"By Faith Noah"

Well this morning we look to finish chapter 6 although Some of the things that we'll consider will carry us into chapter 7 next week

And I want to remind us of what we've considered to this point in chapter 6 you remember that the first 8 verses of chapter 6 really belong to chapter 5 in the book of Noah And so we're looking at that Genealogical structure, which is the backbone of the book of Genesis and the book of Noah begins with verse 9

This is the genealogy of Noah Noah was a just man perfect in his generations

Noah walked with God and Noah begot three sons Shem Ham and Japheth Last week we considered this major emphasis on the total corruption of creation through Human sinfulness

That's emphasized throughout chapter 6 at almost every juncture that the Lord saw the wickedness of man

It was great upon the earth and every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually and so now we have

Sort of the antithesis of the creation narrative where once God looked upon what he had made and declared it as very good

Now God looks upon the earth the works of his hand his own image bearers and he sees the thoughts of their hearts are only evil

Continually and we read in verse 6 last week. The Lord was sorry Literally the

Lord repented that he had made man on the earth. He was grieved in his heart

In this gripping language God repents over the fact that he had created

He's grieving over the sinfulness of man now we emphasized last week and it's a good rehearsal this morning

God has neither parts nor passions. Of course. God does not repent as a man he is not creaturely in the way that we are we uphold therefore the doctrine of divine simplicity, but Let us not take away from the marvel of what

God has condescended to reveal here How corrupt has the earth become?

The Lord God who made the heavens and the earth grieves he grieves in his heart He grieves in a sense he suffers long with sinful man

It's not that God has a sudden dimming of his eternal blessedness as we said some lack of fulfillment

But rather it's that through his plan through the flood more specifically through the ark

There's going to be a greater fulfillment through which he will redeem man from sin and Peter mentions in first Peter 3

When once the divine long -suffering waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared

So that's our bridge into our focus this morning if we considered our grieving

God last week When once the divine long -suffering waited now, we're looking we're zooming in on the days of Noah when the ark was being prepared

That's our focus as we finish chapter 6 and we're going to see three things We have our good

Presbyterian brother and his family with us this morning and and to introduce them to good old Baptist fashion

We do three sections and we try to make them illiterate if we can Not always but it happened to work out this morning

We're gonna see first the covenant of Noah's faith Then the character of Noah's faith and then lastly the call of Noah's faith

So zooming in the first thing that we notice based on first Peter 3 20 again

The divine long -suffering waiting in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared. The first thing we notice is divine initiative divine initiative

There is a covenant to which Noah's faith corresponds This divine initiative always has come forth to us in Scripture as we've been looking through Genesis We've seen

God always acting not reacting but taking the initiatives not only in creation, but more specifically in redemption

We've seen that at every juncture up to this point, even though we're only six chapters into the book of Scripture We see

God Promising the serpent crushing seed to the woman after she sins we see

God Putting a mark upon Cain even though he's just killed his brother We see the promises and their fruits and a long line of the promised seed

Down through righteous Abel down through Enoch who walks with God and is taken up for he is no more

We see it in the life of Noah. We see a God who is acting We see a

God who's waiting even in his compassion as the outpouring of his judgment nears a point

We return to here. We've already emphasized in the past is that God reveals salvation through judgment

There's a great book by Jim Hamilton by that title salvation through judgment, it's his biblical theology

He goes book by book to show how thematically this is always the way that God reveals himself and specifically reveals salvation

He does it through judgment. Well, let's do one better than Hamilton When God reveals salvation through judgment, he does so by way of covenant and that's what we have here in chapter 6

God said to Noah the end of all flesh has come before me verse 13 The earth is filled with violence with through them behold.

I will destroy them with the earth verse 18 But that's the adversity of cloths. That's the contrast

The whole earth is corrupt The thoughts of men's hearts are only evil continually

I will destroy all flesh the end of all flesh has come before me anything that has the breath of life in its nostrils

Will crush I will suffocate I will blot out but I Will establish my covenant with you

Noah And you shall go into the ark, this is the first occurrence of the word covenant in the

Hebrew Bible The first occurrence of the term in Genesis, but as you'll remember this is not the first covenant we've seen in Genesis We've seen the covenant of works already in the garden

The covenantal structure of redemption shows the priority of God's grace and Noah is no exception to this

It's a sad day when people think that Noah's righteousness was his own We've already emphasized the fact that Noah was included in this sinful lump of humanity

And yet what makes the difference is God faith God's favor rests upon him, right?

