Faith & The Example of Noah

Hebrews 11 | Vintage Faith | 11:7 | Pastor Duane Smets

This an exegetical sermon of Hebrews 11:7. It covers the life of Noah, the wrath and fear of God, God’s care for covenant family and how God’s promises work. Special attention is given to the gospel in how God provides the righteousness he requires. This sermon was originally preached on Sepetember 27th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
September 25th, 2011

Faith and the Example of Noah | Hebrews 11:7
I. God’s Wrath & The Fear of Events to Come
II. God’s Welcome & The Household Who Is Saved
III. God’s Word & The Righteousness It Promises

Introduction

Good morning greetings etc.

Well, it’s week 3 in our fall sermon series “Vintage Faith” where we’re doing a little time travel and checking out several ancient figures of the Bible whose lives are marked in Hebrews 11 as having the kind of faith we need. The faith that from the beginning God has been calling men and women to and been providing.

Increasingly we as a people live in a world that seems to constantly be changing and one that just seems to big to quite get our hands around. Global economics. Political allegiances and country boundaries. Disease. Jobs. Technology. Science. Everything always seems to be in a state of flux.

In his new book King’s Cross, Dr .Tim Keller recounts how thirty five years ago so many people were saying that our society, as time went on, was going to become less and less religious…and that there would be fewer and fewer religious believers because we were getting so philosophically and scientifically sophisticated. Very few people are saying that now. In fact, the more secular our society becomes the more it seems to be driving individuals to seek transcendence and purpose and meaning and spirituality and many are seriously investigating faith in general and specifically the Christian faith.

I think that is because like a ship lost at sea it’s almost like we have no reference point with no way of knowing what way is north, south, east or west anymore. We’re looking for something to grab hold of. In fact several studies have shown a significant spike in the amount of people who have joined the Eastern Orthodox branch of the Christian church because it is the one sect of Christianity that has not changed their liturgy for nearly two-thousand years. We’re longing for consistency, stability, something we can count on and build our lives on. Just like the words of that old southern spiritual says, “Gimmie that old time religion.”

It’s into this context that the characters of Hebrews 11 speak…because they point us to a faith and a God that has stood the test of time…a faith of a different flavor than we so often see and experience these days. So last week we looked at the characters of Abel & Enoch. This week we look at Noah, “Faith and the Example of Noah.”

In contrast to the two guys from last week, who didn’t really have a whole lot written about them in the Bible, Noah has quite a bit. He basically gets four whole chapters of Genesis. Generally most people have some kind of idea about Noah because of the story of the flood, the ark he built and the animals that were saved by it.

Here’s how the story goes in Genesis. Noah is born ten generations down from Adam, the first man. He has sons who are mentioned and seemingly daughters, but he’s a terrible dad and lets them marry outside the faith of his family. Actually no one is really worshipping God. Genesis 6:5 says The LORD God looks down at what happening upon the earth at the time and says God “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.” And this includes Noah and his family.

So God decided to do as any good and righteous judge ought and he sets out to administer justice by wiping out man off the earth with a flood. But he decides to select one man and his family whom he will save along with the animals. And he picks Noah and tells him to build an ark, a big ole’ wooden boat about three stories high and a football field and a half long. 2 Peter 2:5 says while he was building it he preached to the people of the land and offered them a ride, but before the flood strikes…just Noah, his wife and three of his sons and their wives and the animals get on the boat.

It rains for forty days and forty nights, and the whole known world or maybe even whole globe gets flooded for one year. After they finally get off the boat, Noah offers God a sacrifice and holds worship service. Then God establishes his covenant with Noah, promising to give him children and children of faith. God promises to never entirely wipe out all men again with a flood and he makes the rainbow as a sign of it.

Then, the last thing the Bible records about Noah is that the next thing he did is plant a vineyard, get drunk and seemingly has sex with one of his sons. When he sobers up, he pronounces judgment on the son who took advantage of him and then he turns to God and prays for the covenant blessing of salvation to be passed on to two of his other sons. And that’s the story of Noah.

Along comes Hebrews 11 and it picks up Noah as an example of faith. We’ll talk about his more in a few minutes, but Noah, like all the other characters in this chapter, does not get selected because of his superior life of morality but because of his faith in God and his provision.

So let’s read what Hebrews 11 says about him, pray over it and look at just three points this morning. Hebrews 11:7 “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” Let’s pray.

Now, I’ll tell you right off this morning, you’re not going to like this first point. My job is to preach to you the Bible. Not to sugar coat it and make it more palatable and pleasing. But to honestly and straightforwardly tell you and show you what it says. Sometimes there is stuff that comes up in the Bible that just isn’t easy. Actually that seems to happen quite a bit. And this is one of those points. So here it is, “God’s Wrath & The Fear of Events to Come.”

