Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen. For by it
the men of old gained approval. Then we read
in verse 7, By faith Noah, being warned by God
about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared
an ark for the salvation of his household. by
which he condemned the world and became an heir
of the righteousness which is according to faith.
Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we come
to you this Lord's Day. Father, we ask at this
time that you would bless the ministry of your
word abundantly. Lord, we ask that you would
accompany the ministry of your word. for the
good of your people and your kingdom. Lord, work
in the hearts and minds of the saints who are
present. Lord, draw men unto Christ that they
would see the great hope and the safety and the
refuge and the security that is found in Christ
and his saving work. Lord, be with us at this
time. Be in our midst. Bless each individual
present. We ask these things in Jesus' name.
Amen. You may be seated. The Christian life is
a difficult life. Everybody who has been a Christian
for any time knows that reality. It's hard being
a Christian. In this world. It is hard. Practicing
self denial. Day in. Day out. It is difficult.
Persevering. In good works. And faithfulness
in our lives. The Christian life is hard. We
go through seasons. Where. our faith is tried
and tested over and over. The Lord disciplines
us and works in our hearts and our minds. We
have periods in our life where we are downcast.
And then we seem to come out of it with the Lord's
help. We have periods in life where we struggle
and we seem to be frustrated. And we can't do
away with it in some ways. And then with the
Lord's help, we seem to come out of it. We go
through all these various times and seasons in
our lives. The Christian life, Christianity,
is hard. Have you ever thought, is this really
worth it? Have you ever considered, Is all of
this stuff that is told to me in the Scriptures,
in God's Word, is it really worth it in the end?
Is it worth the heartache, the pain, and the
suffering? I'm sure that if you've been a Christian,
you've asked yourself that question in some way,
shape, or form. And I am sure that our forefather,
Noah, asked himself that very same question at
times. Is this worth it? Is obedience to God's
command in my life worth it in my life? We'll
consider that question and we will answer that
question. Just as a little bit of a heads up,
it is brothers and sisters. In the end, it is
abundantly worth any hardship and trial we might
go through in this life. Every single one of
them. Today we're going to consider Noah's faith
in God's word. We're going to see Noah's faith
led to obedience in his life. We're going to
consider the fact that Noah's faith condemned
the unbelieving world around him. But we will
also lastly see that Noah's faith received an
inheritance. We read this in verse 7. By faith,
Noah, being warned by God about things not yet
seen. God's Word. He's believing God's Word,
His revelation. In reverence prepared an ark
for the salvation of His household. He acted.
He worked. He obeyed what God had revealed in
His work. His faith led Him to obedience by which
He condemned the world. His action and His obedience
and His faith proved the condemnation and unbelief.
that existed all around him in his day and his
age. And Noah became an heir of righteousness,
which is according to faith. He received an inheritance
because of the faith that God had given to him.
Beginning with Noah's faith in God's word. The
text clearly says, by faith, Noah. Now, when
we think about those people before the flood,
we don't always associate faith with them. We
think about Abel, who was the first example and
first historical figure that the author of Hebrews
puts forth. What was his faith famous for in
one sense? Worship. It led him to worship. And
then what about Enoch? What was Enoch's faith
famous for in a sense? Walking with God. Fellowshiping
with God. Well, we see that actually Noah walks
with God as well. If we had to put a defining
characteristic to Noah's faith, the thing that
makes his faith famous and useful for us today,
according to the author of Hebrews, it would
be obedience. And we see this clearly in the
text. The reality is that Noah was a man of faith.
He believed what God had revealed to him. Noah
had the same kind of faith. That new covenant
believers have. That's why the author is putting
him forward. But we also see that any great deed
or great work or great thing of obedience in
anybody's life in any period of history at all
was only ever carried out because and in faith.
This is true of everyone before the flood. and
everyone following the flood. Anything that was
done that was approved and received and given
testimony or commendation by God was carried
out in faith. So what did Noah believe that led
him to build the ark? We read this, Being warned
by God, about things not yet seen. What is this
that we're hearing? Well, we know from Genesis
chapter 6 that God comes to Noah and he warns
him about things that are going to take place
in the future. Things that he doesn't know about.
Things that are intangible at that time. Future
unseen realities. And what are those things that
he's been warned about? It's the destruction
and the judgment of the world that Noah lived
in. An absolute universal judgment upon the world
where men and animals would be killed because
of the corruption. They would be judged by God.
