[0:00] Let us hear the word of God as we have that in the book of Genesis and chapter 6. Genesis chapter 6, reading from the beginning of the chapter.
[0:14] When man began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive.
[0:33] And they took as their wives any the Jews. Then the Lord said, My spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh, his days shall be 120 years.
[0:45] The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also afterwards, when the sons of God came into the daughters of man, and they bore children to them.
[0:56] These were mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
[1:09] And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and had grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, I will plot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens.
[1:26] But I am sorry that I have made them. But Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blimeless in his generation.
[1:39] Noah walked with God, and Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Chatham. Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence.
[1:50] And God saw the earth, and behold it was corrupt. For all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them.
[2:05] Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it. The length of the ark 300 cupids. It spread 50 cupids on its height 30 cupids.
[2:25] Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cupid above. And set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower second and third decks. For behold I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth.
[2:39] To destroy all flesh, in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything matters on the earth shall be dealt. But I will establish my covenant with you.
[2:51] And you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife and your sons' wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you.
[3:05] There shall be male and female, of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds. Of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every sort shall come into you to keep them alive.
[3:21] Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten and stored at home. It shall serve as food for you and for them. Know unto this, be the doll that God commanded him.
[3:35] May the Lord bless to us that reading of his own holy word, and to his name be the praise and the glory. Now let us turn to Hebrews chapter 11 and reading at verse 7 in our chapter.
[3:52] Hebrews 11, reading at verse 7. By faith no are being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household.
[4:12] By this he condemned the world and became an air of the righteousness that comes by faith. And first in looking at this version, taking in what we read in chapter 6 of Genesis, the writer here reveals the trust and steadfastness of Noah in the face of the world's unbelief.
[4:45] Now Noah's brought before us, as we were reading in chapter 6 and verse 9, he has brought before us as a righteous person who was pleasing to God.
[5:00] And the warning that the writer refers to here, we had it in chapter 13 of chapter 6 with the reverent obedience of Noah being mentioned in verse 22 of chapter 6.
[5:18] Now the main point here, the main point here is that Noah having been given a warning by God about things yet to come to pass.
[5:31] An event that Noah could not contemplate, yet what we find is that Noah trusted in God's word and acted upon that word.
[5:45] It was an event that he could never grasp except in a very small measure. And as we know ourselves when we are given a warning about to avoid something or to bypass something, we always want to know and inquire into why that warning was given to us.
[6:14] But the warning that was given to Noah here, that all flesh was going to be destroyed, is something that he could not comprehend in any measure whatsoever.
[6:26] And yet, even without the power to comprehend what it was all about, he placed his trust in God's word and he acted upon that word.
[6:40] And we are in the same situation as Noah. We are no different. We have the warnings of God in God's word. We know that there's a judgment coming. We cannot comprehend what that entails, what is going to happen when this creation is taken out of the way and a new heavens and a new earth are going to be brought in or what the destruction of every human being that disobeys God, what that entails, we cannot comprehend it.
[7:23] As it was for Noah's overtures for us, we are to trust in God's word and to act upon God's word.
[7:39] Noah made his plans in the light of these future evaludes that were revealed to him by God. Even though there were no observable signs when he began building the ark, that these plans of his were necessary.
[7:58] There was no dark clouds in the sky. There was no mighty rushing wind. There was no sign of a flood when he began to build the ark, but in spite of all that, he was obedient to the command that God had given to him.
[8:19] There was no observable signs that the plans that he was making were necessary. Yet in trusting in God's word, Noah saved himself and his family.
[8:35] And the comparisons between us and Noah as the righteer here reveals. For instance, if we put ourselves in the position of those unto whom, of the readers of this letter, then we will soon realize that this letter is as relevant to us today as it was to them in the day it was written.
[9:14] In the day it was written, Noah was living on the eve of her coming judgment. And so we find ourselves living in the dawn of the coming day.
[9:32] When? When? The end time judgment will take place.
[9:43] When the corresponding end time judgment will take place. We too have been warned about things to come. And we find that in chapter 10, the chapter before this, chapter 10 and verses 12 to 13.
[10:02] Verses 12 to 13, if we can read them. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a foodstool for his feet.
