Noah Found Grace

of the scripture and we began with creation and we went to the fall and tonight we're going to talk about the flood but before we do that we get to do something else a little fun okay and so through the summers here we have sword drills on wednesday nights and and so we're going to have opportunity here before as we go into the lesson and so we're going to uh let's see where should we divide it tonight should it be uh 25 and up or 25 below Tim below you know what direction you're heading all right so if you're 25 or older or 24 and younger so if you're 24 and 364 days you're still in the 24 zone okay i know how kids work you know it's like you always got to count that in there but uh we're going to have a few bible drills here and see who comes out on top and so if you got your bibles ready what do we do we make sure we have our bibles up grab them home by the spine and get them up in the air and i'm going to tell you the verse i'm going to give you the address of it and then we'll repeat it together and i will say go okay and when you get it you stand up all right and then i will call upon you to read all right that's the way we're going to do it so let's go ahead and do this together here we go let's see who's me really fast tonight genesis 6 5 go darren over here amen all right everybody ready all right bibles up get your bible up where you go here's another one we got second peter two five we're at second peter two five go there's jared all right so the 25 and above got two man we gotta get some speedier kids in here must have the speedy ones at camp yet all right everybody get your bibles up and we'll go ahead and go for the next one here this one should be a little more challenging here let's go to isaiah 54 9 we're at go april this is as the waters of noah to me for as i asked for art that the waters of noah should know more but over the earth so i like for art that i would not be for god to be for me all right good job all right here we go bibles up everybody ready here we go hebrews 11 7 we're at our villa's over here trying to get a head start okay go cindy all right next one everybody darren's over here anxious man he's all right here we go next one's all ready to go here genesis 6 8 are you ready cindy go darren all right noah found grace in the eyes of the lord all right next one here baby bibles up here we go all right first peter 320 we're at we're at go and amen amen all right bibles up we'll go ahead and go to another one here matthew the book of matthew 24 37

matthew 24 37 we're at go ron you didn't have your glasses on do you all right yeah you didn't grab the spanish bible from the back this time all right bibles up here we go we got a few more to go all right john 10 9 we're at go joe got the under 25s getting represented i am the door i am the door by me if any man enter in shall be saved shall go in and out all right amen all right two more what got another one let's see if the 25 and under can keep cruising here on their thing all right let's go ahead and go here psalm 29 10 we're at go cindy all right last one here we go what's up with that back row is that you guys gonna get this all right here's your one all right you gotta pull off the back row's gotta pull one off here okay all right here we go luke 17 27 we're at trying to get a false start there or what all right luke 17 27 go darren amen all right you guys gonna take teens on up tonight or hang out here all right we'll go and dismiss the teens on up to class here tonight and rest you can take your bibles go over to genesis genesis chapter 6 you should have a pretty good idea where we're heading tonight as we're going to be talking about the flood when we're going to be talking about uh noah and uh some of the things of it you know sometimes i think it's good and one reason we're doing this is it's good to go over these lessons because the foundational truths of scripture are not just for little kids you know we need to understand the foundations as adults and understand the priority and the importance of what's happening here and so we know as we talked about last time we talked about creation and we talk about how man corrupted himself in the fall and we understand that sin came into the world and death by sin and we see that taking place and we know that as the world population grew that sin began to spread faster and faster you know by the days of noah the world was so corrupt that the bible tells us that it grieved god's heart you know have you ever had something that you put a lot of effort into and then it be and then it got distorted or twisted or taken away differently than what you intended you know when you think about the world that's exactly the world in which we live in god created the world and it said it was very good and he created this earth for us he created it and made it for us but it grieved god's heart and so god decides he's going to judge the earth and the method of judgment is going to be a flood but we're going to learn tonight there was one man that the bible talks specifically of that finds grace in the eyes of the lord we're going to see here that grace that god gives leads to salvation and we're going to see how god works through this tonight