We read in Genesis, in chapter 6, verse 1, now
it came about. Actually, I'm going to read verse
5 of chapter 6 in Genesis. Then the Lord saw
that the wickedness of man was great on the earth,
and that every intent of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil continually. The Lord was
sorry that he had made man on the earth, and
he was grieved in his heart. And listen to what
the Lord says. I will blot out man whom I have
created from the face of the land, from man to
animals to creeping things and to birds of the
sky, for I am sorry that I have made them. But
Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Then
the Lord gives Noah, Detailed instructions about
what he is to do in obedience to the Lord. It
was God's revelation. It was God's word. So what
is it that Noah is believing before the flood?
A long, long time ago, God's holy, authoritative
word. But it wasn't just his word. It's actually
a warning that God gives to him. The Bible contains
all different types of what we might say words
from God. Some are promises and others are warnings.
Some are exhortations. Some are admonishments.
Some are... for the purpose of convicting and
tearing down and humbling, and some are for the
purpose of convicting, edifying, and building
up. Some are to warn of danger. Some are to proclaim
glorious future realities. The Bible contains
all different kinds of truths within it. It has
the law and the gospel in it. Threats and warning,
promises, and the power. to do what God requires
because God provides those things in redemption,
the law and the gospel. Noah believed a warning
and a promise from God. At face value, it seems
like it's only a warning. But remember, he's
given commands to build an ark for what? The
salvation of his household. If you do this, then
you will be saved, you and your household. He's
given a warning and a promise. The word of God
is the ground. It is the foundation of Noah's
faith in his life. Why does Noah build the ark?
Because he's believing what God has said. Why
does Noah live his life a certain way? Because
God's word says certain things. So the revelation
that he had been given is that which governs
his life and his actions. It's very important
for the believer in Jesus Christ to believe all
of Word. The easy parts and the hard and difficult
parts. The more practical parts of Scripture
and the more theologically weighty sections of
Scripture. The more child -friendly portions
and the more graphic And detailed portions of
God's word. All of it brothers and sisters. Must
be drunk down by the people of God. If we only
come to the word of God. And we only pick and
choose the parts that we like. The parts that
make us feel good. The pieces that we need in
the moment. At the time. Right now. then we will
inevitably result in being imbalanced Christians.
Because we have an imbalanced diet of God's holy
word. We have to read it all and humbly receive
it all if we are to be well -rounded, balanced,
godly, holy, obedient people of God. We mustn't
let our own personal opinions, preferences, desires,
longings, or worldly concepts or philosophies
be the ground that governs our lives. If we are
to live by faith in this fallen world, what must
be your rule? For your life. God's word. It must
inform you. In your heart. What is right. What
is wrong. How you ought to live. How you ought
to treat. How you ought to worship. How you ought
to minister. How you ought to treat your wife.
And your kids. And your children. And your co
-workers. Your pastors. Your church members.
Whoever it might be. The word of God governs
our lives. And tells us. how to live, and what
to do, because God has given us divine revelation,
brothers and sisters. Not some worldly idea or
concept that has nothing to do with God's Word.
We can be so sentimental at times, can't we,
brothers and sisters? That just doesn't seem
nice. Nobody else in the world thinks that's
loving. But if God's word commands it. And requires
it. And prescribes it. Then brothers and sisters.
We are bound to it. And that is the way we live
by faith. Being governed by God's word. We must
receive it all. And we must. Let it govern our
hearts and our minds. Just as Noah did, brothers
and sisters. Now we also see next that Noah's
faith led to obedience in his life. We read this
in verse 7. By faith Noah in reverence prepared
an ark. For the salvation of his household. In
faith, what does Noah do? He obeys God's command.
He starts preparing for what God has said is
going to come about. He starts chopping down
trees, brothers and sisters. He starts sawing
pieces of wood. He starts figuring out how to
accomplish these things and do these things.
He gets going in obedience. We see that especially
from the Genesis narrative, we read this at the
end of chapter 6 in verse 22. Thus Noah did,
and listen to this, according to all... That
God had commanded him. So he did. What's that
speaking of? Obedience. Noah obeyed God's word.
And he didn't just do it half -heartedly. He
did so as full and able as he was able to. He
obeyed strictly, we could say. To the word of
the living God who made the world. Who made him.
Who sustains all things. The creator of all things.
The eternal God who is infinite and eternal and
holy and glorious. That God had given him a command.
And what did he do? He obeyed that God in his
word. It was personal obedience. He did it. There's
uncertainty about exactly how many people were
alive at that time that believed the Lord, or
believed on the Lord who were a part of the Messianic
lineage. Who else was alive? Was there overlap?
A lot of people think that Noah was the single
human being on planet Earth who knew... by faith
at that time. That, think about it, nobody else.
He was literally standing by himself in obedience.
