Noah

[0:00] Genesis chapter 6, looking at Noah. And just as we turn there, I know that there's some news I heard through the week that people were witnessing in Salisbury and they got a bit of a push along from the authorities.

[0:24] So we need to pray for that, don't we? Pray that the Lord doesn't close the door. So the witnessing opportunities, I know Brother Dean was sharing that with me. So I know there's others that go out on the Thursday that goes on.

[0:41] So I want to keep that in prayer, that we keep that open door to keep witnessing down at Salisbury City Centre. Genesis 6, let's stand for the reading of God's Word, shall we?

[0:53] I like that when the mayor walks into the room, they say, let's stand for his worship, the mayor. I don't worship the mayor, but there's an authority there, isn't there?

[1:04] And there's an authority here that we're standing up for. It's like when the Governor General walks in the room or they say, let's stand for the National Anthem. This is much more important, isn't it?

[1:14] Not that we necessarily need to make it a ritual or anything like that, but we're honouring God's Word tonight as we stand. Genesis 6 from verse 8 through 14.

[1:26] But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations.

[1:38] And Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. The earth also was filled, was corrupt before God.

[1:49] And the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth. And behold, it was corrupt. For all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

[2:01] And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh has come before me. For the earth is filled with violence through them. And behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

[2:13] Make thee an ark of gopher wood. Rooms shalt thou make in the ark. And shalt pitch it within and without. With pitch. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for your holy word.

[2:25] For our holy gathering. For our holy attention. Lord, for your word to be declared. And soundly spoken.

[2:38] And keenly received. Lord, all to your praise we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

[2:49] Lord, for your love to be seated. Some lessons we can learn from Noah. Noah and the ark. You know, some people think, Oh, that's just a fairy tale. Just a Sunday school story.

[3:02] But of course we know this is God's account of actual factual history. And the man Noah was a real man.

[3:14] And what it says about him is really true. And we're going to learn some lessons about Noah. Lessons from the life of Noah. One thing we see is in Hebrews 11 verse 7.

[3:27] Hebrews 11 verse 7. Where it reads, By faith, Noah. By faith, Noah. Being warned of God. Of things not seen as yet.

[3:38] Moved with fear. Prepared an ark. To the saving house. By the which he condemned the world. And became heir of the righteousness. Which is by faith. The first lesson we can learn.

[3:53] Is Noah heard God. By faith, Noah. Being warned of God. Of things not seen as yet.

[4:05] He was warned by God. He heard the warning. He heeded the warning. God spoke. And Noah listened. That's what we can learn. A simple truth. When God speaks, we ought to listen.

[4:18] Amen. When God speaks, let's listen. Let's hear what he says. And do it. And so when God gave Noah the command. To build the ark. It was 120 years until the flood.

[4:29] This was God's command. He said. As we read. Make thee an ark. Of gopher wood. It was 120 years.

[4:43] Till the flood came. Noah had what you could call. A long term project. He was in there for the long run. You know God gave him. Plenty of time.

[4:55] To get that project done. And that's a good thing, isn't it? Sometimes we. We've got too little time to get. Done. But God gave Noah. 120 years.

[5:08] And the account of Noah's ark is. So familiar. It's so well known. Nearly every tribe. Even in remote areas. Have records of such a.

[5:18] Worldwide flood. They have. This same. Account. The same story. In part. At least. It's been said that.

[5:29] Anthropologists have collected. Between. 250. And 300. Such. Flood stories. That's amazing. Isn't it? All around the globe.

[5:40] As they. Track through. Ancient. Storytelling. They find this story. Is that just a coincidence? Or is it just another.

[5:54] Evidence. That this is real. It's true. And we can take it. As read. Noah heard. God. Just as well. Noah listened. When God spoke.

[6:07] Just as well. Noah heard God. Because this was a. Worldwide flood. And God's judgment. Fell. On what was a. Godless. And sick. Culture. We read here.

[6:18] How it was violent. People were unrestrained. There was a corruption. There was a. A wickedness. That. The earth was filled.

[6:29] With violence. And. The earth. Was corrupt. For all flesh. Had corrupted his way. It was corrupt.

