INTRODUCTION:
Illustration/Story/Quote/Statistic-
What does it mean to be saved? Why do I need to be saved and from what?
Last week our nation was once again shocked by violence. At least 31 people were killed in mass shootings in Texas and Ohio. On Saturday a gunman shot and killed at least 22 people and injured 24 in an El Paso Walmart in El Paso, Texas. Then on Sunday another nine people were killed and 27 were injured in a shooting in Dayton, Ohio. The gunman in Ohio was said to have explored “violent ideologies” and expressed a “desire to commit a mass shooting” on Twitter. Both killings were apparently fueled by hate.
This kind of thing happens almost everyday, just not to that scale. In fact one research group estimates that there are 1.2 shootings happening every day here in America. There has been 248 mass shootings to date in 2019 alone. So even though records show that violent crime in the US is actually decreasing, these statistics and events that come to the forefront tend to convince us otherwise.
It’s easy to focus on the negativity going on in the world today, the corruption, the bad news… especially when that seems to be all that makes the news.
How many would agree that America needs saving?
How many of those people in Texas or Ohio in the path of that shooter were begging to be saved from the bullets? I could guess maybe… all of them?
And it would be easy to be tempted to believe that this is something new when things like this happen. But that would not be true. Evil has always existed since the beginning in the garden. In fact, violent crimes - murder began with that first family, with Cain and Abel. Cain killing his own brother out of jealousy. And then wickedness, evil, and sin progressed and increased upon the earth until we come to the story of Noah.
BODY:
Please Turn in your Bibles to... Genesis chapter 6
Genesis 6:5-7 New International Version (NIV) says…
5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination [or intent NASB] of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted [was sorry NASB] that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled [literally “grieved” NASB]. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.”
The Lord saw how great wickedness had become on the earth. The Lord saw.
I want to tell you this morning: THE LORD SEES. The Lord sees all. Not just the actions of men, but also the intent … in inclination of their hearts. In other words, what their heart desires. What they think about. What they entertain and allow to grow. The Lord sees.
And think about it, this story is from the beginning. It’s when mankind was just getting started, and it already had become so bad. All from eating a forbidden fruit. But you also notice the Bible doesn’t mention yet what wicked things they were doing. Just that “every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.”
Sin starts in the heart. Before it ever becomes an act of sin, it begins as a sinful inclination.
Why is there so many bad things that happen in the world today? Because humanity has a Heart Problem! Listen (and this may sound a little political, but it’s not. It’s the truth!) the reason there are mass shootings and violence in America and terrorists in the World has nothing to do with guns or gun-control. It has to do with the condition of the heart.
Because the heart can either be full of evil or full or good.
Jesus says this in Luke 6:45 New International Version (NIV)
A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
So the next time someone says something and you think they are “full of it.” Maybe they are.
The heart that he’s talking about here is who you are on the inside. Not necessarily what you show everyone or make everyone believe that you are. But who you really are… in the center of your being. What you care about. What you desire. What you think. What you live for.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21 New International Version (NIV)
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Listen, what grieved God in this story leading up to the Great Flood was what people had stored up in their heart… what they treasured was not good, was not pure, was not love, was not godly. It was evil. It was wickedness… all the time.
So you think about that. What grieves the heart of God? What makes Him weep? What hurts the heart of God is what men and women store up in their hearts! He cares about who you are on the inside. So the next time someone tells you that being a good person is what gets you to Heaven, remember this: The Lord Sees who you really are and that’s what He cares about.
So God was grieved… He was sorry… He regretted making humans upon the earth because of the wickedness and inclination of their heart. And for that reason, judgment was coming.
But there was one man… one man who pleased God. There was one man who did not make God’s heart grieve. That man was Noah.
Genesis 6:8-9 New International Version (NIV) says…
8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. 9 This is the account of Noah and his family.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.
What was different about Noah? What was different about him from the rest of the world?
He was a righteous man. Not a perfect man. A righteous one. What’s the difference?
There’s two kinds of righteousness: Self righteousness and Righteousness from God
The Bible tells us that there is a righteousness that is by faith. Faith in who? Faith in God.
The Bible says that “The righteous will live by faith.” So they live their life … every day … putting their faith in God and trusting Him to guide, protect, and provide. And He does.
Self righteousness is an act for people to see. It is self glorifying and self seeking … for self.
The righteousness by faith is doing what is right not for self but for God, to glorify God and obey Him. So this is what Noah did. He lived by faith. Blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.
This is the man whom God would save and use to save the world, preserve His creation.
So He says in Genesis 6:11-13 New International Version (NIV)
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.
So make yourself an ark… Build an ark.
What is an ark? An ark was just a box like vessel made to protect or preserve what was inside. Moses as a baby floated in an ark on the River Nile made by his mother to save him from being killed by the wicked Pharaoh. The Ark of Covenant was a gold box that contained some very sacred objects – The Ten Commandments … the stone tablets of God’s Law.
So Noah was commanded by God to build an ark, and God gave him the exact instructions of how to do this. But why?
In verses 17&18 He says… Genesis 6:17-18 New International Version (NIV)
17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.
He also told him to bring two of all living creatures, male and female, onto the ark to keep them alive along with food for the animals and for his family. And Noah did everything just as Gd commanded him to do. Now how long did it take to build this ark and gather all of the animals? Most believe that it took 100 years because at the end of chapter 5 Noah is 500 years old. Then in chapter 7 when God brings the flood waters on the earth after Noah and his family are told to enter the ark, Noah is said to be 600 years old. In 1 Peter chapter 3 it says that God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. So if this true, the people of Noah’s day had 100 years to get right with God. 100 years to be among those saved in the ark. But no one did. Only Noah and his family. Noah and all his family and the pairs of animals every kind entered the ark the day that God brought His judgment upon the earth. In verse 16 the Bible says, “Then the Lord shut him in.” The Lord shut the door.
For forty days the flood waters rose as the waters increased lifting the ark high above the earth. And all who were not on the ark perished in the flood. Only Noah and his family (along with all the animals) were saved.
CONCLUSION:
One day, God will shut the door on His grace. He patiently waits for those who are lost and in sin to hear the message of salvation and get onboard before the judgment comes. But His judgment will come just as it did before, not by a Great Flood, but by a Great Fire. And one day God will shut the door and all those outside of His grace will be lost.
According to Webster’s Dictionary 1828 to be saved means To preserve from injury, destruction or evil of any kind; to rescue from danger. It also means To preserve from final and everlasting destruction; to rescue from eternal death [from Hell]. And finally it means To deliver; to rescue from the power and pollution of sin.
The Bible says John 3:16-17 New International Version (NIV)
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Who is the one righteous man in our day? Jesus! And the Ark that God has instructed Him to build is His Church. And one day… the Final Day of the Lord when God’s wrath and judgment will come, the ones who are a part of the family of God will be the ones who are saved. If you want to one of those who is saved, then you need to get onboard before it’s too late.
Invitation- Would you please stand?
