to use those for our benefit, as we would not be good stewards over His creation. We must do so responsibly, but we must do so.

Noah took care of what was entrusted to him.

He Lived Upright in a Perverse Generation (Gen. 6:9; 7:1)

Genesis 6:9 “These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.”

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.”

As I look about America today, what I see is vestiges of what we once were. And then I see perversions abounding in our society. Ungodly things it should not be.

Sadly they are accepted by much of America.

Why do I say that? I say that because of this. If you think we live in a perverse society, we have nothing on what it was like in Noah's day.

Read (Gen. 6:5-7)

God was so disgusted with mankind. They had perverted their way so greatly. Yet in the midst of that Noah lived upright and godly.

Church, just because the world lives as if there is no God, does not give you an excuse to live like there is none as well. Nor does it mean that you cannot live godly in an ungodly world.

Noah lived upright in a perverse generation.

We see His Life

II. His Labour

He was Sensitive to God’s Word (Gen. 6:13-14)

When God spoke to Noah, Noah took heed.

(Ill.) I point this out because there are many times when I'm speaking to someone that I can tell that they're not listening. They're simply waiting for an opportunity to speak themselves.

Noah was not looking to tell God what to do. He was waiting to hear from God what he should do.

I think many people today, if Christ were to come and speak to them audibly, he would be treated the same way. He would find it hard to get a word in, Because people just are not sensitive to the Word of God.

How do I know that? Because we have the word of God and can hear from God at any moment. Yet so few are interested and even those that are are not looking for God's guidance but rather God's confirmation on what they believe.

You and I would do so much better. We'd build so many more arcs if we were simply sensitive to the Word of God.

Noah was sensitive to God's Word.

By Faith He Laboured for the LORD (Gen. 6:22)

Remember prior to this no rain had fallen upon the earth. It took great faith for Noah to believe not only that it would rain but that it would rain to the magnitude where a huge ark was needed.

And then let's just pause for a moment and consider once again the timeframe upon which this was built, around a hundred years.

Noah's faith had to drive him day in and day out.

(Ill.) How many of you have experienced a good day for the Lord, a day lived by faith, honoring unto God? And then the next day it's hard to drag yourself out of bed to do anything.

By Faith, Noah labored day in and day out, month after month, year after year, decade after decade. He did so because he believed the Lord. He had faith in his God.

Church, that's the bottom line - FAITH. Either you will do because you believe or you will not because you don't.

Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

By faith Noah put his work boots on every day, gathered up his tools, and walked out to this big ark being built upon dry land.

By faith he labored for the Lord.

He was a Preacher of Righteousness (2Pet. 2:5)

2 Peter 2:5 “And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;”

The Bible tells us that he is a preacher of righteousness. This godly man, who risked ridicule and humiliation day after day, month after month, year after year, decade after decade, not only labored by faith but preached the truth while doing it.

(Ill.) Consider just for a moment what the general consensus was about this man, Noah. They had to think he was crazy. I'm sure they laughed him to scorn. But do you know what they were thinking after the flood came? Nothing because they were dead.

Noah knew that judgment was coming and he preached about that judgment to come, pointing to the ark as the only escape for salvation.

You and I should be preachers of righteousness, warning others of the judgment to come and pointing to Jesus, the only ark to escape the judgment to come!

He was a preacher of righteousness.

His Sacrifice Appeased God (Gen. 8:20-22)

After the flood was said and done, when the water had subsided, Noah gets off the Ark. What is the first thing he does? He worships the Lord and offers Sacrifices unto God Almighty.

And because of that sacrifice God's wrath was appeased and His judgment stayed, never to return by flood again.

If you have been saved by the Ark named Jesus, do you know what you should be doing? Worshipping a holy and righteous God who spared you from the judgment!

His sacrifice appeased God.

We see his Life and his Labor

III. His Legacy

His Righteousness was Declared by Faith (Heb. 11:7)

Hebrews 11:7 “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”

Noah was declared righteous by God. Why?

Not because he was good.

Not because he was obedient.

Not because he went to church.

Not because he was baptized.

Not because he kept the law

He was deemed righteous by God because he believed God.

Let me ask you something. Why do you think it is so important for God to want man to believe Him? Because he doesn't need anything else! God can do anything that is not sin. All he wants from us is our faith that he can do it!

Remember you are talking about a God that created all that we know and don't know in six days.

This is the God that breathed in the nostrils of Adam the breath of life and he became a living soul.

This is the same God that defeated an army by a shout in broken pitchers.

This is the same God that, by marching in a shout, brought down the walls of Jericho.

God just wants us to trust Him and believe Him!

Once again: Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Noah's righteousness was declared by faith.

His Labour by Faith Saved Mankind (Gen. 8:15-19)

You and I are here today because Noah's faith worked.

Ephesians 2:8–10 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

You never know the extent of what your faith will bring when your faith works.

His labor by faith saved mankind.

His Faithfulness Secured a Covenant from God (Gen. 9:9-17)

Because he was faithful, God granted him an unconditional covenant that we still see today.

Think about that for a moment. 6,000 years ago God made a promise to Noah and 6,000 years later, often times when we see it rain, we can see the token of that covenant in the clouds.

His faithfulness secured a covenant from God.

His Sin Stained His Legacy, and Cursed a People (Gen. 9:20-29)

Noah's wonderful life concluded with an abysmal thud in that he got drunk and was passed out naked in his tent, to his shame.

A few things about this.

Nakedness often accompanies drunkenness.

Though Noah did this behind closed doors, his sin was still known by many.

Here was the great man of faith, the preacher of righteousness, one of only eight. The patriarch that led his family from the great judgment of God, passed out drunk, to his shame.

Had he not been passed out drunk and naked,

Ham would never have made fun of him as he did.

Had it not been for his drunken nakedness,

Ham's son Canaan would not have been cursed.

Whenever godly people act in wicked fashion, it always takes a toll upon people.

This shameful episode brought about a stain upon Noah's legacy. Church, I encourage you to remember the words of Peter. 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”

His sin stained his legacy and cursed a people.

Conclusion