NOAH
Let God be true and all men be liars
(Hebrews 11:7 and Genesis 6-7)
INTRODUCTION
1. Noah showed great perseverance in preaching for 100 years
a. Though all the world disagreed with him he kept preaching
b. Things he had never seen he kept warning
c. Noah is an example of endurance and stick-to-it-iveness
d. But we are going to talk about other things
2. Noah was a man of God in a time of Godless men
3. He did some wonderful things, he:
a. Obeyed God
b. Only one
c. Obsessed with God
4. Noah is an example of great things for us and an encouragement to keep on working even in the face of difficult times
TRANSITION: First of all notice that:
I. Noah obeyed
A. The Hebrew writer says he was warned of things "…not yet seen" (Heb. 11:7)
1. Rain, a thing not yet seen?
a. We have no record of rain up until this point in history
b. Genesis 2:5-6 says that the mist would come up from the earth and God has not caused it to rain on the earth yet
c. There is no mention of rain again until Genesis 7:12 in relation to the flood
d. Rain could have been a warning from God to Noah that the world had never seen before
2. Destruction
a. Especially the destruction of mankind
b. A level of destruction not ever seen before or since the flood
c. Noah was warned of these events long before they had ever been seen by human eyes
3. And he still preached for 100 years
a. 2 Peter 2:5 says that he was a preacher when God brought a flood upon the earth
b. Even though others had never seen this type of danger, Noah preached
c. Jonah was not able to stand up to this type of pressure against one city, Nineveh
d. Noah stood firm against the rest of the world
B. How did Noah obey?
1. Generically
a. He was given generic commands
b. Build an ark out of gopher wood
c. But where was he to find the gopher wood?
d. Not addressed, not an issue, just use gopher wood
2. Specifically
a. 3 decks, not 4 or 5, not stopping at 2
b. Door in the side, not front or back but side
c. 2 of each unclean and 7 or each clean animal, food for himself and the animals
3. Noah understood completely the nature of God’s instructions and followed them precisely
C. How do we learn from this type of instruction?
1. Ephesians 5:19, "…speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord"
2. We are told specifically to sing, using the voice to make music
3. And to make melody in the heart, a specific command that excludes all other options
TRANSITION: Noah obeyed, along with his family he was the:
II. Only one
A. All other humans alive at the time disagreed with Noah
1. The intent of human hearts was evil continually (Genesis 6:5)
2. God went so far as to repent of having made man
a. This means that He was sorry for making us and wishes He had never done it
b. And He was moved to the point of action, doing something to remedy the situation
c. He was going to utterly destroy man, all but one
3. Noah found favor in God’s eyes and God intended to save him and his family
B. I truly believe that if others had believed then they would have been saved
1. Remember God’s discussion with Abraham concerning Sodom in Genesis 18
a. If there are 50 would you spare them? Yes
b. All the way down to 10, would you spare them? Yes
c. God does not desire our destruction
2. Further, He will not destroy His righteous people
3. But only Noah was found to be righteous
4. So Noah understood Paul’s comment, "…let God be true but every man a liar" (Romans 3:4)
C. There are some things we believe about which most would disagree
1. Homosexuality is a sin
a. Most do not practice it but would defend the right of someone else and condemn us for saying it is a sinful practice
b. But the Bible clearly lists is as sinful (Romans 1:18ff)
2. Instrumental music is disapproved by God
a. It is nowhere denounced by the Bible
b. But it is also taught against by silence in Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16
c. When specific instructions are given then all other alternatives are excepted
d. No other wood was acceptable for the ark but gopher wood
e. No other fire was acceptable for incense but that from the altar in Leviticus 10:1-2 Nadab and Abihu learned this the hard way by being consumed by fire from above
3. Baptism is essential for remission of your sins
a. The majority of so-called religious bodies will proclaim a "sinner’s prayer" or heart felt belief is the path to salvation
b. But the question asked, "How do we get saved" in Acts 2:37 was met with Acts 2:38, "Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit"
c. No prayer is every dictated or illustrated in the Bible through which man can be saved, only through obedience to the Gospel in baptism for the remission of your sins
D. Noah shows that finding yourself in the minority is not such a bad thing
1. In fact, it is just where we ought to be
2. Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it"
3. God’s way tends to be the less popular, but that does not make it wrong
TRANSITION: In his work and obedience, Noah seems to be:
III. Obsessed
A. Noah was obsesses with God’s work
1. He built an ark, a great deal of effort
2. He gathered all those animals and feed for each, at times dangerous
3. He preached to a world of people who mocked and disagreed with him, lonely and discouraging
4. But still he worked on
B. For 100 years he continued to work for the Lord
1. The Lord’s work requires endurance as we have discussed before
2. Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me"
3. Christ is the source of strength through which we can overcome regardless of the odds against us
4. Noah continued even when things looked ridiculous and impossible
C. He worked on what God wanted
1. His work was for God
2. He did not preach to people who would not listen just for the fun of getting rejected
3. He did not build an ark just to see if he could finish a boat in the middle of dry land
4. He did not keep his family faithful just to see if he could keep them in line
5. He worked for God
6. Philippians 1:21, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain"
D. It’s OK to be obsessed with God
1. He is the center of all things
2. He is the creator and sustainer of all things
3. Hs is the source of all good things
4. He is the pathway of our salvation
5. Be obsessed with God and with His work, some might think you are strange, they thought that of Noah and that turned out OK for him
CONCLUSION
1. Noah persevered because He was on God’s side and knew that God was going to be true to His word
2. That is exactly what keeps His word going and what He hopes from us
3. If you saw an entire world of people marching single file into an abyss where they all fell to their deaths you would not follow
4. Today most of the world is marching together in the direction of destruction, have Noah’s attitude and do not follow
5. Instead, obey God, do what He tells you in the Bible even if you do not understand it fully, God is smarter then we are and we must follow
6. Even if you seem to be the only one, remember that if man disagrees with God then man in wrong, no matter how many other people agree with him
7. And be willing to be obsessed with God, driven by His purpose and dedicated to His service so that people will notice
8. They may think you are weird, but they thought the same thing of Noah and to end up like him would be just fine with me
