The Faith of Noah - Hebrews 11:7

The Necessity of Faith in Hebrews 11

As 1 Corinthians 13 is the chapter on love, Hebrews 11 is the chapter on faith. And now our focus is verse 7 of Hebrews 11. This is the word of the Lord. 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.

Join our hearts to pray for the Lord's blessing as we consider his words. Our Father, we have sang that you are light and in you there is no darkness at all. It is only in your light that we will see light.

And Lord, we are creatures dependent on that light. And the fact that the devil has spread his lies, his darkness that confuses, that misleads, that destroys, it is our prayer that you will let your word, let your light shine upon us in order to dispel whatever crevices there are of darkness, whatever darkness yet remain in our souls.

It is our prayer that the light will banish the darkness. That we may truly live in the regions of the light of your truth. That we might become more and more like the Lord Jesus, more and more like you.

We ask and pray for the Spirit's illumination. That as we look into the word, the Spirit will illumine our minds to remove all sinful biases. That we may truly embrace the truth, believingly. Hear us, we pray.

Bless your word to our hearts for these things we plead in Jesus' name. Amen. The verse just before our passage this morning, Hebrews 11, 6, is one of the most important statements in Scripture about the necessity of faith.

We read in verse 6, and without faith, it is impossible to please God. For he who comes to God must believe that he is, that is, that he is who he really is. And that he is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

The Christian life begins with faith in God and in the word of God. And it can only continue in faith. We Christians are ever to walk by faith and not by sight. No matter what the circumstances might be.

No matter how difficult life has become in a fallen and sinful world. No matter how strong the opposition and persecution. No matter how strange the developments of God's providences that are beyond our ability to comprehend.

We must never shrink back in unbelief. We must press on, trusting the Lord and in the promises of God. Unbelief can only lead to a falling away from God. That has been the main message of the book of Hebrews.

Now in this chapter of the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, carried along by the Holy Spirit, demonstrates the nature of persevering faith. The necessity of that faith and the efficacy of faith by providing many examples of men and even women from the Old Testament Scriptures, examples of faith.

And we need these examples to instruct us about faith and to motivate us to continue walking a life of faith. Last week, we considered the faith of Enoch and Abel. Abel and Enoch, which demonstrates the absolute necessity of faith in pleasing God.

Now we look at the faith of Noah. And in dealing with the faith of Noah, the writer carried along by the Holy Spirit of God, say three things about what faith did for Noah. What did faith do for Noah?

I want us to take a look at each of this one at a time. First, consider the first thing that faith did for Noah. Verse 7, the first thing that faith did for Noah. Verse 7, by faith Noah being warned by God about things not yet seen in reverence prepared and art for the salvation of his household.

Note here that the faith of Noah was founded on the revelation God gave him. We read Noah being warned by God about things not yet seen. His faith was founded on God's word. And that is so important to keep in mind about faith.

It is always founded on the revelation God has given. Many think of faith as something based on gut feeling or strong opinion or mere informed speculations. But that is not the kind of faith that pleases God.

True faith that pleases God is always based on the revelation God has given. It is based on His word, revelation. And that was true of the faith of Noah. But what were the things God warned him? What were the things not yet seen that God warned Noah about?

Well, everybody who knows the Old Testament know the answer to that question. It was the universal flood that would destroy all life on earth living on dry. Let's read the account of that in Genesis chapter 6.

In Genesis chapter 6 and verse 9 and following, we read the account from Genesis. Genesis 6 verse 9. Now these are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among those in his generation.

Noah walked with God and Noah became the father of three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. Now the earth was corrupt before God and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth and behold it was corrupt for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.

Then God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come before me for the earth is filled with violence because of them and behold I am about to destroy them with the earth. Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood.

You shall make the ark with rooms and you shall cover it inside and out with pitch. Now this is how you are to make it. The length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, its height 30 cubits. You shall make a window for the ark and complete it to one cubit from the top and set the door of the ark in the side of it.

You shall make it with lower, second and third decks. As for me, behold I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth to destroy all flesh which is the breath of life from under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall breathe its last.

But I will establish my covenant with you and you shall enter the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you and of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every kind into the ark to keep them alive with you.

They shall be male and female. Of the birds after their kind, of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing on the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.

As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible and gather it to yourself and it shall be food for you and for them. Thus Noah did according to all that God had commanded him. So he did.

The universal flood that God said would destroy all life on dry land seemed impossible at that time. It was yet future, it was yet unseen and it seemed really impossible to happen. Because prior to the universal flood the atmospheric conditions on earth were very different.

