GOD SAID…NOAH DID

INTRODUCTION:

1. As parents or grandparent…we want our kids/grandkids to obey us.

But have you ever given your kids or grandkids a task to do & immediately they follow it up with this question - Why?

And you may have tried to explain why…but if your children are like mine, they can be persistent…and eventually your response turns into something like this - “Do it b/c I said so...”

2. Well, when it comes to God - He wants us to be obedient to Him - and He gives us instructions through His Word…and He leads us through the HS but if we’ll be honest, we can act just like our kids/grandkids when it comes to obeying God.

God can say to us, I want you to do this…and we say - Why?

Just like our kids/grandkids struggle with obeying us…we at times struggle with obeying God.

But in our passage this morning, I find a man by the name of Noah who didn’t have a problem obeying God.

In fact, twice in this passage it says Noah did all that God commanded him to do.

3. So this morning, I want to look at Noah’s obedience & give you 4 Lessons about obedience.

But before we do that, I want to look at the text & give you some background so that you understand what Noah was facing as he obeyed God.

Genesis 6:9 NASB95

9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.

Gen. 6:Verse 9

Noah's character is seen in this verse.

Noah's character is seen in this verse.

He was righteous, meaning he had a right standing with God.

He was blameless - literally it means he is complete or blameless…In other words, he was man of integrity.

He walked with God.

This doesn't mean that Noah was perfect & we see that in how Noah responded after the flood.

Noah still needed God's grace & mercy…He still needed God's forgiveness.

However, Noah believed in God & followed God.

Verse 10

Genesis 6:10 NASB95

10 Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Noah was a father.

Noah was a father.

He had 3 sons - Shem, Ham, & Japheth.

Noah raised his family to follow God.

When God sent the flood, his family was on the ark with him.

Verse 11-12

Genesis 6:11–12 NASB95

11 Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.

This is the condition of the world when Noah lived.

The condition of the world when Noah lived.

The world was corrupt & filled with violence.

According to verse 5, the intents & thoughts of men's hearts was evil continually.

Humanity could only do evil…Wickedness & sin was on the rise & day after day it was getting worse.

Noah was a godly man living in an ungodly society.

Genesis 6:13–7:5 NASB95

13 Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. 14 “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 “This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 “You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 “Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. 18 “But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 “And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 “Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. 21 “As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.” 22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did. 1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time. 2 “You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female; 3 also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth. 4 “For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.” 5 Noah did according to all that the Lord had commanded him.

-7:5

In these verses, we see God's plans for the ark, Noah's family, & the animals

God's plans for the ark, Noah's family, & the animals

God gives Noah detailed instructions about how to build the ark…and how to gather the animals…and how to gather food for them to live while on the ark during the flood.

Twice in these verses, it says "Noah did according to all that God had commanded him."

Noah was an obedient man.

He completed everything that God told him to do…He didn't leave anything undone.

He knew what the plan was & he followed it to the letter.

Lessons on Obedience

1 - To Obey God We Must Know What God Wants

We can't obey what we don't know…We can’t follow instructions that we don’t have.

So, how do we find out what God wants?

We do what Noah did - we walk with God.

When you walk with God…God will talk you with you just like He talked with Noah.

Noah heard from God…Verse 13 says, “God said to Noah”

tells us that Noah was warned by God of things to come.

But we also have His Word where He speaks to us.

NOTE: If you will get to know God…you will get to know His will.

If you will spend time with God & His Word…knowing what He wants will become easier.

2 - Obedience Isn't Always Easy

Noah was told to build a big boat in a place where there was no water and at a time when they had never seen rain before.

He probably looked foolish…and he probably sounded foolish preaching that God was going to send a flood.

But he kept building & working.

NOTE: What God asks us to do doesn't always make sense…Obeying God may not always look normal to others.

-Walls of Jericho

-Abraham leave your homeland

-Gideon & 300 men (Midianites)

-Peter walking on water

NOTE: God's ways are not our ways & His thoughts are not our thoughts…Obeying God might look foolish to others but I can promise you that it's always best to obey God.

It may not be easy…and people may scoff and ridicule…but obeying God is the best thing to do.

3 - Obedience Can't be Delayed

Noah was told to build an ark…and he started building the ark.

He could have put it off & procrastinated, but he didn't.

I don't see in the passage where he debated or discussed with it God.

The text says, he did according to all that God had commanded him.

Noah knew that God meant business…He took God at His Word & he obeyed immediately.

NOTE: Obedience can't be delayed.

When we know what we should do…we should do it.

We shouldn't put it off until tomorrow or until some other day.

Think about this - If Noah had delayed in building in the ark, he wouldn't have been prepared when the flood came.

If Noah had delayed in his obedience, it is possible that he would have perished just like the rest of the people of his day.

NOTE: Delayed obedience can be costly…In fact, delayed obedience is disobedience.