His sons weren't born whenever he was given the
command. So he started this out personally on
his own. It was personal obedience. He himself
did it. He didn't depend on somebody else to
obey for him. He obeyed. He did what God said
to do. He followed through on the requirements
of God's word. He lived as he ought to live.
It was personal. But we also see that it was
active, it was immediate, and it was full obedience.
It seems as though Noah just literally dropped,
we don't know what he did, but he just dropped
everything and started doing what God required.
He got to it. And in 1st or 2nd Peter, I can't
recall exactly which one, 2nd Peter I believe,
he is also called a preacher of righteousness.
Meaning he was building by day and preaching
by night or vice versa. He was a builder and
a preacher for God. This is what he did. This
seemed to be that which consumed the entirety
of his life. And it had to to complete the task.
Because it was a ginormous. huge, massive task
that he was undertaking, and especially considering
the fact that he began by himself. But we also
see that it was practical obedience. It literally
required him to do things with his hands and
his feet, to think about things. It was prescribed
obedience. God laid out for him. What he was
to do. You can read the rest of Genesis 6 and
see God gives the measurements. He gives the
details on the type of wood, how to seal it,
everything. God gives him details and he obeys
as God prescribes him to do. He obeys as he should.
It's clear. Obedience. on Noah's part. I truly
believe that Noah very well may be the greatest
single example of obedience by faith in the entire
Bible. Think about the duration he obeyed. It
was persevering, diligent, and enduring obedience.
Start to end, 120 years. He was working longer
than the majority of our lives to fulfill a single
command from God. His obedience endured and persevered
and pressed on. The difficulty that he had to
endure and go through to obey God was significant.
And he did all of this, and this is one of the
reasons he's obeyed so well. He did all of this
with the character of godly fear. In his obedience.
The text says. In verse 7. In reverence. Meaning
in godly, holy, righteous fear of God. He had
a right regard. For God. His character. And his
word. He conducted himself in a manner. That
was appropriate as one carrying out the command
of God. This doesn't mean a dread. It doesn't
mean the same thing as when we say, well, are
you scared? But it means a reverence. It's the
embodiment and heart, mind, and attitude of the
third commandment. What is the third commandment?
You shall not take the name of the Lord your
God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him
unpunished who takes his name in vain. What does
the third commandment teach us? To reverence
God's name, word, and what? Works. That was Noah's
attitude while he obeyed God. He wasn't flippant.
or irreverent, or casual, or lackadaisical about
the work that God had given to him in life. It
is a good thing to fear God with a holy and a
righteous and a godly fear. It is good for your
heart. It is good for your obedience. It is good
for mine. to reverence the holy God who has redeemed
us as sinners. Now, possibly most importantly,
with regards to his obedience, what is the source
of Noah's obedience? Did Noah obey to get saved?
Did Noah obey to be justified or to come in good
standing with God? Did Noah obey in order to
be approved or commended by God? No. Remember,
this whole section is about faith. The source
and the cause of his obedience is faith in his
heart and in his life, brothers and sisters.
The text says, by faith Noah prepared an ark.
By faith. This preparation of the ark is the
main verb of this sentence. And it's being carried
out. And it's being carried out in and through
and by one with faith that they have been given
by God. the man Noah. Notice in the text that
faith clearly precedes his obedience. Or we could
say it the other way, his obedience clearly follows
or flows from his faith. We have to make sure
that we see those two clearly in the text. Noah
believed God's word. And because he believed
God's word, he obeyed God's word. And because
he perseveringly obeyed God's word, we know that
he believed God's word. Notice I didn't say works.
The Bible distinguishes between works of the
law and good works prescribed by the word of
God. The two are not in opposition or contrary
to one another. complement one another, brothers
and sisters. The Bible is abundantly clear. Abundantly
clear. That a man is justified and he is declared
to be righteous in the sight of God by faith
alone. But the Bible is also abundantly clear,
brothers and sisters. that those who are justified
and have true and saving, authentic, genuine
faith will perform good works in their life.
The two are not pitted against each other. Good
works flow from the justified man, woman, or
young person. Because they are a new creature
in Christ, they will have a desire to live unto
the glory of God. to be a benefit and blessing
to their fellow man, to love God and love man.
Good works will flow from the life of the justified
individual. James chapter 2, Ephesians 2 .10,
and 1 Timothy 6 .13 are all abundantly cleared.
In 1 Timothy, I want to read that because it
is so clear. Listen to this, brothers and sisters.