The total description of fallen man has been given and then some some glorious bolt of grace

Comes in verse 8 of chapter 6 but Noah found grace in the eyes of the

Lord and Because Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord Noah becomes a just man a righteous man

He walks blamelessly along the earth and God says I'm going to establish my covenant with you

The term established is different than the usual construction where we might read a translation

He made a covenant or God makes a covenant really literally the Hebrew There is cut you always cut the covenant most likely a reference to cutting the sacrificial animals

That were the picture of the covenantal curse. We'll see that as we move forward with the narrative of Abraham here

It's the term established. It's a different verb and normally establishing a covenant

Confirms a pre -existing arrangement as though there already was a promise or an oath or a sign or perhaps a revelation

Given and now God is establishing. He's reaffirming that he's going to establish a covenant

But this isn't the creation of a relationship. This is rather the affirmation of a relationship and I think it follows out of verse 8 a covenant solemnizes a relationship and the reader would know from Genesis 6 8 that Noah's already found

God's favor and God is now confirming a covenant with him in Noah's 600th year

God is obligating himself to preserve him and his family through the flood When we get through the flood only

Noah and his family remain And we'll see that next week And then we again find the same language that we had in chapter 6

We'll get through the flood in chapter 7. We'll come to Genesis 8 and we'll read that God after he

Unfolds the Noahic Covenant. He says the thoughts of their hearts are only evil continually yet.

I will not destroy the earth by flood again You see there's this continuity to sin even when you reduce the vessels of sin to Noah and his family

Sin still reigns death still reigns through sin Humanity is still crooked and depraved.

There are none righteous Paul says and Romans 3 What makes the difference is simply this

God establishes a covenant he binds himself This is again and again revealed in Scripture the priority of covenant as God's way of dealing with mankind

God is grieved at the sinfulness of man and yet in his wrath God shows mercy to Noah for the sake of the promise.

He has given in Genesis 3 15 I will establish my covenant with you and notice what he doesn't say in the context

He does not say Noah if you walk perfectly from your very heart Knowing that I know all of your thoughts all of your intentions.

I will eventually establish my covenant with you. No, he doesn't say that There's no conditional language here to be found.

Is there? It's completely unilateral now. Certainly we'll see a little moment

Certainly there are going to be duties that flow out of this covenantal relationship God appoints the ends and he also appoints the means but both this is the emphasis

Both are the result of the covenant being established by God They're not the condition to the covenant

They'll establish my covenant with you. I'm going to do this Noah the same way

He'll do it to Abraham Isaac and Jacob. This is my covenant my terms my arrangement my sacrifice

Though much flows out of the relationship with the Lord the very moment Noah found grace in the eyes of the

Lord his Salvation his destiny was secure. He would not perish He would have eternal life and so it is with the believer though There may be years of toil to come years of preparation curveballs trials hindrances and setbacks

Stumblings seasons of backsliding when you when you have been found in the Lord's sight to have his grace

In that very moment your salvation has been secure in eternity past Redemption is with you concrete

This is all of our hope and stay in other words God's Establishment of a covenant with his people as an ordinary way of relating to them is the foundation for our assurance

It's the foundation for the perseverance of the Saints God is not arbitrary.

God is not fickle. God does not change therefore. We are not consumed God has established a covenant with us.

Why do we every Lord's Day come and partake of the bread in the cup? The cup which is an emblem of the blood of the new covenant

So that we're always reminded of this. It's not my greatest successes of the week It's not my greatest failures.

It's not the resolutions. I didn't fulfill It's not the things that I do not want to do that I do and it's not the things that I do that I do not want to do

It's simply the fact that I'm in a covenantal relationship with God through Christ my Savior and under his blood

By faith in him I am saved God's covenant and secures

Noah as the basis of his salvation But the faith that comes out of this covenant bears fruit and that's what we see next.

We see a character to Noah's faith a Covenant establishes a relationship and when you have a relationship with the

Living God, you'll you'll bear the fruit of that relationship And we see that in Noah's faith

We see the commandment of God the very specific commands and we'll look more in detail next week at the ark

Because there's some beautiful biblical theology about how the ark Represents Christ, but we see these very specific commands

And we we read nothing in the narrative About what Noah did to fulfill these commands.

We simply read the summary statement that he did according to all that God commanded him We don't read about the details of the massive toil he undertook

We don't have any blueprints we know nothing of the labor that went into this though it took 120 years

We simply have the summary statement thus Noah did We're looking at a narrative that is very concise

The proper word is laconic. It's a laconic narrative. Not a lot of information is given and so we're reading between the lines really

When we pull out the grit and the difficulty of Noah's obedience and we're trying to grapple with the character of Noah's faith

What would that have been like? Well, thankfully we have the divine assessment already in Hebrews 11 We know something of what

Noah's faith was like when we turn to Hebrews 11 and we read beginning in verse 7 by faith

Noah Being divinely warned of things not yet seen moved with godly fear prepared an ark for the saving of his household

By which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness, which is according to faith

Three words stand at the banner of our focus in light of Hebrews 11 and those three words are these by faith.

