Well, as I usually do on a Thursday
evening in our pastor's absence, I would read a sermon of the
late pastor, Mr Matronola. Many of us were blessed under
his ministry many years ago now, but this particular sermon is
entitled Noah. It was a sermon preached on the
Lord's Day evening, 22nd of March, 1992. The text is Hebrews 11 verse
7. Hebrews 11 verse 7, By faith
Noah, being 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 heir of the righteousness,
which is by faith. Hebrews 11 verse 7. Noah is one of my favourite Bible
characters. I have always been drawn to the
sacred record where we read of him, what a man of faith Noah
was. He lived before the flood, but
he also lived after the flood. In the days before the flood,
we read that men began to multiply on the face of the earth. There
was a multiplying of population but there was certainly not a
multiplying of godliness for God saw the wickedness of man
was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually or literally that every day the
imagination of his heart was only evil Then we read, as we
may expect to read, that it repented the Lord that he had made man
on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. This does not
mean that God regretted what he had done, or that there was
a change of mind on the part of God, for known unto God are
all his works from the beginning of the world. We believe that
all things, from first to last, are found in God's decree. What
it does mean, however, is that there was now a time when God's
administration would alter. Whereas there had been the long-suffering
of God, and even the wickedness of man had not brought visitation
and judgment, the time had now come when this could no longer
continue. Therefore we read that the Lord
said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face
of the earth, both man and beast and the creeping thing and the
fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them. What
a significant statement is found in the following verse. Genesis
six, verse eight, but Noah found grace. in the eyes of the Lord. Even in that wicked day before
the flood, we're told these are the generations or the years
of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect
in his generations and Noah walked with God. Noah was a just man. He was a justified man. He was
not a man without sin, for all would have sinned. Noah could
trace his ancestry back to Adam, and he was constituted a sinner
in Adam. He was a sinful man, as are all
of Adam's race. Yet, Noah found grace. There was a difference in the
case of Noah. God's grace was upon him. God
had chosen him from all eternity. He was an elect vessel. Noah
found grace. That's why he was a justified
man. It was not because he was a righteous
man that he found grace. Rather, he was a righteous man
because of the grace which had found him. He is described as perfect in his
generations. He was a godly man. In such a
wicked day, there was found an upright man. who remained a godly
man, even when the wickedness of men abounded yet more and
more, which is a testimony to the power of grace and to the
character of this man. He was a righteous man. God counted
him righteous. Noah walked with God. Enoch,
his great-grandfather, had walked with God. With this difference
that Enoch was translated to heaven. Noah also walked with
God before and after the flood, and he went to be with God by
death. God intimated to Noah what was
to come. The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant. God showed Noah solemn things
concerning the continuance of life as it was then. God said
unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth
is filled with violence through them, and behold, I will destroy
them with the earth. He was warned of God, as we read
in our text, by faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen
as yet. At the same time, as God intimated
to Noah that very soon there would come judgment and the end
of the world as it then was, for all flesh had corrupted its
way upon the earth, God also called him to be a preacher of
righteousness. God does not call a man to preach
without showing him the things which belong to his purpose. Surely the Lord God will do nothing
but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. Noah
was called to the office of a prophet, to be a preacher of righteousness. God gave him the message and
promised that he would uphold him. 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. Our text
also tells us that Noah was moved with fear, which is the mark
of a godly man. He had the fear of God in his
heart. It was not the mere dread of the tidings which he had heard,
because there was a promise given concerning his own safety. But
he was moved with the fear of the Lord, obedience, loving piety
and the desire to do the pleasure of his God. Noah was one of the
very last godly men left upon the earth when that flood came. Apart from his father Lamech
and his grandfather Methuselah, Lamech was born 56 years before
the death of Adam He died five years before the flood came.
Methuselah, who lived longer than any other in the Bible record,
with a lifespan of 969 years, was born 243 years before the
death of Adam, and lived to the very year of the flood. His very
name, Methuselah, was significant, for the meaning of it is, when
he dies, it shall be sent. When he dies, it shall be sent."
