The Type of Person God Uses

Hebrews 11:7 ESV

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.

Hebrews

Hebrews 11:7 The Message

By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he was told. The result? His family was saved. His act of faith drew a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the rightness of the believing world. As a result, Noah became intimate with God.

The question I have for you this morning is this: Why did God choose Noah?

When God destroyed the world with a flood, archaeologists tell us there were approximately one million people living.

So Noah was really one in a million.

Why did God choose Noah?

Imagine if you were God, what kind of person would you choose to start the human race all over again? Who would you choose if you were God?

If God were to make the decision again to destroy the world and start over, would God choose you? That makes me uneasy.

Why did God choose Noah?

2 Chronicles 6:9 ESV

Nevertheless, it is not you who shall build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’

2 Chronicles 16:9 ESV

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.”

God looks at your heart.

Why did God choose Noah? Let's look at that this morning.

I want us to see four things -- characteristics -- of the type of person God uses.

The story of Noah is in Genesis, the very first book of the Bible. , , , . From it we glean four characteristics of the type of person God uses.

The first characteristic we find in and following.

gen 6:5-8

Genesis 6:5–8 ESV

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. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 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.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

God looked down and He found one man that He was going to use.

Why did God use Noah?

God Uses People Who Are Available

That's pretty obvious! He was available.

The fact is, here's the entire population but God can only find one available person.

In God's eyes, availability is much more important than ability.

Your attitude is much more important than your aptitude.

Most of us use our aptitude as an excuse -- "Oh! I can't do that! God could never use me. I can't do anything." It's simply being available.

I heard a great story this week. Anthony Coppola, professor of sociology back in the east was invited to speak at a college in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. He drove to the college and before he was to speak, several men took him in the back room and began to pray for him that God would use his speech. While these men were praying, one man, off the cuff, prayed, "And Lord, about Bert Harris. Bert Harris needs You really badly. He lives in that trailer down the street and he's considering leaving his wife and family and, Lord, if You could just get through to Bert Harris that would be great." And then he went on with his prayer.

Anthony Coppola thought that's strange to pray that. He went out and spoke and finished and got in his car and was driving home. On his way home he picked up a hitchhiker. He said, "I know you're not supposed to pick up hitchhikers but being a Baptist preacher, anytime I can get a captive audience I'll take advantage of it." So he gets the guy in the car and is talking with him. He says, "By the way, what's your name?" The man says, "My name is Bert Harris." Anthony Coppola stopped the car, turned it around and immediately headed the opposite direction. The man said, "What are you doing?" He said, "I'm taking you back to your wife and family who you're trying to leave!" The man went white! He didn't say another word. They drove straight up to the guy's trailer. He said, "How do you know where I live?" Anthony Coppola said, "God told me." And in a way He really had. Anthony took the man inside. The family was put back together, the marriage restored and God did an exciting thing.

You say, "How come God doesn't do that to me?

How come I don't have those exciting experiences?

Why doesn't God use me like that?"

Anthony Coppola would tell you, "If you will make your life available, God will wear you out."

It's simply being available.

If you will be available, and stop focusing on what you can't do, let God decide what you can't do.

You just get available.

I think that when we get to heaven you're going to be amazed at the people God uses.

They're not superstars.

They're not super gifted.

They're not super talented people.

They're ordinary people with faults and hang ups and fears.

They're not necessarily brilliant.

They're of average intelligence.

They are simply available.

And Noah was available.

The longer I'm a Christian, the more I realize God does not need superstars. He simply needs ordinary people who'll say, "I'll be used by God.

Look at the disciples. They were a bunch of losers. They were even poor fishermen. Every time Jesus goes to see the disciples, they're mending their nets. They couldn't even keep their nets in good shape. But God uses people who are available.

God Uses People Who Dare to be Different

Genesis 6:9 ESV

These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.

Underline the phrase, " blameless among the people”

- Noah was blameless among the people of his time.

- Morally, Noah was a man of deep conviction.

- He dared to be different.

- He was not afraid to stand out.

- He was not afraid to stand alone.

- He was not afraid of what other people thought.