No by faith Noah That's like to me. That's like a bunion name for a character by faith

Tim by faith John I would want to have that as my bunion title by faith

Ross By faith, of course is not part of his name It's the bell toll of Hebrews 11 the great gallery of the faithful by faith by faith by faith

We have a working definition of faith given to us at the outset Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things

Unseen and the writer of Hebrews when he mentions Noah echoes that definition By faith

Noah being divinely warned of things not yet seen So there's that echo

Notice first Noah is divinely warned God reveals Something to Noah and Noah responds to that revelation by faith

Noah being divinely warned of things not yet seen So the first thing to understand about Noah's faith is it's a response to divine revelation

All right. God always takes the initiative God divinely reveals something to his his

Chosen one Noah and Noah responds by faith Noah's faith was a response to revelation

Thomas Boston the great Scottish Puritan says divine faith is a believing of what God has revealed because God has revealed it

That's divine faith Revelation is heralded from the mountaintops a lot of people that we rub shoulders with have heard

God's revelation But they don't believe it as God's revelation What does

James say even demons tremble and believe even they understand the revelation of God Divine faith is the believing of what

God has revealed because God has revealed it People may believe scripture truth, but not with the divine faith

Unless they believe it on that very ground the authority of God speaking his word We don't know how

Noah received this revelation However, he received it He knew it was from God and therefore he believes it accordingly and he was moved by that revelation

Noah believes God about the flood though. That flood was yet unseen though all of the evidence that he could muster would show

There's never been anything like this could this really ever happen could it be that the hills and the mountains?

I see afar will be covered by water. Could it be that God would really cover the earth with water?

Where would that come from? We've never seen rain. You've never seen a river like that Yet he was moved by his faith by his belief in something.

He couldn't see he was moved To prepare the ark that God commanded he had no physical evidence to verify this would happen

There were no climate scientists holding roundtable conferences saying we got to really ramp things up the coming flood

There weren't flash floods that were swirling around the regions and he could begin to infer Wow, there's a really big flood coming something like that.

All he had was God's Word. That's all he had And that's all he needed That's all he needed if God said it, that's all

I need. I live by faith on that Man doesn't live by bread alone. He lives on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

That's true of Noah No evidence in the world. No evidence from previous history

All I have is God's revelation and that is all I need God helped me to trust in you Help me to build my life my faith upon what you've shown me

Alexander McLaren says the far -off flood was more real to him than the shows of life around him That's real faith

To the reality that seems to compose our lives It's so easily ensnares us and distracts us that that didn't grip

Noah's heart what gripped him was the revelation of something he had not seen something that was coming and he was sure of it by faith

And therefore he gave himself to a course of life, which was sheer folly

Unless that future was real You see his faith moved him to adopt a course of life.

That was foolishness Unless that future was real Unless that day was coming unless that judgment would happen exactly as God had said, isn't that what

Paul says in a sense? If Christ is not risen, we're the most pitiable fools, right?

If it's not true that Christ has risen and he's returning Why are we changing our course of life? Why are we looking like fools to a watching world?

We're pitiable unless that's real faith obtains the fact that it's real Are you living in a way that it could be said your life is foolish unless God's Word is true

And then you're a very wise man or a very wise woman. Indeed. You're a wise child You have a very mature faith at a young age

Because you're living by faith upon God's Word not upon the things that you observe and see Not upon what you extrapolate from the world in the course of history around you

But from God's Word alone Noah is the archetype of that kind of Christian faith Secondly notice

Noah is moved with godly fear. So first Noah is divinely warned second

Noah is moved with godly fear By faith Noah being divinely warned of things not yet seen moved with godly fear

It strikes me that the favor of God when it rests upon us not always but often

Comes to us initially as a warning The favor of God when it first Wakes us up when it first opens the eyes of faith and warms the heart of faith that that initial encounter is often one of a threatening a

Certain trembling maybe even a terror not always some people are warmed into the love of Christ And maybe that comes down the road

They look back and they realize what they've been saved from but ordinarily the experience of conversion for many

Christians Especially those who have that sudden conversion. It's a certain dread of judgment and that dread of judgment is in fact

God's favor Finding them and resting upon them plucking open their eyes to help them see that they're heading headlong into a path of destruction

When children of God are given their ears to hear and God's grace comes to them it often comes

In the form of conviction over sin and because there's conviction over sin a terror of the impending judgment of God Think of Christian and pilgrims progress, right?

How does God's favor find him that invitation to the celestial city? He doesn't go. Oh, that would be so great

I hope I can set out and starts just dashing with the heart full of hope to the celestial city No, what does he do? He plugs up his ears and he runs because he's so concerned about the judgment that's about to drop down upon the city of destruction

Hearing God's threatening leads to fearing God's threat Even though that threat is yet unseen

It's the beginning of faith and you wake up though. Many are blind. Many are asleep.

Many are indifferent And it's only when you get to that place so often that you begin to understand just how merciful

Just how free and rich the free? Grace of God in Christ is to a sinner that's so terrified of God's judgment

We read that Noah was moved with godly fear He was moved with godly fear

Thomas Manton, I was I was reading his sermons on Genesis 6 really

Excellent. Good good reading if you cozy up by her fireplace Thomas Manton He says this is the fruit and the consequence of Noah's faith.

Certainly a part of it The note is this godly fear is a fruit and effect of faith, but we have to unpack what is what is godly fear?