But apart from these godly men, it would appear that Noah stood
largely alone in the world of his day. Noah was called to be
a preacher of righteousness to the wicked men and women of his
day. His ministry was to be of 120
years duration. The Lord said, My spirit shall
not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh, yet his
days shall be an hundred and twenty years. Genesis 6 verse
3. There was an interval of 120
years from the revelation to Noah and his call to be a preacher
of righteousness until the flood came. What were the characteristics
of that day? Christ himself gives us a glimpse
of how it was in the days of Noah. They did eat, they drank,
they married wives, they were given in marriage. Luke 17 verse
27. It was a materialistic and sensual
society which lived for the here and now. The world of that day
is described as disobedient. which sometime were disobedient,
when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of
Noah, while the ark was a-preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls,
were saved by water. It was a society which had no
thought of God or respect to God. It was also a violent age,
for we are told that the earth was filled with violence. And
God said unto Noah, the earth is filled with violence through
them, and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Is not our
own day very similar to that of Noah? It is also a day of
materialistic values. Our countries have sobbed in
the here and now, eating and drinking. marrying and giving
in marriage with no thought of God or concern for righteousness. And what violence there is in
our nation! All the authorities tell us that the rise of violence
is one of the most alarming features of modern society. The young
are violent, the old are violent. The entertainment world capitalises
on violence. Our own day, therefore, is not
much different from the days before the flood. It is very
solemn to consider that Noah's ministry was that he should be
a preacher of righteousness throughout 120 years of materialism and
violence. Our text also tells us, however,
that Noah, being warned of God, of things not seen as yet, moved
with fear, prepared an ark, Not only was he to be a preacher
of righteousness throughout these 120 years, but Noah was to be
the builder of the strange craft which we know from early childhood
as Noah's Ark. Noah was 480 years old when he
was instructed to start building the Ark. We know this. because
we're told that Noah was 600 years of age when the flood came
and if you subtract 120 years you find that at the age of 480
it was intimated to Noah concerning the coming judgment and he was
appointed a preacher of righteousness it was therefore before his sons
were born because we're told Noah was 500 years old and Noah
began to beget Shem, Ham and Japheth. Noah was to build the
ark as God directed. It was not to be a matter of
conjecture, for none of the things which God appoints are to be
done haphazardly. When God appoints the work, He
always provides the detail which is to be followed. This was true of the Tabernacle,
which contained another Ark, the Ark of the Covenant. It was
true of the Temple of Solomon. It's true in spiritual things
also. The Church of the Lord Jesus
Christ is to be ordered as the Word of God directs, and not
as it was in the days of the judges, when every man did that
which was right in his own eyes. The criteria should always be,
what does the Lord appoint? What does the Lord appoint? Noah
was therefore to build an enormous vessel, the dimensions of which
were to be 450 feet by 75 feet by 45 feet, if you take the cubit
at its lowest estimate of about 18 inches. It was to be made
of gopher wood, and was to be pitched inside and out. It was
to have three stories, as it needed to be large, for it had
to hold not only eight persons, but also one pair of every unclean
beast, fowl, and creeping thing, and seven pairs of every clean
beast, and every clean fowl. It took 120 years for Noah to
construct the ark and there was a stay of judgment until it was
completed. What Peter calls the long-suffering
of God which waited in the days of Noah while the ark was a preparing. 1 Peter 3 verse 20. For 120 years
then, Noah had this twofold task, to prepare the ark for the saving
of his house and to be a preacher of righteousness. Then the flood
came. The fountains of the great deep
were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened and the
rain was upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights. The flood destroyed
the world and all perished, save Noah and his wife and his sons
and their wives, eight souls, which were saved by water. They
were in the ark for 54 weeks and four days. When the flood
was imminent, God intimated that there would be only seven more
days before the flood would begin. When the creatures were brought
in, and when Noah and his family were brought in, then we read
that the Lord shut him in. The Lord shut him in. Genesis
7 verse 16. All that was not within the ark
perished. When Noah and his family came
forth, it was to a different world from the one which they
had left behind. Although sadly, not a sinless
world. This is something of the general
background. There are four things which are
characteristic of Noah which I would like to consider. Firstly,
the faith of Noah. It is by faith that Noah, being
warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared
an ark to the saving of his house by which he condemned the world
and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. The words
by faith are found both at the beginning and the end of this
sentence. We have seen that Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord, and faith is the gift of God. Paul says, by grace are ye saved,
through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of
God. Faith is not a work, it's not
something which we spin out of ourselves. Faith, that is saving
faith, is God-given. where there are various sorts
of faith. There is, for example, faith which believes that the
world is round, or faith which believes that something which
we expect to happen will happen, however unlikely it may seem.
But these have nothing whatsoever to do with saving faith, the
faith of Noah. Saving faith is always the gift
of God. Noah believed God. Noah rested
in God and the word which was spoken to him and that is how
faith always comes. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. It is the word of God which comes
by hearing or by reading and is made the instrument of saving
faith This was certainly the case with Noah. He heard the
word of God and he received that which God had said. Noah was
a just man. He looked to God for righteousness.
