Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/church4u/sermons/86378/noah/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] Matthew 24 verse 37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.

[0:23] It goes on, 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, and here not until the flood came, and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.

[0:49] What can we learn from Noah? What can Noah teach us today? In Hebrews 11 verse 7 it says, By faith, Noah.

[1:04] Our days are as the days of Noah were. People were preoccupied with all kinds of things. The average everyday run-of-the-mill life was going on all around, busy, to-ing and fro-ing, little thought for God, little thought for the eternal things.

[1:26] Noah is relevant for us today, because it's as the days of Noah shall, so shall it be in the last days. So, friends, I believe we are in the last days of planet Earth.

[1:40] It's later than it's ever been. It's not going to get any later than, well it is going to get later than it is right now, because it's a few seconds later now, after what I just said. But it's later than it's ever been, hasn't it?

[1:52] In the history of planet Earth, and it's exciting times to be alive, to know that our Lord is coming very soon. And in Noah's day we read, in 2 Peter 2 verse 5, that God 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.

[2:17] God 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. Friends, today, destruction is in store.

[2:29] Destruction is in store for planet Earth. Destruction is in store for the world of the ungodly again. God did not spare them. In Noah's day there was gospel preaching. Of course, we know the gospel in fullness wasn't there, but it was in picture form.

[2:46] It was in type form. The cross hadn't happened, but it was still preached in prospect. The gospel was preached. Righteousness was preached. It was an upholding of God's truth.

[2:58] Likewise, in this world, in our world, as we heard even this morning, the message has to be declared. We must declare it. In this ungodly world, the message must be declared boldly.

[3:11] The truth must be preached. Because there's so much falsehood around us. Now, our friends who attended some not so truthful meetings. There's falsehood abounding.

[3:23] And people are being swept into it all around us. As I referred this morning, there's a family in contact with the church. The JWs are there knocking on their door, sitting down with Bibles open.

[3:35] It all sounds so nice, having a Bible study. But it's according to the watchtower, not according to the Word of God. Friends, these are people that we care about in our acquaintance as a church.

[3:47] And we want to help them with the gospel truth, with gospel preaching. And we need that so desperately, because as our preacher shared this morning too, the cults are only too quick to step in.

[4:00] They're only too quick to advance into these untouched areas, into where there may be receptive peoples. And we know it happens all too often.

[4:11] And then once they're in, they've got the foothold, and they've got the starting ahead of the truth. The true gospel preachers and the true church of God. Those that are holding fast to the message of God's salvation, by grace, through faith.

[4:29] And so, godly action is needed more than ever before in our world that we live. And Noah can teach us. Noah was moved with fear. He was moved with fear.

[4:40] He was moved. Something happened with Noah. He was moved. He wasn't static and stagnant and stationary. He was moved. He was activated. By faith, Noah.

[4:53] Hebrews 11, 7. Faith cometh by hearing. And the first thing we particularly could notice, for example, with Noah, is that he heard the word.

[5:04] He heard the word. Noah had ears to hear God. God spoke. And Noah heard. God's voice was declared. God's word was given.

[5:16] God's warning was given. And Noah heard it. And Noah heard it. He had ears to hear. Turn to Hebrews 11, 7. In our world today, just like in Noah's day, we need to hear the word of God.

[5:33] The word of God. Hebrews 11, verse 7. By faith, Noah. Hebrews 11, 7. The context, of course, of Hebrews 11.

[5:45] Of faith. Of trust in Christ. Of soul-saving faith. By faith, Noah. Being warned of God. By faith, Noah. Being warned of God.

[5:55] 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.

[6:10] Dear people tonight. Are you a Noah kind of person? Are you a Noah kind of person? Who'll have a Noah kind of faith? A Noah kind of faith that will heed the warning from God.

[6:24] By faith, Noah. Being warned of God. Friends, we're warned of God too. We're warned of God. It's a fearful thing. To fall into the hands of the living God.

[6:36] Don't mess with God. Don't play church. Don't pretend you're a Christian. Get the real thing. By faith, Noah.

[6:47] Being warned of God. Do you hear God's word? Do you hear God's warning? Don't tread lightly. Don't trifle with the things of God.

[6:59] God forbid. I believe that. Not only did God heed God's warning. He relayed it. He relayed the warning. That God had warned him of the judgment to come.

[7:13] As we read that elsewhere it says, Noah was a preacher of righteousness. Not only was he an heir of righteousness, as we read in Hebrews 11, 7, he was a preacher of righteousness.