When we're saying that Noah's moved by godly fear, what are we describing here? Faith he writes as it works upon the promises begets love and hope but as it works upon the threatening it begets fear

Now just put your thumb there for a moment We have our faith beholding the promises of God and that's working in a certain love and a certain hope

But then we have our faith also beholding God's threatenings and that works in us a certain fear now what kind of fear is that Love fear and hope are not contrary

Though they be different they may stand together and they all proceed from faith so This isn't something introductory

Noah was moved with godly fear, but then he began to trust God and he matured in his relationship with God The writer of Hebrews is saying this is something that characterized

Noah's faith throughout his whole walk with God He was moved by godly fear and so we have to distinguish between a slavish servile fear and filial or fatherly fear

Manson says servile fear is a fear without any hope Without any comfort and it weakens the certainty of faith rather than the security of the flesh

But now the gospel fear is mixed with hope and joy Psalm 210 serve the

Lord with fear rejoice with trembling It's an interesting verse, isn't it? I love some to Rejoice with trembling.

What does that look like? Serve the Lord with fear I can understand but rejoice with trembling

Because this is Hebrew poetry these are parallel lines Serving the Lord is parallel to rejoicing so it's not serving the

Lord with a servile fear But it's also not this happy -go -lucky bubbly indifference

You serve the Lord with this Joyful comfort and trust in him and yet there's this reverence.

There's this note of reverence and humility This is what Manton says because our affections are apt to degenerate

Therefore God would have this mixture Hope is apt to degenerate to presumptuous boldness

Enjoy to grow into fond boasting. Do you see what he's saying there if these things aren't mixed if we don't have fear

Based on God's threats a fatherly reverent fear and also hope built upon God's promises if we don't have that mixture in our life of faith, then we'll either be

Boastful or we'll be over confident confident in the flesh these things come together in the children of God He continues looking at Acts 9 31 the churches throughout all

Judea Galilee and Samaria had peace and were edified and walked in the Fear of the

Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit Notice they walked with fear and they also had the comfort of the

Holy Spirit This is what Manton says. They walked with fear to keep them from sin

They walked with the comfort of the Holy Ghost to keep them from sinking under affliction

On earth, we still need this mixture in heaven. There's all joy. No fear of punishment

But on earth, there's a mixture of flesh and spirit Something to comfort us

Something to humble us. There's no true piety without either Lastly on this point consider the fear of Adam Remember when

Adam sins how he's immediately seeking to hide from the presence of God, right? He buries himself in the earth as it were to get away from the presence of Yahweh And Manton says in short, there's a fear that keeps us from coming to God That's fleshly.

That's carnal fear servile fear. And then there's a fear that keeps us from coming away from God This is the faith that Noah has the fear that Noah has it's a fear that keeps us

From going away from God. It keeps us communing with God. It's a holy fear in other words

Jeremiah 32 verse 40. I will put my fear into their hearts and they shall not depart from me.

Do you see? Not a fear that makes the Christian afraid to enter his presence But actually makes the

Christian afraid to leave his presence and that's the kind of fear that Noah has Third notice that Noah prepares an ark

By faith Noah being divinely warned of things not yet seen moved with godly fear

Prepared an ark, this is almost shorthand for Noah obeyed

Noah prepared an ark is Noah obeying all that God commanded Thus Noah did according to all that God commanded him.

So he did that's emphasized twice. It's a super awkward Hebrew sentence, but it's all about emphasis

Thus Noah did according to that all that God commanded him. So he did that's the emphasis he did it

He did it according to everything that God commanded He did it so by faith

Noah is thus Noah did it's the same thing By faith Noah equals thus

Noah did Right the one who has that covenantal favor the one who's given a heart to express faith in the

God has revealed Himself is the one who will obey the commandments of God whatever God commanded him thus

Noah did Now we have to ask the question And can we assume that 120 years of ark construction rolled by flawlessly

We can hardly live 120 minutes in holiness Can you imagine 120 years?

Can you think of the kind of ebbs and flows you have in your own walk of faith? Even though the Spirit isn't dwelling you

Even though you're walking under the power of the Spirit even though you're on the other side of the fullness of time

And therefore you are greater than even John the Baptist Do you think his whole

Obedience his his whole obedience in the construction of the ark was without spot and blemish

Maybe except once maybe around year 47 on a Wednesday afternoon You know, he stubbed his toe on the timber pile and let out a curse.

Of course not Of course not If Noah's a human being we knew that this whole art construction was full of all sorts of depression and frustration and irritation

Maybe some of you this week have been putting together toys sets that you've built and you've experienced in a microcosm what it was like To put together a big ark

If you ever put together an IKEA Piece of furniture, you know what I'm talking about when you're turning the directions upside down and you're like, where's the

Grimlock? Where's this fondue? We're missing pieces over here It's frustrating to build a shelf unit

How much more an ocean liner without the power of any cranes or hydraulic tools or construction crews?