1 Timothy 6, starting in verse 18. Instruct them
to do good, to be rich in good works, and to
be generous and ready to share. That is Paul
telling Timothy. To teach the people of God to
instruct them to what? Do good works in their
life. There is a danger that the church has to
watch out for. The tendency is to focus on either.
justification by faith alone, which could, in
the end, turn out to be license if we never talk
about holiness, godliness, or performing good
works, or to focus on only performing good works,
holiness, righteousness, godliness in one's life,
and disregarding justification by faith. Both.
brothers and sisters, are incredibly significant
in the life of the Christian and in the life
of the church. It is not legalistic of a person
to say you ought to be doing good works. That
is a requirement of the Bible and it is an expectation
upon all those who call upon the name of Christ.
But brothers and sisters, it is not. libertine
Christianity to say, revel in justification by
faith alone. We must hold both equally tight.
They both are blessings to the people of God
and they are both true of those in union with
Jesus Christ. Revel in both of those realities
because they are both. Glorious in our lives,
brothers and sisters. So Noah, his faith led
to obedience in his life. Just as it ought to
do in our lives. Our lives ought to be distinctly
marked by good works that are prescribed in God's
Obedience and faithfulness which comes forth
from our faith. Now, this leads us to another
thing we have to consider from this text. The
fact that Noah's faith condemned the world. Think
about the world which was condemned by Noah and
his building, the ark. There are several sections
in Genesis 6 which give us a clear picture of
what the pre -flood world was like. Then the
Lord saw, verse 5 of chapter 6 in Genesis, Then
the Lord saw the wickedness of man was great
on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually. Now the
earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the
earth was filled with violence. Prior to the
flood, what was the strategy of that old serpent
from the garden? It was to destroy the messianic
lineage through immorality, wickedness, corruption.
Whatever it might be. Intermarriage. Abnormality.
All kinds of things. By literally killing off
everyone through violence. But we know from the
story that he fails. Because of Noah and the
Lord's grace in the ark. The world was terribly
wicked beyond anything. we know of in our day,
in our age, brothers and sisters. One of the
unique things about the covenant that God establishes
with Noah is that he institutionalizes common
grace in the world, meaning human government
and equality of life. So on. And he promises
he will never destroy the world by a flood again.
Why? So that he can perform and bring about redemption
through all the other covenants that he would
set up throughout redemptive history. It was
horrible before the flood. Every single intention
of the people of the earth. Was wicked and evil.
It sounds much closer. To what we would call
utter depravity. As opposed to what we refer
to as total depravity. Which means not that we
are as bad as we can be. But that every part
of us is messed up by sin. Every aspect of us.
Now I don't believe it was utter depravity. I
just believe that the devil was seeking to stomp
out the seed and that God had withdrawn his hand
as a form of judgment against the world in preparation
for a greater and worse judgment that would come
in the flood. That was the world that Noah built
the ark in. Here's this man who is a preacher
of righteousness. who is determined in his heart
to be faithful to God and his word. Imagine Noah
erecting the ark in that world, brothers and
sisters. He gets this part up and stands it up,
and the neighbors walk by. You think he had opposition?
Kind of like Nehemiah had opposition? Kind of
like the church has opposition? Do you think
he had people mocking him? You old fool, you
crazy old man. Do you think people were making
fun of him for building an ark for rain which
nobody's probably ever seen before? People would
have been opposed to him adamantly. In addition
to that, he's calling them sinners, and he's
calling them to repent. And he's preaching the
righteousness of God. Noah builds the ark and
it condemns the unbelieving world. How exactly
does it do this? I think there's two ways that
Noah, his faith, his obedience, and his perseverance,
his godliness, condemn the unbelieving world
in which he lived. First, I believe that in building
the ark, he was proclaiming the way of escape
and taking away any excuse that the unbelieving
world might have. Think about that reality. What
was Noah doing? He's preaching. The salvation
that men could have. Be delivered from the wrath
that has come. Be saved the way that God wants
you to be saved. Yet everybody rejected and rebelled.
Unbelievers mocked him and made fun of him and
opposed him. All the while he proclaimed the
way of escape. And all the while they rejected
it. Though they knew. the way of escape that
God had prescribed in His Word. And I believe
that His godliness and His obedience condemned
the world's unbelief, disobedience, and irreverence
for the living God. There are several passages
in the New Testament which help us understand
some of these things, I believe. We could look
at 1 Peter 4, 12 -19 that talks about the judgment
of God starting with the household of God. What
that means is, what Peter is saying is this,
it's hard and difficult because of trials of
faith for the believer to be saved. And that
reality points to the condemnation and hopelessness
of unbelievers who reject the gospel and salvation.