[10:23] And then in verses 37 to 39 of the same chapter, chapter 10, we find these words. And yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay, but my righteous one shall live by faith.
[10:41] And if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
[10:56] We too have been warned of things to come. And the writer wants me and you to imitate Noah. Imitate Noah in placing our trust in God's word.
[11:11] In placing your trust in the word of God. In placing your trust in the fact that Christ will come again. And will judge the disobedient and reward those who remain loyal to him.
[11:29] Reward those who remain loyal to him. And we are to conduct ourselves in our present situation, in a way that will condemn the word, revealing through an ongoing witness our loyalty to God's word and to God's standards.
[11:51] Along with the upholding of the fact that God alone is worthy of worship.
[12:02] As well as upholding the fact that God alone is worthy of worship. That's what Noah was doing when he was building the attic. Revealing his loyalty to God's word, to God's standard.
[12:17] And also upholding the fact that God alone was worthy of our worship. Like Noah we are to use our time and resources in this life to prepare for the salvation in the judgment that is to come.
[12:39] And we are to devote our time and energy into meeting with that crisis that is to come.
[12:53] That is exactly what Noah was doing. Noah kept his focus completely upon the judgment that was to come.
[13:04] And that's what we are to do. That's what we are asked to do as well. Never to forget that there is a judgment to come. And we are to devote time and resources along with our time and energy to prepare for this.
[13:24] And to also be ready to meet with a crisis that is to come.
[13:37] The crisis that is to come. Worshipping God does not mean devoting half my time to the world and devoting half my time to God.
[13:55] It means devoting all of my time, my energy and resources to God's knowing that God has promised that this judgment will take place.
[14:14] Even in our workplaces, in our time of leisure, all is to be devoted to the glory of God.
[14:28] God is not wanting half of my attention or half of your attention and allowing us to give half of her attention to the world at the same time.
[14:41] No one ever did that. This devotion was completely focused upon the judgment that was to come.
[14:52] And if we do that, if you and I do that, then we will receive the salvation or deliverance that God has prepared for us.
[15:03] Which means what? It means this. That we will gain entrance into the kingdom that cannot be shaken and will be delivered from the kingdom that will be catastrophically shaken.
[15:21] As we have it in chapter 12 and verses 26 to 28 which we can read. Starting at verse 26, At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised yet once more, I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.
[15:44] This phrase yet once more indicates the removal of things that are shaken, that is things that have been made. In order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.
[15:56] Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and all for our God is a consuming fire.
[16:13] And that is what our salvation or deliverance entails. Enter and sink to the kingdom that cannot be shaken and deliverance from the kingdom that will be catastrophically shaken.
[16:29] Noah received salvation for himself and for his family because he trusted in God's world and he paid heed to God's warnings.
[16:43] Very often we are here today plenty about God's love and God's promises. We hear very little about God's warnings that are just as important as his promises.
[17:03] And Noah heated these warnings and he acted upon these warnings. And Noah's example reveals to me and to you that it is wise to act in accordance with God's warnings about future things.
[17:22] Things that are not yet seen but things that are certain to come to pass. Things that are certain to come to pass.
[17:35] And the writer makes two further comments here on the example that Noah set for us. The first comment he makes is on Noah's faith.
[17:48] It was Noah's faith that was the means of condemning the world. We have it in the last sentence in this verse. By this he condemned the world and when the writer used the word this he means faith.
[18:05] He means Noah's faith in the context of the verse itself. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
[18:16] So his faith was the means through which he condemned the world. Many are of the opinion that in building the ark Noah was preaching a message of repentance.
[18:30] A message that the world of his day completely rejected. But if that is what the writer has in view in this verse then it is surprising that he does not make more of it.
[18:46] By encouraging his widows to witness boldly concerning the day of salvation and judgment that was to come.
[18:59] Concerning the coming day of salvation and judgment. That is not what we find at all. We find that the rightest emphasis here is on Noah's commitment to trust God's word.
[19:18] And on his preparation as well in the light of these warnings that he was getting. And his preparation was all in order that the opportunity that was afforded to him would not pass him by without him laying hold of this salvation that God had promised.
[19:45] That is what all his preparation was for no matter what preparation should be for as well in the light of the coming judgment. That the opportunity that is afforded to us will not pass us by without us receiving the salvation that God has promised.