Was there no bickering and Noah's marriage during these 120 years? No loss of nerves

If he didn't lose his patience, did he not lose heart? Would it not be the most natural thing perhaps to have depressed weeks of doubt?

What am I doing? Maybe my neighbors are right My reputation is going out into the earth as as a crazed man.

Did God really reveal that to me? Are I just deluding myself? Where's the evidence?

Where's the sign of his coming? Perhaps there was that entire month with all the timber left under those bright blue tarps

Because he just couldn't bear to go out there and take up the hammer again All of this would be very natural for us to infer

The amazing thing about the narrative is we simply don't have the details It's as though all of those stumblings all of those fits and starts all of those ebbs and flows all of those bouts of frustration and marital bickering and depressed weeks of doubts and depression naps mid -afternoon and Seasons where the timber was untouched.

It's as though none of that mattered the summary statement had to hold thus According to all that God commanded him and that was the summary statement of his life

You know, I was reminded of this just this past May and my grandfather's funeral and my grandfather was a

Christian And the thing I'm always annoyed about at funerals is there's there's no amount of time that you can give to people to express a memory

There's no length. You could give to a eulogy that could truly contain all that has occurred in a person's life

And so you have a scattering of a few memories and then maybe a 10 -minute summary and some eulogy and it just seems like such a such a pitiful return on 82 years of walking on the earth and all the things of that composed and yet as I was preaching the sermon for his funeral and using

Genesis with Jacob's blessing And just how he had walked with The God who had been the

God of his father's who had been his shepherd And I I was thinking of that this week because you know, that's that's the summary statement that matters

And that was a summary statement of my grandfather's life, right? He he had lost he had trial he had

Years of not walking with the Lord. He had all sorts of spouts and bits and depressions and lost hope

He has children that are wayward and mixed up in all sorts of degeneracy

And yet his life had this arc especially toward the end the past five years or so He drew so close to God and that was all that was needed to say he walked with God He walked with God.

That's the summary statement Now we've already said that Genesis 1 through 11 is really just an introduction to the patriarchal narratives, right?

The main focus the concentration of the book of Genesis doesn't really begin until chapter 12. This is all preface is all introductory

And so we're looking at things from a 10 ,000 foot view, but there's theology here

If more time was devoted to Noah the kind of time that was devoted to Abraham Isaac or Jacob Wouldn't you see some of Noah's folly?

Wouldn't you see the stumbling the cruelty the deception the sinfulness? Wouldn't you see that?

Of course you would But not that doesn't matter for the summary statement of Abraham Isaac or Jacob and it doesn't matter

For the summary statement for Noah and brothers and sisters, it doesn't matter as the summary statement for your life

Are you walking with God Are you trusting in him? Do you believe him?

Are you responding to what he's revealing to you? Yes, sometimes you're filled with doubt

Yes, sometimes our our cheeks are wet because it's been a season of backsliding We're all praying about how thankful and grateful we can be for the year 2020

And a lot of us say amen with smiles on our faces. Not everyone. I Know there's some people in this body who look back and say no, actually,

I'll be happy to forget this year This year was a net loss in my Christianity This was a hard year a year of of backtrotting and backsliding and I'm hopeful for the year to come

I hope that things will be different Look at the summary statement of Noah's life and don't think he was a perfect man

Walking blamelessly and spotlessly. There's only one man who walked the face of the earth blamelessly and spotlessly

And it was God's Son Jesus Would Noah's stumbling at all make the statements about him being by faith

Noah a void No, of course not No more than David is a man after God's own heart despite the grievous evil that he commits.

We're talking about Imperfect men that are imperfectly sanctified and yet in a covenantal relationship with a

God of grace and though their best efforts fall short It doesn't matter because their best efforts cannot justify

It's the grace of God alone through Christ that justifies a sinner What is true for Noah is then true for us

Christ's work alone atones Christ's work alone justifies and our justification

Apprehends that by faith alone. We're justified by faith alone Apart from works lest any man should boast that includes

Noah As I abide in Christ by faith being transformed into his image from one degree of glory to the next

I'm going to bear fruit I'm going to walk in the works that God has prepared before and for me to walk in that fruit is going to dispose me

To delight in obedience to seek a life that is pleasing to my Savior in my God That's all because I have been saved by grace through faith.

I love the Lord I seek to demonstrate my obedience as gratitude to what

I've received in him And the more I see that obedience as gratitude the more obedient I will be

It's an interesting paradox in the Christian life that when you start thinking your efforts are amounting to anything in God's eyes

You end up short -circuiting the very means Striving putting forth effort seeking to obey gratitude

Gratitude is the power of Christian obedience Even when that means cutting down gopher wood logs without chainsaws without logging trucks under 20 -year ship build

That have been a state job. It would have been a 500 year ship build God gives his people new hearts

He transforms the Christians life in a way that whatever he commands them to do he enables them to do

This was the great prayer of Augustine God command what you will and grant what you command

Command, whatever you will just just enable me to obey it grant what you're going to command me to do

That's what God does to his people. I will make them willing in the day of my power he says willing and able by his spirit

He prepares the works He gives us the grace the conviction is it toil is it sweat is it blood and prayers?