[6:41] In other words. Ruined. It's like a. A garment. That was ruined. And damaged. And stained. Soiled. That's the picture. Of this. Corruption. This.

[6:53] Damage. That was. Marked. God. And so. We see. Noah. Saved. The human race. From. Annihilation. From extinction.

[7:05] In the great flood. Why? Because Noah. By faith. Being warned of God. He heard God. He believed God. And likewise.

[7:15] We. We just need to. Believe God. And the basis. For faith. Is to trust God. To take him. At his word. Noah. By faith. Warned of God. He heard the warning.

[7:27] And he acted on it. He was warned of things. Not seen yet. No one had seen anything like this. They couldn't have even imagined. What was about to happen. As we read. In Genesis 2.

[7:38] That no rain had ever fallen. From the sky. In. That time. The moisture would come up. And the earth. Had a heavy mist.

[7:50] So. Rain was unknown. It was not. Seen as yet. So. And Noah believed God. Even. For something. That. No one had ever seen.

[8:01] That was faith. Wasn't it? And he believed God. He was moved with fear. And likewise. We. Would do well. To be moved with fear. To take it seriously. To take God's warning.

[8:13] God's. God's. Message. God's word. Take it. Seriously. And be moved with fear. We would do likewise well. To be. Fearing the wrath of God.

[8:25] And fleeing to Christ. To flee to. The Lord Jesus. Now. Noah. At that time. He didn't have. The Bible written down. Like we do. But he had God's word on it.

[8:36] He. Simply obeyed. And trusted God. To take care of things. And we would do well. To take heed. Of God. And hear his word. Now we. Less than Noah.

[8:47] In the sense that we've got it written down. In black and white. And red. In the word. In our hands. Noah didn't have the Bible written down. But he. Heard. God.

[8:59] The second thing we see. A lesson we can learn from Noah. Is that Noah. Walked with God. In Genesis 6 verse 9. We read. These are the generations of Noah.

[9:09] Noah. Noah was a just man. And perfect. In his generations. And. Noah. Walked with God. Noah. Walked.

[9:20] With God. It's not like Noah. Kind of. Just paid God a visit. Every so often. You know. As some. At times. Some church goers think.

[9:31] That. That's their Christian. Kind of duty. To turn up. And make an appearance. And. Kind of. Make their weekly. Show.

[9:42] Of showing up. At a meeting. Or meeting. Noah didn't just stop in. And see God. From meeting to meeting. From week to week.

[9:53] From time to time. It says Noah. Walked with God. He walked with God. Step. After step. After step. Step. One foot. After the other.

[10:03] He walked with God. In step with God. And it was on a daily. Hourly basis. You could think. Of someone walking with you. Arm in arm. Alongside you. With you.

[10:13] Together with you. So Noah's relationship with God. It was not. Some temporary. Passing interest. Not just something that he did. Only when he found the time to. He walked.

[10:25] With God. Walked with God. It was a walk. It was enduring. It was steady. It was continual. And Noah and God. Walked together. Arm in arm.

[10:36] Hand in hand. Lockstep. He walked with God. This was a relationship. That was nurtured. Over hundreds of years. It was a steady.

[10:47] And constant. A lifestyle thing. For Noah. And likewise. For we. It's not like. Our Christianity. Is something we. Turn off. And turn on. Depending where we are. Or who we're with.

[10:57] What we're doing. But our. Christianity. Is a walk. It's a life. It's a life. Commitment. And the name Noah. It means rest. Or comfort.

[11:08] Noah found that rest. That comfort. In God. He found that resting place. He found that. Peace. That. Blessing. Of. Knowing God. Of. Of being with him.

[11:19] Of resting in. In faith. In God. And it says he was perfect. In his generation. So. That's telling us here. That he walked blamelessly. Before.

[11:30] As we read. A wicked. And. Evil. Culture. In a violent. And corrupt. Generation. Filled with violence.

[11:41] This was the. World that Noah lived in. And it says that he was steady. He was. Blameless. He didn't conform to the world around him. And all of its godless ways.

[11:53] He walked in holiness. In. His practical living. In his day by day. So it speaks to us. Of his personal integrity. That's the kind of walk that. Noah had.

