Did you hear the story about the little girl sitting on her grandfather’s lap. He was reading the Bible story of Noah’s Ark to her. And in her innocence she asked, “Granddad, Were you in the Ark?” “Why, no I wasn’t.” Said the granddad - And she looked at him and said - “Then why weren’t you drowned?” she asked.
Let me ask a question - how many of you actually believe the story of Noah and the Ark?
I think most people will have learnt the story as a child either in Sunday School or in School Assembly. And because of that, there is a danger that we file it away inside our heads under the category ‘Childhood fairytales’ alongside Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and the Wizard of Oz….
I am a 52 year old man, I’ve been a Christian for 45 years! I work amongst some of the toughest guys in the country, and I have ministered in the middle of war zones…. But do you know what - I believe in the story of Noah and the Ark. And I believe it for a couple of reasons.
1. Did you know that there are over 270 different cultures around the world that have ancient stories about a great flood, and they all tell pretty much the same story:
* Man became corrupt
* The Flood was worldwide
* Eight people survived the flood
* Representatives of all land animals were saved
* A dove was released to find dry land
* The survivors came down from a mountain to repopulate the whole world
* And the hero's name is often a variant of Noah: Nu-u; Nu-Wah; Noh, Nos; and Nuh
And historians have a rule they follow when they encounter stories that are repeated across a number of different cultures and which seem to agree on so much. If there are these many facts that agree... then the story is probably true! Or based on truth.
2. But more than that – it’s in the Bible! Not only is it a story in the Old Testament, but it’s in the New Testament as well!
? The writer of Hebrews talks about it! ‘By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.’ Heb 11:7
? The Apostle Peter talks about it, ‘For if God… did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly… then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.’ 2 Peter 2:4
? And of course, Jesus himself mentions it, ‘ And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.’ Luke 17:26
Mankind had become unbelievably evil... There was no kindness in these people. There was no compassion. They couldn't even THINK clean thoughts. Unless they could hurt someone, or gain advantage over someone, or they could tell a foul joke or make an obscene gesture... they just weren't happy.
Life was cheap and honor was despised. Morality was not to be tolerated - it made too many people uncomfortable. After all, who appointed YOU to be judge over me? Who made YOU God with the right to say what was is good and what is bad?
And humanity had become so wicked, it was so evil, it was so deprived, that God was grieved and filled with pain and decided to send a flood to destroy all of mankind. But - in a world that was unbelievably evil... there was one man who was unquestionably righteous. His name was Noah. Genesis 6:8 says "But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God."
What was it that made Noah so righteous? What was it that made him so different from everybody else?
I believe over the last few weeks you’ve been looking at the theme ‘Reaping the Harvest’, and the key verse for us today from the story of Noah is Genesis 8:22. Noah and his family have just got off the Ark and God declares ‘“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”
Of course, this principle of “seedtime and harvest” applies to the earth, it applies to trees and to plants and to crops etc; but it can also apply to other areas our lives as well.
When the words “seedtime and harvest” are read together, we tend to focus on the word harvest. We love the harvest. The harvest is when we go into the fields to reap the fruit. The harvest is when we leave the farm and step out into overflowing, abundant, and plentiful pastures. We all love to imagine the harvest. We leave the house with an empty basket and come back with a basket overflowing with blessings. The problem, however, is that we will never have the harvest without first planting the seed. The word “seedtime” comes before the word “harvest” for a reason.
Noah’s ‘harvest’ was ‘righteousness’. But Noah could never have harvested righteousness without first planting the seeds that lead to righteousness (do you understand what I’m saying)? And this morning I want to look at some of the ‘seeds’ that Noah planted:
1. Noah planted the Seed of Faith
Hebrews 11:7 says, ‘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 planted the seed of faith – and he harvested righteousness!
Noah stood alone against the whole world. He built an Ark because he believed God. Every tree that he cut down, every plank of wood that he sawed, every swing of his hammer – shouted out faith. No-one else believed him. Yet, in faith he went right on working, building the ark and warning of the coming judgement. Then as a final act of faith, when it was finished, he and his family stepped into the ark and closed the door. And as soon as they did – it started to rain!
