STANDING UP WHEN EVERYONE ELSE LAYS DOWN
Big Faith Series-Part 3
Hebrews 11:7; Genesis 6-9
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Pastor Brian Matherlee
Introduction
Show “Noah Situation” video clip
I think the bedrock principle of Noah’s life was this:
NOAH TOOK GOD SERIOUSLY!
Noah took God seriously & because he did...
1. Noah lived upright
Genesis 6:9
a. The people of Noah’s day were violent and every inclination of their heart and mind was bent towards evil all the time.
b. Sounds just like the world we live in
c. But Noah walked with God
d. Remember last week, when we spoke about Enoch that walking with God meant a constant fellowship...not a casual stroll but a coming and going in every aspect of life at the leading of God.
e. Noah had a reputation that set him apart—what kind of reputation do we have?
f. A small-town prosecuting attorney called his first witness to the stand in a trial -- a grand-motherly, elderly woman. He approached her and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?"
She responded, "Why, yes, I do know you, Mr. Williams. I’ve known you since you were a young boy. And frankly, you’ve been a
big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you’re a rising big shot when you haven’t the brains to realize you will never amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you." The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, "Mrs. Williams, do you know the defense attorney?"
She replied, "Why, yes I do. I’ve known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, too. I used to baby-sit him for his parents. And
he, too, has been a real disappointment to me. He’s lazy, bigoted, and he has a drinking problem. The man can’t build a normal
relationship with anyone, and his law practice is one of the shoddiest in the entire state. Yes, I know him."
At this point, the judge rapped the courtroom to silence and called both counselors to the bench. In a very quiet voice, he said with menace, "If either of you asks her if she knows me, you’ll be jailed for contempt!"
2. God favored Noah
a. Shared His plan to destroy what He had created (Genesis 6:13)-- The favor of God results in intimate fellowship. People who are favored are able to hear the still, small voice of God guiding them in every circumstance.
b. Saved his family—our families benefit—the Bible tells us that God shows love “to a thousand generations of those who love” him and keep his commands. (Exodus 20:6).
3. Noah obeyed despite the obstacles
a. It defied logic-how could there ever be enough water in a dry, land-locked region to float a vessel the size he was to build
b. People, no doubt, were sure to ridicule him for his crazy belief—hearing voices, they probably thought
c. We must obey God despite the things around us that would tempt us to compromise.
How do we know if we are in danger of not taking God seriously?
5 Warning Signs
1. Toleration of known sin
a. A man entered a bar, bought a glass of beer and then immediately threw it into the bartender’s face. Quickly grabbing a napkin, he helped the bartender dry his face while he apologized with great remorse. "I’m so sorry," he said. "I have this compulsion to do this. I fight it, but I don’t know what to do about it." "You had better do something about your problem," the bartender replied. "You can be sure I’ll remember you and will never serve you another drink until you get help." It was months before the man faced the bartender again. When he asked for a beer, the bartender refused. Then the man explained that he had been seeing a psychiatrist and that his problem was solved. Convinced it was now okay to serve him, the bartender poured him a drink. The man took the glass and splashed the beer into the barkeeper’s astonished face. "I thought you were cured," the shocked bartender screamed. "I am," said the man. "I still do it, but I don’t feel guilty about it anymore."
2. A testimony—but just barely
a. I have the hope to one day travel to all 50 states. Some of them I have only traveled to the border and returned....just clipped a corner so I could say I had been there. It’s one thing to go somewhere and another to be somewhere.
b. I think many of us have done the same thing in our spiritual existence. We have gone to the altar but we haven’t been with God yet.
c. If we have been taught or have understood salvation to only be a decision for Christ at a point in time then we need to come to grips with the truth that being Christian means my life is radically different from the pattern of this world!
d. The flesh is a built-in law of failure, making it impossible for the natural man to please or serve God. It is a compulsive inner force inherited from man’s fall, which expresses itself in general and specific rebellion against God and His righteousness. The flesh can never be reformed or improved. The only hope for escape from the law of the flesh is its total execution and replacement by a new life in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mark Bubeck, The Adversary, Moody Press, p. 28.
3. No passion for the lost
a. True passion for the lost is revealed in persistent action to tell others about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
4. Easily satisfied hunger for spiritual things
a. Do we fervently pray
b. Do we read our Bible with a hunger to know more? Even the familiar stories and the boring parts?
c. I have heard people say over the years, “I’m not being fed at such and such a church.” The problem is most likely not in the pulpit...it’s in the pew.
5. A routine leading to nowhere
a. I come to church, I pay my tithe, I give my hour a week...that’s good enough
b. When I was in Terre Haute our drummer for worship was the weekend weather man. He told me that the news anchors were more or less commanded to attend church because it looked good.
c. How many of us are attending because it’s the thing to do?
