Safe on Land
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Some things in life we just have to wait for. As I entered my senior year of college I realized that somewhere along the line I had made a very big mistake. One of my advisors had sold me on the prestige of a bachelor of arts degree over a bachelor of science degree. I still don’t really understand it, but it was something about how a bachelor of arts degree is more well-rounded; I don’t know, no one has ever appreciated or commented on my bachelor of arts, so whatever. Anyway, the thing about a bachelor of arts that makes it more well-rounded is that the student takes more general education classes instead of classes that are directly tied to their major. So instead of one year of generals, you end up with more. Well, I really liked the classes that were connected with my Bible major and pastoral studies minor, so I took most of those in my sophomore and junior years. That left mostly generals left, classes like sociology, American literature, and an extra math class. It was horrible. Waiting for graduation was almost unbearable. All I wanted to do was graduate, but I had all these classes that seemed pointless to me standing in my way. Waiting can be so difficult.
Noah had to wait too. Noah thoroughly obeyed God when he built the ark, brought the animals and his family on it, and got on to let God deliver them, but salvation didn’t come immediately. In order to experience the fullness of his salvation, Noah had to wait through forty days and nights of rain and 150 days of water covering the earth. Essentially 4 months living in a boat with animals, a reality that hasn’t been lost on those with a penchant for sarcasm.
It couldn’t have been easy to wait
If God had saved Noah from the destruction of the flood but hadn’t saved him from the confines of the boat, would God have kept His word? I don’t think so. God promised that He would save Noah and his family, and when God saves people, He saves them completely. He doesn’t just save them halfway or from part of the danger. He saves them from all of the danger.
may seem like tedious details, with how many days Noah was on the ark and the birds that he sent out, but these details have a point. All of the details point to at least one great truth: God entirely saves those who trust Him. God saved Noah and his family entirely, not just from destruction but also from the boat, and seeing God’s salvation in the life of Noah must lead us follow Noah’s example and wait patiently for His salvation. So please take this truth home with you this week:
God entirely saves those who trust Him; therefore, we must wait patiently for His salvation.
God entirely saves those who trust Him; therefore, we must wait patiently for His salvation.
How do we wait patiently for God’s salvation? Two components of waiting for God’s salvation.
Two essentials of waiting for God’s salvation.
Rest in God’s promise (v1-11)
Rest in God’s promise (v1-11)
Noah’s resting in God’s promise is in v1-11
1 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty 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 men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. 5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. 9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God. 10 Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.
1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided. 2 Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained; 3 and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased. 4 In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. 5 The water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible. 6 Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made; 7 and he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land; 9 but the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself. 10 So he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark. 11 The dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth.
This passage starts off by saying that God remembered Noah. Now this might be a bit confusing to us because we might be picturing God up in heaven, suddenly remembering Noah, like, “Oh, that’s right, Noah’s still in the ark. . .” That isn’t what it means that God remembered Noah. "’God's remembering always implies his movement toward the object. . . . The essence of God's remembering lies in his acting toward someone because of a previous commitment.’ To say ‘God remembered Noah’ is to say that God faithfully kept his promise to Noah by intervening to end the flood.” God promised to deliver Noah from his destructive flood, and part of that promise implied that God would deliver him back to dry land. This is God’s promise, and as Noah lived on the ark, he rested in that promise.
And this required a lot of resting. The text emphasizes several times the amount of time that was passing as Noah waited for the water to subside. God stopped the rain and the floodgates and He caused a wind, but it still took five months for the water to decrease enough for the ark to rest on the mountain tops. And even then there was more waiting forty days here, seven days there, then seven days again. Noah kept waiting.
I see an important analogy to our lives in these things. We have many promises from God recorded in Scripture, and some of these promises require us to wait for their realization. Paul expresses confidence in God’s promise in ,
6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
But the reality of this promise will never be realized until our death or the day of Christ’s return whichever comes first. Sometimes waiting for the realization of this promise can be discouraging as we long for God’s good work in us to be completed. Instead we struggle against temptation and face frustration and discouragement as we sin. Although the Scripture doesn’t give us a glimpse inside the ark, I’m sure those days of waiting grew difficult as Noah and his wife and his boys and their wives waited for God to complete his salvation, but God gave them little choice but to wait. He promised to deliver them completely and He would fulfill His word, but He would do it in His time. This is the same with the good work He is doing in us.