There are many misconceptions about faith. Some people believe that having faith is the ability to manipulate God. They see faith as having one aim and that is a life of ease and blessing. That through faith God will constantly provide them with a get out of jail free card. But that’s not true.
Others see faith as an adherence to a set of beliefs. You must believe the right doctrine. But in 2 Tim 1:12 Paul doesn’t say ‘I know what I have believed’ he says “ I know whom I have believed.” If your beliefs are not founded on the right person it doesn’t really matter what else you believe.
True faith is described in the book of Hebrews as ‘the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’ Faith is the ability to trust what we cannot see.
Faith v Sight
Boy on roof - One night a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to flee to the roof. His father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, ‘Jump! I’ll catch you’. But all the boy could see was flames, and smoke, and blackness. His father kept yelling, ‘Jump! I will catch you’. ‘But dad I can’t see you’ shouted the boy. ‘But I can see you’ shouted the father, ‘and that’s all that matters’. And the boy jumped because he trusted his dad.
Faith is the ability to trust what we cannot see.
It’s the Christian faith that enables us to face life, and to meet death, not because we can see, but because of the certainty that we are seen by our Father in heaven. Not because we know all the answers, but because we are known by Him. Faith honours God and God honours faith!
The world says, "Seeing is believing." But God says, "Believing is seeing." And it’s only through faith that we can really begin to see and to understand and to live.
Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Noah planted the seeds of faith and he harvested righteousness.
Are you planting the seeds of faith this morning? Faith enough to walk the Christian walk, and faith enough to talk the Christian talk – even if the whole world seems against you?
2. Noah planted the Seed of Obedience
Noah planted the seeds of Obedience.
‘Noah did everything just as God commanded him.’ Genesis 6:22
‘And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.’ Genesis 7:5
Noah had a choice! He could either obey God and be saved – or he could disobey and perish along with everyone else. Of course, he chose to obey and through his obedience he saved his wife, his three sons and their wives.
But the cost of obedience was not cheap. Noah spent about 120 years building that ark. And every day of those 120 years he would have been the centre ridicule and abuse from everyone around him. I imagine that Noah’s neighbors did more than whisper about how he had lost his mind. I bet every morning they would come with buckets of water to throw over him and scream, “The flood is starting. You better hurry up, Noah!” Perhaps others would ambush his sons as they gathered food. “There goes Drip, Drop and Droopy,” the people would chide as they run off after giving them all a good beating.
But despite everyone else around him sneering and mocking and jeering - Noah continued to plant the seeds of obedience to God.
Jesus said, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.” (Jn 14:23). The cost of obedience to God is not cheap – neither is it easy. It’s difficult to be obedient to God in a world that is God-less. It is difficult to obey His Word in a world where the Scriptures are mocked and abused. It’s difficult to obey the Spirit’s leading in a world that obeys the desires of the flesh. But remember – a plane always takes off ‘against the wind’.
Noah planted the seed of obedience at great personal cost – but he harvested salvation. And in a world that is not unlike Noah’s – a world where if you publicly uphold the morality of Scripture you could get arrested for ‘hate speech’ - we too need to faithfully keep planting the seeds of obedience – obedience to God, obedience to His Word, and obedience to the leading of the Spirit.
3. Noah planted the Seed of Worship
‘Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it’. Gen 8:20
When Noah and his family left the ark, they were it. All their neighbors were dead. All of their other family members were destroyed. Their home and everything they knew - was gone. They had floated all the way up to a mountain and didn’t have a clue where they were. But they didn’t start complaining, they didn’t start crying, they didn’t start whining.
The first thing Noah did wasn’t to jump into ‘Bear Grylls’ mode and start practicing his survival techniques! The first thing Noah did, was to build an altar so that he could worship God.
Noah planted the seed of worship!
What do you think about when you hear the word ‘Worship’? If I were to go around each one of you here I would get a number of different answers. ‘It’s singing songs in church’, ‘it’s praying’, ‘it’s giving money in the collection’, it’s listening to the word being preached’ and maybe some others.