[12:04] He had a personal integrity. And so. It says there. As we read. In Genesis 6 verse 9. Noah was a. Just man. A just man.

[12:16] And this word. Just. It means righteous. He was declared righteous. So Noah like all other sinners. Who find acceptance of God. He was justified.

[12:28] By grace. Through faith. By grace. Through faith. Righteousness. Righteousness is something that's imputed to us. That believe. It's something that's. Granted to us.

[12:39] God declares you. You're righteous. You're righteous. You're righteous. Because he makes you righteous. He counts you righteous. He imputes. In other words. He.

[12:51] Transfers his righteousness to you. And takes your unrighteousness. In place. And the. Righteousness. We see here. In Noah.

[13:01] And. In all. Through the word. Is imputed. It's. A gift. It's granted. It's. Counted. By God. It's credited. To our account.

[13:13] And. It's an exchange. It's a transfer. So. Noah. Was a just man. In Romans 4 verse 6. It says. Even as David also. Describeth the blessedness.

[13:24] Of the man. Unto whom God. Imputeth. Righteousness. Without works. David. Describes the blessedness. Of the man. To whom God.

[13:34] Imputeth. Righteousness. Without works. So. In other words. God. Declares us. Righteous. Without our works. He counts you righteous.

[13:45] He imputes it. He. He. Legally. Declares it. Over you. Upon you. Within you. You are righteous. Without works.

[13:56] This is what. Noah. New. The righteousness. Which is by faith. Noah. Was a just man. Even with Noah though.

[14:09] He still. Had a blot. On his record. Later. Later in life. We know that. Noah. After he got. Off the ark. It shows that he. Even such a righteous man.

[14:21] Had his weaknesses. He got drunk. And. Was a poor witness. And. Further sin. In his drunken state. And so he's seen.

[14:33] We can. Likewise. Being. Like Noah. As. Righteous. Yet. Still. With weaknesses. And so. We need to walk. With God. Walk.

[14:43] With God. The word. Tells us. About this walk. How we can be followers. Of God. As dear children. In Ephesians 5. To walk in love. Ephesians 5.

[14:55] To walk as children. Of light. Exposing. Reproving. The sins. Of darkness. And to walk as wise. Understanding. What the will. Of the Lord is.

[15:06] All of those are in Ephesians 5. Followers of God. Walking in love. Walking as children of light. Walking as wise. Noah walked. With God. So we've seen so far.

[15:18] That Noah. Heard God. We see. Noah. Walked with God. Thirdly. We see. Noah. Worked. For God.

[15:29] He worked. For God. In Hebrews 11. 7. In part. It says. He prepared. An ark. He prepared. An ark. And it was. For the saving. Of his household.

[15:40] Of his family. Noah was concerned. About the salvation. Of his own family. He wanted. His family. To be saved. So he made room. For them.

[15:50] In the ark. He prepared. An ark. To the saving. Of his house. His household. So he began. Building. Before. The first. Raindrop. Landed. Noah.

[16:01] Noah. Worked. For God. And what a blessing. That his family. Was saved. I'd like to see. My family saved. I'd like to see. My family in church. I'd like God.

[16:12] To do. In them. And. I guess. It's really. Encumber. On me. To set. An example. To them. A good example.

[16:24] And for all of us. For us. As parents. Want to set. An example. So that our children. Follow us. And commit. To following Christ. To being in church. It's important.

[16:36] Noah. Worked for God. He prepared. An ark. He wanted to protect. His family. Very important. For all of us. Someone has posed. The question. Are you obeying God.

[16:48] Today. In your life. Remember. That partial. This. Partial obedience. Is disobedience. What if Noah. Had only built. Half of the ark. That would have been.

[17:00] A disaster. Wouldn't it? God told Noah. Exactly what to do. And Noah. Did exactly that. God told Noah. The exact size. Of the ark. And he gave him.

[17:11] Specific instructions. Of how it was. To be shaped. Of the different sizes. And dimensions. How big it was. To be. And what type of wood. To use. And how to cover it.

[17:21] To pitch it. To coat it. The ark. Was 137 metres long. 23 metres wide. And 14 metres high.

