THE REVERING FAITH OF NOAH
Hebrews 11:7
My brothers and my sisters, I have reason to believe that there is a shortage of people that revere or fear God and His word. It is evident because of not only the things that the so-called unbelievers do, but because of what many of those who attach themselves to the Lord’s church do. The world eats drink and is merry, and many in the church do the same. The world curses, swears, plays the lottery and does other worldly things. But some that are in the church does it to. Mind you, I know that the bible tells us in James 4:17, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and does it not, to him it is sin.” But there are some that know this scripture and have elected to do as they please. The only way to tell those who just attend church from those who revere the Lord, is that you will find the revering ones diligently seeking to please the Lord, and the others diligently seeking to please themselves.
As we look at the Lord’s champions of Faith in this eleventh chapter of Hebrews, we will not only see their names and hear their stories, but we will also see the type of faith they exhibited. The first three verses gave us the description of faith. But the rest including the two we just completed, shares with us the types of faith they had;
• Abel in verse four had: Worshiping faith v.4
• Enoch in verses five and six had: Walking faith vv.5 & 6
• Noah had: Working faith v.7
• Abraham had (Part I): An Obedient, Hopeful Faith, vv.8-10
• Sarah had: An Impossible Faith, vv.11-12
• The Patriarch had: Waiting Faith, vv.13-16
• Abraham also had (Part II): A Sacrificial Faith, 11:17-19
• Isaac had: A Repentant Faith, 11:20
• Jacob’s Faith was: A Worshiping Faith, 11:21
• Joseph had: An Undying Faith, 11:22
• Moses’ Parents had: A Loving, Fearless Faith, 11:23
• Moses had: A Self-Denying Faith, 11:24-28
• Israel’s Faith was: (Part I): A Delivering Faith, 11:29
• Israel’s Faith also was (Part II): A Conquering Faith, 11:30, and
• Rahab had: A Saving Faith, 11:31
All had and acted upon the faith that they had in God.
So today let’s venture into Noah’s reverential faith and see how the Lord knew that Noah revered Him, but also to see in his reverence an obedience that would move God.
First of all . . .
1. NOAH BELIEVED GOD’S WARNING (v.7a)
“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear,”
Just recently BET programed a series of documentaries called “Exalted.” They are documentaries of the lives of people who through the grace of God received icon status. Just recently they showed the documentary of a preacher who received such a status but while he was there he changed his doctrinal beliefs. He started to believe in the Doctrine of Inclusion that Jesus died once for all mankind whether they accepted Him or not. He also believes that God is too merciful and loving to condemn those who he had saved according to this Doctrine of Inclusion, to send them to hell for eternal damnation. This my brothers and sister are the classic example of someone not believing the warning of God.
The text allows us to see that by faith Noah after being warned by God of the great flood, which was something that he had never seen, was moved with a holy fear. Now the word fear is an interesting word that is found in the bible. Its meaning will vary depending upon the context, from giving reverence or respect to God as we find in this text, to meaning being “terrorized” as found in Exodus 15:16. Or from showing “carefulness” as found in Joshua 22:24, to showing “concern” in Proverb 29:25. The point I’m attempting to make is that this fear that Noah had was not because he was terrorized by God but because he put God into the highest esteem. But getting back to his faith, Noah believed the warning that God gave him because there was a time in the bible when the earth had become so wicked that it was filled with wickedness and violence. It was so corrupt that every imagination of man’s heart was corrupt and evil. Man had reached the point of no return; he would appear to never repent or return to God. That is when God was left with no other choice: but to destroy the earth. But there was one man on earth who was godly, and his name was Noah. Noah worshiped and honored God in his life. Therefore, God warned Noah of the coming judgement and Noah believed Him because he honored God and His word. Now although Noah had never seen a flood, Noah had enough faith in God and His word, to do what God asked him to do. We the church has to get back to this point of revering God and His word. We’ve brought into the world and its philosophy. We’ve brought into what society is saying as far as the church stepping over the lines of equal rights in certain issues. And many in the church don’t fear or revere God, like the saints of old and it is shown in our actions. There was a time when even the drunk feared God so much that if he was inebriated and walking on the same side of the street that the church was on, he would cross the street to prevent from walking on the same side as God’s house. But now we’ve gotten our degrees, our good government jobs, we got a position in the church, and we think that we are so important to the church, that we will come to church whenever we want to and sometimes will come with the smell from the night before. I tell you that is a classic example of not having the fear of God. We’ve simply gotten too comfortable in our worship to God. But Noah believed God’s warning even though he had never seen a flood.
