“A HEART FOR GOD”
TEXT: GENESIS 6: 1-9; GENESIS 8:21
VS. 9-“These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.”
INTRO:
As I examine the theme of Noah’s life, I fall under the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. First, because Noah made a decision to stand alone for God, and many of us would not make that same decision. Secondly, Noah had to risk personal humiliation in order to stand for the Lord, and many of us aren’t willing to take that chance either. We want a Christianity that is convenient and that is beneficial to us only when we see fit to need it. If the goal is to truly draw close to God, then our problems are not temporary things. For example, our problem is not a money problem, they had money in Noah’s day, and their hearts still were not for God. The issue is not some mental disease that modern medicine has made up to accommodate us. Our problem is not other people. Our problem is not the President. It goes much deeper than that! We have a heart problem! And before we can try to have a heart for God, we must understand that our hearts by nature are against God. As I look at Noah’s life, I am arrested by a great truth: “Noah had a heart for God.”
And tonight, I must say to you that each and every one of us will be challenged by this thought, “Do you have a heart for God?” The concerned person will say, “Well, what does it mean to have a heart for God?”
I was first challenged with having a heart for God as a backslidden, wishy-washy teenager.
A young man in my public school was reached and saved through the bus ministry of a local independent Baptist Church. They challenged him to be a witness for the Lord in one of the greatest mission fields in the world, the public school. He began to carry his Bible to school and began to try to win his schoolmates to the Lord. He tried to win me to Christ, but I knew I was already saved, just ignorant about what it meant to have a heart for God.
As I saw this young man’s enthusiasm and love for God, it convicted me of my useless life and unconcern about the things of God. I was consumed with athletics and popularity.
It was then that God challenged me with our thought tonight, “Damion, do you have a heart for me.” And I had to weep and say, “No, Lord, I don’t, but I want to. God, I want to.” And I am not sure tonight when God will challenge you with that thought if he has not already, but you have to answer Him truthfully. And if you can look upon the sinless son of God, after all he has done for you, and say, “I don’t have a heart for God, and I don’t want one right now, there is something wrong. Well, what does it mean to have a heart for God? Is it shouting amen in a church service? Is it showing up for church functions, and fellowships? Is it carrying your Bible around all the time? Is it spiritual talk? Is it coming down to the altar at every service?
There are a lot of false ideas about what having a heart for God truly means. In Noah’s day, God looks down from the heights of heaven, and sees something that absolutely disgusts Him. He sees men whose hearts have changed, men whose hearts are no longer like His. Men who have lost touch with righteousness, holiness, and truth. He looks down and sees selfish hearts, suicidal hearts, sad hearts, lying hearts, lazy hearts, lustful hearts, critical hearts, crying hearts, cursing hearts, careless hearts, pitiful hearts, pious hearts, petty hearts, vindictive hearts, vicious hearts, violent hearts, sad hearts, sore hearts, sinful hearts, worldly hearts, wasteful hearts, whining hearts, wicked hearts and without being able to stand it any longer our God declares their heart is only evil continually! And as the Lord sits upon His throne grieving,
Someone says, “Lord what about Noah, he seems to be the only one left with a heart for you.”
And notice when you and I have a heart for the God we too find grace in his sight. It is by the grace of God that any good comes out of your life! What was the evidence that indicted Noah and gave him the title of one who had a heart for God? I believe his credentials can be found in vs. 9. Notice first
1. NOAH WAS A “JUST MAN”-
…Noah was not just a man, but a JUST man…”
*You may be wondering what was so good about a just man/righteous man? The word of God has much to say about the just man. The word just is interesting; it comes from a Hebrew word that means to be right in a moral sense. Noah had a heart for God, because Noah was holy. He had set himself apart for God! You cannot have a heart for God until you first determine to live a holy life. Holiness has been abused and misused by various groups, but it is still a Bible reality. There are some other Biblical characteristics of a just man:
A. Proverbs 20:7-"The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him."
---A Just man has integrity-Webster defines integrity as the ability to be honest. Many times we have no problem being dishonest with others, because in many cases we are dishonest with God about the condition of our heart. We cannot have a heart for God if we won’t be honest about the wickedness, rebellion, and perversion that are trapped in our hearts. God is looking for men, women, boys, and girls who will be honest about themselves. God cannot use you, if you refuse to be honest about who and what you really are.
B. Proverbs 24:16-“ For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.”
*A Just man has the energy to keep going even after some failures. People may say, “I’ve tried to live for God, and do what you guys want me to do, but it’s just not in me. I just can’t be like you, I have to be myself.” First of all, if it is not in you to live for God, then you are not saved. Upon salvation, God gives us the equipment to live for him, but we must have a desire to learn how to use what God has equipped us with. There is not a saved person in this room who cannot have a heart for God!
2. NOAH WAS “PERFECT IN HIS GENERATIONS”
“…and perfect in his generations…”
Ps 101:2-“I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way… I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.”
*Noah was not flawless or sinless that’s not what the word-perfect means in Bible terminology. Noah had come to spiritual maturity. That simple means he was one who was able to sort things out. Many of God’s people are struggling with the basic things of Christianity: Giving, prayer, church attendance, winning the lost, and Bible reading. It difficult to be spiritually mature, when we are not willing to be faithful or consistent with the fundamental basics. But the main reason we don’t have a heart for God is because we have little or no spiritual discernment. We are having trouble deciding which is better, my way or God’s way; the Bible or the T.V.; prayer or gossip; giving or taking. You can’t have a heart for God, and still have a heart for the world. You can’t have a heart for God, and still be concerned with your own agenda. Noah had sold out; he had surrendered his will to God completely. When a Christian does this, he no longer questions God. He begins to understand that God is trying to work through him. That Christian then undergoes a freedom that is unexplainable. It is the freedom to obey without doubting the outcome of that obedience.
3. NOAH “WALKED WITH GOD”-
*There are only two other instances that this phrase, “walked with God” is used in the Bible. The usage of the word walked in this passage is interesting. It comes from a Hebrew word that means to depart with the intent to follow. You see a lot of Christians, make the mistake of thinking that we are walking with God, when in all actuality; we are walking ahead of God or away from God. Even worse, some Christians deem themselves worthy to walk alongside of God. No, a person with a heart for God understands that when it is time to walk, God does the leading and we do the following. Perhaps you have seen the bumper sticker that says, “God is my co-pilot.”
That is the problem with many of us and that is why the planes of our life are going down in flames or being shot down by the devil. You get out of the pilot seat and give God back the controls of your life. You and I will never have a heart for God, as long as our emotions, our will, our desires, or our ambitions are leading the way. To walk with God, means that God controls my attitude, my actions, my appearance, and my agenda.
Psalms 119:133, “Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.”
*Christian, Do you have a heart for God?
