Shiloh Bible Church
Hebrews 11:7
Faith’s Hall of Fame: Noah
Introduction
Let’s play a game of word association. I’m going to give you a word and I want you to say aloud the first word that comes to your mind.
Ready? The word is: Noah.
It sounds like many of you responded by the word “ark.” And that’s what most people would say. When we think of Noah we immediately think of the word “ark” or “flood” or “water.”
When I taught at Washington Bible College, I would collect cartoons and put them on transparencies to use as illustrations in class. For some reason, I have many Noah’s ark cartoons. Here are some of my favorites. [Show cartoons on PowerPoint.]
Well, when most people hear the word “Noah,” the first thing that comes to mind is the word “ark.” However, if you said the word “Noah” to the writer of Hebrews, I think the first word that would come to his mind would be “faith.” That’s because the writer of Hebrews chose Noah as a member of Faith’s Hall of Fame. We read of this in Hebrews chapter 11. Please turn there with me.
As the writer of Hebrews thumbs through the book of Genesis, he comes to a well-worn, dog-eared page that tells the story of a man of uncommon faith—a man by the name of Noah. The writer distills entire chapters of Noah’s life into just one verse in Hebrews 11. In Hebrews 11:7 we read, “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”
Noah’s life teaches us 3 lessons about faith. And we want to consider those lessons this morning. The first lesson is this:
1. FAITH RESPONDS IN OBEDIENCE
Look at that first sentence in verse 7 once again: “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.”
God warned Noah that He was going to destroy the whole earth by means of water. And Noah responded by believing God—even though he had never seen a catastrophic flood before. And that’s the essence of faith—believing what God says, even if appearances seem to dictate otherwise. I remind you of how the writer of Hebrews defined faith back in verse 1: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Noah believed what God said and responded in obedience to His command. Noah built an ark to save him and his family.
But why was God going to destroy the earth in the first place? To answer that we need to turn to the book of Genesis. Keep one finger in Hebrews 11 and turn back with me to Genesis chapter 6. Noah’s story begins at 5:28 and extends through 9:29.
We read in chapter 6 that mankind had become incredibly wicked during the pre-flood period. So much so that Genesis 6:5 describes them in these terms: “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, ‘I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.’”
Back in Genesis 1:31, God looked over His original creation and saw that it was very good. But now, mankind had become so corrupt and so wicked that God decided to wipe them off the face of the earth. Verse 7: “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.” “But Noah …” In contrast to everyone on earth who was engulfed in wicked living, there stood a righteous man named Noah.
And God revealed to Noah that He was going to judge the earth by a flood. And the only way Noah and his family would be spared is by building an ark. Noah believed God and responded in obedience.
Now, Noah’s ark is often depicted as a small boat with animals crowded on deck. But this isn’t the picture that the Word of God gives us.
The dimensions of the ark are given in verses 16 and 17: “This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks.” So, the ark was 1½ football fields in length, as wide as a football field is wide, and 4 stories high. It had 3 decks on which you could fit 20 college basketball courts. And the inside of the ark was over 100,000 square feet. To help you visual it a bit better, when you leave Shiloh this morning, stand in the middle of Church Street, facing the Susquehanna River. From our brick sign out front to the corner of Church Street and Old Berwick Road is the length of Noah’s ark. From our glass front door to the front lawn of Parsonage 1 across the street is the width of the ark. And the cross on top of our steeple is the height of the ark. It was an impressive vessel that took Noah 120 years to build.
Noah, his family, and the animals entered the ark. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights. Water covered the earth. Finally, the waters slowly abated.
And the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
In case you’re wondering, Ararat is located in present-day northern Turkey. And so Noah, his family, and the animals were finally able to leave the ark.
The writer of Hebrews includes Noah in Faith’s Hall of Fame because he was a man of faith—he believed God and responded to Him in obedience.
Look at 6:22: “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” And look at 7:5: “And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.”
So, the first lesson that we learn from Noah’s life is that faith responds in obedience. Turn back with me to Hebrews 11:7. There we find a second lesson from the life of Noah. Not only do we learn that faith responds in obedience, but also …
2. FAITH REBUKES UNGODLINESS
The middle of Hebrews 11:7 states, “By his faith he condemned the world.”
Jeff Foxworthy is a comedian who became famous through his “You Might Be A Redneck If …” routine. Well, I came across some “You Might Be A Preacher If …” statements.
You might be a preacher if …
· You’ve waded in a creek wearing a necktie
· You’d rather negotiate with terrorists than the church organist (sorry, Bernie)
· A church picnic is no picnic
· You’ve ever wanted to fire the church and form a congregation search committee
· You’ve been tempted to take up an offering at a family reunion
· You’ve ever wanted to give the soundman some feedback of your own (Wade & Rick in the sound room)
· You’ve ever wanted to lay hands on a deacon, and you weren’t thinking of praying for him
· Your sermons have a happy ending—everyone’s happy when it ends
· It’s your job to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable
2 Peter 2:5 refers to Noah as a preacher of righteousness. And as a preacher of righteousness, he afflicted the comfortable.