There was the canopy of water above the earth and made the entire earth semi-tropical. In Genesis 1, 6 -7 we read,. Then God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate the waters from the waters.

God made the expanse and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the water which were above the expanse. And it was so. God called the expanse heaven and there was evening and there was morning.

A second day. A canopy of water above the water on the earth. Thus prior to the universal flood there was still no rain. In Genesis 2, 5 -7 we read,. Now no shrubs of the field was yet in the earth, no plant of the field had yet sprouted.

For the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth and there was no man to cultivate the ground. But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. Then the Lord God, for man of dust from the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being.

No rain.

A mist will arise. And it was this canopy of water above the earth that slowly collapsed that was one of the major causes of the universal flood. In Genesis 7, 11 -12 we read,. In the 600th year of Noah's life, in the second month, at the 17th day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open and the floodgates of the sky were opened.

The rain fell upon the earth for 40 days. Thus, the rainbow first appeared only after the universal flood. And God made it as a sign of the covenant he made with all the ark dwellers rescued from the flood never again to destroy the earth with a universal flood.

Genesis 9. Prior, therefore, to the universal flood, rain was completely unheard of. It was unseen. God warned Noah that he will destroy the earth with a universal flood. And how did Noah take the warning of God about things not yet seen?

Verse 7. Again, by faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence or literally in fear, prepared an ark for the salvation of his household. It was by means of faith that Noah, in fear or in reverence, responded appropriately to the word of God.

His warning, taking seriously God's warning, Noah followed God's instruction to build an ark for the salvation particularly of his, to build an ark in the middle of dry land. Now, remember that Noah had nothing but the word of God to rely on the things still not seen.

Although the coming rain, the flood, the universal destruction were not yet a present reality, Noah, by faith, took God and his word seriously and he was firmly assured and persuaded that what God said will happen will most surely happen.

Therefore, upon God's instructions, he built an ark that God told him to build primarily to prepare his household for the universal. Let us not lose sight of the force of what this means in the context of where Noah lived.

As already mentioned earlier, the idea of a universal flood must have sounded preposterous, even insane. Remember that there was no visible indication that the flood of that magnitude would ever come.

But Noah believed the word of God without question and that faith was such a firm assurance and a strong conviction of things not seen that Noah built the ark God told him to build. Now, that faith fits the description of the faith given earlier in chapter 11, verse 1.

Now, faith is the assurance or substance of things who for the conviction or evidence of things not seen. And remember that the size of the ark that God told Noah to build was humongous. Nothing like that was ever built before.

The size is roughly about the size of an American football field and it had three decks, three stories. So it is like having three football fields built on top of the other. The thing was gigantic. Building that thing without modern equipment required tremendous commitment of time and energy.

And it must have taken years to build that ark. Yet Noah, by faith, built that ark. Moreover, can you imagine how people must have reacted to what Noah was doing? Your delusional building an ark in a mountainous region far from the sea must have appeared ludicrous to the rest of the people.

But Noah was so firmly persuaded that what God told him was true and he built that ark that God told him to build. Cutting the wood, preparing the wood, shaping it according to God's design, the people watching him, Nabu 'ang, my goodness, Noah, he's wasting his life.

And remember that the design and dimensions of the ark that God gave had never been tested. Nobody has built that large. But Noah had faith in God that he followed carefully all the design and specifications that God made, believing that it will work.

The ark will stay afloat and carry all those things God said he should bring into the ark. No testing, no trial, just faith in what God told him to do and how to build the ark. Now, that is what faith did for Noah.

Now the question is, what about you? Is your faith like the faith of Noah? Do you, by faith, take God's word seriously? Not just his promises, but also his warnings and his instructions? And do you, in faith, follow carefully God's instructions of how to escape the frightening reality of God's judgment and wrath on this sinful, corrupt, filled with violence world of ours?

Yes, there will never again be a universal flood that will destroy the earth. For after the universal flood, God promised that he will never again destroy the earth with a universal flood and even use the rainbow as a sign to remember that covenant that he made with all the ark dwellers and all their descendants, Genesis 9.

However, God promised to destroy the earth and even the entire universe in the future with fire, not with flood, but with fire and recreate it into the new heavens and the new earth where righteousness dwells.

2 Peter 3, verses 10 to 11. He will no longer destroy the earth with a universal flood. He will destroy the earth and the entire universe with a cosmic explosion of fire and will recreate the heavens and the earth into the new heavens and the new earth where righteousness dwells.

Do you in faith take God's word seriously? And because you do, you act upon what he says you should do of the judgment and wrath. Do you have faith like Noah? Without that kind of faith, it is impossible to please God.

