Sermon Central
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The Great Adventure: "Stand Against The Tide!" Series
Contributed by Jim Black on Jul 12, 2006 (message contributor)
Summary: Noah stood against the culture of his day and was counted faithful. Christians are called to an exciting, challenging and different way of life… not to conform to the world.
We want to continue that excitement this morning as we delve back into our summer series, “The Great Adventure!” The Christian life is supposed to a great and exciting adventure!
• Now, we don’t often talk about faith in those terms…
• When we truly and honestly give ourselves to God and place our lives in his control… there’s no telling where he may send us… who he may place in our lives… or what he may be preparing us to do!
• Look at what he called some of the folks in the Bible to! Way before Capt. Jack Sparrow… Indiana Jones… John Wayne… the lives of real life adventurers are found in the pages of THIS book!
Last week we looked at Abraham and saw that even though he was 75, God called him… and when he called, Abraham went.
• God didn’t tell him where he was going… just told him to go.
• Abraham wound up in the middle of Canaan, amidst a bunch of Canaanites (heathens) and made his home there… just as God told him to.
• And then, with he and Sarah pushing 100, they find out that they’re going to become parents! Talk about ADVENTURE!
• This morning, I want us to look at another great adventurer, Noah.
But before we get started with the lesson… Simon Says game.
Now, I don’t like “Simon Says” very much, actually… never have!
• Think about it… the point is to do exactly what “Simon” says… and just what everybody else is doing.
• In fact, if you don’t do what Simon says and what everybody else is doing, then you’re OUT!
• I never liked that as a kid! I wanted to know… Who is Simon and who died and put him in charge? Why do I have to do what he says… just because everybody else is doing it?
• What about you? Ever felt pressure to do something just because “Simon” or somebody out there told you to… or just because everybody else was doing it? Ever felt pressure to go along with the crowd… to give in to the tide?
• Maybe I have just enough of a rebellious streak in me that I didn’t want to do just what “Simon” said… EVEN IF everybody else is doing it!
Noah was that way… and I admire that. Look again at the text…
5 The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth — men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air — for I am grieved that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
9 This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
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. NIV
• Things had gotten off to a good start in the Garden of Eden with Adam & Eve… but after that first sin… the serpent had come to Eve tempting her, “C’mon… wouldn’t you like to be just like God? Eat it!” …things had gone down hill rapidly.
• Cain kills Abel (Gn 4)… a great-great grandson, Lamech isn’t any better… things just get worse and worse and by the time Noah comes along (10 generations after Adam) all that’s left is wickedness and evil on the face of the Earth!
• Look at how the world is described in 6:5 & 12
o Man is described as “wicked”… in fact not only in his actions but in every thought and inclination of his heart! Continually… this wasn’t spotted or occasional “flare-ups”… this was constant… all the time!
o The world is “corrupt”… the OT Hebrew word here means “to decay.”
o “full of violence”… malicious, purposeful injustice.
o It was ALL EVIL ALL THE TIME!
But, Noah was different!
• We see in vs. 8 that Noah finds favor with God, precisely because he IS different! He’s a righteous man… blameless among the people of his day… he walked with God.
• Noah wasn’t like everybody else… and he didn’t care what the rest of the world thought or what everybody else was doing… Noah was his own man!