[7:28] Noah was preaching righteousness. Yet men hardened their hearts. We read in Genesis 6 of the world of Noah's time. And God saw. He looked down.

[7:40] And he saw the wickedness of man. He saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth. And that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

[7:57] And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth. And it grieved him at his heart. Now God's got feelings.

[8:10] Do we ever think of that? And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth. Both man and beast and creeping thing and the fowls of the air.

[8:24] For it repents of me that I have made them. Now sometimes we don't fully grasp the reality of what these verses are telling us.

[8:36] And it really was highlighted to me when I was doing some study of this. At the time of the flood, some have said, as an estimate, there could have been some 235 million people on the earth.

[8:54] We don't know. But best guess is certainly there was hundreds of millions of people on the earth. Now that's a staggering figure, isn't it?

[9:05] 235 million people. We don't know exactly the figure, but certainly 100 million at least. Certainly could be in the 200, 300 million mark of people on the earth.

[9:18] How many people were saved? Eight people. We think broad is the way that leadeth to destruction.

[9:30] I mean, there could be some here that aren't saved. Very, very likely. There could be some here tonight. As much as all of you, I think, are professing Christians.

[9:41] There could be some not saved here today. They might think they're saved, but they're not. What a tragic thing it would be. Now we think 235 million eight saved.

[9:54] That puts it into context, doesn't it? You know, it's almost like I read something lately because of this talk of the end of the world that maybe the rapture has happened and we've all been left behind.

[10:05] You know, I'm not saying that today. I'm just saying that's firmly tongue-in-cheek tonight. But this thing that I read saying, maybe there was some godly man who was living in it as a hermit somewhere and he got raptured.

[10:19] Or, you know, there's the odd person. It might be one person per continent got raptured. And we've all been left behind because we're not right with God. We're not an overcomer. I mean, I'm not saying there's total false doctrine on preaching tonight.

[10:32] But I'm just telling you tonight that sometimes we think, how many Christians are there? And I know someone was telling me lately they think maybe 5% of us Aussies are Christians.

[10:44] I think they'd be certainly more like under 1%, I reckon. But it's really hard to judge, isn't it? Only God, the God of all the earth shall do right. And he knows them that are his.

[10:56] But we read Hebrews 11, 7. By faith Noah 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 an heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

[11:13] There's a needful time, a needful message of warning. And it's now that we need to be warning people. Yes, a message of warning. A message of condemnation.

[11:26] Yes, even condemnation. Because Noah, he condemned the world. God saw the wickedness of men. We should feel condemned for the wickedness of men.

[11:40] The wickedness of humanity of which we are a part. And God's heart was grieved. His heart was grieved. That should make us consider the warnings of the word of God and take them seriously.

[11:54] What does it say in Colossians 1? It tells us of the context in verse 27, Of the hope that is in you. Christ in you. The hope of glory. That we should make him known.

[12:06] The riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. Verse 28. Whom we preach, warning every man. And teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

[12:27] Now, I for a while find it hard to tell people off. I was feeling like telling my dad off this morning. I thought he was being quite inappropriate. I'll rebuke him later.

[12:38] I can rebuke him kind of in a collective. It's easy to rebuke people in a collective sense, isn't it? But when you actually got to stand face to face, eyeball to eyeball and warn people.

[12:52] Sometimes that's hard to do, isn't it? But men and women of God here today, we need every one of us individually to be warned. To be warned.

[13:03] It tells us to rebuke sharply. I've got a friend who has taken somewhat of an offensive.

[13:13] I don't know how anyone can find me offensive. But a friend who takes some offense at some of the things I say, and some of the things I preach.

[13:26] And they say things like, you're judging again. Andrew, you're judging again. You might offend somebody. I read somewhere where someone was saying about judging.

[13:40] Saying, oh, that person's judging. And the person retorted back, you're judging by saying I'm judging. So, there is a place of judging.

[13:51] We've got to judge righteous judgment. Everybody judges. You might judge me and I might judge you. And who knows who's right, but let's judge righteous judgment.

[14:02] Let's be word-led. Spirit-led. And there's a time to be offensive. There's a time to offend. And we can get offended about all kinds of trivialities.

[14:16] There's people getting offended about biscuits this morning. People getting offended about not having cups of coffee and tea this morning. And I thought we were going to have a church split today because of it. This is the danger of carnality amongst the people of God.

[14:33] How people need a warning. They need a shake-up. They need a shake-up from their apathy and pettiness and fleshliness.

[14:46] Let's face it. Friends, you're judging again. I'm judging you today. I'm judging me. You might offend somebody.