For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is the rewarder of those who diligently. Do you really believe? It's been almost more than 2 ,000 years and many, the apostle Peter says in 2 Peter, will start to question, is there really ever going to be a second coming?

They suppress the evidence of the universal flood. They ignore not only what the word of God says but the confirming evidence says that the world really went through a universal flood well underneath, buried underneath the decaying vegetation and animals.

The seashells on top of the mountains so high. The fact that every ancient civilization has a story version of a universal flood. I just ignore. And they ignore the warning that God will destroy the earth with fire.

Do you have the kind of faith that Noah had to believe in God's warning? To follow his instruction? About how to be saved and how your loved one can be saved. Without that kind of faith that Noah had, it is impossible to please.

For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him. That's the first thing that faith did for Noah. But then there is a second thing that faith did for Noah.

Verse 7b, we read, by faith Noah being warned by God about things not yet seen in fear prepared an ark for the salvation of his household. And then notice the next phrase, by which he, Noah, condemned the world.

By which, by that faith, he condemned the world. Now what does that mean? Well, first, it must be emphasized that the phrase connects back to the phrase by faith. It was by faith that Noah condemned the world.

But what does that mean? That by faith he condemned the world. What does it mean that by faith, Noah condemned the world? Well, elsewhere, the Bible tells us that Noah, among other things, was a preacher of righteousness.

You find that in 2 Peter 2, verse 5. And also, we are told in Scripture that God patiently waited for people to repent in the days of Noah, 2 Peter 3, and verse 20. When God had Noah build the ark, Noah also continued to proclaim.

The word of God,.

And God patiently waited for people to repent in the days of Noah. This indicates that Noah did not keep secret from others the reason why he was building the ark. He proclaimed to them the need for repentance in order to avert the judgment from God.

How did the people respond to the preaching of Noah?

Nothing.

Perhaps even mockery, sneering at Noah's quote-unquote stupidity. The Lord Jesus in Luke 17, 26 -27 said, Just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will also be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all.

Some must have thought that Noah was a lunatic, insane. For others, Noah must have been viewed by them as a pathetic preacher who used scared tactics to frighten people to repentance. For others, Noah must have been just a misguided zealot, a fanatic, misguided fool who was wasting his breath in proclaiming something that will never happen.

And that he was just really spoiling people's fun. They came doing the things that they were doing, eating, marrying, drinking, being given in marriage. What's the fuss? This is reality! What are you talking about, Noah?

Life goes on and on and on! And don't spoil our fun in enjoying this thing. It was in that sense that by faith, Noah, John Gill, commenting on this says, as a preacher he declared they would be condemned in case of impenitence and unbelief.

And his words heard and his actions seen by them were aggravations of their condemnation. For by his works as well as by his words he reproved and condemned. Now that is the kind of faith Noah had. And the question is, is the kind of faith Noah had the kind of faith that you also?

The final day of judgment where God will judge the living and the dead is still future. It is presently unseen. But do you really have the kind of faith that gives you a firm assurance? A strong conviction that these unseen realities are so real so as to proclaim these realities and call others to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus?

Or is it unreal to you? Being caught up in the daily drying of life you never really warn people and you operate as if all things will be just as they are without being gripped with the reality that the judgment of God will on all the ungod that when you look at people's faces you cannot but issue a warning.

If you really believe in these things then like Noah you will also speak about them. There is a very interesting verse 2 Corinthians 4 .13. Paul writes and having the same spirit of faith the same spirit of faith that dwelled in the believers under the old covenant is the same spirit of faith in every believer under the new covenant the only difference is that under the new covenant we have the fullness of the spirit in his saving work.

Paul writes but having the same spirit of faith according to what is written.

I believe.

Therefore I speak we also believe therefore we also speak. If you are really persuaded of these things that are yet unseen if it is so real to you faith is the substance of things so far the evidence of things not seen.

If it is so real to you you really believe them to be true you will speak to others about them. I believe therefore I speak we also believe therefore we also speak. True faith is a confessing faith it's not a faith that remains silent.

If those things are so real you will speak to others about them. Do you speak about the things unseen to others? Do you speak of the judgment to come? Do you speak to others about the destruction of the universe by fire?

The recreation of everything the new heavens and the new earth where righteousness dwells. And do you speak of the way of escaping the judgment to come? The judgment to come through the person and work of Christ the Messiah that God sent to be the only Savior.