We could look at 2 Thessalonians 1 -5 where Paul
talks about how the judgment and their faithful
perseverance is a clear indication of God's judgment
upon the generation and of their deliverance
and salvation. We could look at Philippians chapter
1 verse 28 which talks about their suffering
as faithful believers and the opposition and
their enemies and that that is a sign of God's
judgment upon them and a sign of the saints salvation
and deliverance. Just as Noah proclaimed the
way of escape in his day and age. As he erected
salvation in the midst of the unbelieving world,
every time an unbeliever rejected it, mocked
at it, rebelled against God, they were proving
their condemnation. In the same way, brothers
and sisters, every time the gospel is preached
today. Every time that refuge and safety and
security and hope in Jesus Christ and the salvation
that He has accomplished in His life, in His
death, in His resurrection, every time an unbeliever
hears that reality and leaves it in rebellion
and rejects it because of their unbelief, do
you know what they're doing? They're proving
their condemnation. Every single time. But here's
the hope. There is still time for you to enter
into the ark of God. Just as He gave the world
time, He gives you time. You can still trust
in Christ, the ark that saves you from the deluge
of God's wrath and His anger. Christ who protects
you. From the penalty of your own sin. Come to
Christ. Enter into the ark. Believe on His name
today. Turn from your sin. Otherwise, you will
be condemned. Just as the unbelieving world was
drowned, the unbeliever today will experience
something much worse. Than physical death. The
Bible refers to it as. The second death. It's
separation from God. And eternal punishment.
And the complete removal. And absence of his
grace. And the unleashing of human sin. That
sounds horrible. And it ought to. Because that.
is the fate and future of every believer, every
unbeliever, which refuses to turn from their
sins and trust in Jesus Christ. Enter into the
ark today. Noah had a hard go of it, brothers
and sisters. But his actions, obedience, godliness,
It condemned the world and ultimately led, because
of his faith, to his deliverance and that of
his family. I wonder if it was worth it for Noah.
What does this man receive as a result or because
of his faith? Was it worth all those 120 years
of laboring on the ark, experiencing the jeering
and mocking and shame and humiliation that came
with it from unbelievers in the world, the perseverance
and diligence, the struggle of his heart and
his mind? Was it worth it for Noah? Well, we
also see that Noah's faith received an inheritance,
brothers and sisters. Something that outweighed
and was more precious than any difficulty or
trial he ever experienced in his trial of faith
throughout life. The Bible says in verse 7 of
Hebrews 11 that he became an heir of righteousness
which is according to faith. In the book of Hebrews,
this idea of inheritance. is something that is
future and eschatological or having to do with
the end of all things, the culmination of redemption.
And it speaks of his inheritance being righteousness.
Now, I don't believe that this is speaking strictly
of forensic righteousness or imputed righteousness
of Christ because... It's referred to as an inheritance.
You can look at every other reference in the
book of Hebrews. It's something that is future
and something that takes place in heaven. It's
eternal. It's lasting. The same words are used
with regards to Abraham. And his inheritance
in verse 16 is a heavenly one, meaning a heavenly
city. I believe the author is speaking of that
here. And I think what he's talking about is
the fact that Noah, as a man with faith, was
the recipient of every single gospel promise
that was ever made. Yes, he was a justified man.
The righteousness of Christ was accounted and
reckoned to him. Yes, he was a sanctified man.
He was being sanctified throughout his life.
He's referred to as blameless and righteous in
Genesis. Yes, brothers and sisters. When he died,
he saw God face to face. Theologians refer to
what is called the beatific vision. That word
beatific means blessed or happy. And the vision
aspect of that has to do with the believer seeing.
God. This in the ultimate sense, I believe, is
what is being spoken of here. That Noah, after
his life of difficult faith, he inherited perfect
moral purity and he was Like God. He was satisfied.
And happy. And he was with God. In fellowship
and holiness. And there was no more. Remnant
of sin. That brothers and sisters. Is more valuable.
In a greater work. and of more significance than
any difficulty, hardship, or trial of faith that
we might go through. And we only inherit that,
brothers and sisters, by faith, and faith which
leads to obedience, and faith which bears witness
to the condemnation of the world. It is only
that faith which inherits, Every single gospel
promise that has ever been made in the person
and work of Jesus Christ. Is it worth it, brothers
and sisters? Yes and amen. Every trial you go
through is little itty -bitty compared to the
glory you will take part in. Every hardship It
will be like a speck in comparison to seeing
God face to face. Every struggle in your heart
and in your mind that you experience in this
life, it will pass away, brothers and sisters,
when you enter into glory and you are with Christ.
It is far greater than any trial of faith that
we might experience in this life.