He knew himself to be a righteous man because we are brought to
know these things. We know that we have passed from
death unto life. We know that God is our God and
that he stands in a relationship which is a gracious relationship
to us for he works that in our hearts. If the Lord gives grace
we are brought to know that that grace is given and that we are justified through
faith and being justified by faith, we have peace with God. Noah knew that he was justified
because he believed God. Noah was a sinful man in a sinful
day. In that respect, he was no different
to those around him. How then could he be accounted
righteous before a holy God? because he had been appointed
by God to life and God had put it into his heart to believe
his word. What was the word of God which
he believed? It was the word which was the
gospel in the day of the early patriarchs. The word of God to
the serpent in the very place where Adam fell into transgression,
and all men fell in Adam. I will put enmity between thee
and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise
thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Godly Men consequently
believed that the promised seed of the woman, the Redeemer, would
come, whereby they would be delivered from the curse and no longer
be under the awful separation which had been brought to pass
through Adam's transgression. as the godly remnant looked to
the one who was promised, these centuries before his manifestation,
as they looked to the day of Christ and as they looked to
the righteousness which God would establish through his Son, they
were saved and they were counted just. It is written of this man, by
faith Noah, as it is written of Enoch, by faith Enoch, And
of Abel, by faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice. Abel believed in the One who
would come in the fullness of the time and be manifested to
take away sin and to destroy the works of the devil. Abel
knew that it would be by the shedding of blood. There had
been the intimation in the place of sacrifice, in the covering
of the nakedness of Adam and Eve by the skins of the animals
which God had put upon them, which covering prefigured the
blood of Christ, the only covering, the only propitiation for sin. All the godly from that day until
the day of Christ looked to the righteousness through blood which
God would provide. Abel took the firstlings of his
flock and offered them as a sacrifice. There was the shedding of blood,
and by it he pleased God. There was the manifestation of
faith, for Abel saw that the way of approach was even then
to be through blood. Before the coming of the Lord
Jesus, it was through the blood of the sacrificial animal, which
is why there were the pairs of clean animals taken into the
ark that they might be used for sacrifice. Sacrifice! The blood of bulls and goats
was built into the plan of salvation until Christ himself should come
as the sin offering and by his death once and for all accomplish
salvation for us and put an end to all the types and shadows
of the Old Testament dispensation. Noah looked to Christ Noah took
God and His Word. Noah clung to things which had
been revealed, to the Word as it then was preserved in that
godless day. God's Word will always be preserved.
Noah believed that Word through faith. By faith Noah was moved
with fear. He was under the exercise of
a man who was a just man and a godly man, a man who was constrained
to do what God had appointed. Some who wish to justify their
own practice of coming to God on the basis of what they have
done, their own works, allege on the basis of our text that
Noah was saved by works. They maintain that it was because
he was a preacher and because he prepared the ark that he was
counted righteous. However, Noah found grace. He was justified before he had
begun to do any of these things. This verse itself tells us that
it was nothing to do with Noah's works, for if his righteousness
was given to him as a reward, why does it say that he became
heir of the righteousness which is by faith? An heir is one who
has an inheritance. And an inheritance is never something
which is given as a reward. It's always given on the basis
of relationship and promise. This is developed at length by
the Apostle Paul in his epistles to the Romans and the Galatians. The righteousness which no one
was given was not by reward. He was not by virtue of Noah's
works. He was rather heir of the righteousness, which is by
faith. He was a chosen child of God
from all eternity, chosen in electing love and given to Christ
in the covenant of grace. He was brought to know that he
was chosen of God when grace was given to him and when faith
was communicated to him as the gift of God. If children, then
heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. The righteousness that Noah possessed
was the gift of God to him in Christ, and his faith rested
upon that. This is a wonderful thing. For
this man, as we have already seen, was one of the few godly
men in the whole earth at this time. But this was the ground
of his godliness. He was justified. His faith rested
in what God had promised, what God would do through his Son.
Noah looked to a coming Redeemer. He cannot be saved apart from
Christ. The difference for us is that
we're not looking to one who is yet to come, but we're looking
to one who has come, who has finished the work, finished it
gloriously, and who is now set down at the right hand of God
until he comes again for his church, that he might receive
his own to heaven. Do we have the faith of Noah?