and the importance of it because i think sometimes we can get so caught up in the idea of the flood you know a lot of times we can spend a lot of time arguing with people about the flood you know did it happen what's the signal you know what's this and what does the earth layer mean here and all that's good stuff but i want you to understand the flood itself the water itself wasn't the important dynamic that took place the important dynamic is that god provided a way of salvation just as he does for us today and we're going to see here that god's going to save noah and his family and the animals through commanding him to build an ark something that had never been built before you know how many build like to build things you know when you build things is it easier if you have detailed instructions or you just have to think about the top of your head yeah detailed instructions help a lot but what if it's something you've never seen before and all you have is the instructions that gets to be when there's no actual picture of it that's a little more challenging isn't it that's where we're going to find noah tonight when god commands him to build an ark an ark hadn't been needed you know when you think about there had not been rain upon the face of the earth and they didn't understand what a flood was they didn't understand any of these things and here god's going to tell noah to build an ark for the saving of his family and because you know when we understand something very important tonight because the two elements we're going to look at here with noah are this one we're going to learn one thing that god is holy in order to be holy he must hold people to account there has to be judgment there has to be accountability you know today you'll hear a lot of people talk about god as holy but as a god who doesn't hold to account and i'm like those two aren't equal you cannot be holy and pure and just if you don't hold evil to account if you don't take judgment upon sin but we learn also not only is god holy but god's also gracious and god provides a way of salvation we're going to see this tonight as we walk through here a little bit on some of the things here quickly about noah and so if you found genesis chapter 6 here tonight i want you to see or look down at verse 8 this is where we're going to pick up here tonight and we're going to see this as we find as the bible tells this it says that noah found grace in the eyes of the lord noah found grace in the eyes of the lord you know i wanted to let you know that tonight we can say the same thing if you're here tonight and you're saved you found grace in god's eyes god's grace extends to everybody there's people outside there may be lost people here tonight i don't know all the details of somebody's heart but you know what god's grace extends to everybody the opportunity of salvation but the question is what do you do with it i want you to see we find that god that noah found grace in the eyes of the lord as we're going to walk through tonight i want you to see something important that god still bestowed mercy and grace upon all the people that died in the flood because we're going to look here how god how that works through but let's take a look up here a couple of verses here and it tells us in verse 3 and it says and the lord said my spirit shall not always strive with man for that he is also also his flesh yet his days shall be a hundred

and twenty years and verse 5 says and god saw the wickedness as man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually you know now i think you can look around the world today do we have a problem with evil i mean people and are prevalent of evil it's just like i tell people all the time you don't have to teach somebody to do evil we just find ways to do evil i mean evil flows naturally you don't have to teach a kid to be a sinner they're a sinner by birth you know they understand how to be selfish you don't have to teach them to be selfish you know there's things that by nature we are when we conceive all forms of evil and god sees the wickedness and now notice this it wasn't just the outward but also in verse 5 there that the very imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually you know that's a description of even the world today but i want you to understand god recorded this for our learning and for our understanding because a lot of people today say god's not going to hold people to account you know i just listened to a little youtube clip here earlier this week and some lady young lady was on there and she said i don't believe god's going to send anybody to hell and then she's like if there is a hell i'll go there with my friends and it's just like that's a sad state of affairs but you know what there's evil in their heart continually that's very clear as we look through this but i want you to see that's the cause of the judgment because god takes sin very seriously you know one of the things i think we lose sight of is god takes sin seriously the account here with noah reminds us that god even though he might be merciful he might be gracious he's loving there comes a time when god has to hold to account god will always hold to account and we find here the reason for the flood you know look down in verse 11 here as god speaking here to us and he says this in verse 11 and the earth was also was corrupt before god and the earth was filled with violence and the lord looked upon the earth and beheld it was corrupt all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth now think about how he's describing he says what it's corrupt and filled with what violence you know sin always corrupts and sin always leads to violence because it's violating somebody else it's violating god when we understand what's taking place here in this and we find here that god announces look at verse 13 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 now i want you to see here that and we need to understand that often times we read this and we fail to look at timelines you know one of the things i always encourage you when you study your bible ask about time because time is important because we found up in verse three that god said he's going to give them 120 more years now most of the time we don't equate this but you know take a look over into the book of jude for a moment jude chapter jude chapter one if you get to jude chapter two you got the wrong book look down at verse 14 somebody stand up and read that quick tonight there yeah here

