Faith Finishes
TEXT: Genesis 6:1-22; Hebrews 11:17
INTRODUCTION:
The story of Noah and the ark is more common that our favorite nursery rhymes. In our nursery here at the church, the theme is a large boat full of animals riding above an ocean filled with colorful fish with a beautiful rainbow in the background. An anthropological survey of the stories of world cultures reveals that almost everyone has a flood story - the story of a universal flood brought about as God's judgment on human sinfulness. Imagine a flood so great that the entire world was wiped out, and only eight people and a sampling of animals were saved. It would make such an impact that the world would never forget. There was such a flood, and it was hard for ancient cultures to forget.
The writer of Genesis paints the scene of the preflood world as characterized by violence and wicked imagination. The thoughts of their hearts were only evil continually, and they were continually hurting one another. It sounds much like the news headlines of 2022. It grieved the heart of God that His Image was being so distorted in the world He had made. The reason God hates sin is because of what it does to us. We were made to represent Him, and we so often fail to do so.
The pre-flood world was also characterized by a lukewarm acceptance of the status quo and an ignorance of what was coming.
Jesus warned that:
Matthew 24:36-41 (KJV)
"No one knows about that day or hour [of His Coming], not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. 39 And they were oblivious, until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left."
The main point Jesus makes as he looks back to Noah's day and ahead to the world before His Coming is that everyone will be acting like everything is okay. They will just be going about business as usual, unaware of what is impending. They will be doing so well in life that they miss the warning signs. They will not feel the tremors before the earthquake of judgment. They will ignore the warnings of preachers of righteousness until their situation is beyond repair.
Then there were those who became scoffers. Peter says:
2 Peter 3:2-7 (ESV)
"...remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly."
Our world has tried to forget the flood to the place that certain groups have taken the symbol of God's promise not to ever destroy the world with a universal flood again as a symbol for their own sinful cause. We can be forgetful to the place we become scornful. God have mercy upon us.
Jesus really is coming. It is not a weird belief. It is one of the cornerstones of the Christian faith!
The world before the flood was bad. The world in which we live is too.
The writer of Genesis ends his description of the preflood world with words that should fill our hearts with faith. He writes:
Genesis 6:8 (KJV)
"But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD."
Where sin abounds, grace much more abounds (Romans 5:20).
Ephesians 2:8-19 (KJV)
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
God sees you! He is looking upon you with favor! He wants to save you and yours from the darkness of this world, the complacency of the world, the attitude of the world that scorns His Love. He is looking through it all and He can see your heart!
Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD and if you will look into the face of God, that is what you will find as well. From His eyes shine compassion and a deep desire to make things right!
Start looking for Grace!
Grace is room to grow and the empowerment to do so.
After Noah saw the Grace of God shining from the eyes of the LORD, He heard God's Voice speaking. God gave him instructions on what to do to avoid the destruction that was coming. Grace teaches and grace enables.
Paul wrote to Timothy:
Titus 2:11-13 (ESV)
"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ..."
Faith is our response to God's Grace. In 1 Corinthians 15:10 (KJV):
"But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."
When Noah saw the Grace in the Eyes of the LORD and heard the LORD's instruction, he responded by taking a step.
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" (Confucious).
It is impossible to please God without faith, and Noah is on record in Hebrews 11:7 as being an example of faith. There are three aspects, three tenses of faith in the writer of Hebrew's summary of Noah's story. Faith starts, faith continues, and faith finishes.
PREACHING POINTS:
1. Faith Starts
Hebrews 11:7 (KJV)
"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark..."
James warns us that it is not enough to hear the Word of God. We must apply it to our lives if it is to be effective. Faith starts. Faith without works is dead.
You have to begin somewhere. It is easy to continue where we are. Starting out in faith is often an exercise in swimming upstream from the rest of the world.
Noah's world was going with the flow. They were following the pied piper to their destruction, but Noah could hear the beat of a different drum. They were walking according to the course of this world, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience. But, Noah went another way!
No one had heard of a worldwide flood before, but Noah heard from God. When you hear from God, you seem strange to some people. But, no matter what anyone else says if your going to make it through, you've got to start! Faith starts!