Another promise that we must wait for is referenced in 2 Peter.
3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” 5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, 6 through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. 7 But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
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Peter even recognizes here that we will be mocked because we continue to wait for God’s promise to return, deliver us, and judge humanity again. Perhaps longing for our own vindication and deliverance we might grow discouraged with the way society is headed, the influence it is having on our children, and our longing for peace, but we must wait. For God has appointed a day in which he will deliver the righteous and judge the wicked. That day might not come when we want it to, but it will come and we can wait. God promised it, and we can be sure that it will happen.
Based on the Noah’s narrative of the flood we can be sure that God completely saves those who trust Him. God completely saved Noah from the flood not only by putting him in the ark, but also by landing him safely on the mountains. God will completely save you from sin by completing the good work He’s begun in you and by eventually judging the wicked again, but we must rest in the promises of God instead of doubting or becoming discouraged because we don’t see the result we desire. God’s promises are sure; rest in them; they will be realized.
But there is a second component of waiting patiently for God’s salvation. Not only must we rest in God’s promises, secondly, we must work with God’s provisions.
Allen P. Ross. Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis (Kindle Location 2341). Kindle Edition.
Work with God’s provision (v6-19)
Work with God’s provision (v6-19)
Look at v6-19; in v6-11 Noah sends out the raven and the dove waiting for evidence that the earth was inhabitable. Then in v12
12 Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; but she did not return to him again. 13 Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up. 14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. 15 Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 16 “Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 17 “Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from the ark.
12 Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; but she did not return to him again. 13 Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up. 14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. 15 Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 16 “Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 17 “Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from the ark.
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Here we see that Noah did not just sit around the ark twiddling his thumbs waiting for dry land to appear or God to speak again. Noah took action. He sends out the raven, who comes and goes from the ark as he pleases. We aren’t told much about the raven, but many people assume that the raven was scavenging off of the carcasses of the dead; if that is the case, I assume that the raven was also bringing some of the meat back to the ark to help feed the other meat-eating animals and birds. This was Noah’s way of providing while he waited for God. He also sent out the dove three times to see if the land was inhabitable. The first time the dove comes immediately back; one week later, she has a green olive branch in her beak; then one week later still, she never returned.
Another action that Noah takes is removing the covering of the ark and checking for himself regarding the state of the water. And finally, we see a repetition of the theme of Noah obeying God, when he follows the clear instructions to get out of the ark and bring the animals with you.
Now you might be thinking: “Wait, Pastor Rory, I thought that you said that we must wait patiently for God’s salvation. How are we supposed to wait patiently for God’s salvation while we are working with God’s provision? Are working and waiting opposites?”
One day this week, we planned to eat brats for dinner, but just as everything was getting done, we realized that we didn’t have any ketchup. Because it seems like we always have ketchup, we had failed to check earlier in the week and were now faced with the reality of eating our brats without ketchup. A reality that most of us found unacceptable. So, I volunteered to run out and get some ketchup. While I was away, there were still a few things that needed to be done to complete the meal, so Christa and the kids all worked together to finish those things, while they waited. You see they worked and waited at the same time. Just as waiting for me to return with the ketchup didn’t mean my family had to sit and do nothing the entire time, so also, waiting for God never means that we sit and do nothing.
Noah didn’t sit and do nothing and neither should you.
Consider again the promise that I referenced earlier from .
6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
The promise is: God began a good work, and He will finish it.
Now consider what Paul says later in Philippians about this same reality.
12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,
11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
Notice the instruction Paul gives concerning our salvation, work it out. That means that there is a certain responsibility that we have in regard to the completion of the good work that God has begun in us. But then notice what v13 says: It is God who is at work in you. So there is a waiting on the work of God that is me while at the same time we work out our salvation. This is the synergism of our salvation. Once we’ve believed the gospel because of the work of God to save us, we have a responsibility to work out this salvation with fear and trembling. This concept demands that we understand what our salvation is. Salvation in Scripture is rarely limited only to the point in time of our belief, even though we generally limit it to that in our vernacular.