we have enoch you know when we read genesis chapter five sometimes we don't always put things together do you realize that enoch was alive when noah was alive i want you to understand the picture that's crossed over here is the fact that noah wasn't the only preacher of righteousness he wasn't the only one declaring that there was going to be judgment god had been for generations before this declaring the reality of accountability and when we look and see what god is doing you know when we understand that the lord is not without mercy god this is 120 years but there was 300 years plus before this and we know that before that there was others all the way from adam that declared what god who god is and what god is going to do so it wasn't a matter of ignorance it was a matter of ignoring you know when we understand the picture here that god gives god is being merciful by still giving them more opportunity to repent and to turn to him you know we read verse earlier in our sword drill matthew chapter 24 and verse 37 you know where the bible says this but as the days of noah were so shall also the coming of the son of man be you know what what we see in noah's day evil continually the earth filled with violence people promoting violence you know i'm not sure how much longer god's going to hold his judgment when we see what's happening what's happening in the world around us you know when we understand the picture that god is working in and through these things you know look over to luke chapter 17 there luke 17 because this is what jesus is describing this here also recorded in luke 17 if you look down in verse 27 and notice what it is i mean because it's just like today there's evil and violence and people are saying well who's god and why should i care notice what it says in verse 27 they did eat they drank they married wives they were given in marriage until the day that noah entered into the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all you know sometimes we get the idea that well god's never going to hold people to account the flood account reminds us of god is a holy god he might be merciful and gracious and loving but when we over emphasize his love over his holiness we got to remember both those are equally true by allowing us to have an opportunity to come to him you know what god's saying i'm being loving i'm doing all i can to make give you an opportunity but we find that grace finds even those who are undeserving you know if you know the lord is savior you know that you're not deserving of his salvation he didn't come and pick you because well look at them they're so good you know the lord didn't pick me out of the crowd says i got that raymond guy he's all right i'm gonna pick him exactly the opposite i was not worthy i did not deserve but god is gracious you know we find that noah found grace in the eyes of the lord you know that's really the hinge of the whole account when it comes to the flood is the fact that even though god is going to hold to account god also gives man an opportunity and a responsibility to walk before him now let's take a look here for a moment as we look at noah because we see here that noah had god's righteousness the same thing we have today given to us it was not because of who noah was that made him righteous but because of his faith as

we find mentioned here in the new testament a little later that we'll look at and we find here in verse 9 it says and these are the generations of noah noah was a just man and perfect in his generations and noah walked with god now i want you to understand that noah this word perfect here doesn't mean sinless that's another confusing thing because perfect here means that he was complete that he was upright that he was trying to do and understanding who god is you know it doesn't mean that he was without sin but it means he tried to walk in integrity and was upright in other words he recognized who god is and he recognized what sin is because that's the essential elements that we have today that if you don't understand what sin is you can't be saved sin and the understanding of it is important we find that noah walked with god in other words he walked with the fear and reverence of god he understood that god was going to hold to account you know when we see here that noah does this and we notice as god tells him let's go ahead and look over here to in a chapter 9 verse 14 here god tells him here he says and make thee an ark of gopher wood rooms within thou shall make in the ark and shall pitch it within without with pitch and and this is the fashion which shall make it of the length of the ark shall be 300 cubits and the breadth of it 50 cubits and the height of it 30 cubits and a window thou shall make to the ark in the cubits shall thou finish it above and the door of the ark thou shall set in the side thereof with the lower second and third stories shall thou make it you know all the guys who've had wives it says amen there's only one window to decorate you know but we find here he gives them the dimensions he gives them those things you know and he says this behold even I do bring a flood of water upon the earth to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life from under heaven and everything that is in the earth shall die and with thee will

I establish my covenant and it shall come into the ark thou and thy sons and thy wife and thy sons wives with thee and of every living thing of the flesh two of every sort shall be bring into the ark to keep them alive with thee and that shall be male and female and these biology lesson for today right that's how that works of the fowls after their kind of the cattle after their kind every creeping thing of the earth after its kind two of every sort shall come in to keep them alive and now unto thee of all food that is eaten thou shalt be gathered into thee and it shall be for food for thee and for them and thus did Noah according to all that God commanded him so did he you know I want you to see here God comes to Noah he found grace in the eyes of the Lord you know the Bible says he was a righteous man in other words in the midst of a perverse generation