Secondly we see how . . .
2. NOAH’S REVERING FAITH, MOVED HIM TO DO AS GOD INSTRUCTED (v.7b)
“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,”
As we look back into the Old Testament scriptures, we would see the spiritual condition of the world. Genesis chapter six starts off with the human race being multiplied on the face of the earth. It was the cohabiting of the sons of God and the daughters of men. Now without taking up a lot of time about the sons of God and the daughters of men we can see as a result of them coming together verse five tells us that God saw that the wickedness of man was so great and his heart was so evil in the earth, that in verse six we see the Lord repenting that He had made man and that man actually grieved His heart. So, the earth was full of evil and in verse seven the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth. Now although wickedness had consumed the earth. We find that there was only one that God was pleased with, and that was Noah. Verses eight lets us see that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and verse nine allows us to see that Noah was a just man and walked with God. Out of this relationship, God shared with Noah in verse thirteen His intention to destroy the earth and all of its inhabitants. But He also shared with him in the next few verses His intention of protecting his seed and establishing His covenant with him. So Noah revered God so much that he did as God instructed and started to build the ark. But, I believe that this did not happen without facing problems from those who were his wicked peers. But despite the ridicule from others, Noah was anchored in his faith because he chose to obey God rather than to follow man.
Finally . . .
3. NOAH’S REVERING FAITH EARNED HIM CERTAIN BENEFITS FROM GOD (v.7c)
“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 which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”
As we found out in verse six, the writer said that God is a rewarder of them who diligently seeks him. In this text we find Noah being the recipient of God’s benefits because of his faithfulness and diligence. In the book of Genesis it first spoke of Noah’s reward for being faithful to God. In verse eighteen of that sixth chapter, God said after telling Noah that he was going to destroy all flesh, that He would establish a covenant with him. Today my brothers and sister we must understand that God has already established a covenant with us. He said it in His word, If you abide in me and I in you, you can ask what you will and I will do it. He also said, who soever believeth in me shall not perish but they shall have everlasting life. And here in the text we find God promising Noah that He would establish a covenant with him. But look at our present text closely in the book of Hebrews. We find Noah establishing a covenant with God. It is established by his obedience to God and His command. My fellow laborers of the kingdom, we must understand that as the people of God, we must establish a covenant with Him. It mustn’t be that God should give up the most, although we know that what God gave up was sufficing enough for our salvation. But there is something that we should be willing to give unto God and that is our obedience and our hearts. So Noah not only received a covenant from God, but through his actions, God received a covenant from Noah which was his obedience. He became a living sacrifice for God. He sacrificed his reputation among his peers. He sacrificed being part of the majority. And he sacrificed what people thought of him. Regardless of what you sacrifice for the Lord, you will be on the winning side.
CONCLUSION
Well I’ll say good day to you all, and may you have a good Thanksgiving Day.
But before I go I need you to know that in the New Testament the Apostle Paul encourages us to make a personal covenant with God and it is found in Romans twelve verse one. He said; I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
In other words Paul is saying, I urge you, I plead with you, in view of God mercy, to offer your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing unto God, this is your spiritual act of worship. I ask what is your spiritual act of worship? Do you love God so much that you do not want to break his heart? If your answer is yes to these questions. Why don’t you jump up on your feet and say yes!!!