- He wasn't out to win a popularity contest.

At this point in the world's history, the society was morally bankrupt.

Genesis 6:

Genesis 6:11–12 ESV

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

It was the pits! Yet Noah was not influenced by all those things.

In spite of the fact that he lived in a terrible society, it says he was blameless among the people of his time.

He was not afraid to stand alone.

In America, we have a tendency to think that the majority is always right. If everybody's doing it then it must be ok. If it's popular then it must be kosher. But

Noah refused to go with the majority. The majority is often wrong.

Noah says, one plus God equals a majority. And that's the way he looked at life.

Think about the criticism that Noah probably received building the ark.

The ridicule from neighbors –

"That Noah is a crackpot!

There's old man Noah out there building a boat."

They'd see him in the grocery store buying his laundry detergent and they'd be whispering behind his back and laughing at him.

"He's one strange fellow. He thinks the world's going to end." And this happened for a long time.

Then all of a sudden he probably got pressure from his family.

How would you like to be Noah's kids?

You go to school. What's your daddy do?

"He's an ark builder." Right!

"Dad! That boat on the front lawn is embarrassing! Why can't you get a normal job? This doomsday talk is all over town."

He probably got a lot of flack not only from his friends but also his family.

Could you put up with being misunderstood and criticized year after year because of your convictions? because you're doing what's right?

** Conformity is often the enemy of Christianity. **

In America, we don't have to worry about being persecuted. Nobody's going to come to your door and knock it down and haul you off to jail.

But we get worried just about being different. We want to blend in. We don't want to be different. We don't want to be unique as Christians.

The popular opinion is to blend in. I don't have any beliefs. I don't have any convictions.

Noah was not afraid to stand alone.

While everybody else was going to the dogs, he said, "I will not participate in those kind of things!" He was blameless among the people of that time.

The book of Proverbs says "The fear of man is a trap."

That means if you worry about what other people think, you're in trouble.

If you worry about, "How do I look?" you can never live for God.

If you worry about, "What does everybody think?" you're in trouble!

Noah was available and he was willing to be different. He was willing to stand out in a crowd. He had conviction.

What gave him the confidence to be different for so many years?

It says in v. 9 "He walked with God."

He had fellowship with God.

He had a relationship with God and that gave him the strength to say, "I don't care what anybody else does. I'm going to do what I think is right."

And that's the kind of person God can use.

He's not always out taking an opinion poll, "What do you think I should do?"

There's a third characteristic in Noah's life.

God Uses People Who Follow Him Completly

Not on their time table, when they want to, at their time, in their way, if they feel like it, but completely without question.

The people God uses are people who follow directions without making excuses.

Genesis

Genesis 6:22 ESV

Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

It doesn't say he did some of the things the way he wanted to. It says he did everything as God commanded.

Genesis 7:5 ESV

And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

Not some, not partial. He did all. It was unconditional obedience.

Obedience is simply another word for faith.

You say, "I've got a lot of faith."

How much do you obey God without question? That takes faith.

Faith is following instructions even when it doesn't make sense.

The project God gave Noah didn't make sense.

It didn't make sense for several reasons.

1. Did you know that the Bible says that until the time of the flood it had never rained on earth?

In it says that the way the earth was watered was a mist came up from the ground, kind of like dew in the morning.

The whole atmosphere was different because it had never rained.

Some scientists have explained that's probably why they lived longer in those days.

In the Old Testament before the flood, people lived several hundred years sometimes.

But after the flood they lived like we do -- 80, 90 years.

The life span was shortened.

That's why the first time Noah and his family saw a rainbow, it blew their mind. Nobody had ever seen a rainbow before.

So here's Noah building an ark in the middle of the desert and they say, "Why are you doing that?" and he says, "Because it's going to rain" and they say, "What's rain?" It didn't make sense.

2. Not only had it never rained but Noah was at least 500 miles from the largest body of water -- the Mediterranean Ocean. How is he going to get it 500 miles across the land? That didn't make sense.

3. But the greatest thing was how in the world was God going to round up all those animals?

That's absurd. Only God could do something like that.