Can you imagine the taunts that Noah’s neighbors hurled at him?
· “Hey, Noah! You building that thing according to code?”
· “Hey, Noah! What are you doing building that monstrosity in your backyard? You trying to drive down our property value?”
No doubt people asked Noah why in the world he was building that huge boat. And that gave Noah the opportunity to preach the message of God’s upcoming judgment because of their sins.
Noah rebuked their ungodliness through what he said. He also rebuked their ungodliness through what he did. The very act of Noah building the ark was a continual reminder to everyone around him that God would one day judge them for their wickedness.
Noah’s words and his works; his lip and his life; his talk and his walk rebuked the men of his day for their sinful and wicked lifestyles.
And so Noah teaches us that faith rebukes ungodliness. There’s a third lesson that we learn from Noah’s life. And it’s this:
3. FAITH RESULTS IN REWARD
I see this at the end of Hebrews 11:7: “… and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”
God was pleased with Noah, and He rewarded Noah’s faith. I remind you of what the writer of Hebrews penned in verse 6: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
Noah exercised faith in God. But believing God did not make building the ark easy or less costly. And his faith did not reap immediate rewards. But eventually, he was rewarded. Verse 7 says that Noah became an heir. What did he inherit? Turn back to the book of Genesis chapter 9.
Now, in Genesis 8 we discover that the floodwaters eventually abated. And after being on the ark for a year, Noah, his family, and the animals were able to leave the ark and live on dry ground. And Genesis 9:1 states: “Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.’”
One aspect of Noah’s reward is that he became an heir. Noah was given the privilege of ruling over the new world.
And that same privilege is given to us as a reward for our faith. You’ll recall that in our study of Hebrews 2, we said that one of the rewards for faithful believers is the privilege of ruling with Christ when He sets up His kingdom here on earth.
But that’s not a present reward—it’s yet future. Noah was faithful in building the ark and preaching for 120 years. It wasn’t until after the flood that Noah received his reward. And the same is true of us. Don’t expect your reward here and now. Your reward awaits you in Christ’s future kingdom on earth. But you will be rewarded! Faith results in reward.
Conclusion
Now, in all of this I ask myself the question, “How was Noah able to endure? How was he able to remain faithful to God for 120 years when all around him was wickedness, sinfulness, and ungodliness?” And I could ask the same question of you. “How can you remain faithful to God in the midst of the wicked, sinful, ungodly society and culture in which you live?”
I believe the answer is tucked away in one verse in Genesis 6. Turn back a few pages and look at Genesis 6:9: “This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.”
Notice the three characteristics that Noah possessed that need to be present in our lives as well. First of all, we need to be …
· Righteous
And the only way to become righteous—to be right in God’s sight—is to place your faith in Christ as your Savior. We cannot become right with God through our good works. We must receive the free gift of salvation by faith. That’s what Noah did—he looked forward and placed his faith in the One who would come to pay for his sins. And we must look back and place our faith in the One who came to pay for our sins.
Have you done that? Have you placed your faith alone in Christ alone to forgive your sins and give you eternal life? If not, you need to do that because that’s the first step in living a life of faith and following the example of Noah.
Next, we need to be …
· Blameless
Verse 9 says that Noah was “blameless among the people of his time.”
Now, blameless does not mean sinless. Noah wasn’t perfect. The word “blameless” has the idea of being upright in character. Noah was blameless in the sense of being a man of integrity. If he did wrong, he admitted it and sought to make it right.
So, let me ask you: Are you a man or woman of integrity? When you mess up, do you try to hide it or lie about it or blame it on others? Or do you own up to it and try to rectify the wrong you’ve done?
Righteous. Blameless. And then, thirdly, like Noah, we must …
· Walk With God
That’s what the end of verse 9 says. It tells us that Noah “walked with God.”
Do you remember who else walked with God? We studied about him last week—Enoch—the great grandfather of Noah.
To walk with God means to fellowship with Him—to enjoy intimacy with God. And we do that by spending time with Him in the Word and prayer.
The Our Daily Bread and The Quiet Hour devotional guides for March through May are available in the foyers. If you don’t already have an established devotional time with the Lord, take one of these booklets home with you and begin to develop the habit of daily meeting with God.
We live in a wicked, sinful, ungodly culture and society—just as Noah did. But we can be people of faith—just like he was, if we follow his example.
“Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.”
Let’s pray.
Our Father, we thank you for this honest, searching look at our world today. How true the statement of Jesus is, that “as the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the coming of the Son of Man.” Grant to us then that we may live as people of faith—as those who see the light, and not as those who walk in darkness; that we no longer give ourselves to the pursuit of ungodly pleasures, but grant that we may be available instruments of your grace to live blamelessly in a society that desperately needs the Savior. Amen.