Noah's trying to live right you know if you're a believer today it's a challenge to live right in a generation that's perpetually evil but I want to help you understand it's nothing new you know we're not special we're not facing something harder than any other generation but it's a question of whom are you going to serve and to grab a hold of that is an expression of faith you know look over to Hebrews chapter 11 Hebrews chapter 11 we read this during the sword drill here but I want to get your attention to this because this is important in this aspect you know look down at verse 7 notice chapter Hebrews chapter 11 is known for what it's a chapter about what about faith about faith how do you trust God it says by faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet you know that's an important statement we just read all the directions that God gave to Noah and God told Noah what was going to happen and Noah's got to build something that there's nothing else like it he didn't have an example or an idea he couldn't google it you know he couldn't ask

AI to generate something for him he had to take the description that God gave and I believe God gave him insight into how to understand how to build and to put that all together to put those things in the right way but notice what it says being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear and what was he moved what was his actions God told him to do something and he did it he took action upon what he knew you know that's important to understand because he prepared an ark to the saving of his house by which he condemned the world and became heirs of righteousness which is by faith now that verse is important because I want you to understand faith saves us faith is what but when you have faith faith will always lead you in a direction it will guide you and direct the choices that you make you know that's what most of the book of

James is about James is a very practical book and he says if you have faith it ought to be seen by the choices and decisions that you're making you know often times today we hear a lot about faith don't we I have faith I have great faith you need more faith you know sometimes I think it's more important when we realize that we need to have faith but faith that moves us not faith that's intellectual faith that motivates you to take a course of action directed by God according to his word you know when we have what God has given to us and we find here that Noah walked in this perverse among perverse people yet he had faith in the Lord living in light of eternity in other words Noah had to live the same way we had to live today we have to live in light of what's coming and what

God has commanded what God has told us to live in light of eternity you know and we find here that as Noah builds the ark and all this look down to verse 16 of chapter 7 because Noah gathers all this in the seven of the clean animals and there's a reason for that too because we'll find a little later that some of them are sacrificed when they got off the ark so God told them to bring some extras God commands him to do all this he gets everybody ready and it still hasn't rained now sometimes I think that Noah was that crazy neighbor on the block you know the one that's just a little strange and you're going what is wrong with them now you think about this you know I don't think the HOA was probably happy that he's building an ark this size in the backyard he probably had some complaints you ruined my view you know we don't know all that for sure but we understand that's people are people and here

Noah God tells him to get in the ark he does all that God tells him to do and look at verse 16 and they went in went in male and female of all flesh as God had commanded him and then notice that next word and the Lord shut him in you know this picture of the door we're going to talk about in just a minute because you ever thought about something who sealed the door God sealed the door the rest of the ark was covered with pitch but there's still a crack and God sealed them in you know what it's a great picture of even what the Holy Spirit does to us today the Bible tells us that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit we're secure you know what made Noah and his family secure the sealing of God upon the ark you know what he could have done a great job on the rest of the ark but if

God didn't shut him in and seal the door the boat was going down God makes the difference they went in they trusted the Lord you know the ark is the only way that was provided through judgment and God had to shut them seal them in to that you know today at salvation we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise when we call upon Jesus by faith in his finished work Jesus is the only way through judgment he is the only way that we get to the other side you know think about go over to Ephesians chapter 2 for a moment Ephesians chapter 2 Ephesians chapter 2 we find here it says but God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us together with Christ by grace you are saved and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in

Christ Jesus then the ages to come might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus for by grace are ye saved through faith how was Noah saved by faith he had to trust what God had told him trusting God's instruction you know what God instructs us today to call upon the name of the Lord to be saved to recognize who he is and to call upon him now notice as it goes on that in the ages!

You know we see this picture throughout that the ark was the place of God's redemption and God's salvation that is the picture of the flood like I said there's a lot of things with the flood but you know the main core of this isn't about what took place in judgment it was about God's grace and his mercy and his salvation today we know God's judgment's coming but we need to keep sight on God's salvation God's provision what he's given to us God's salvation because we're going to see here that the ark brought them through a new beginning in the start of the noetic covenant you know look what happens they go into the ark they are in there for almost a year all together by the time they actually finally get out you know when he finally sends the dove out and the dove doesn't return you know if you read through there's many days and different things there with that and we find that they finally the dove doesn't return and

Noah and his family get out of the ark God tells them it's okay verse 15 of chapter 8 and God spake unto Noah saying go forth of the ark thou and thy wife and thy sons and thy sons wives with thee bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee of all flesh both of fowls and of cattle and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth that they may breed abundantly!