I. God’s Wrath & The Fear of Events to Come

This is the first thing Hebrews marks Noah for, that he was “warned by God concerning events as yet unseen.” What’s that? The judgment of the flood. God told Noah about the event of the flood before it happened. And what was Noah’s response? Fear. The ESV here has “reverent fear” here but it comes from one Greek word that can sometimes mean reverence or respect, but I just don’t think so here.

I think this the Greek word’s more normal meaning, that being downright fear, terror, dread. I think Noah was scared. Here’s why.

One, he was a jacked up sinner. In Genesis 6:5 it says God every man on the earth was wicked and “that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” This includes Noah. Genesis 6:12, just a couple verses later says, “all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.”

If at some point you heard this story before and it was sold to you like God saw every man was evil but there was one guy Noah who was good out of all them, so God saved him…then you weren’t sold the true story.

So think about it. You’re Noah. Your heart is jacked up with sinful thoughts and acts of wickedness all the time. Sin, universally in the Bible comes from the heart…from the motives and thoughts first before it ever reaches the hands or feet in action. So you’re Noah and you know you’re a sinner. Then God comes to you and the first thing he says is Genesis 6:7 “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land.”

Noah does not have reverential awe at this point. He is freaking out! He has just been caught red-handed by the God and judge of the universe. The Bible doesn’t tell us how God spoke to him but however he did was probably scary just in and of itself. Most people who know they are sinful run away from God and when you’re in his presence you automatically begin to think of and feel your guilt and the judgment you deserve for it. Just that God shows up and speaks probably already had Noah afraid, like really afraid. Then the first words out of God’s mouth are I’m gonna wipe out all mankind because he is sinful. Scared. Terror.

Now I’m gonna make it even worse because as we’ve talked about in past weeks about this chapter, it has a future orientation. Faith itself looks to the future and the book of Hebrews is pointing toward and moving toward an expectation things which will take place in the future. Namely the return of Jesus, when he will come to gather his own in the heavenly city of Jerusalem and banish all his enemies to the place of fire.

Here’s what Hebrews 12:25-29 says, “If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven…he has promised…’I will shake not only the earth but the heavens…for God is a consuming fire.”

It’s all over the Bible. 2 Peter 3:6-7 refers to the flood and the future judgment of God. It says, “the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.” In Matthew 25 Jesus himself says when he returns he will judge and gather those who truly loved and trusted him and for the ones who did not he will say, “depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

So here’s the point. Just straight up old school hell, fire and brimstone preaching. I told you, you weren’t going to like it. Noah is an example for us, because God told him of judgment that was to come and by faith he was afraid. Likewise for us, God has told us of judgment that is to come and we ought to be afraid…if we have faith. Faith is not the absence of fear but the presence of it.

Like Noah and every man on the face of the earth at the time, we too have sinful wicked hearts and are evil. None of us are good. Romans 3:11 says, “No, not one.” But we don’t even really need the Bible to tell us that. We know we’re not. I think that’s why we feel like we have to constantly try to convince ourselves and one another saying things like, “No, you’re a good person. You’ve got good in you.” It’s a lie and we know it. No, we’re sinful and we deserve judgment, the eternal wrath of God in the fires of hell.

Look. At least I’m being honest with you. This stuff is right out of the Bible and more than that it’s out of our hearts. Deep down we know it. It would be so much easier to just take scissors to the Bible like some so called “pastors” have done and cut out hell. Actually I heard Rob Bell quit this week, praise God! But honestly, it would be so much easier to hide all the hard stuff. But not only would it not be true but it would fail to address the thing which we need most to be addressed in us. Our sin and our need for a savior.

You see here’s the thing. I’m terrified of God. I really am. I’m not sure where or how we got to a place where that’s slipped away from us and we think it’s okay to think of God like he’s a cuddly teddy bear you fluff full of stuffing at build a bear. Most people in the Bible were really afraid of God. They had a fear of God. They were not just in awe of him like the beauty of a sunset. No, we’re talking about an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good, everywhere present being. That’s scary! He’s scary enough just him. And then to be really honest about my sin. I’m scared of judgment. I’m scared of hell. I know I’m a sinner and deserve it. I’m scared. And I think we ought to be. Like Noah.

Are you? Some of you have probably never thought of God in this way in your entire life. All you have been told of is that God is love and you’ve never heard the other half, the first half of the story. If you don’t have a sense of the utter horror of hell and the wrath of God you deserve upon your soul, you will never truly understand the depth of God’s love for you. It’s what makes his love so great, that though he is a God of shuttering justice, he is also a God of mercy and makes a way for us to be saved.