[20:03] This in and of itself condemned the world which carried on regardless in its rebellion. Carried on regardless in its rebellion against that very word giving scant heat to the warnings about the coming judgment.
[20:28] Paying scant heat to the warnings about the coming judgment. We who are of the same faith as Noah can look to our own, can look to our own trust and preparations as a condemnation of the world.
[20:53] It is an amazing concept, is it not, when one takes scene the many unverified ways that the unbelieving world uses to condemn the church, to condemn believers in Christ.
[21:21] And they tell us very often that we are believing in a figment of our own imagination, a myth. We are believing in a word that cannot be trusted because you can interpret it in various ways and so on and so on and they make us feel condemnation.
[21:45] You can feel condemned that we are the ones who are in the wrong. It's amazing when you think of it. The varied ways that are being used by the unbelieving community to make the Church of Christ feel condemnation.
[22:01] But the right here does not want believers to be concerned about society's judgment upon their trust in Christ and their commitment to one another.
[22:17] He wants believers to be strengthened by realizing that their perseverance in the face of the world's opposition condemns the world, who sees little or no value in the world in which we place our trust.
[22:40] And the second comment he makes upon the world's example concerns this righteousness that is according to faith of which Noah was an heir.
[22:56] Now this does not mean at all being reckoned righteousness on account of faith as Abraham was. In other words, imputed, the righteousness that is imputed to us.
[23:10] It does not mean that at all. But what it means is an acting out of what is righteous because one is guided by a trust in God.
[23:26] If some of you, and some of you probably did, if you grew up with some of the old men and old women that I grew up with when I was converted, they always used to talk about the two righteousnesses, that there was an imputed righteousness, an imputed righteousness that we had nothing to do with.
[23:50] But there was also a righteousness that was there for us to work out. And when you look at Noah, who go back to Genesis chapter 6, and he was cone to dust being righteous, he was pleasing to God.
[24:07] Why? Because he lived his life trusting in God's word, acting out what was righteous, going to the fact that he was guided by his trust in God.
[24:24] Now this righteousness is brought before us in chapter 10, which we read. The verses that we read, chapter 38 to 39, where God is saying, But my righteous monster lived by faith, and if he shrinks back my soul, there's no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who are faith and persevere and preserve their souls.
[24:55] And if we go again to chapter 12 and verse 11, in chapter 12. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
[25:15] And what these verses reveals to us is that the person who is working out this righteousness, guided by his or her trust in God, will not shrink back, will not decide to go back to the ways of the world. Of course there are Christians who from time to time backslide, but then they come back to the faith again.
[25:42] There are exceptions, but most believers who are working out this righteousness will not shrink back. And the other thing that is brought before us by these verses, chapter 12 and verse 11, reveals to us that the child of God willingly endures the discipline which has as its fruit righteousness, which has as its fruit righteousness, or which produces righteousness as its fruit.
[26:14] And faith here in this verse means bold perseverance, trust and steadfastness in relation to God's promises and God's warnings.
[26:27] In relation to God's promises and God's warnings. And the person who walks according to such a faith will have the virtue, will have this virtue of righteousness, formed within himself or herself at the end of the journey.
[26:52] This is what this righteousness means, it is the righteousness that we work out through our trust and through our commitment to God's word.
[27:10] May we all have this fruit of righteousness, may we all commit our ways to the Lord in the light as knower did in the light of the coming judgment.
[27:29] And may we all, when that judgment comes, receive the salvation or deliverance that God has promised. May he bless to us.
[27:41] These few thoughts on his word, let us pray. O gracious and ever-blessed Lord, that we would be thankful for your warnings as well as for your promises. On that you would help us Lord to persevere in the light of every assault that is being made upon us, especially in this day and generation to which we belong. Help us Lord to place our trust and confidence in Christ alone.
[28:18] And to truly be ready for that time when you will call us into your own presence. And to truly persevere in our believing in such a way that although we do not know yet what we shall be like, we know that when he appears that we shall be made light unto him, for we shall see him as he is. Bless us to these ends and forgive us for him many sins, and all that we ask that we would do so in Christ's name and for his sake. Amen.