STOP THE WORLD, I WANNA GET OFF!
At the height of publicity given to a TV mini-series on Noah last year, a friend e-mailed me this insight on Noah by Don Kryer of Frontline Fellowship.
Subject: Things to Learn from Noah and His Ark
(1) Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark. (2) Stay fit. When you’re 600 years old, someone might ask you to do something really big. (3) Don’t listen to critics. Do what has to be done. (4) Build on high ground. (5) For safety’s sake, travel in pairs. (6) Two heads are better than one. (7) Speed isn’t always an advantage. The cheetahs were on board, but so were the snails. (8) If you can’t fight or flee -- float. (9) Take care of your animals if they were the last ones on earth. (10) Don’t forget that we’re all in the same boat. (11) When the doo-doo gets really deep, don’t sit there and complain ?shovel! (12) Stay below deck during the storm. (13) Remember that the ark was built by amateurs and the Titanic was built by professionals. (14) If you have to start over, have a friend by your side. (15) Remember that the woodpeckers inside are often a bigger threat that the storm outside. (16) No matter how bleak it looks, there’s always a rainbow on the other side. (17) DON’T MISS THE BOAT!!! (Don Kryer, Frontline Fellowship)
The Lord commanded Noah to build a mammoth ark, one and a half football field long, 9 standard rooms high, on an extra wide house lot. In seven days the animals voluntarily came to Noah (7:15) -- seven of every kind of clean animal, and a pair of unclean animals (7:2), then the rain poured forty days non-stop (7:12), and the waters rose the next 150 days (7:24) twenty feet over the mountains (7:20) before going down the following 40 days (8:6), and finally, Noah, his wife, 3 sons and their wives got off the boat after another two weeks (8:10, 12).
Why did God deliver Noah and his family? Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord (6:8). How does one do that? How are we to remain in God’s favor in an atheist society, before an antagonistic people, to an abominable world? Noah was a man of inspiration, perspiration and aspiration. He was a righteous man who attempted to save others and he walked with God.
INSPIRE OTHERS BY YOUR INWARD WORLD (GEN 6:8-9)
8But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. 9This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.
I asked my wife when I was preparing this message: What is the difference between this world and Noah’s? How are we different? And what does the phrase ?that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time?mean in verse 5?
Doris was surprised. After all, like Noah’s generation, violence, depravity and chaos were the order of the day. She was surprised and then recovered and said: “That is a good question, I never thought about that. I think the difference is that not only were there wickedness and evil, but love and care were totally missing. Our present world, corrupt as it is, still has some good qualities remaining.?
That sums up Noah’s generation. Not only were immorality and violence present, love and honor were absent, but remorse and correction were unlikely. All negative, and no positive or redeeming quality. Every intention, thought and affection was corrupt.
Except Noah, who was a righteous man. His inward world was an inspiration. He was one of three, along with Job and Daniel, who defined righteousness (Eze 14:20). And he and Job were the only biblical characters who were known as blameless ?godly men marked by upright character, the fear of God and shunning evil (Job 1:1).
Noah was a shining light in the darkness, a shimmering star in the night, a single spark lit and aflame for God.
It is not easy to maintain integrity, character and uprightness when people, the society, and even your family are surrounded, seduced and shaped by evil.
Three centuries ago, Jonathan Edwards (1703-58), who single-handedly influenced the Great Awakening, wrote a list of 70 resolutions over two years, in his own words, ‘to fight against the world, the flesh and the devil to the end of my life.?(Eerdmans?Handbook to the History of Christianity p. 438) He was then 19, exposed to temptation like other youngsters but was mature beyond his years. The revival would occur under this spiritual giant twelve years later. Here are his 10 shortest resolutions:
(1) Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.
(2) Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.
(3) Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of hell.
(4) Resolved, to be endeavoring to find out fit objects of charity and liberality.
(5) Resolved, never to do anything out of revenge.
(6) Resolved, never to suffer the least motions of anger to irrational beings.
(7) Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.
(8) Resolved, to maintain the strictest temperance in eating and drinking.
(9) Resolved, to cast away such things, as I find to abate my assurance.
(10) Resolved, in narration’s never to speak anything but the pure and simple verity (truth). http://www.dallas.net/~trigsted/text/resolut.htm
So, be on your toes. Guard your heart (Prov 4:23), watch your steps (Eccl 5:1), and check for error so that you may not fall from your secure position (2 Peter 3:17).
PERSPIRE TOWARD AN OUTWARD WITNESS (2 PETER 2:5-6)
5if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others
Noah’s great grandfather Enoch also walked with God, but Enoch was unsparing, he came to judge and convict. Noah, on the other hand, had thick skin, an innocent mind and a heart of gold. He perspired to save the lost. Noah was the preacher of righteousness who attempted to save others. Never mind he had seven days, or that he had seven family members to save, he preached as if his life depended on it, he himself was drowning, and he had room on board.