What is so beautiful about this is that Noah is a type of Christ and that is clear from scripture 1 Peter 3 21 to 23 he is a type of Christ. Christ is the antitype. Noah is a type just as Noah was a righteous man a righteous covenant servant of God.

In fact he was the only righteous man left on the face of the earth Genesis 6 9 to 11 a passage we read earlier and it was through faith that Noah built the ark in obedience to God the ark which became the vehicle to save his household and all the ark dwellers from God's judgment of the universal flood all those who in faith entered the ark were saved from the universal destruction.

Now that is a type Christ is the only perfectly righteous man who lived on the earth.

No one else.

And it was by faith that he did the will of his father in dying on Calvary so that by his work he will save his people from their sins. Noah is a type of Christ. Those who in faith are united to Christ by the spirit through faith.

It's very interesting how faith is described. It's faith into Christ.

That's the literal rendering of the Greek.

It is faith that unites us to him. Faith into Christ. Those who in faith are united to Christ by the spirit through faith are saved from the coming judgment. If you really have the kind of faith that Noah had you will trust Christ and his work to save you from the judgment.

That Christ the ark of salvation in him you are safe from the judgment to come and believing that for yourself do you believe it enough. It is so real to you that you proclaim it to others. And therefore those who reject that message through faith you condemn them for their rejection.

If you really have the kind of faith that Noah had you will trust in Christ and his work to save you and others from the judgment to come. You will not only unite yourself to Christ through faith in him you will proclaim these things that are still unseen to others pointing them to the only way of safety the person and work.

How true that without faith it is impossible to please God. For he who comes to him must believe that he is who he really is and that he is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him. And then there is a third thing that faith did for Noah.

Faith, Righteousness, and Union with Christ

The pinnacle of this the third thing that faith did for Noah. Verse 7c. But let's read the entire verse by faith Noah being warned by God about things not yet seen in fear prepared an ark for the salvation of his household by which by faith he condemned the world.

And notice the last phrase became an heir of the righteousness which is according to and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to the conjunction. And indicates that the phrase by faith is still to be connected to this final clause concerning Noah.

It was by faith that Noah became an heir of righteousness which is according to faith. That's the third thing faith did for Noah. And what does that mean? Well to understand what this really means we need the meta-narrative of the Bible the big story revealed in Holy Scripture.

Remember that right after the fall of man into sin humanity lost its original moral integrity before God. Ecclesiastes 7 .28. God made the man upright but they followed many false devices. Adam had life as a free gift of God in the garden a life in union and fellowship with God which is the very essence of true life.

John 17 .3. This is eternal life that they may know you the only true God. However by Adam's disobedience to an express prohibition given by God he forfeited that life. The day he disobeyed God as God said he would.

Genesis 2 .16 -17. The day that you eat from it you will surely die. The day he disobeyed God he entered the state of living death alienated from God separated from God. And he was barred from ever partaking of the tree of life in the middle of the garden beside the tree of knowledge that would prevent him from that tree of life that would prevent him from growing old and dying physically.

That's clear from Genesis 3 .17 -24. And what Adam did in disobeying God did not just affect him but as the federal or representative head of the entire human race. The entire human race was affected by the one sin of Adam.

Romans 5 .12 -21. Hence all the physical descendants of Adam and Eve that is the entire human race that came out from them are born in the state of living death alienated from God separated from God from conception and birth.

Psalm 58 .3. The wicked are restrained from the womb they go astray from birth. Speaking lies Ephesians 2 .1. While you were dead in your trespasses and sins Colossians 2 .13 all are conceived and born in the state of living death alienated from God estranged from God.

Moreover even from the womb we already are under God's condemnation and wrath Ephesians 2 .2. And we're children of wrath even as the rest. For us to have that life again in fellowship with God which is always a free gift of God we must possess a righteousness that satisfies divine requirement.

Divine justice.

But what. That is. Something that we do not have and can never have. We already forfeited that life due to the one sin and disobedience of Adam.

And our daily sins.

Only add up to the forfeiture of ever enjoying that life in fellowship with God. Every time we sin. By disobeying God we in principle keep forfeiting that life in fellowship with God which is the essence of truth.

And the law that God gave through Moses does not help us at all for the law can only point us to the way of righteousness. It cannot impart to us that righteousness it requires. In fact the law can only lead to the worsening of our condition for our rebellious nature.

When God commands us to do something forbids us to do something. Those are the very things we want to do. Stolen water is sweet. Because while the law points us to the way of righteousness it will only point us to how unrighteous we have become and only can increase our liability to punishment.

However in God's grace and mercy he has promised to provide us a righteousness through the person and work of his son the Lord Jesus. And this is the righteousness that is revealed in the gospel Romans 1 15 to 18.