So let’s change tunes, shift gears and move on to some happier things and talk about “God’s Welcome & The Household Who Is Saved.”

II. God’s Welcome & The Household Who Is Saved

What I want us to focus on and look at for this point is the ark and how through it Noah and his household are saved. It’s the middle of verse 7 in Hebrews 11 where it says out of Noah’s fear of God he “constructed an ark for the saving of his household.”

Now, first it’s important to note that building this boat was not Noah’s idea. It wasn’t like God just showed up and told Noah he’s gonna wipe everyone out with a flood and then Noah comes up with this great idea of how he can escape God’s wrath.

No, when God tells Noah he’s going to flood the earth, the very next thing he tells him is to….”make yourself an ark of gopher wood.” It’s not Noah’s idea. It’s God’s. Consistently, always, every time throughout Scripture, salvation is initiated by God because man cannot save himself. God has to do it and provide it.

And it’s the same thing here. God’s announcement of judgment is immediately followed by an extended hand of mercy, how Noah can be saved. God tells him to build the ark and he gives all kinds of detailed instructions, like how to seal it with pitch, how big to make it down to exact cubit measurements. Some have tried to put the math together in Genesis and have estimated it may have taken him 100 years to build. An amazing feat.

Seven days before the flood God speaks to Noah again and tells him it’s time to get in. No one but his immediate family joins him, so just his household gets on the boat and it rains and rains and rains…flooding the earth for a year before the boat lands on the ground and they’re able to get out.

One of the things you run across when you delve into this story is a lot of skepticism about it sometimes. Like how did they get all the animals? How did they all fit? How did this flood work? Was it the whole earth? Was there enough water on the earth? And on and on and on the questions go.

I’m not going to answer them because I don’t know all the answers. And though there are some good answers out there I’m not sure it’s helpful but instead actually distracts from the real point of the story. One thing to remember is the Bible was not written to be a science book, it’s just describing what happened. On top of it since this boat was commissioned by God and since there is more going on here than just the physical salvation, there’s the spiritual issue of hearts…you’ve got to think there was something supernatural about this boat and this flood. God was up to something…flooding the earth and saving Noah’s family.

In 1 Peter 3:20 the Bible says just as Noah’s family were brought safely through the waters to new life on the ark, that through Jesus we have gone through the waters of baptism and into a new life with God. You see, there’s a spiritual thing going on in the story. The real point of the story isn’t so much about the total depravity of mankind on the earth, it’s not really about this monstrous ark and the animals, it’s not even so much about the flood…most of all it’s about God making a way to save and change the hearts and lives of Noah and his family.

If you read through the story in Genesis, it’s very specific. Noah, his three sons, his wife and the wives of his sons are the only humans who get on the boat. 1 Peter reaffirms it and says it was eight persons. What we pick up in this is an emphasis on family. In Peter’s other letter, 2 Peter, he mentions that Noah was a preacher…that he preached to the ungodly ancient world about the judgment of God. But no one listened. Only Noah’s household. Noah is only able to save his own.

All throughout Scripture we see and hear about his emphasis on family. To make families. To care for families and to seek the salvation of our families. Noah here cares for his family. By faith, in fear of God, he constructs the ark God told him to make so that his family may be saved.

It presses the question. Why the focus on the family? Here’s what I think. God is a family in his very being, a father, son and Holy Spirit. And the whole reason he creates the world according to Isaiah 43:7 is to create a people for himself…a covenant people.

In that goal there is a welcome of God that has been extended to us, like Noah. To be a part of God’s covenant family. There is a judgment coming, but God constructed a new and better vessel to save the household that belongs to him. Two pieces of wood, nailed together with the son of God crucified on its planks so that all those of Jesus’ house might walk into its arms and be saved. Through Jesus God gathers and makes a people for himself and saves his household.

You see for all the darkness and wrath we read about in the last point, it’s the provision of salvation in this point which enables us to see how loving God is. It’s why I’m not just scared of God but also love him. Because he has first loved me. Though I deserve judgment, he has opened the door and welcomed me in to his graces. It’s all him and his provision!

The ark…it was God’s idea. Noah’s family…really was God’s family. And God cares for his own and saves them. God loved Noah. In the last part of verse 7 he’s called an heir. That’s a family term for one who inherits the property and wealth of their father. So here’s the million dollar question I’ve just sort of been leaving out there…how do you get into God’s family. Why did God choose Noah?

Well, let’s move on to our last point for this morning “God’s Word & The Righteousness It Promises” and I’ll tell ya.

