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[0:00] Noah's life was against the backdrop of evil, an evil world, an immoral world. Mankind was set on a self-destructive path in utter rebellion against the Lord.

[0:15] ! It says the wickedness of man was great in the earth. Multitudes of folk were bent on evil and destruction and immorality.

[0:27] Man was bent on this evil course of life continually, turning away from the good and the right, bent on disobeying God. But the good news is, it tells us here, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

[0:41] Noah found grace. Noah stood out from this immoral world that he lived in. He was from another world. He was righteous. He was different. And it is possible, friends, today, for you, for me, to live different in this world.

[0:57] And Noah, certainly, he was different. A man of courage. A lone voice for truth. A bold proclaimer of God's message. For 120 years, Noah had a holy boldness. He was courageous. He did not follow the crowd.

[1:14] Noah spoke boldly in God's name against the odds, against the trends, against the flow, against the crowd. Of course, you can see, as pictured here, people mocking and laughing and snide remarks and deriding, hecklers.

[1:31] Noah was a saved man. And it was saved. He was the eighth person. Eight people were saved when the flood came. Only eight people. Here was Noah faithfully preaching.

[1:42] I'm sure he'd have been struck down the line. You know, you couldn't have got a better preacher than Noah. You know, he was God's man for the day. The ark, as it was being built, would have stood out as a landmark in that flat and desolate plain.

[2:02] And people would have thought it a great big joke. But Noah, it says in 2 Peter 2, he was a preacher of righteousness. A preacher of righteousness.

[2:13] Noah was a man of courage that he would stand against the tide of the day. Noah was a preacher who showed a care for souls. For many years he preached without a single convert.

[2:25] Only his family took notice of his preaching. We see the great character of courage. And secondly, we see a great character of faith. That he had faith to trust God as he was pointing skyward.

[2:38] He knew that there was coming a great flood. A great judgement was to pour out on planet Earth. He had faith. And he faithfully delivered the message. And he had faith that the ark that he was preparing, according to God's instruction, would hold him and those that God delivered and the animals of the world to safely deliver them beyond the flood.

[3:00] Noah faithfully delivered that message to the hostile, godless world of his day. His faith and resolve were strong, despite their rejection of the Saviour.

[3:13] And Galatians 6 verse 9, it says, It encourages you and me, it says, Let us not be weary in well-doing. For in due season we shall reap if we faint not.

[3:27] So be encouraged, brother, sister. Labour on. Faint not. Don't get weary in well-doing. Another feature, another characteristic of this man, Noah, was that Noah was described as being just and perfect.

[3:46] The word just, it means righteous. In Genesis 6 verse 9, it says, These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations.

[3:59] And Noah walked with God. He was righteous. He did what was right. It will show. It will shine through. And for Noah it did. He was described as perfect. That word, it speaks of integrity and truth.

[4:11] There was something about his character. And Noah lived by faith. His faith moved him with godly fear. It says in Hebrews 11 verse 7, that his faith moved him.

[4:23] He had godly fear. And he was moved to prepare an ark. And so, faith prompted obedience. Faith has got an action to it.

[4:34] It's like it's been said, faith is an action word. It's not just a passive thing. Faith is really an active trusting. A holding fast. An adhering.

[4:46] A sticking onto. A cleaving unto. That is what faith means. And faith is really an obedience to Christ and to his call. And we see that for Noah, there was that wonderful obedience that he had.

[5:02] And there was a godly fear. A godly fear as he entered the ark. And as he saw God's wonderful drawing of all the animals that he would save into that place of safety.

[5:15] That there was a godly fear that prompted Noah as he continued to implore, to beg, to urge, to plead the people. Come. Come into the ark.

[5:26] Come into the ark. And yet, they wouldn't have a bar of it. They just wanted to have their fun of poking fun at him.

[5:37] Godly fear. We need some godly fear in our day. As we see the storm approaching, there's a godly fear that should prompt us, that should urge us, that should prevail upon us to do something about salvation.

[5:51] Because the time of judgment is certainly at hand. As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of Man. Now we've got a short clip here.

[6:03] And please pay attention if you would. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void.

[6:15] And darkness was upon the face of the deep. And God said, let there be light. And there was light. And God saw the light. And it was good.

[6:26] And God saw the light. And it was good. God died.

[6:55] And died. And died. And died. And died. And died. And died. And died. And died. And died. And died.

[7:06] died. died.! I want you to know, church, that Jesus Christ could come this month.

[7:28] Or he might come next week. Or he could even come... What if you're not ready?

[8:12] You'll be left behind as those people were. As it was in the days of Noah. God is going to close the door of the ark. He's going to say, time's up. You've had enough time to get on board.

[8:24] And we need that urgency. You see a picture of some people rushing to get to the ark at the last minute. As the storm clouds break and they suddenly realise, hey, maybe Noah was right after all.

[8:39] And they're here pictured running to the ark. But the Bible says that God shut the door. Some people are going to leave it till death's door. Till their deathbed thinking that they're going to make a last minute confession and get right with God at the nth hour of their life.

[8:57] But friends, we don't know how long. We don't know. God's going to shut the door. Could be snap. We're face to face with eternity. And there's only two destinations.

[9:07] Friends, there's a real need for that godly fear. That godly fear. For that urgency. That we won't get left outside the ark. We see here pictured that awful dread time of God's judgement upon the earth.

[9:22] Friends, we've got no time to mess about. And it could be just as pictured in that clip. That it could just come so suddenly when we're not prepared. And the ark is a picture of salvation.

[9:37] The ark is, in a way, a representation of Christ. We need to have that urgency. Are you in the ark? Have you put your trust in Christ?

[9:50]  Have you stepped into Christ? Have you stepped into Christ?