Is it seasons of crying seasons of bearing up each other by the shoulders spurring each other on times when chastening and discipline is necessary?

Yes, but the summary statement is simply this thus you did brother or sister thus you did according to all that God commanded you to do

That's the summary statement You say I didn't I didn't thus

I did not I I haven't kept any of the commandments No, but by faith you've been joined to the covenant keeper

The son that was obedient to the law and became obedient to the curse of the law became obedient to death even the death on the cross

Because you're in a relationship with him Thus you have done according to all that God has commanded you are clothed in his righteousness and his obedience

This is the freedom of the gospel Noah prepares an ark And so you prepare an ark by faith through God's grace

Fourthly in this passage notice that Noah condemns the world Noah condemns the world

By faith Noah being divinely warned of things not yet seen moved with godly fear

Prepared an ark for the saving of his household by which he condemned the world Noah was moved to obedience

And whenever a Christian is moved to obedience our obedience condemns the world

That's the trade -off when you start living according to God's way you start condemning the way of the world

And so as the years waxed on and the ark got bigger Noah's condemnation grew louder and louder

God's favor resting upon Noah didn't bring him to heaven on a bed of ease. It was pain. It was toil It was persecution.

It was the mockery. That's what God's favor did It put a calling upon his life and it shaped that life through commandments.

What is this life going to do now? What's it going to look like? What's it going to mean? It's going to be less comfortable. It's going to be less respectable

It's not gonna be the thing that men and women of the world admire. It's gonna be the thing they they scorn Thus Noah did

Thus Noah did you can imagine the jeers the taunts From the world that's so depraved around him seeing this massive vessel on the sand

All of that time cutting down forests of trees spending wealth on workmen

Sacrificing time that could be spent in so many other lucrative efforts and enterprises all of that sacrifice for what?

It's a laughingstock Why put your family through such rigors why make the sacrifices to raise your children in the way that you do

Why seek to rear up the next generation when it's so costly so much effort You Women you sacrifice all of the world dangles in front of you a lucrative career break through that glass ceiling make something of yourself

And she said no, I'm I'm going to build an ark. I'm gonna do something foolish in the eyes of the world

I'm going to surrender my life. I'm gonna give it over to my husband to my family to God's purposes

That's building an ark That looks foolish to the world No, it became a preacher of righteousness

Isn't that amazing second Peter 2 5 says no was a preacher of righteousness Him building the ark became a ministry opportunity for him by building the ark

He became a preacher of righteousness that happened whenever anyone said Noah. Why are you building this ark?

Let me tell you why all the sudden he puts on his preacher of righteousness ad that happens any time anyone asks you

Why are you doing such -and -such with your sons and daughters? Why are you living such -and -such away with your neighbors?

Why are you behaving this way toward your manager and your co -workers? Preacher of righteousness. This is why

I act this way Noah preached

God's righteousness for 120 years, but he didn't have a single convert not one

That's like Isaiah ministry bad as far as the world's metrics are concerned preach until the cities lie in ruin

Like Lot Noah would have vexed his righteous soul at the state of the world around him and the world around him was full of scoffers and mockers and Persecutors the pressure to quit would have been tremendous and yet he kept on he kept on persevering

Now it's one thing for him to persevere a few weeks or a month or even two years But he persevered for 120 years

Noah was persevering longer than you and I will ever live on this earth His whole life was characterized by persevering

And he pressed on in other words know what took up his cross This is Noah taking up his cross

No different than you and I are called by our Lord and Savior to take up our cross As we take up our cross we become

Something to testable in the world's eyes something to be scorned something to be jeered at something to be ridiculed

They hated me Jesus said and if they hate the master, so also they will hate the servant No servant is greater than its master

Anyone who would live a godly life will suffer persecution Through many tribulations.

We must enter the kingdom of God come out from among them be separate says the Lord all of these things

Are something that no one knew inside out Whoever desires to come after me the

Lord says let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me Whoever desires to save his life will lose it

But whoever loses his life for my sake in the Gospels will save it You don't become a

Christian because you start doing these things You do these things because you're a Christian you take up your cross

You deny yourself you follow him Him who walks down this path of Noah farther than Noah could have ever walked it

We've all self -denial that involves a certain trust and what God has revealed in the future

Hope and the future judgment that is going to come Jesus is teaching that his life is going to so impact others that it will take him to the cross and if you follow him

And take up your cross it will do the same Now it's up to him what that cross might look like in your life

It's up to him when that cross is appointed for you to bear But if you're a Christian you will bear it and he will give you the grace to persevere

Some of you have been bearing crosses season by season. It's been a perpetual cross Some of you have gone through a deep valley of trial and suffering and have now just begin to come out of it

Some of you have yet to go into it. Some of you baby Christians. You're just starting your wings of faith You don't know the storms that are ahead