Rick Warren – The Purpose Driven Life – ‘When thinking about worship you may think of church services with singing, praying, and listening to a sermon. Or you may think of ceremonies, candles and communion. Or you may think of healing, miracles, and ecstatic experiences. Worship can include these elements, but worship is far more than these expressions. Worship is a lifestyle.’
Did you get that? Worship is a lifestyle! It’s a way in which we live our lives – not just on Sundays, not just in church meetings, but every second of every day.
The bottom line is that Worship is not about the music and the songs we sing - it’s about the lifestyle that we lead and the attitude we have toward God! In the Bible people worshipped at work, at home, in battle, in jail, and even in bed.
It should be the first thing you do when you open your eyes in the morning and the last thing you do before you close them at night. Because we were created to worship, to have fellowship with God, nothing else we do in life will ever fill that void.
In what ways are you planting the seeds of worship in your daily life?
I’ve nearly finished, but I want to say one more thing, and it stands to reason really:
4. You can’t reap what you haven’t sown and you always reap more than you sow
‘Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.’ Gal 6:7
‘They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind’. Hosea 8:7
Sowing and reaping is a well known fundamental, physical principle of life. You always reap more than you sow! If I was to go into my garden and plant a potato into the ground – in a few months time I wouldn’t reap one potato, I would reap lots of potatoes. If I plant a runner bean, then in a few months time I won’t get back one runner bean – I will get back lots of runner beans. That’s the principle – you always reap more than you sow.
But not only do you reap more than what you sow – you will reap more of the same of what you sow. It’s no good me putting a potato in the ground if what I want is a harvest of carrots. If I want a harvest of carrots I need to sow carrots – if I want a harvest of potatoes I need to sow potatoes. That’s how sowing and reaping works – what you put in is what you’re gonna get out again only a lot more so! Yea?
There’s a story about Sir Robert Watson Watt, the inventor of the radar who was arrested for speeding. He was reportedly pulled over by a policemen with a radar-gun. And allegedly Robert Watts said to the policeman, "Had I known what you were going to do with it I would never have invented it!" Shortly after he wrote this poem:
Pity Sir Robert Watson Watt
Strange target of his radar plot,
And this, with others I could mention,
A victim of his own invention.
You reap what you sow. And what is true in the physical sense is also true in the spiritual sense. Many people, when their life collapses around them will blame God. But the reality is that they are reaping the harvest of the seeds that they have sown.
If your life today isn’t where it should be – isn’t what it should be, if it isn’t what it could be. Rather than turn and blame God for your position – stop and take a look at the seeds you planted.
If your marriage is based on lies and deception, then expect to harvest of trouble and probably divorce ahead.
If your planting seeds of sexual immorality, and you’re sleeping around – then expect to reap a harvest of sexual disease and unwanted pregnancies.
If your sowing seeds of gossip and discord and hatred, then expect to reap a harvest of conflict in your relationships. Because what you sow you will reap – if you sow the wind you will reap the whirlwind.
But if you sow in righteousness you will reap in righteousness.
Conclusion
So what does this mean for us today? A few things:
1. The principle of “seedtime and harvest” will remain while the earth remains.
2. This principle is not limited to plants. The Apostle Paul said that God would not be made a fool of; we will reap what we sow (Gal 6:7).
3. We know that the seed can be the seed of a man that brings forth more men. But the seed can also be the Word of God (1 Pet 1:23), money (Gal 6:7), or whatever we give in the name of Jesus (Mat 19:29).
4. Our harvest is tied to our seed. You cannot expect a harvest if you do not have any seed in the ground.
5. God will honor what we sow and will – after time – produce a harvest in our lives.
If you don’t like what you are harvesting, maybe you should change the seed you’re sowing!
Confession for this day: Lord God. While the earth remains, there will be seedtime and harvest. There will be time to sow and time to reap. Time to plant and time to pluck up that which was planted. I sow righteousness and I expect a harvest of righteousness. I sow peace and expect a harvest of peace. I sow finances and I expect a harvest of finances. I sow love and I expect a harvest of love. I give willingly for Your name’s sake and receive a hundredfold return. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