Paul writes to the believers in Rome. So for my part I am eager to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome.

Why?

For I am not ashamed of the gospel. Why is he not ashamed? For it the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek. But why is the gospel the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes the next verse.

For in it in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written. But the righteous man shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth.

God promised a righteousness to humanity that has become unrighteous to a humanity that can never produce a perfect righteousness and therefore keeps forfeiting.

The gift of life.

Life with God that he promised to provide a righteousness in the person and work of his son in his atoning death on Calvary. As a substitute for sinners God has provided a just basis for the forgiveness of sins to satisfy his justice and through Christ's perfect obedience to God's will we have a perfect righteousness so that we will enjoy fellowship with God without forfeiting that life because we have the perfect obedience and righteousness of God.

Moreover through union with Christ we can grow in living a righteous life so that we can enjoy greater closeness and intimacy with God until we become seamlessly perfect through his sanctifying work so that we will enjoy perfect unity.

And interrupted fellowship with God.

Forever and ever in the new heavens and the new earth where righteousness dwells. How did Noah become an heir to that promise provision of righteousness. The text makes it very clear. Through faith. Only through faith in God and in God's promise provision of righteousness in the person and work of the Messiah he promised to send.

We read. By faith Noah being warned by God about things not yet seen in fear prepare the ark for the salvation of his household. By faith he condemned the world by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness.

Which is according to. It was faith that gave Noah a right standing before God because of the promise provision of righteousness through Messiah. And it was through union with the spirit of God dwelling in him that also made him live righteously in ever increasing degree although not yet the spirit in the fullness of his saving work he did partake of that blessing.

Now the question is is your faith like the faith of Noah. Listen. The only way you can become an heir of righteousness is only by means without faith in God and his provision of righteousness in the person and work of Messiah the Lord Jesus.

You will remain in the state.

Of living death.

And if you die in that state you will experience the second death fire. But if you have faith in God and in his promise provision of righteousness in the person of Messiah the Lord Jesus then you have life.

True life.

In the words of John in 1st John 5 11 he who has the son has the life he who does not have the son does not have. Or in John 11 25 to 26 speaking to Mary or Martha Jesus said to her I am the resurrection and the life.

He who believes in me will live even if he dies and everyone who lives and believes in me.

Will never die. Do you believe this?

How do you become an heir of that righteousness which is unto life only. Both the imputed righteousness of Christ as well as the imparted righteousness of Christ is only through.

Faith union.

How true are the words of Hebrews 11 6. And without faith it is impossible to please him for he who comes to God must believe that he is.

Who he really is.

And that he is the rewarder of those who diligently seek faith to us who have this faith that Noah had. Keep nurturing that faith. Keep building up that faith. Mortify by the spirit of God whatever doubt you might have regarding God and the promises of God.

Constantly expose yourself to the word of God for faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. Keep close and frequent company with those who have faith in God from a sincere heart. And never walk by faith and not by sight.

And persevere in faith to the very end and you will receive. Faith is not essential. But if you have no faith in God nothing you do will ever please him. Gain his offering on the altar on the day appointed by God was not pleasing to God he had no faith like his brother Abel.

Whatever you do without faith it will never please God. Therefore if there's anything you need the most it is faith in him.

And his word.

Venture on him expose yourself to the word of God ask the Lord that he will give you grace to believe to overcome your tendency towards.

Unbelief.

Refuse to listen to the devil's slander against God. Ask the Lord to give you grace to believe and take that first step.

Of faith.

And do not put your faith in your faith but put your faith entirely on God and the word of God and you will have. And in this fallen world that's the only life worth living. Let us pray our God. We thank you for the life of Noah and we see what faith did for Noah.

We ask that Lord we who have liked the faith of Noah would also do would keep nurturing that faith building up that faith. Faith that takes God seriously at his word. Faith that confesses being fully persuaded that the things unseen are real.

Faith which is the only means by which that righteousness we do not have might become ours that we might enjoy a life of fellowship.

With God.

Pray that we will nurture that faith he will build up that faith help us to mortify any doubt that we may have.

Of you and your word.

Help us to be unsparing in mortifying those doubts strengthen our faith purify our faith remove every dross of unbelief. And we pray for those who do not have faith in you. Help them to see Lord that whatever they do will never please you.

If they are to be well pleasing to you they must have faith in you faith in your word faith in your promise provision of righteousness in your son. Father, hear us hear us we pray. We can never produce faith in ourselves nor in others it is only through your grace.