People God Trusts: Trust With Rescue
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Intro:
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Today, we will continue with the thought, [People God Trusts], the title of my message is [Trust with Rescue].
I was a child when the movie Titanic came out in theatres. We were not allowed to watch it because it was PG-13, but it was my first time hearing about the unsinkable ship that now decays at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
I became fascinated with the Titanic.
I wanted books about the Titanic
I built a lego Titanic and put it in the bathtub, it too sank
I even drew a picture of a Titanic sinking and it won first place in an art contest
The reason it fascinated me so much was how the tragedy could have been avoided. Too many people were not rescued simply because people did not do what they were supposed to do.
If only Captain Smith had not said full speed ahead in the middle of winter
If only their had been enough lifeboats
If only the ship, the Californian, had answered the Titanic’s calls for help
Of the 2200 passengers, 1500 were not rescued, and all could have been avoided.
The people the passengers trusted to ensure their safety did not do their job.
We’re looking at people God trust. As I mentioned two weeks ago, throughout Scripture, God desired to fulfill His plan and purpose. For some reason, instead of just doing what He wanted to do, He decided to use people.
He opted to work through people He could trust to accomplish His will.
It is easy to trust God, but does God trust us?
He can never love us more than He does right now, but He can trust us more!
Today, we will see how God trusted Noah enough to rescue him and his family from impending judgment. He found grace in God’s sight.
Through Noah’s life, we see the type of person God trusts to both rescue and to use to rescue others.
As I think of the tragedy of a sinking ship or a worldwide flood, I can’t help but notice similarities in our nation. Sometimes it seems that our world is a sinking ship.
The tides of:
immorality
secularism
agnosticism
atheism
perversion
lawlessness
indifference toward God
continue to rise
But God has His church and He wants to use the Church of Jesus Christ to help rescue others from the perils of eternal separation from God.
He also longs to rescue His church from the upcoming judgments that will one day consume the world.
But to reveal His master rescue plan, He needs someone He can trust.
Who wants God to rescue ourselves, our family, and our world from the grips of Satan’s domain?
God is looking for someone He can trust with the hope of a safe rescue.
To see this truth, let’s look at the life of Noah in three parts, God trusted Him because He was, [Open to God], [Obedient to God], and he recieved an [Opportunity from God].
Let’s begin
1. Open to God
1. Open to God
5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
7 So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Satan’s grip on humanity only grew stronger as the Bible unfolds. God, who created everything in perfect order, got to the point He regretted creating the human race.
What would cause such divine disappointment?
Humanity closed itself to God’s voice and influence.
Instead of identifying the need for His help and direction, they delved deeper and deeper into sin and rebellion against the Lord.
God, who created us in His image, shows His emotions as he was grieved in his heart.
When people willingly indulge sin, not only is is disobedient to God, it is also saddening to God. It breaks His heart when people choose to live a life of sin.
I decided a while back, it is not about about breaking the law of God, I don’t want to break the heart of God.
Of all the intense wickedness that consumed the world, there was one who stayed open to God.
He stayed open to hearing God’s voice.
He stayed open to submitting to God’s plan
He stayed open to desiring God’s will
As God was sorry about the state of His creation, there was one who was open to Him, and he found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Imagine, thousands of years before Jesus died on the cross, God extended His grace and mercy to one mane who chose to live open to God instead of closing his heart and mind toward Him.
I find it interesting that society espouses the importance of keeping an “open mind” but the moment someone stands upon biblical principles, they are deemed “closed minded.”
We have to decide as followers of Christ, will we close our minds and hearts to God or will we open our hearts and life to Him.
God trusts people who open themselves to His will and way in their lives.
He made himself available for fellowship with God by walking in close relationship with the Lord, always remaining open to Him.
While all of the world remained consistently and total evil, there was one who found grace in the eyes of the Lord and God trusted Him to bring about His great rescue plan.
2. Obedient to God
2. Obedient to God
9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.
Noah walked with God. Literally, Noah made space to walk in close fellowship with the Lord.
Think of fellowship for a moment. Do we enjoy spending time with people who say one thing and do another? What about people who seem to shift their opinions based on the crowd surrounding them?
Noah did not live this way, his openness to God comes through his willingness to live according to the precepts of God.
We read he was a just and perfect man. Perfect does not mean he was without fault, instead he was righteous.
Let’s think of this passage from God’s perspective. The Lord sees the wickedness of humanity. They sink deeper and deeper into sin and despair.
God has a plan— to flood the earth. But in His great love, He wanted to rescue humanity from eternal annihilation.
Therefore, He had to find someone He could trust to build an Ark. God gave specific plans of the size of the Ark. He wanted it big enough to rescue His creation from the flood.
He laid out His plans, but Noah to follow through.
22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.
Noah did ALL God commanded him. What type of person does God trust? Those who OBEY what He speaks.
22 So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great 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.
God trusts people who are obedient. Here is the catch with obedience— much of the time it does not make sense.
Imagine being Noah, better yet, imagine being his children.
