Noah A Man of Faith (e)

Genesis 6

James R. Davis

Noah's Ark hasn't lost any of its fascination over the centuries. Men are climbing the icy slopes of mountains in faraway countries hoping to find fossilized remains of the masterpiece. Whether or not they'll be successful is open to question.

We were in St. Louis and ate a meal at Noah's Ark Restaurant. It was built like a boat. It had statues of animals and the whole works. We have Noah's ark bracelets, earrings and necklaces.

There are many jokes about Noah's ark.

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY: Have you ever wondered why Noah didn't swat both flies when he had a chance?

NOAH'S FAVORITE

Question: What was Noah's favorite country and western song?
Answer: "I Love a Rainy Night."

FISHING

Ned: What instructions did Noah give his sons about fishing off the ark?
Fred: I don't know.
Ned: "Go easy on the bait, boys. We've only got two worms."

It is interesting that references to a flood are to found in ancient traditions and myths in all parts of the world. They vary dramatically in detail and credibility. They do suggest that somewhere in the human experience there was a flood. There was a common knowledge of such an event. Over the generations the record of such an event was corrupted for the most part.

But the earth bears evidence of a flood. The Bible gives an accurate record.

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. (KJV)

Noah is one of the first great men of faith revealed in scripture in which his life is given in some detail. Someone said the Bible is about God revealing himself through the lives of faithful men and women. Those lives still speak to us today. Faith is better understood as we see it in the lives of great men. Bible truths become clearer when they breath.

Faith a Response to Revelation

Through the life of Noah we learn that faith is a response to revelation.

Romans 10:17 says, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Noah gives us a striking example of what faith means. Out of the blue he was told about a cataclysmic flood and he believed God.

A little old lady had, for years, been thoroughly overcome by all kinds of troubles and trials in life. Her family had done all they could for her, but nothing seemed to help. Finally, they gathered together one day and told her, "Grandma, we've done all we can for you. From now on you're just going to have to trust God." A look of fear and total dejection come over her face as she said, "Oh, dear. Has it come to that?"

It always comes to that!!

Our world seems not to know what to do with God. Should you believe in God or not? Should you cover your bases and believe in God and in whatever seems to work, too? If you believe in God, can you somehow cover it up so people won't think you're some kind of a fanatic?

Even in church circles, we've become unsure about what a faithful person is. Noah gives us a living example of what faith means. Faith is a response to the revelation of God!

Out of the blue Noah was told about a cataclysmic flood and he believed God. This was not like our hurricane forecast here in Florida. They tell us one is coming. We get out our charts and map its course. We know exactly where the storm is and approximately when it will hit.

Hebrews 11:7 says, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."

Noah was not building this boat in some shipyard. He was building it on dry land. He had never seen it rain. The earth was watered by a mist of water that went from the earth. I doubt seriously if he had any previous knowledge of ship building.

He acted upon faith in God's word. He believed what God had revealed. He was told to build an ark the length of one and a half football fields. He was told to fill it with animals. He was told to do this because God was going to destroy both men and animals. He believed it!

He took what must have been a very difficult step. He stepped out of what was familiar and understandable into a situation that was incomprehensible except to the eye of faith.

Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." That makes it clear. Faith is believing the unseen.

Faith Is A Relationship of Trust

You have heard others say "Trust me." Noah took a big step of faith. There was fear and trepidation in the heart of Noah as he faced the unknown. He built the ark, stepped into it and "the Lord shut him in" (Genesis 7:16). I'm sure that it was reassuring to have God to shut him and his family in. It is probably like the comfort of a child at night when the parent goes and tucks the child in bed. This probably reassured Noah that he had done the right thing.

There is no biblical record where God spoke to Noah while he was building the ark or while he was on the ark for a year. Through all the cataclysmic flood Noah had to go on trusting God. He trusted God through thick and thin. Regardless of his lack of understanding or his ability to see the outcome for himself.

I read a story sometime ago where a man was in a dry parched land. He had no water. He was about to die. He came upon a ranching homestead in that dry parched land. There was an old water pump there. It was the type you have to pump by hand. Next to the water pump was a container of stagnant water with a note attached. The note read you must take this container of water and pour it into this pump to prime it. When you are finished drinking, fill the container and place this back upon the pump so the next traveler can prime the pump and have some water. Well, for a man about to die he had to make the decision. Is this note still valid or do I drink the container of water? The man decided to believe the note. He poured the water into the old pump and began to pump and water came forth. It was fresh water. He had all he wanted to drink. He filled the container and placed it near the pump for the next weary straggler.

Noah decided to pump. He left us a life as a result.

Faith Is A Readiness to Obey

James 2:17 says, "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." By faith Noah set to work building a mammoth ark.

Genesis 7:2-3 "Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and
its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth."

Noah didn't seem to worry too much about what others would think or say. In spite of the incongruity of what he was doing -- his faith worked. Noah's faith not only led him to believe that God exist, it also led him to seek after him.

Faith A Release of Blessing

When Noah responded in faith God released his blessing. God telling Noah what to do before the flood was a blessing. But the reality of that blessing would not be released until Noah responded in faith. Hebrews 11:7 says, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house..."

Noah's faith spilled over into his family's lives. Genesis 7:23 says "And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark."

Noah expressed his faith through obedience. As he walked in obedience he preached righteousness to the condemned world. They chose to ignore it. There is a benefit we receive through Noah's faith.

Hebrews 11:4 says, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh." Noah's faith continues to speak to us today.

Power Found In A Responsive Faith

No man could ever have expected to find within himself the resources to live as Noah lived. He had the power to take decisive action as his society plummeted toward certain destruction.

Noah had the power to preach to those who refused to listen. That's hard! He walked a lonely road.

There was a tapestry in a home for recovering alcoholics in Germany. It was a picture of a stream with a shoal of fish heading one way and one solitary fish swimming in the opposite direction. Underneath were the words: "Any dead fish can float downstream -- it takes a live one to swim against it."

Noah chose through faith to be a live one.

Faith Rebukes Unfaithfulness

2 Pet 2:5 says, "And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly." Noah was a preacher of righteousness. It is impossible to please God without sometimes displeasing those who are opposed to him.

I saw a sign the other day which read, "What is right is not always popular and what's popular is not always right." Noah knew what that sign means.

2 Corinthians 2:15-16 says, "For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: 16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?"

The sun that melts the wax hardens the clay. Sun's properties do not change but the properties of the different materials on which the sun shines is revealed by its heat.

In the same way, Jesus showed that the same seed scattered on different places will produce entirely different results. Not because the seed alters but because the seed reveals what kind of soil it has landed upon.

Whether it be the sun shinning, the seed landing, the word being preached, or the glowing testimony of a godly man or woman, the same rule applies.

Faith A Reminder to the Faithful

Jesus said in Matthew 24:38, " For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark." They were just getting along with their lives ignoring this strange little man in their midst who was building a massive boat with nowhere to go.

Perhaps they had grown used to seeing him working and preaching. Nothing else ever seemed to happen. They chose to believe that Noah was wrong about his dire predictions.

But judgment fell. Matthew 24:39 says, "And (they) knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

Noah's faith and faithfulness are powerful reminders to God's people who look for the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus.

Noah still has something to say to God's people when they are tempted to settle into lives just like unbelievers!

God's righteous judgment fell. But in the midst of the horror sailed a man and his family secure in the arms of God. Noah's faith released God's blessing upon our new world.

The great advantage of Noah's faith is that it inspires us to learn, trust, and obey. These blessings are only for those who launch out into the deep.

Conclusion

1 Peter 3:20-22
Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. 21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: 22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. (KJV)