If God gives you an instruction or a command…you need to obey as quickly & promptly as you can.

Here's what some of you are thinking - Pastor, I want to make sure that it's God…I don't want to do something that isn't from Him.

I understand completely - but if you're walking with God as you should - you should know when it's God & when it's not.

But let me help you for a moment - if it contradicts His Word, it's not God…if it's going to hurt someone, it's not God.

Also, Satan isn't going to tell you to do something good for someone.

So, if you get a thought, idea, or a prompting to be a blessing to someone…it's probably God.

NOTE: If we will live our lives according to God's Word…we will have so much to obey that everything else will happen naturally.

4 - Obedience Must be Complete

Genesis 6:14–16 NASB95

14 “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 “This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 “You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.

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Genesis 6:19–22 NASB95

19 “And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 “Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. 21 “As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.” 22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.

Genesis 7:5 NASB95

5 Noah did according to all that the Lord had commanded him.

Noah was given detailed plans about how to build the ark.

Noah was given detailed plans about how to build the ark.

He was told how big the ark was to be…He was told how the animals were to be brought on the ark…He was told to gather food for himself & for the animals.

And twice it says Noah did all that God commanded.

It is implied from those two verses that Noah didn't leave anything undone…In other words, he did everything exactly as God told him to do it.

His obedience was complete & absolute…Everything was done according to God's plan & specifics.

Noah didn't cut corners & take any shortcuts…He obeyed completely.

He didn't obey some of what God said…and leave the rest out…He fully obeyed God.

NOTE: God wants total obedience from His people.

John 14:15 NASB95

15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

1 John 2:3–4 NASB95

3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;

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1 John 3:24 NASB95

24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

1 JOhn 3:24

NOTE: We are to live according to the FULL AUTHORITY of God's Word.

NOTE: We are to live according to the FULL AUTHORITY of God's Word.

We can't pick & choose what we want to obey.

Also, we can't partially obey God's instructions & think that God will be pleased with it.

NOTE: Partial obedience is disobedience…To not fully obey is to disobey.

(Illus. Saul - to destroy the Amalekites - )

1 Samuel 15:3 NASB95

3 ‘Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”

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1 Samuel 15:13–23 NASB95

13 Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.” 14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” 15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Wait, and let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak!” 17 Samuel said, “Is it not true, though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you king over Israel, 18 and the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.’ 19 “Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” 20 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I did obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 “But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” 22 Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. 23 “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.”

According to this story, if you partially obey…God considers it disobedience.

According to this story, if you partially obey…God considers it disobedience.

And verse 23 says, "rebellion or disobedience is as witchcraft or divination."

NOTE: Disobedience is serious with God.

Here's why - it's rejecting His Word…and rejecting His Word is in a way rejecting Him.

In other words, when you reject God's commands…you are rejecting His authority over your life…and you are saying that you don't want to live as He would have you to live.

Notice in …Samuel told Saul - God is rejecting you b/c you have rejected the word of the Lord.

NOTE: If it seems that God is opposing you…and everything that you do isn't working out…it could be that you are living in opposition to what God has said in His Word.

NOTE: God wants our complete obedience…not our good intentions & motives.

Saul thought he had a good plan…We saved the best sheep to sacrifice to God.

But Samuel said, "obedience is better than sacrifice…"

Hosea 6:6 NASB95

6 For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

CONCLUSION:

CONCLUSION:

1. God wants us to obey Him…sincerely & wholeheartedly.

And the truth is, we all know that we should do more than what we are actually doing.

If you read the bible at all…you know what God expects…and one day we will held accountable for what we have done for Him.

This isn't a salvation issue…We aren't saved by our works…or our obedience.

But salvation should motivate us to obey God.

Our belief in Jesus determines that we go to heaven…but our behavior & our obedience to Him on this earth determines how we spend eternity in heaven.

Our obedience determines the rewards we receive in heaven…and the bible teaches there are different degrees of rewards.

Matthew 16:27 NASB95

27 “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.

Revelation 22:12 NASB95

12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.

NOTE: I want to be as faithful & obedient as possible…I want to have something to show for my life when I get to heaven.

According to Paul, there will be those who are rewarded in heaven for what they do…but he also says there will those whose work is burned up but they will be saved…meaning their reward in heaven will be nothing more than salvation.

NOTE: I want to be as faithful & obedient as possible…I want to have something to show for my life when I get to heaven.

I want to hear the words - "Well done, good and faithful servant."

2. So this morning, if you had to rate your obedience to God on a scale of 1-10…where would you rate yourself?

If we would all be honest…none of us could rate ourselves that high, could we?

All of us have room for improvement, don't we?

But just imagine what could happen if we read God’s Word then sought to be obey it.

I’m sure there would be opposition…and maybe even some persecution…but I also believe we would see lives changed.

Let's pray!!!