III. God’s Word & The Righteousness It Promises

Here’s the answer. Why did God choose Noah? I don’t know. I dunno. That’s my answer. The Bible doesn’t really tell us. It just says that he does. Genesis 6:8 simply says Noah found favor with God. Now I don’t think by “found” it means discovered, like Noah did something good and won the favor of God, God liked him for it. Remember, Noah was included with those who were evil with bad wicked hearts doing evil things. Even after the whole flood thing, he falls into sin and gets drunk and commits adultery.

Noah’s not a good guy. None of these people in Hebrews or the whole Bible for that matter are. They are all screw ups who need God and discover he is gracious. That’s why I love the story of Noah because it gives hope for people like me and you.

I think what’s going on here, with why God chose him is that favor was founded in him, like established or placed on him. Because the very next verse in Genesis 6 after it talks about Noah finding favor with God, it says then was a righteous man and walked with God and was blameless.

In fact this is the theme almost with every character in Genesis, it’s God’s favor that he sets upon various individuals and their families. In the New Testament in Romans 4 the language that is used is “credited” that righteousness is credited. In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 it’s the result of God’s work in us that makes us “blameless.”

Hebrews actually seems to tell us the clearest thing about how this righteousness or favor came to Noah. Look at the last part of our verse in Hebrews 11. It says Noah “became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”

Let me ask you a question. What do you do to become an heir? Nothing. You are an heir because you are born into the family. So here’s what I think. Why God chose Noah. Simply because he did. He selected Noah out of all the fallen mass of sinful humanity and set his favor on him and made him an heir of righteousness that is by faith.

And this is the best part. Because it’s trustable. Noah believed what God promised he would certainly perform. Noah took God at his word. We’ve said in the past two weeks that faith is convinced sureness and is directed toward either the unseen or the future. When God’s word came to Noah he believed it and result God placed his righteousness upon him and saw to it he was protected and saved.

This is the take home for us. It doesn’t matter who we are, how evil or wicked our hearts are, what things we’ve felt thought and done either before or after becoming a Christian like Noah. What matters is if we take God at his word! We receive the promise of God.

God has promised us judgment for sin but has promised us salvation in Jesus if we put our faith in him. We must put all of our hope and confidence in the sureness of God’s word. It will come through with what it promises. And all it promises it provides.

The question before us is will we trust God’s word or not? Do you trust this book and what it says? Or are you trusting your own book…the one you make up by picking and choosing the things you like or don’t like?

Noah, a sinner, took God at his word and God granted him a righteous covering so that he could safely pass through the waters of judgment. Have you embraced the message of God’s word for your own righteousness? Are you doing that daily? It’s what we need and God offers it to us all in Jesus.

You see, Jesus really is the true and better Noah. Not only because he was and is without sin but he constructs a bigger and better ark on the cross that has room for all who put their faith in him. All those who do get adopted into his family and are carried through the waters into new life and escape the judgment of God.

I don’t know what it’s like to be adopted. Maybe some of you were. To not have a family at all and then at great cost be brought into a loving, caring family and become one of their own. This is what Jesus does for us, at great cost to himself he adopts us in to his family and we receive all of his benefits, the benefits of the heir of heaven…and we are saved.

This is the message of the gospel my friends. It’s a word. A word of faith God has provided for us that if we look on the Lord Jesus Christ, we will be saved.

You see in the first point, it’s a fear of God and his judgment that will come. In the second point it’s the welcome of God in providing a way salvation. In this third point, it’s that God tells me so. He comes and communicates his heart and his plan. His Word. The message of the gospel real simply is a word that tells us there is justice and judgment for sin, but love and salvation in Jesus.

Conclusion

As we conclude today, I want to ask where would God want to work in your heart this morning? Or where has he been working thus far in the service?

I could be wrong but I think the straightforward, simple message of the gospel, sin and savior is one of the reasons why in a time when people are supposed to be getting less religious they’re getting more and seriously considering Christianity.

We know if there’s a God we ought to fear him. Have you ever really had a holy fear of God? Some of you today, maybe need to spend some time on your knees, physically kneeling, recognizing that we don’t worship a teddy bear. We worship a loving God yes, but a frightening and holy God at the same time.

We know if there’s a God he must be loving. Do you know the love and welcome of God? Are you part of the family? Have you been adopted in? If you have are you living like you’re one of the family or have you still been living like an orphan? Are you in the ark with us, it’s an ark built with wood and nailed together in Jesus’ blood and there is room.

God’s Word has given us the message of salvation, through believing Jesus, God grants to us his righteousness and we will be saved from the wrath to come. Are you taking God at his word? Hear the Word of God this morning, believe it and obey it.

All of us here are like Noah. Sinners in need of God’s grace and salvation. But God gives us his righteousness through Jesus Christ so we might be saved. Let’s look to him and trust him. He’s all we need.

Let’s pray.