How do you explain that? I can't explain it.

But if God can create the world, He can round up animals. He can do whatever He wants to do.

The thing about Noah is he didn't argue, he didn't complain, he didn't explain it away.

He just said, OK, Lord, whatever You say. He just had this attitude. He obeyed following the letter.

One of the real tests of faith in life is how do I follow God's will?

Do I follow His instructions even when they don't make sense?

Do I follow His instructions even when I don't understand it?

A number of you are parents so you can probably identify with this.

Maybe your kids do this: When I tell my kids to do something they always want to know "Why?" first.

My stock response to that question is "You go... and then I'll tell you why." That's obedience.

And that's the way God says to us, "You just obey and then I'll explain why.

Then I'll show you the reasons. Then you'll see the benefits."

It wouldn't be faith if you see it all up front.

Noah was available.

Noah dared to be different.

Noah followed God completely.

And that's why God could use Him.

God Uses People Who Never Give Up

We saw this last week when we looked at Moses. Moses had to wait 80 years for the fulfillment of his goal of seeing the people of Israel set free out of Egypt. Eighty years!

But Noah had to wait longer.

Noah is a key example of patience and persistence and determination.

He was a Hard Worker!

The Bible says it took Noah 120 years to build the ark.

. The Bible says that God delayed the flood for a period of time.

And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man,

He's saying there's a limit to His patience.

There's a limit to what He'll put up with from mankind.

There is a time limit on what He will take from a disobedient human race.

And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

This is saying that after the decision was made to destroy the world by a flood, God waited another 120 years.

There was a delay for another 120 years. Why? Because that's how long it took Noah to build the ark. And he had to have it built! God was waiting on Noah to get the ark finished.

Here's the question:

If you want to be used by God, could you maintain enthusiasm for a project that took that long to complete?

Do you think you could keep your motivation up?

Do you think you could stay excited and keep on keeping on if you knew it was going to take your entire life?

Can you imagine Mrs. Noah? Noah comes home from work one night and sits down to beat sprouts or something. Mrs. Noah says, "How was work today, honey?" "Same as usual. Same place, same thing. Boring!"

I'll just bet there were many days that Noah hated to look at that ark. I bet there were weeks that he wanted to say, "I don't want to work on the ark anymore. I'm tired. I've done my duty. I don't want to get out of bed today. I don't feel like it."

But he is the example of persistence, day in, day out, building, nailing, tar papering... whatever. For 120 years! I'm sure he thought, "I've worked on this thing for 50 years. Give me a gold watch and let somebody else take over. I've done my share."

Noah never gave up.

One of the reasons why God does not use many people is because we give up too soon. There are three things that will tempt you to give up.

1. Problems.

Problems will tempt you to give up on God's plan for your life. Every good idea has something wrong with it. In every possibility, there is a problem. That's how you grow. That's how you mature. That's how you develop. There were infinite number of problems with Noah building the ark.

Consider some of the problems. Can you imagine,

How do you separate the animals in the ark that like to eat each other?

Obviously you don't put bobcats next to rabbits. You don't put the birds next to the worms. You've got to keep them all separate. That's a problem. That was God's problem.

How do you provide food for all those animals?

And not everybody likes hay. That was God's problem. If God can make the world, He can feed the animals in the ark.

The biggest problem of all: How are you going to care for the sanitation for all of those animals?

How would you like to be cooped up forty days in an animal pen? The stink must have really gotten bad.

What's the alternative? Either stay inside with the smell or go outside and drown. That's not much of an option.

There were problems. Problems will tempt you to give up.

1. Pressures.

Pressures will tempt you to give up before you've accomplished your goal. I'm sure Noah must have thought, "This is too big for me. This is too great of a responsibility.

All of the weight of the world on one man. It's too much responsibility, God. I can't handle it. I'm going to crack up. I'm going to go looney!"

The pressures will tempt you to give up.

2. People.

People will tempt you to give up.

People will disappoint you.

People will misunderstand you.

People will criticize you.

People will let you down.

And that will tempt you to give up.

God used Noah because he was a man of commitment.

He never, never gave up.