Instead, salvation is usually referring to the whole process of salvation. So when we read that Jesus saves us from our sins, Jesus isn’t saving us only from the penalty of sin in hell, but also the power of sin in our lives, and eventually, the presence of sin in our world. This reality means that there is much that we must do to to work out our salvation.
Things like not yielding our members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin as it says in , or seeking things that are above as it says in . The New Testament epistles are full of commands that teach us what it will look like to work out our salvation. A careful reading of them will reveal much of your responsibility even as God works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Be sure, God will save you from sin, but you have a responsibility to help the process along.
Noah’s waiting out the end of the flood in the ark shows us that God’s saving work is utterly effective; and his example help us see that we also must wait for the completion of that salvation.
Noah’s waiting out the end of the flood in the ark shows us that God’s saving work is utterly effective; and his example help us see that we also must wait for the completion of that salvation.
Whenever God destroys something it is always for the purpose of recreation. God never destroys merely for the pleasure of destroying. We see evidence of this here in because we see in chapter 7 that God’s plan of bringing the animals and birds on the ark was to preserve them for reproduction and to refill the earth. We see even more evidence of this here in v17 when God repeats the creation blessing that the animals and birds should breed abundantly and be fruitful and multiply. Even in judgment God is planning on and providing new creation; v19 says that the animals came out in their clans. This is interesting because they went in by twos but came out by clans. God had already started His new creation even before the flood was over.
God wants to do the same thing in you. This is the point of God’s salvation. God’s goal isn’t merely to save you from the judgment of hell, but it is also to make you into a new creation who will bear His name and His gospel to countless others who need to hear His truth.
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
2 Cor 5:
CONCLUSION: new creation.
CONCLUSION: new creation.
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
Perhaps you are here this morning
Perhaps you are here this morning and all this talk of salvation is kind of confusing because you’ve never heard it before. God’s Word teaches us that every one of us is a sinner; not only were we born with a natural that is opposed to God, but we also commit numerous acts of rebellion against God’s law. Nearly every person in this room would probably be condemned by merely acknowledging three of God’s ten commandments: Do not murder, do not commit adultery, and do not bear false witness. Paul writes in that it will not end well for those who do not completely follow the law.
7 to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life;
6 who will render to each person according to his deeds: 7 to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; 8 but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.
8 but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek,
As soon as everyone one of us breaks one of God’s laws we are guilty of all and we deserve this wrath, indignation, tribulation, and distress. But God intervened. He loves to save people, even those who have wronged Him, so while we were still wronging Him, He sent Jesus to take our wrath, indignation, tribulation, and distress for us, so we wouldn’t have to. You see Jesus is God and as God He never did the things that deserve wrath and tribulation; He always did right. That is why we refer to Him as righteous. But that irritated people around Him, and eventually the plotted against Him and murdered Him. And they killed Him as a criminal to humiliate Him and to make them feel like they were better than Him. But because Jesus didn’t deserve wrath and tribulation, God raised Him from the dead three days later to prove that He is righteous. So now Jesus is alive and God offers to give you the righteousness of Jesus if you will believe in Him and align yourself with Him as His follower. To these God gives everlasting life and peace instead of wrath and tribulation. God welcomes you to believe and follow Him today.
But perhaps you have already made this decision. Remember that God’s goal in all of that was not merely to eliminate the wrath and tribulation, but also to see you align yourself with Jesus as His follower. The salvation that Jesus offers is salvation from sin in every way. That is why Paul would write in
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
When you align yourself with Jesus Christ you are joining Him in His death. And just as you join Him in His death, you join Him in His resurrection, but those who have been raised from the dead don’t live the same way as those who haven’t. The resurrection life is a new life that changes us. So we can no longer live in sin. Instead we will pursue righteousness. The beauty of this is that this is the good work that God has started in you and that He promises to complete through His Spirit. God is saving you and will completely save you. But you also have responsibility which James clearly outlines:
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? 6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. 8 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. 9 Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door. 10 As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
James 4:
Submit, resist, draw near, cleanse yourself, purify yourself, mourn, and humble yourselves. These are just some of the necessary responsibilities that are yours as you wait patiently for God to finish the work He’s begun. Don’t grow weary or discouraged; don’t doubt the promises of God; and certainly don’t stop waiting. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