[17:32] It was huge. It had some. Various rooms. It was divided into. It had. Three decks. And a door.

[17:44] In the side. And with the ark. Its length. Its breadth. Its depth. Its size. Was set. Specifically. Exactly.

[17:54] Exactly. As God. Had designed it to be. And Noah. Followed. Those. Directions. And with the ark. Its length. Was six times. Its width. And.

[18:05] Engineers. Have. This. That. This was. Just. Right. To keep that vessel. Stable. In the midst. Of tossing seas.

[18:16] It was perfectly. It was perfectly. Designed. Purpose. And the dimensions. Made it impossible. Virtually. To capsize.

[18:27] It was so well designed. And as a rectangle. It had more stability. And as a rectangle. As this. Shape. This. The dimensions of it.

[18:37] Being a rectangle. It. Did not have. Pointed ends. Or rounded sides. And so. It had even larger capacity. Due to this.

[18:49] Than. A similar sized ship. That had a hull. It had a gross. Tonnage of. 1,415.

[18:59] Thousand tons. Its internal space was. People have reckoned it. 100,000 square feet. Its volume. Was 1.5 million cubic feet.

[19:11] It was massive. It was a massive boat. No one had ever seen anything like it before. And some have calculated. That its capacity. Was equal to. 522.

[19:24] Boxcars. So. You see those. Railroad carriages. I guess. Alight to those. Freight containers. That. These. Boxcars. These. If you'd like.

[19:36] 522. Of them. Could have. Fit. Inside this. Vessel. And. Some have reckoned. With a boxcar. With such a. Shape.

[19:47] This could carry. 240. Sheep. So. When you do the math. It's 522. Of these boxes. Each of which. Could carry. 240.

[19:58] Sheep. Sheep. So this vessel. Could have carried. A total of. 125. Thousand sheep. 125. Thousand sheep.

[20:09] Now. A sheep is just. Used to picture. What would. What could be regarded. As a kind of. Average size animal. It's a kind of. Average sized.

[20:20] Kind of animal. Some animals. Of course. Are bigger. Some smaller. So. One could say. From these figures. That. This vessel. Could handle.

[20:31] As many as. 125. Thousand. Animals. That's a lot. Isn't it? 125. Thousand. Animals. So. And of course. It is possible. That some of these animals.

[20:42] Could have been. In a state of hibernation. As often. Happens with. Certain animals. But nevertheless. This vessel. Certainly could carry.

[20:52] Two of every species. Of animal. In the world. Of course. We know. That. We would. Understand.

[21:03] Likely. There was. Just. A dog kind. For example. Rather than. Foxes. And wolves. And. Spaniels. And. Whatever it be. Different types of.

[21:13] Dogs. For example. That there was a. A dog type. Animal. And likewise. Other kinds of. Types of animals. That would have. Lessened the number. That you would have had.

[21:24] To. Ensure that every. Species of animal. Was. In the ark. And so. There was enough space. For Noah. And his family. And some additional space.

[21:35] For. Obviously. Animals. For sacrifice. And for food. It's clear. People have calculated. That it's very clear. That the ark. Was large enough.

[21:45] As much as some would mock. And question. And be skeptical. The ark. Was large enough. To hold. All the required animals. People. And food. With room to spare.

[21:56] And only supernatural revelation. Could so design a ship. Of that size. Of that dimension. To contain that population. Of animals. And it's interesting. With this great vessel.

[22:08] That there's no navigation system. No rudder. Noah. Noah. Noah. Had no control. Over this vessel. God was the captain.

[22:19] Of this vessel. Of this ship. And. The Lord steered the ark. And kept its occupants. Safe. And dry. And after 40 days. And nights of rain.

[22:30] And flood conditions. That lasted. 150 days. When the flood waters. Began to recede. Now it's interesting. That. The top 3,000 feet.

[22:41] Of Mount Everest. Which is. At an altitude. Of from. 26,000. To 29,000 feet. Obviously. The highest mountain. The top 3,000 feet.

[22:54] Of Mount Everest. Is made up of sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rock. So it's. All sorts of. Organisms. And. Fossils.