Deny yourself follow him The Christian Church is meant to be a community of people who are cross bearers

We should look very different for the world for that reason as we're bearing our crosses in community. We are condemning the world around us

Our lives don't look like their lives our values are not their values our ways our understanding our hope

Our basis our foundation Everything is different God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our

Lord By whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. That's that's the reality for a

Christian By Faith Noah being divinely warned of things not yet seen moved with godly fear prepared an arc

By which he condemned the world His life was in complete surrender and this is what a cross -bearing life means not my will but thy will be done

Noah had very different plans for those hundred twenty years until God said no these will not be your plans

Nevertheless Lord not my will but thy will be done Looks like I'm not gonna have that place and you know,

San Cabo Looks like I'm not gonna build that golf course looks like I'm building an ark When the writer of Hebrews was writing this letter

To those that would receive it They were facing so many of the same things that we as Christians are going to face

So many things that brothers and sisters throughout the world are facing this very morning They had to trust that God's revelation would come to pass

Christ has risen Christ will return They had to believe that God Was truly going to do something that they could not see they had to have faith.

That was built on evidence yet unseen a substance of something hoped for they would need to abide in Christ Maintain their profession of faith in him not try to dodge it or go back to their former ways of Judaism Despite all the persecution all of the scorn they had to obey what

God had revealed so that like Noah and like you They could become heirs of righteousness which comes by faith

Lastly lastly as we close We have to consider the call of Noah's faith the call of Noah's faith

We've seen the covenant of Noah's faith In other words that covenants a relationship which which gave

Noah a heart of faith a gift of faith We saw the character of that faith

In Noah's relationship with the Lord and then lastly we have a pressing call a call from Noah's faith

Peter writes 1st Peter 3 Well, this is 2 going into 3 the present heavens and earth by God's Word are being reserved for fire kept

For the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men and this is his conclusion 1st Peter 3 Since all these things will be destroyed in this way

What sort of people want you to be in holy conduct in godliness?

The answer is you ought to be people like no You ought to be people like Noah Believing what

God has revealed Even when there's no evidence no basis no history behind believing what

God has revealed Moved by godly fatherly reverence

Obedient is calling trusting in his grace Distinct and contrary separate from the world condemning the world by the way you live

Heirs of righteousness through faith in Christ who is the yes and amen of all of God's promises

All of these human horizontal levels begin with belief

None of that follows unless Noah believes the Word of God Do you believe what

God has revealed to you? Do you believe the Word of God? Do you believe what God has said is coming?

Do you believe what God has provided as the only escape? Nothing else follows that is the fixed anchor of everything

That is the dividing point the fork in the road for every human life What will prevent you from going down the path of the many the broad path of destruction and finding that narrow way that so few?

Find it's simply this do you believe the Word of God? Do you believe what

God has revealed? Can your name be styled by faith

Or is your life riddled and pockmarked with unbelief Fruits of unbelief evidence of unbelief.

What do I mean? indifference Just going through the motions Passivity I go to church on Sunday.

I try to do the try to use the means of grace I'm here

Maybe somehow I'll just kind of slip into the kingdom with the Peloton so to speak

That happened for Noah's family That happens for Noah's family. They they slipped in with Noah Noah's faith.

It's interesting. The Hebrew is very specific That the family is saved because of Noah's faith and that is a great picture of Christ a great anti type of Christ Do you believe

God? Too often if and I'm addressing some here in this room

Too Often you'll be tempted to think that your belief is entirely out of your hands We're a reformed church

Ross you just emphasized the beginning of the message God's initiative. Well, if God must take the initiative,

I will simply clasp my hands and wait for him Surely it's out of my hands. You've already said

I'm dead in my sins and trespasses. I Can't produce belief within my heart. I'm fallen.

I'm blind. I'm dead. I'm Needing to be regenerated and so I'll simply wait for him

Too often you'll be tempted to think your unbelief is something entirely helpless Something God has actually to be blamed for the reason

I don't believe is because God hasn't given it to me to believe Until you remain passive and indifference you haven't closed with Christ And you actually seek pity and sympathy from from Christians that you know, oh,

I hope that I'll be saved Oh, I hope that I'm numbered among his people. Oh, I hope he'll give me belief in my heart

But you see you seek pity and sympathy for what is truly your crime your active

Active resistance to believing in God a choice you make and continue to make

Though you disguise it in so many hidden ways Horatious Bonner the great

Scotsman. I've been mentioning him almost every week He says there's nothing so hardening as unbelief and one great reason for this is there's nothing so deceitful

It does not look like a great sin Sometimes it doesn't look like a sin at all.