Why is your dad working on that large Ark, you’re only a family of five?
Why is your dad gathering all of those animal?
The neighbors probably thought, what is Noah doing now?
Obedience to God’s will does not always make sense to those outside of God’s will. But we HAVE to trust that God has a plan.
Eventually the rains came down and the floods came up and we see AGAIN that
5 And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him.
Can God trust us? It depends, are we open to Him? Do we make space to Him? In a society that consistently ignores Him, will we listen?
Do we OBEY, even when it does not make sense. God is less interested in what we do FOR Him and more concerned that we OBEY Him, it is better than sacrifice.
God wanted to rescue the world, but He needed someone who was open to Him and would obey Him.
3. Opportunities from God
3. Opportunities from God
1 Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.
Forty days and forty nights the rain fell on the face of the earth. Think of how Noah felt, sure God rescued him and his family, but what was it like to spend that long in a boat with no end in sight.
They might have wondered, we were open to God’s plan and obeyed all of His instructions, where is He? How long will this storm last?
But God did not forget His promise, He remembered. The original language for the word remember means God thought about or turned His attention to.
God NEVER ignores those who are open to Him and obey Him. His answer may not come on our time schedule, but He will answer.
13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.
God remembered Noah, but He did not leave Him in His state. He saw his condition and did what was necessary to turn things around for him.
He sent a wind from heaven to blow across the earth to help the flood waters recede. Eventually, God instructed Noah and his family to leave the ark, let the animals go, and you and your family be fruitful and multiply.
Talk about the opportunity of a lifetime. They had a blank slate and a future of full of hope.
What did Noah do with this opportunity?
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21 And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.
He was a person God can trust. BEFORE he moved forward, he built an altar to the Lord.
Altars in the Old Testament were generally made so they could make a sacrifice for sin. Noah’s was different. God already judged sin through the flood.
Instead, Noah’s decision to build an altar showed God that He wanted His leadership, direction, and guidance. He began his new life desiring harmony and continued fellowship with God.
Noah’s willingness to seek God before his opportunities pleased the Lord, like a sweet smelling fragrance. God promised Noah, from this point forward, I will never destroy the earth again.
Every day opportunities come before us, God wants to trust us to seek Him first. To daily build Him an altar as a sign that shows God, without you I can do nothing!
Sure, I have everything ahead of me, but I am in desperate need of your help and guidance!
Close:
People God trusts, God trusted Noah enough to rescue His family from the coming judgment.
Because of His openness and obedience to God, the Lord gave Him an opportunity. Noah did not squander what God prepared because He committed to pray and trust the Lord.
Can God trust us?
Are we open to His leading and direction?
When He speaks, do we willingly obey, even it seems foolish.
When He provides opportunities for us, do we seek Him first or do we do what we want to do?
As God rescued Noah and his family, He is actively preparing another rescue mission.
After following Jesus for nearly three years, the disciples want to know about the future. They wondered when and how God would rescue Israel and bring the nation to prominence again.
To answer their question, Jesus spoke of Noah.
37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Jesus compares the culture of the world at His coming with the culture of society during the days of Noah.
Remember, the people of Noah’s day were evil and wicked, but what led them to that lifestyle?
Jesus shows that the people were so preoccupied with living life, they had banquets, parties, social gatherings, and weddings. In essence, life was so busy that they did not make time for God.
When we get too busy for God, sin will soon follow.
When we do not place God first, He will quickly become last.
When we focus on everything else, we will realize how quickly we forget Him.
But there are still those who will find grace in the eyes of the Lord.
How is it possible to experience God’s grace and favor?
What is necessary to enjoy the rescue that God has prepared?
We must open ourselves to Him!
While many people close the door to God’s direct activity in their lives, the Lord longs for those who will open their hearts and lives to Him.
And when we OPEN ourselves to Him, notice this promise:
8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.
The Lord has opened a door for us, we have to willingly walk through!
As we open ourselves to Him, we also must remain obedient to Him. When He speaks, we have to listen, even when it does not make sense.
If we will live that type of life, God will give us opportunities, but they will flow from a life of closeness and fellowship with God.
God is looking for people He can trust! Do we live in such a way that is trustworthy.
He can never love us more than He does right now, but He can trust us more!
And if we will walk close to Him, He wants to trust us with rescue:
rescue us from sin
rescue us from temptation
rescue us from discouragement
rescue us from anxiety
rescue us from confusion
rescue us from hurts
rescue us from the attacks of the enemy
Remember, we serve a supernatural God who with just ONE word can come through for us and work ALL THINGS TOGETHER FOR OUR GOOD!
And as He rescues us from the daily events of life, we anticipate another rescue, one that will soon CHANGE the entire world.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
He trusts us to LOOK for Him, every day and ON that day! And if we do, He will rescue us from this world of sin and suffering.
But we have to live a life that is trust worthy.
So today, let’s open ourselves us to Him.
Let’s commit to obey Him.
And let’s take this opportunity to build an altar to the Lord, inviting Him into our daily lives!