[14:58] God forbid that you should offend anyone when you come to church. We want everyone to have a touchy feeling, warm and fuzzy. You know, seeker-sensitive. Make you just feel just that little buzz inside that you want to come back again.

[15:12] God forbid that we should offend someone who's a new person here tonight. You're judging again. You might offend someone. What about whether God is offended?

[15:25] What if it offends him? What if God is offended? What if it's offensive to God? Our sin. What then? Ought we to be concerned about that?

[15:37] Sin is offensive. Sin is offensive. God is grieved. This world is subject to the judgment of God. And if you're not right with God.

[15:48] Woe to me if I preach not the gospel. Woe to any of us if we just gloss over sin and brush it under the carpet and think no one's going to notice or no one's going to say something to offend me.

[16:02] We need to be offended. If it offends God, we need to be offended. We need to heed God's warning and relay it. Sound his warning to others. By faith Noah.

[16:13] He warned every man. But how many heard? How many responded? There's a warning from God. Noah teaches us there's a warning from God. Secondly, Noah teaches us there's a walking with God.

[16:27] There's a walking with God. As we read on in Genesis 6. God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. Verse 8. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

[16:42] These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect in all his generations. And Noah walked with God. A just man and perfect in his generations.

[16:55] And Noah walked with God. Noah just grab a hold of that phrase. Noah walked with God. What a testimony.

[17:05] There was something about Noah, wasn't there? Are you one who's Noah like? Noah, by faith walk with God. You can walk with God down in your day job.

[17:19] You can walk with God down at the shopping centre. You can walk with God down at the school place.

[17:30] At the home place. In the neighbourhood. When you can walk your dog, you can walk with God.

[17:42] In a reality, you can. Wherever you walk, God can walk with you. That's wonderful, isn't it? That God would deign to walk with us in our humanity.

[17:54] Noah stood out from the crowd because he was walking differently from the ungodly world. He had the righteousness which was by faith. And he was walking with God. Are you one by faith walking with him?

[18:08] In sweet communion. Prayerfully. Reverently. Closely with him. Thank God for his grace. Have you found grace like Noah had? Have you found his grace?

[18:21] You know, there's a reality here. Have you found grace? Where is grace?

[18:32] It's in the eyes of God. Those eyes one day that will be eyes flaming as a fire. Eyes that will penetrate and burn like x-ray vision and see the very core of you.

[18:47] And try the very reins and inner parts of your heart. God looked upon Noah with grace. God looked upon us. We could understand it now as Christians that God looked through the finished work of Christ, even though it hadn't happened yet.

[19:12] God looked down at Noah because of the grace that he was going to give to him through Christ's work at the cross. Because Noah was just by faith.

[19:26] In Romans 3.26 it says of God that he's the righteous one and he is just. And in Romans 3.26 he is the justifier. He is the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

[19:40] So when it says that Noah was just or righteous, it was because of faith. It was because the justifier had justified him. God makes us just.

[19:51] God forgives us. And thank God that when we're made just, we're made to walk with God. Step by step by step. It's a walk. Thank God the Christian life, it's a walk.

[20:02] It's not a sprint. It's a long distance event, isn't it? It's a marathon. It's a walk. It's a walking with God.

[20:13] Step by step. In relationship with God. And the word tells us in various places that God is looking down on the sons of men.

[20:24] God is looking upon the earth. God is looking and searching across planet earth. For example, in John 4.23, he's looking for worshippers. He's looking for worshippers.

[20:34] And God is looking upon the earth. And we read in Genesis 6, it goes on of how Noah begat three sons, Shampam and Japheth. The earth was corrupt with violence.

[20:47] And God looked upon the earth and behold it was corrupt. God looked upon the earth and behold it was corrupt. And we see then, as God said, The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them.

[21:03] And behold, I will destroy them with the earth. But thank God while he looked upon the earth and he saw the ungodly world, he saw that the earth was filled with violence, he saw that all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth, God looked upon the earth and Noah found grace in the eyes of God.

[21:22] Thank God that he can look upon you. If you're a safe man or woman today, God looks upon you with grace. And his eyes are filled with grace towards you.

[21:35] And you can walk with him. Who are you walking with? That's the question. Who are you taking along the journey of life? By faith Noah.

[21:45] He was warned. The word came to him and he heard it. He was walking. God made him just. And God looked with grace.

[21:57] And thirdly, we see that not only was he warned and he walked with God, but there was something about the faith that was active. He worked with God.

[22:10] God used Noah to build the earth. Now, that meant Noah had a lot of work to do, didn't it? He wasn't just saved.