Now notice verse 21 And the Lord smelled a sweet savor and the Lord said in his heart I will not again curse the ground anymore for man sake for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth neither will I again smite any more anything living as I have done while the earth remain as seed time and harvest and cold and heat and summer and winter and day and night shall not cease you know I want you to see here that Noah what was his first thing he did when he!

out of the ark he worshiped the Lord he went and he made a sacrifice unto the Lord and we find that God makes a promise he says hey I'm never again going to hold judgment upon the earth by a flood he says while the earth remain as seed time and harm us he says it's not going to cease it's going to continue but he gives Noah some instruction and we find here that he tells him some basic things and structure of society and government you know Genesis chapter 9 we find that he even gives instruction about life you know he said very important most important thing out of chapter 9 you'll find God put an emphasis on human life he tells us in verse 6 whosoever sheddeth man blood by man shall his blood be shed you know we don't have time to get into all this this is basically forming accountability and forming government of responsibility and it includes even the beast if somebody's bull got loose and killed a man the beast was supposed to be put down why because he killed a person these are things

God gives and we find here that God gives an accountability for life but he tells us also there neither shall be any more flood to destroy the earth look down at verse 11 and it says I will establish my covenant with you neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood neither shall there be any more be water or be flood to destroy the earth in other words God says I'm no longer going to do judgment as such as this I want you to understand the judgment of Noah's day is a picture for us to understand the judgment to come to understand there is coming a final judgment and God's not using a flood of water for it God's going to come and we're going to see here God's dynamic here of what he has done he says he's no longer going to destroy the earth now look down at verse 13 and it says

I do set my bow in the cloud and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth you the token of a covenant in other words every time you see it you can be reminded of who God is and what God's done you can be reminded of God's not only his accountability but when you see a rainbow it ought to remind you of God's grace and his mercy God's grace and mercy upon us you know it's sad today that the rainbow has been!

corrupted! by those that use it to really mock God that's really what it is a mocking of God saying you will not hold us to account we don't care about your design we don't care about your intention we don't care about who you are you know what that is their thought in their heart is only evil what continually and we see this and really how it's being used today the now used in open rebellion against him that's really what it is an open rebellion against God God's order God's design everything about it is a rebellious spirit and attitude about the things of God rebellion God takes very seriously because God has not changed his focus or purpose though to seek and to save the lost because we might look why isn't God just holding the judgment the same reason he gave the people an extra 120 years in

Genesis because he's still seeking and saving the lost he's still focused upon what Christ came to do because we find here the ark is a picture of Christ just as Noah's family was saved by going through the judgment inside the ark we're saved by being in Christ who carries us safely through the judgment that our sin deserves you know when we understand human nature Noah deserved the same judgment of everybody else outside the ark he deserved what they got but by the grace of God it made a difference and when we see this picture of judgment he carries us through you know look over to John chapter 10 John chapter 10 and verse 9 where Jesus makes a declarative statement he says I am the door by me if any man enter in he shall be saved you know what

Noah and his family had to enter in by the door and God had to seal it for them to be rescued we see a picture here that there's still only one way through and that's through the shed blood of Jesus Christ you know whenever you talk about see the rainbow or talk about the flood all those details that we can talk about they're important because what they do is establish yes it did happen and if it happened that means God holds us to account and if God is going to hold us to account it ought to impact what we do and how we respond to him you know why they hate the flood so much!

because if the water covering the earth it's a matter if the water really covered the earth then we have a problem God's going to judge God's going to hold to account that's the problem and we see here it also shows a God who provides a way of rescue for all who will come you know just like Noah didn't earn a place he received!

grace and stepped through the one door God is Jesus Christ you know never forget what Christ has done for you whenever you think about Noah think about what Christ has done for you when you see a rainbow you can think about what did Christ do for you what has God provided you know as we think on these things you know as we go through its important foundation you know we got a bunch!

kids in here tonight were you guys paying attention? Okay got a question for you Sam how do you think Noah felt when God told him to build a big boat with no rain would that be hard to obey God even when you have no idea sometimes yeah you know and that's the reason even the simplicity of a child though of understanding that we have to have by faith operating to do what God wants us to do you know to do those things you know when we understand what God has done for us and we need to understand that he's going to hold everybody to account you know when you think about what does it mean when Jesus said I am the door to you does it mean anything does it have any attachment to you you know tonight be thankful that God made a door for us to walk through in his son

Jesus Christ let's pray may may