Every day Noah preached a sermon.

He didn't stand up in a church behind a podium and give a speech.

He preached a sermon -- the most effective kind of sermon -- with his life.

Every day, as he nailed those nails and built those boards and bent everything into shape, he was saying to the world, "I believe in God."

That's why he stood out.

For a 120 years.

I read a poem -- a song -- this week that I thought summed up Noah's life. It's a song written by Tennessee Ernie Ford.

The Lord looked down from his window in the sky

Said "I created man, but I don't remember why.

Fussin' and fightin' since creation day.

I'll send a little water and wash them all away."

The Lord came down, looked around a spell

And there was Mr. Noah, behaving mighty well.

And that is the reason the Scriptures record

Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

The Lord said, "Noah, there's going to be a flood.

There's going to be some water, there's gonna be some mud.

So take off your hat, Noah. Take off your coat.

Get Ham, Shem, and Japheth and build yourself a boat."

Noah said, "Lord, I don't believe I could."

The Lord said, "Noah, get some sturdy gopher wood.

You never know what you can do until you've tried.

Build it fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high."

Noah said, "There she is, there she is, Lord."

The Lord said, "Noah, it's time to get aboard.

Take a creature, a he and a she,

And of course Mrs. Noah and the whole family."

Noah said, "Lord, it's gettin' mighty dark!"

The Lord said, "Noah, get those creatures in the ark."

Noah said, "Lord, it's beginnin' to pour!"

The Lord said, "Noah, hurry up and shut the door."

The ark rose up on the bosom of the deep

And after forty days Mr. Noah took a peep.

He said, "We're not movin' Lord. Where are we at?"

The Lord said, "You're sittin' right on Mt. Ararat."

Noah said, "Lord, it's getting mighty dry."

The Lord said, "Noah, see my rainbow in the sky.

Take all your creatures and people to earth

And don't be more trouble that you're worth."

What has God been doing in your life lately? I'm not talking about last year. I mean last week. Last month.

When was the last time you had an answered prayer.

When was the last time God used you in an exciting way to help somebody?

Most of them aren't as dramatic as that story I told of Anthony Coppola but God will use you if you'll get usable.

Would you like to be used by God?

That's where you find fulfillment in life.

There's where you find satisfaction.

That's where you find the niche for which you were created.

You don't find it in these other things.

You find it in finding God's purpose and plan and being in the center of it.

How do I get usable?

1) You say, "Lord, I'm available."

That may mean rearranging your schedule. It may mean dropping some things. A person who tries to burn the candle at both ends isn't as bright as he thinks he is.

It means being available to God. Do you find yourself too busy for God? "I don't have the time to be involved in ministry."

The problem is not that we're not committed. It's that we're too committed. We're committed to too many things. Instead of being committed to a few good things, we're committed to fifteen or twenty things and as a result you're not committed to anything.

You've got to be available.

2) You dare to be different.

You say, "Lord, I'm willing to follow You no matter what."

Do you find yourself saying, "I wonder what other people are going to think."

Do you find yourself embarrassed that people at work might find out you're a Christian?

Do you find yourself maybe ashamed that you let people know that you go to church.

Maybe you talk a certain way with a certain group because you don't really want them to know that you are a believer.

Dare to be different. Dare to have convictions.

3) You commit yourself to God's plan,

To follow it even when you don't understand it.

You say, "Lord, I am willing to follow You completely. I don't understand all of these principles but I want to follow You as best I know how."

4) You never give up.

You make a commitment.

You ask God to make you a persistent person.

You're willing to hang in there even when there's a delay.

One of the tests of faith is how long can you wait. Do you keep on keeping on? Or do you give up at the slightest whim?

There's an epilogue to Noah's life.

In hate that it's in the Bible.

I wish it wasn't there because it puts a downer on the story of Noah.

The Bible says that here was this man who lived blameless all of his life, the only godly man in all the world that had faith, persistence, availability and all these great things that God says about him.

He built the ark and after the flood when the land dried out, it says he built a vineyard and fermented the grapes.

He got drunk, took off all of his clothes and made a fool of himself. He got drunk and he got naked.