[23:04] And what not. In this. These rock layers. And they found. Seashells. And other. Ocean dwelling. Animals. In. The.

[23:14] 3,000 feet. At the top. Of. Mount Everest. So we see. That the whole world. Was covered with water. Sedimentary rock. Has been found.

[23:24] All over the world. And sedimentary rock. Is formed in water. So. These are. An evidence for us. That this is true. This is no fairy story.

[23:36] This is fact. It's reality. This is the account. Of history. His story. History. And we see. Petrified clams.

[23:47] You know. Those clams. In the open position. All over the world. This testifies to their rapid burial. While they were still alive. Even.

[23:57] On the top of Mount Everest. There's many evidences you could cite. That. This account. Is real. It's true. And you can stake your life. Your eternity. On. The factual.

[24:08] Actual. Believable. Word of God. It's true. So Noah worked for God. Another way that Noah worked for God. Aside from building the ark. Is that Noah.

[24:18] Was the world's first evangelist. You could say. Noah. Took. 120 years. It could be less than that. There's some question.

[24:30] How long he actually took. It's not actually spelled out. But. Some. Close to. Certainly. Within that time span. Of 120 years.

[24:41] He built the ark. Within that time span. He might have spent 60 years building it. It's not. Spelled out. But all the while. While he was building this ark. Would have been like a great big billboard.

[24:53] Wouldn't it? A great big advertising. Thing. You know. This is. This fool. They would have said. Noah. Middle of the wilderness.

[25:04] This crazy galoot. All the while. He was preaching God's truth. To the people around him. Noah believed God. He heard God.

[25:19] He acted on God's warning. Noah built an ark. He worked for God. And all the while. He was preaching God's truth.

[25:31] To the people around. They'd have thought him crazy. What a nutcase. He preached the world. He preached to the world. A coming.

[25:43] Of judgment. The coming wrath of God. Would have taken such courage. And God calls us to that today. In our time. In our day.

[25:53] In our world. The problem wasn't that God didn't send a warning. He did. The problem was that people didn't listen. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It's like some people when you try to witness to them, isn't it?

[26:09] Noah's neighbours had 120 years to trust and believe in God. But they would not listen. Noah did listen. And he followed God's direction.

[26:20] So no matter what. We should keep on working. When we see as Noah's time. It seemed he had little to show. At least his family was safe.

[26:31] Praise God for that. That was a blessing for him. But no matter what. We should keep on going. And keep on working. Even when it seems. Too hard.

[26:43] 2 Peter 2 verse 5. It says Noah was a preacher of righteousness. And this word preacher. In 2 Peter 2 verse 5.

[26:55] It stems from the meaning of herald. One who announces. There's a certain heralding. And announcing. A declaring.

[27:07] As someone who would march before the king. As he comes into the town. Hear ye. Hear ye. Hear all about it.

[27:19] That was the sense of it. He was a preacher. Of righteousness. He was saying. Get ready. There's something big coming. I'm a herald. Of righteousness.

[27:30] And even when he wasn't saying anything. His very labour on the ark. Would have been his witness. What a loud witness that would have been. Just.

[27:41] Here's. A great big boat. In the middle of dry land. And though the whole world was full of evil. Noah stood against the tide.

[27:52] God had a rescue plan. And he still has today. God will preserve. And sustain his people. And so. The ark. Is God's plan. To save us. That was Noah's message.

[28:08] And. The ark. Pictures. God's plan. To save us. As we look back. At the ark. And the. Typology.

[28:20] The. The kind of meaning. That. It speaks to us of. What. The meaning. Of the ark is. It speaks to us. Of. The safety.

[28:31] That is in Christ. It speaks to us. Of the shelter. Of the. Entering in. To Christ. And of being. Kept safe. In him.

[28:42] We simply. Have to enter in. It speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the ark. He is the one. Who saves. And. The word tells us.

[28:54] As our Lord says. As in the days of Noah. So shall it be. I come again. And. As. It was. In the days of Noah. We are faced.

[29:05] With a choice too. We are faced. With a choice. This world is corrupt. It's filled with violence. Now what's the most popular. Movies. Or. Video games.