A rich man, who was wasteful, drunk and lecherous, died in a certain town and the entire community mourned his death. When his coffin was lowered the people wailed and cried loudly. In the recollection of the oldest inhabitant of the town no man departed with such sorrow. The following day another rich man died. He was just the opposite of the first in character and living. He was ascetic and dined on practically nothing but dry bread and turnips. He had been pious all the days of his life and sat all the time studying religious books. Nonetheless, no one except his own family mourned his death. His funeral passed almost unnoticed, and he was laid to rest in the presence of a handful.
A stranger who happened to be visiting in the town at that time, was filled with wonder, and asked: Explain to me the riddle of this town’s strange behavior. It honors a reckless man, yet ignores a saint!" One of the townsmen replied, "The rich man who was buried yesterday, although he was a lecher and a drunkard, was the leading benefactor of the town. He was easy-going and merry, and loved all the good things in life. Practically everybody in this town profited from him. He’d buy wine from one, chickens from another, geese from a third, and cheese from a fourth. And being kindhearted, he paid well. That’s why he is missed and we mourn after him. But what earthly use was the saint to anybody? He lived on bread and turnips and no one ever made a cent on him. Believe me, no one will miss him."
Noah didn’t shut the world out, but in the end, he just couldn’t get on either. Do you know who many people he convinced? None, except his family. He painstakingly relayed God’s message, reasoned with them and eventually relinquished the world.
Noah was the salt of the earth, the salvation of the world but also a sword to the unsaved. He did all he could though he couldn’t convince them, correct or convert them, but he persuaded as many people possible, tried many methods, made some adjustments, and used up all seven days. That’s why he was called a preacher of righteousness.
ASPIRE FOR AN UPWARD WALK (HEB. 11:7).
7By 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
20Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 21The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done (Gen 8:20-21).
A few years ago, a pastor friend from Hong Kong related how learning the English language when he was young shaped his spiritual life when he was an adult. He fondly remembered an English teacher who asked him to memorize a short verse by Walter Savage Landor (1775?864). The pastor could remember the first 10 of 35 words for more than 30 years, and he quoted those words to me and then wrote them on a paper. I had kept it since in my photo album. The words were short but invaluable and true:
“I STROVE WITH NONE, FOR NONE WAS WORTH MY STRIFE.?
HTTP://WWW.BARTLEBY.COM/101/576.HTML
None. Only God will be there through thick and thin, for today and tomorrow, in Timbuktu or worse. Noah walked on earth with God, rode the storm with God, and landed on devastation with God. A Jewish proverb says, “Whosoever walks toward God one cubit, God runs towards him twain (twice).?(3,000 Quotations p. 8).
Before her death, Mother Teresa gave an interview to Dan Rather, who asked, “What do you do when you pray??She said without hesitation, "I listen." To which Dan Rather replied, "What does God do?" Mother Teresa said, "He listens." www.cfdevotionals.org/devpg98/de981014.htm
Strange way to communicate, isn’t it? Noah had the same experience. He walked was so close to God that, like Abraham later, God spoke to Noah through every chapter of Gen 6-9, revealed to Noah His plans, and directed Noah about the ark, into the ark (Gen 7:1), out of the ark (Gen 8:15).
Amazingly Noah patiently listened, consistently obeyed, worked speedily and said nothing in all three chapters! A man of God who walks with God is one who fears God, obeys Him, and honors Him. Noah’s fear was not emotional, casual, or paralyzing, but holy, godly, and rational (Heb 11:7). He obeyed all that God had commanded him (Gen 6:22, 7:5). He did not do anything that would pain or grieve or displease God. As soon as they landed, Noah unexpectedly honored God by building the first altar to the Lord (Gen 8:20). The altar would symbolize the starting, mending, and turning point of one’s relationship with God.
Noah’s story was remarkable. In the end, everything was water, waste, wet and wild. No one outside of God’s refuge survived. But Noah seized the three greatest spiritual blessing one can have in life: to belong to God, to be with Him, and to believe in Him. God was the leader, Noah the student, but they related to each other as friends
Yes, our lives are meant to be occupied with love of God, ordered by the word of God, and offered to the use of God. To dwell on the things of God, to develop a meaningful relationship with God, and to devote ourselves completely to Him.
Are you totally given to God, guided by Him, and growing in Him?
While we rejoice today will no longer be swept by the flood, will the fire of God consume you on the Judgment Day? Will you be left behind on earth or caught up in the air at the Lord’s second coming? Will you meet the Lord alone or bring others to Him?
Conclusion: It’s been said: "Any dead fish can float downstream -- it takes a live one to swim against it." http://www.focusongod.com/faith.htm Noah stood out like a sore thumb, stood up like a godly man, and stood firm in the midst of the corruption of men, collapse of culture, and condemnation of the world.
The Bible warns us, Do not be deceived (Gal 6:7), defiled (Matt 15:18) or depressed by evil (1 Cor 13:6, Ps 37:7). A man reaps what he sows. A man’s heart is the measure of a man’s purity. Do not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth. And do not be debilitated by sin because you are not under law, but under grace (Rom 6:6).
Victor Yap
http://epreaching.blogspot.com/
www.riversidecma.org(For sermon series)
www.preachchrist.com (For Chinese sermons)