[22:24] He was saved and given something to do. And that's true for every one of you. Every one of us. It says, God told Noah, Make thee an ark of gopher wood.

[22:36] Room shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. God gave Noah specific instructions of what to do. Simple instructions. Actually, they weren't that specific.

[22:46] It was fairly broad dimensions that he gave. He said, go build it. So God gave Noah a commission, a job to do. And God gave Noah, I guess, a degree of freedom within the constraints of the dimensions he gave him of how he was going to build that ark.

[23:03] We don't know all the details of what Noah put into that ark. But it's wonderful to think that God would pick a man and his family and save them and use them to build this magnificent vessel to be that safe place for humanity and the animal kingdom to continue beyond the flood.

[23:27] Noah had to trust God. And he made the ark. And he travelled in it. So he had to trust God, not only in making it, but then in riding in it. And interestingly, as he travelled in this ark, it had no rudder.

[23:42] He had to trust God wherever the ark was going to be taken by the floodwaters. And Genesis 6.22, it says that Noah did according to all that God commanded him. So people tonight, think of it.

[23:53] Noah obeyed in faith and he acted in faith. Something about his faith was evident. It was productive. Think of it. 120 years of toil, of labour.

[24:06] Well, we don't know exactly how long he took. Some say he might have only spent 100 years, 98. It's all a bit, it's not defined specifically in here.

[24:16] But within a 120 years time frame, somewhere in that time frame he built the ark. It could have taken him the whole time of that. It was a mammoth construction project. We don't know some of the details, whether it was just his family.

[24:32] He could have engaged labour. He could have engaged others to help build the ark. Some of that detail we don't know.

[24:43] But we do know that ark was huge. It was huge. In fact, it's been said that it wasn't until about 1884 that a vessel larger than the ark was built. And it was God's perfect design.

[24:54] The ark had a ratio of length, width and height that was, according to shipbuilders, represented advanced knowledge of shipbuilding.

[25:08] Because the people in the know of shipbuilding say that's the optimum design. 30 by 5 by 3 is the optimum design for stability in rough seas.

[25:20] So it was perfectly designed by God. Virtually impossible to capsize. It would have been tilted over 90 degrees in order to capsize.

[25:32] So it was perfectly designed by God. But it was made by Noah. That's a wonderful thought, isn't it? That our faith can be alive. That God can use you.

[25:44] Isn't that wonderful to know? That God can use me. God can use you. And some of us have got a few rough edges. I know I cringe when some people do things in this church.

[25:55] But we've got to have the degree of trusting God that God can use the weakest and the foolish.

[26:09] God can use those that are most inadequate. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. He's ordained that we should walk in them, it says in Ephesians 2.10.

[26:23] Colossians 1.10. It talks about walking worthy, being fruitful in every good work. Colossians 1.29. Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working which worketh in me mightily.

[26:35] 1 Thessalonians 1.3. It talks about your work of faith, your labour of love, your patience of hope. 2 Thessalonians 1.11. It talks about the work of faith with power.

[26:46] 1 Timothy 6.18. It tells us that they do good. That they be rich in good works, ready to distribute. Willing to communicate. The Bible is jam-packed with exhortations to work.

[27:00] You know, sometimes the cults put us to shame. There's some hard-working cults. There's some earnest people doing charity work.

[27:16] And we were just hearing today of secular organisations where people go and work for a pittance in doing charitable works in other countries.

[27:26] And ungodly, secular people are active in these things. And yet, people tonight, think of it for yourself as a Christian. God's ordained that you walk in good works.

[27:42] And by faith, Noah. The first thing that Noah did after he built the ark was he built something else. He built an altar. He built an altar. And he offered burnt sacrifices on the altar.

[27:54] He put the Lord first when he came out of the ark. He didn't go and build a house for himself. He built an altar. That's interesting, isn't it? So, friends, I just want to exhort tonight that as we reflect on Noah's life, he was warned by God.

[28:12] We need to heed God's warning. And not only that, we need to be warning every man. Because we can't afford to muck around. Really. Time's short.

[28:25] We need to be warning every man. We need to heed God's warning and relay it. We need to walk with God. That's a communion. It's that which Adam enjoyed with God in the garden and then lost it all for his foolishness.

[28:40] And Enoch walked with God. Then Noah walked with God. You can walk with God too. You can follow in their train. You can follow in their steps. In their path.

[28:51] And you can work for God. God will give you something to do. As a Christian, God gives every one of us something to do. Maybe lots of things to do. Lots of things that are within the scope of what we could do.

[29:04]  And God will help you to do them to his glory.ยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยย