But Noah…
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Hebrews 11:1-13….
This morning we are going to talk about one particular hero in the faith…
We just read what could be considered as Benny Tate calls it, the “Faith Hall of Fame”
These are some of the greatest heroes in the faith…and right in the middle we see a guy named Noah
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
So, this sets up the ideas that we are going to talk briefly about this morning
We already know a few things about Noah:
He had faith
He had Holy Fear
He was a righteous man
He had faith - He believed God even when it wouldn’t make sense… a flood? large enough to require an ark? One that would wipe out all of humanity save a few?
He had holy fear…the good fear of the Lord, understanding the power of God!
And he was a righteous man…which is awesome….but whats crazy, is no one else was righteous, but his family…let’s take a look!
5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.
There’s debate on the omniscience of God…does it mean that God knows everything all the time?
Or could it be that He chooses to limit Himself in some knowledge? - Jesus clearly limited Himself…
Or, could it be that maybe He knows everything, but maybe not how much it will affect Him?
There’s certainly debate…I lean more towards the latter
Jesus knew Lazarus was going to raise again, but was still “greatly troubled” and wept…
Jesus knew He was going to the cross and raise again, but still sweated blood in the garden…
So, I think it’s completely likely that God could know what is going to happen, but maybe not exactly how it would affect Him…but you can disagree with me!
Makes since here that He would regret making human beings…nonetheless, He decides to wipe humans out..
7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.”
And now, one of the heroes of the faith…
8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
So, when everyone else was completely wicked, and running rampant with sin…there was a guy..named Noah
And he found favor in the eyes of the Lord!
So, the first thing that I want to encourage these graduates with, and all of us..is
Be A Noah!
Be A Noah!
You graduates are getting ready to embark on a journey of independence..
It is truly exciting, possible scary, but exciting!
You are going to go out and make your own decisions without mom and dad breathing down your neck.
You will have great freedom!
But know, you are headed off into a world that’s crazy
There are a lot of people making really poor decisions
And you’re going to have some choices to make
To follow…the world, the craziness, “fun”
…or to be a Noah!
9 This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.
So amidst all of the craziness…there was a guy, who was righteous, and walked faithfully with God!
You think that you have faced peer pressure, Noah faced peer pressure…everyone outside of his family was plain evil…
Everywhere that he would have looked, he would have seen craziness!
Yet, he still walked faithfully with God!
So, be a Noah!
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.
13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.
15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks.
17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.
So God tells Noah that there was going to be a flood…
This was a crazy thought…
God says there’s going to be a flood and it’s going to destroy everything on the earth…
Wait what? God, you’re going to kill everything on the earth?
Yeah, so build a boat…
So, what was Noah’s neighbors thinking?
Hey Noah, whatcha got going on there man?
Oh, not much…just heard from God…He’s going to send a flood, and He wanted me to make a boat…
What kind of crazy guy is this?
One that is righteous and walks with God!
So, God tells Him
18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.
He will establish His covenant with Noah…
That means His promise, or pact, or allegiance..that He is going to protect Him! And be with Him!
Now, what is happening in this story is what we call a typology…
A lot of the things that are in the OT are a typology of what is to come in the NT..typically in Jesus!
What God is doing here is God is making His pact, His promise with Noah, and it’s a typology of the covenant that He would later make with us!
So, if this covenant is a typology of covenant in the NT, what’s the NT typology?
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
What Ezekiel is saying here is that His coming Spirit will be the sign of the written law on our hearts
21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
So, the typology is the covenant that is made with Noah will be like the new covenant that God makes with His people
which is by the death and resurrection of Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit in us!
The Spirit in us is what gives us life!
So, just as Noah’s family was saved on the ark, we too will be saved when we put our faith and trust is Jesus Christ!
Noah was righteous - he walked with God!
We too can be righteous, but it is only through Jesus Christ!
Noah was faithful! We too can be faithful, when we walk with Christ!
19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive.
21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”
22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
Noah was found faithful because He did what God commanded Him!
1 The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate,
3 and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.”
5 And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.
So, Noah again, did all the Lord commanded Him!
When Noah went into the ark, He did so trusting a believing in what God had said…even though it took seven more day for it to rain!
To have faith, to make it into the faith hall of fame chapter, means that we have to trust in what God says, even we can’t see it!
We can trust the Word of God! We can believe in Christ, even when he’s hard to see!
We take a step of faith…Jesus, I believe in you!!
Jesus, I am going to trust you..even when I can not see it!
You notice, Noah’s family was on the ark…
When means, his righteousness rubbed off on them!
The only people on the earth that God found favor with!
You see, I think Noah had an urgency for his family to be righteous and to walk with God!
In the typology, the ark is the means in which Noah’s family was saved!
For us, Jesus is how we are saved, He is our ark!
How urgent is it for us to see our friends and family on the ark?
Is the brokenness and sin of the world rubbing off on us, or is our righteousness rubbing off on them?
The most important thing that we can do in this life is to get our friends and family to Jesus!
Graduates, and all of us…
you are going out into a world that looks at your differently…
they are going to mock you, make fun of you, they are going to question your faith and righteousness…
but friends, trust in Jesus!
And in Jesus, you…will…find…life!
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Guys, Jesus is our life!
Stop pursuing and holding onto other things..
Come to Jesus!
We are going to get to communion..but I think the table is going to be a bit bigger here in a moment..
We are going to put on a song and respond…
Some of us need to get on the boat…you need to come to Jesus….believe in Him! Confess that He is Lord! Surender to Him!
I have some helpers passing out paper and pencils…
We are going to write down at least one person that needs to get on the boat, and we are going to surrender them to Christ…
We are going to commit to praying for them, talking to them as the Spirit leads us to, and set them at the cross.
So, come up and set your papers in the basket at the cross and grab your communion elements.. and return to your seats…. we will take communion together…