[29:16] Violence. Violence. Violence. Violence. People can't get enough of it. Corruption. Corruption. Corruption. They just soak it in. Soak it in. Through the eye gate. Through the ear gate.

[29:27] You're just bombarded with corruption and violence. As it was. In the days of Noah. We are faced with a choice.

[29:38] As society grows more and more corrupt morally. More violent. More hateful to God. And there's mockers. As in the days of Noah.

[29:51] Who wants to hear this? We know in our days. We are in the latter days. Until he comes. His coming is at the doors.

[30:03] And it's more like the days of Noah. And the days of Lot. The world is evil. And careless again. Corrupt. Judgment is imminent. And so.

[30:14] Oughtn't we to be as Noah. Oughtn't we to learn the lessons that Noah learnt. Some people will miss the boat. That's what happened. That's what happened.

[30:27] That's what happened, isn't it? God. Shut the door. God shut the door. When will God shut the door?

[30:40] Some people will miss the boat. It's interesting. The ark rested on Mount Ararat. And Ararat means holy ground. And notice.

[30:51] It says in Genesis 8 to close. What Noah did. First up. When he got out of the ark. Genesis 8 verse 20.

[31:02] It says. And Noah built an altar unto the Lord. And took of every clean beast and of every clean fowl offerings on the altar. He deliberately had those extra fowl and beast that he could offer them.

[31:17] It was important to Noah to worship God. Noah worshipped God. He prepared an altar on Ararat. Holy ground.

[31:28] What will we learn from Noah tonight? It says Noah heard God. He heard God. By faith warned.

[31:39] And he built an ark. He worked for God. Constructing the ark. And being an evangelist. And being a witness. He was a righteous man. A just man. He walked with God.

[31:51] Walked with God. Don't be a kind of hit or miss Christian. Walk with God. One step after the other. Day by day.

[32:02] Moment by moment. Be with God. And here with you. Don't make your Christianity a switch on switch off kind of affair.

[32:13] Where you're just a kind of part time half hearted Christian. Amen. And Noah worshipped God. He worshipped God. He counted that as the most important thing he could do.

[32:25] As he set foot on the dry land after so many days in the ark. Noah built an altar. And he offered unto the Lord.

[32:38] So friends tonight. As it was in the days of Noah. So shall it be in the coming of the Son of Man. Noah's story. The ark story. Is actual factual fact.

[32:51] It's history. And it's evidence in the world around us. For those who will just have eyes to see. Let's be honest.

[33:02] We found grace in the eyes of the Lord. That is what matters most. At the end of it all. To sum it all up. That is what matters most.

[33:13] Of Noah's life. That like Noah and his family. We can find grace in the eyes of the Lord. Now there's grace in the cross tonight. There's grace in God's mercy extended.

[33:28] Still. It's not shut the door. There's still time. Don't miss the boat. If you're not a Christian tonight. Don't wait. Don't wait.

[33:39] Let us pray. Lord we thank you that Noah found grace in your eyes. And Lord we too can find that grace. That you extended across.

[33:51] Where you bled in the person of your son. And took the shame and the penalty. The weight of all our guilt. And paid for it in full. Lord we thank you. Mercy extended still.

[34:04] To a world that's corrupt and filled with violence. A world that's alike to Noah's day. Even to the mockers you extend. Your offer of grace Lord.

[34:15] While they will have ears to hear. And a heart to receive Lord. Let us be a people like Noah. Found just. Made just.

[34:26] Declared just. Declared righteous. By your work. In us. Let us be a people that hear your word. We don't take it lightly. We hold it firmly.

[34:37] We hold it fast. In faith. We believe it. Every word of it. Lord and let us be a people that will work for you. As Noah did. Not be deterred.

[34:48] Not be detoured. Not be dissuaded. Not be sidetracked. Not be misled. Lord but to walk with you. And to know every step of life's journey.

[35:01] That you are there at our right hand. And we walk with you. In your steps. Lord be glorified in us.

[35:14] Help us to be a people that witness. Through the testimony and the integrity of our lives. And when we fail as Noah did. We'll still find grace in your eyes Lord.

[35:25] And you'll set us back where we need to be. Lord help us to find grace in your eyes. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Thank you.