Why? He had a spotless record and then at the end of his life, he blew it. Why?

The thing is about the Bible, it never glosses over those kinds of things. One of the reasons why I believe this is a supernatural book, not simply written by man, is because if it were written by man, you would only hear the good things about the heros.

But why is it in the Bible? Because the Bible tells the truth even when it hurts.

The Bible says that while Moses was a great man and led the children of Israel out of Egypt, he also murdered a man.

And the Bible says that David, who wrote the Psalms, also committed adultery. It lays it on the line. It's right up front. It says this guy blew it.

And Noah, who lived perfect when everybody else was blowing it, he blows it. That's kind of a downer.

But on the other hand I think it's an encouragement too.

It goes back to the thesis of this whole series that God uses ordinary people.

If Noah had never had anything wrong in his life, we'd say, "He's too perfect.

I could never be a Noah."

The fact is, Noah was imperfect. He was human. He blew it. He had a problem. He made a fool of himself.

But in spite of that, God still put him in the hall of fame in .

That's the kind of God I worship.

The kind of God who, although He does not compromise on sin, He is a compassionate God and He is forgiving.

He says you can start over. I don't care how many times you've blown it, God can still use you in the rest of your life. I don't care what mistakes you've made,

I don't care how many times you've fallen flat on your face, you're not a failure just to fall. You're a failure if you refuse to get up.

Maybe you've had a divorce.

Maybe you've had a moral problem.

Maybe you've had a bad habit that you couldn't kick.

Maybe you're still dealing with it.

Maybe you've had some fears, some insecurities.

Maybe you've got a temper.

Maybe you have a problem with jealousy.

Maybe you feel inferior and you don't like the way you look.

I don't care what your hang up is, everybody has at least one.

But that does not disqualify you from being used by God.

If God only used perfect people who would get used?

God uses ordinary people.

Prayer:

Maybe some of you have never thought in your entire life that God could use you.

You think, "That's for missionaries or pastors or super saints." No.

God used Noah and he even blew it at the end of his life. The lesson is that even godly people can be tripped up before the finish line so we have to be constantly on watch.

The Bible says, "He who stands let him take heed lest he fall." You've got to watch out.

Would you make four commitments in your heart this morning.

One, "God, I want to be available to You. Use me." That may mean rearranging your schedule. It may mean cutting out something else. You can't keep adding things. But if you want to have a ministry, if you want God to use you, there's some other things that will have to go.

Some of you need to say, "Lord, really down in my heart I'm a chicken. It scares me to death to admit that I'm a Christian around other people who aren't believers. God, I need some intestinal fortitude. I need some strength, some encouragement so that I will dare to be different, I will dare to stand up for what's right. Not to be offensive, not to be obnoxious but not to be ashamed that I am a Christian around the people I work with or relatives."

Then would you say, "Lord, help me to follow You completely even when I don't understand it, even when it doesn't make sense." The Bible says the more you give away the more you get back. That doesn't make sense but it's a principle. "Give and it will be given unto you."

How about persistence? Would you say, "Lord, help me to be a persistent person, not to be a cop out, not to be a drop out, but to keep on keeping on, doing the things that I know are right even when I don't feel like it."

Maybe you'd say, "Lord, help me to master my moods."

How do you master your moods? You establish a relationship with Christ.

Noah, it says, walked with God. If you've never had a relationship with God, you can have one today. That's what Jesus Christ came to make possible. In your heart right now you can talk to Him. You don't have to pray aloud. Just in your heart say, "Jesus Christ, I want to have a relationship with God." The Bible says Jesus is the bridge from God to man because He was God come to earth. Say, "I want to follow You, Lord. I want to be a believer." It doesn't matter your religious background whether you have any or none at all. I'm talking about a relationship, not a religion. Say, "God, I want to follow You as much as I know how. I admit that I haven't always done that in the past, but I want You to be number one in my life." If you prayed that prayer in your heart, the Lord heard you.

Father, thank You for the example of Noah. Thank You, that it is just as true today that You use people who are available, who dare to be different, who follow You completely, and who never give up. Thank You. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.