Sermon Tone Analysis

*The Work of Faith*

*Noah (Hebrews 11:7)*

* *

*Hebrews 11:7 *  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.

*Hebrews 11:7 *Pi,stei *crhmatisqei.j*

Nw~/e peri.

tw~/n mhde,pw blepome,nwn *euvlabhqei.j*

*kateskeu,asen* kibwto.n

eivj swthri,an tou~/ oi;kou auvtou~/ di h`j kate,krinen to.n ko,smon kai.

th~/j kata.

pi,stin dikaiosu,nhj evge,neto klhrono,moj

* *

*crhmatisqei.j

*verb participle aorist passive nominative masculine singular

 

[Fri] *crhmati,zw *(1) of what God makes known; (a) active /impart a revelation, give a message /(HE 12.25); (b) passive /be warned, be instructed, be given a message /(MT 2.12); (2) active with a passive sense /bear a title /or /name, be called, be known as /(AC 11.26; RO 7.3)

 

*Matthew 2:12* And being */warned/* of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

*Luke 2:26* And it was */revealed/* unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

*kateskeu,asen *verb indicative aorist active 3rd person singular

 

[Fri] *kataskeua,zw* (1) /prepare, make ready, put in readiness /(MK 1.2); of persons with mental and spiritual readiness /prepare/; passive /be prepared /(LU 1.17); (2) /build, construct, erect /(HE 11.7); (3) /furnish, equip /(HE 9.2)

 

*Introduction:  Faith without works is dead.

*

James did not launch into a lengthy refutation of the respondent.

The apostle simply addressed him forcefully, *You foolish man, *and returned to his original argument *that faith without deeds is useless *(argē, “lazy, idle, negligent”).

The adjective “foolish” (/kene/) is usually translated “vain,” “empty,” or “hollow” (cf.

/mataios, /“worthless, fruitless, useless,” in 1:26).

Flimsy faith is dead; so are empty, faithless works.

James’ argument is not pro-works~/anti-faith or pro-faith~/anti-works.

He has simply said that genuine faith is accompanied by good works.

Spiritual works are the evidence, not the energizer, of sincere faith.

*/We are not saved by faith plus works; however we are saved by a faith that works./*

A faith that does not work is dead.

Illustration:  The church at Sardis had a name that it was great.

However, they were great on the outside.

They were dead on the inside.

Our faith should cause us to act.

Noah because of his faith the Bible says “moved with fear.”

*euvlabhqei.j

*verb participle aorist passive nominative masculine singular

 

[Fri] *euvlabe,omai *1aor.

ptc.

*euvlabhqei,j*; only passive in the NT /give careful heed, be cautious /or /beware/; /be moved with reverent regard /(HE 11.7)

He did not sit around and do nothing for God after he received the message about the flood.

He was divinely warned by God about future destruction.

That would cause a real fear in almost anyone.

Illustration:  When we were attacked on September 11th those in the U.S. were fearful.

They were fearful of another destruction.

However, this is not a fear from faith.

Noah’s fear was a direct result of his faith.

In other words, Noah’s fear was quite different from the fear many have today.

His fear caused him to act.

The fear of the world causes people to panic.

It causes people to run away.

It causes people to stop acting.

Illustration:  I was reading on the news about a man who weighed over 1,000 pounds.

He was not born 999 pounds.

He was born normal.

After eating and trying diets he was afraid of what others thought.

This caused him to be bed-ridden and homebound for years.

The fear of the world paralyzes people.

The fear of God causes people to act.

A healthy fear backed up by faith should cause us to act in two ways.

Faith will cause us to act:

 

*I.

**Contrary to what we see*

* *

*Noah was warned of things not yet seen.

*He had never seen rain, because it probably did not exist before the Flood.

He had never seen a flood, since floods could not have occurred without rain.

Noah responded to God’s message by faith, “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb.

11:1).

*By* /faith/ *Noah … prepared an ark*.

Noah never saw rain or a boat.

Noah believed God even though that which God promised was yet a long way off.

The flood did not come for another 120 years.

There was never a boat before.

The size of the ark is compared to one of those modern day battle ships.

It was huge.

What faith Noah had!

He built the ark on dry ground and believed in God’s promise to destroy the earth.

The cause of his reverential respect for God was his faith.

What was the trademark about Noah was the fact that he demonstrated his faith in God by his obedience as he proceeded to build the ark according to the plan of God revealed to him.

*Genesis 6:22 * 22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Why build an ark?  What’s an ark Lord?

There has never been rain.

Yet, Noah did not question God; he just did what he was told.

That is true obedience!

That is true faith.

We take the Word of God and do what it says.

He had nothing to go on but God’s word, which for him was more than sufficient.

But Noah, who had but a fraction of the divine light that we have, did not argue, quibble, make excuses, complain, or procrastinate.

He did not question God, but simply began obeying Him.

*/He spent over one hundred years fulfilling this single command/*.

True faith does not question, and Noah did not question.

Among the countless faithful saints who have endured and persisted in obedience to God, Noah stands supreme, if for nothing else than the shear magnitude and time span of his one incredible assignment from the Lord.

* *

*We are told to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Co. 5:7)*

* *

*Illustration:  George Muller was on a ship and it was foggy.

Captain and him prayed.

*

* *

*II.

**Contrary to what others say*

* *

*/The times in which Noah grew up were among the most evil and corrupt in history./*

“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” (Gen.

6:5).

If any man had reason to regret the time in which he lived it was Noah.

But he did not complain about when he was born, his lot in life, or his calling.

He obeyed as he was and where he was.

What impressed God when He looked down from heaven is that He saw a man who was just.