It actually looks like modesty. It looks like humility It pretends to be jealous for God to be conscious of personal and worthiness to be unfit to venture on in a hope of acceptance

And thus it deceives It actually hides itself It lessens its own wickedness

It veils its hatefulness under a disguise of humility In all these ways it destroys faith and it cherishes itself as it hardens the heart

Do you see what he's saying? If you're hearing the words that are being expressed this morning

God is not to blame you are You are not helpless You're making the active choice to resist him and resist his will you're disguising it very well

You're disguising it very well, but not from the God who knows the secret thoughts and intents of your heart

Not from him And on that day on that day all we brought out into the light and God will not be blamed

God will not be blamed. You will not dare to blame God You will cover your mouth in the horror of acknowledging the reality of the choices you made

Do you believe Do you believe Let me say if there's someone some some brother or sister here is truth trembling.

I'm not talking about a struggling faith We're talking about stubborn unbelief not struggling faith.

Okay If you're trembling look to the sinner who says Lord, I believe help my unbelief

I'm talking to the one who's stubborn and indifferent the one who has no fear no hope that they could be saved

But they simply waive that excuse to keep God at bay Oh If only he could save me is that so they can go back to the comfort of a selfish life of an indifferent life to the ways of God Jonathan Edwards says

You've been once more warrants today While the door of the ark yet stands open you have as it were once again heard the knocks of the hammer and the axe building this ark

To put you to a mind that the flood is approaching take heed don't stop up your ears don't treat these warnings with a

Regardless heart and neglect the great work which you have to do Lest the flood of wrath suddenly comes upon you and sweeps you away.

What does that words mean by the great work you have to do? What does he mean by that? What has

God commanded you what has God commanded you but believe upon his son What does he commanded you believe upon his son come to him

Are you weary heavy laden come to him? He's meek He's gentle.

He'll give you rest. What's the obedience required of you the obedience of faith? everything else flows out of that all the duties all

The correlation of a life of sanctification that all flows what you need to decide here this morning is do you believe in the word?

Of God and will you obey what God has commanded? What he has commanded is this come to his son Come to his son in faith and repentance

Come to his son acknowledging your need for him the fact that there is no hope for you to be saved

There is no hope for mercy within you. It must be God who saves and lay hold of Christ Say I believe in him.

I believe in the Son of God. I believe that his blood atones for my sin I lay hold of him by faith, even though I have no basis in myself.

I'm utterly unworthy yet I lay hold of him by faith. I say he's mine. I say he's mine Come to the

Lord Jesus He is the ark of salvation Come to him as you are owning and acknowledging your sins before him and be found in him clothed in his righteousness

He bore the flood of God's wrath for you upon the cross Do you know him

Do you know him? Do you trust him? Do you believe what he's revealed?

Are you walking with him? I'm closed with the

Psalter from Psalm 92. I think I Think Psalm 92 encapsulates everything.

We've been rehearsing this morning. This is the Psalter's arrangement of it beginning with the second stanza Oh Lord with joy my heart expands before the wonders of thy hands great works

Jehovah thou hast wrought exceeding deep thine every thought a Foolish man knows not their worth nor he whose mind is of the earth a worldling doesn't doesn't know

When as the grass the wicked grow when sinners flourish here below Then is there endless ruin nigh but thou

O Lord are thrown down high Thy foe shall fall before thy might the wicked shall be put to flight the righteous man

Shall flourish well and in the house of God shall dwell He shall be like a goodly tree all his life shall fruitful be for righteous is the

Lord and just He is my rock in him. I trust Let's pray

Father we thank you for your revelation. We thank you We thank you for sending your son into the world

Lord that we could be clothed in a righteousness not our own That we can be made acceptable in your sight that you would look upon us

And no longer grieve over the continually evil thoughts in our sinful fleshly hearts

But actually smile with delight and rejoice over us as Zephaniah says clapping your hands and singing exuberantly over your people

Because you look upon us and see your beloved son in whom you are well pleased And that we by your spirit

Lord are being conformed to his image from one degree of glory to the next And though it pains us

Lord that we are so many degrees behind his perfection It fills our hearts with this great yearning that when we see him we will be made like him.

We will see him as he is Help us then to be wise Not as the scorners the mockers the foolish men and women of the earth

Help us to be those who understand your revelation who live by faith

Persevering as we're moved by godly reverence in your word move to obey you out of gratitude

Move to build an arc with our life with our home with our aspirations That we would condemn the world around us

Not not Lord as Something spiteful, but rather a condemnation that is is earnest

Is not willing that any should perish but that many would come into the light And Lord certainly that is our heart here this morning.

I pray For that man for that woman for that young girl for that boy

Lord they've been blaming you for their unbelief Lord. They've been waiting passively Which is just to be actively rejecting you

And to risk hardening their hearts unto judgment forever may they close with you this morning May this be a day of rejoicing in their lives as they come to know the covenant of God who's gracious to them through Christ His mercy being so rich and so free that he will cast away none that come to him

Even though they come in their filth and their guilt and shame. He will receive them as a bride

Help us Lord, I I pray for my brothers and sisters those who have professed faith in you

Lord. We know that That as Revelation 2 says with the Church of Ephesus You know our works and our labor and our toil and yet you have this against us

We've left our first love And we need to repent and do the first works

But it's never so work and toil and convince ourselves we're persevering if we've left our first love