"The secret of getting ahead is getting started" (Mark Twain).
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" (Wayne Gretzky).
"You will never win if you never begin" (Heather Rowland).
Genesis 6:22 (NLT)
"Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he."
Noah's name means "rest." The response of faith is a ceasing of doing things in our own way and doing it in God's way. Faith is not lazy, but faith knows how to rest. Noah did it in God's Way. God's way looks like this. He worked six days, and on the seventh day, He rested. In the Ten Commandments, God commanded ancient Israel to rest one day a week. Satan, the world, the flesh, and the devil are all cruel slave masters. You never get a day off. But, the God of Noah is a God of REST!
Don't let your own inability, inexperience, or what the world thinks to keep you from doing what God is calling you to do! Faith starts. Choose to believe. Choose to be baptized. Choose to yield to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Choose to dedicate your life to Christ more fully. Start today! God is building something that will endure when the world is shaking!
One of the symbols in early Christian art is the boat or ship. It is found on the walls of the Catacombs. Because the mast of some ships looks like a cross, early Christians would draw ships instead of crosses to disguise the symbol. The boat/ship in Christian art represents the church tossed on the sea of trial, persecution, and temptation but making it safely through the storm to the Harbor of the Heavenly Kingdom!
It starts with the cross! The cross of Christ is the greatest place for you to build a life that will float! It takes faith! And faith starts by doing it God's way!
But faith doesn't just start...
2. Faith Continues
Hebrews 11:7 (KJV)
"...to..."
The Greek word translated "to" here "indicates motion into a thing or into its immediate vicinity or relation to something" (BDAG).
Perhaps the most important this about your relationship with God is your direction. Salvation begins with repentance, an about-face on the world, and an intent look into the Gracious Eyes of a Merciful God, but it continues as we move ever closer to Him.
Starting is never enough. Many people have dreams, but not many achieve them because they never start. Others start, but stop somewhere along the way.
Noah started building the ark, and he kept working. He did not know the day or time that the flood would come, but he believed that since the LORD told him to build, if he would continue to do what God told him to do, everything would be ready when the time came.
There is a lot we worry about that keeps us from growing and becoming in the here and now. If Noah had worried about what had happened up to that point or stressed out about what was coming he might have put his tools up. No, he kept working.
John 8:31-32 (KJV)
"Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
Now abide theses three, faith... 1 Corinthians 13:13.
Truth is a present reality. It requires a present response, faith. Continue. But, faith does not just continue and then at some point along the timeline stop. Faith has a direction and a goal. Noah took God's plans for the big boat and built it. God wants you to participate with Him in what He is doing and He gives you an opportunity, that's grace, when we respond by starting and continue through obedience that's faith... And one day...
If you are going to continue, you must REST.
3. Faith Finishes
Hebrews 11:17
"...the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."
I love the story of the tortise and the hare. The tortise wins every time. He is focussed and determined and keeps putting one foot in front of the other until he wins the race.
It is to those that endure to the end that salvation comes.
Noah not only saved himself, but he saved his entire family. You're not just building for you, you're building for them, and for us.
None of us would be here if it were not for Noah. We all came from Noah.
He finished what he started. When you decide to finish what you start there is no telling how far your impact will reach.
2 Timothy 4:6-8 (KJV)
"For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."
Like Noah, Paul began when Jesus appeared to him on the Damascus Road. Paul continued in the faith and he finally finished. The entire world has been shaped by his letters to a few churches. We know the gospel because he decided to obey by faith when Grace appeared to him!
Hebrews 12:1-2 (KJV)
"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
The Lord Jesus is our Chief Example. He finished what HE started. You are here today because He has begun a good work in your life (Philippians 1:6). And He is the One Who works in us giving us the desire and the power to do His Will (Philippians 2:13). But, it is up to us to yield to His grace and work out our salvation with reverence (Philippians 2:12).
We believe in the Grace that God has shown in His Sacrifice on the Cross of Christ. Peter said when we are baptized into Christ it is like Noah going through the waters of the flood (1 Peter 3:21). We leave the old behind and walk into the new, and He Promises that He will give us His Spirit to help us go forward and build.
Acts 2:38
When learning to rest in Him, you will finish like Noah finished.