Do we have this faith in a righteousness that is not of ourselves and
which is not something that we earn as a reward for our works? Have we got the righteousness
which is God-given, the righteousness which is in God's Son? Is it
by faith that we know the fear of the Lord put within our hearts?
Is it by the grace of God and the fear of the Lord that we
walk before the Lord? As Noah walked, Oh that we might
be clear on these matters. It's not by works. Noah was moved
by fear. He was a child, an heir of God
and he had a righteousness which belongs to the children of God
and only to the children of God. Noah also believed God's word
on the impending judgment. We're living in a day when people
did not believe in judgment any more than the wicked generation
of Noah's day did. They did not believe in it. But it came to pass. And the flood carried them all
away. But Noah believed what God said,
so much so save his house when the flood
of judgment came. His faith was in what God said. He rested on the promise which
God had made that God would deliver him and his, that he would be
spared in that day of judgment. The Apostle Peter lists those
that God has condemned. The angels that sinned, the old
world, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, But he saved Noah,
the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in
the flood upon the world of the ungodly. And the principle is
clearly stated. The Lord knoweth how to deliver
the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust unto
the day of judgment to be punished. None of the Lord's people will
ever be brought to condemnation. Noah believed that. There was
a day of judgment coming but he knew that he would be delivered
in that day which is why he built the ark and why he preached righteousness
in his generation. God told him to build the ark
and Noah believed that God would give him the time to do it. The
long-suffering of God which waited in the days of Noah. Some claim
this means that God was giving men another opportunity during
the 120 years for others to be saved and brought into the ark. But from the very beginning,
God knew that however many more years they were given, none of
them would be brought to repentance. None of them. The long-suffering
was not that they might have a chance to be saved, or as some
would put it, that they might have an offer of grace made to
them, but rather that it would take, as we've seen, 120 years
for the Ark to be built. There was to be a staying of
judgment until all the Lord's people would
be able to find deliverance in the Ark which was constructed.
It is the same sense in which we take the word in 2 Peter. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering
to usward, not willing that any should perish. 2 Peter 3 verse
9. Again, someone might say that
here it also means that the Lord is not willing that any should
perish, but that everyone should have an opportunity, a chance
to be saved. But it does not say that at all. It is a long-suffering to us-ward
that believe. God will not bring the final
judgment, Christ will not come until all his elect people are
gathered in, just as he would not bring the flood of judgment
until the ark was ready and Noah and his house could find deliverance.
Noah believed God, and this was evident by the way in which he
set about building the great ark. What a massive enterprise! He began at the age of 480, For
the first 40 years or so he must have worked almost entirely alone. His sons were not born until
he was 500 years of age, and then you must allow a further
20 years or so until any of those could be his helper. He could
not have had much help from Methuselah and Lamech because of their advanced
age, although no doubt they would have encouraged him in the work.
But he knew that however mammoth a task it was, God would give
him the necessary time to complete it. To the saving of his house,
by the which he condemned the world. By his faith, Noah condemned
the world. He believed the word of God.
The world did not believe. Despite all his preaching, there
was no change in anyone. This is opened up somewhat for
us in John's gospel after the great gospel intimation. For
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. For God sent not his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved. He that believeth on him is not
condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already. The world of Noah's day was condemned
because it believed not. It did not take God at his word,
which is why wickedness proliferated to such an extent that God determined
to destroy the world as it then was. Noah, by his faith and obedience
in the building of the ark, condemned the world. Now where do we stand? Are we those who are condemned? The world is condemned because
it believes not. This is the condemnation that
light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather
than light because their deeds were evil. Are you condemned? You say, I won't be condemned
because I'm found in a chapel. But you are condemned if you
do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Word says this is
the condemnation. He that believeth not is condemned
already. Oh my friends, do you believe
God? Do you believe the Gospel? Do you lay hold on the righteousness
which is by faith? For it is only as you look to
Jesus Christ as your Redeemer that you will not be condemned
with the world. The world will be condemned.
It is under condemnation. Noah was not condemned. Instead,
he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which
is by faith. Men today do not believe in judgment,
but judgment is coming. May we be those who, by our faith
in God, condemn this unbelieving world in all its disobedience.
May we be those who, like Noah, are heirs of the righteousness
which is by faith. Secondly, the obedience of Noah.
Noah's obedience is seen in that he built the ark. Despite the
enormity of the task and the strangeness of the command, enduring
as he must have 120 years of toil and much mockery and ridicule,
he also preached righteousness for 120 years despite the enmity
of men. By faith he was obedient to what
God had appointed, although how solemn to be commanded to preach
and yet know that not one person would accept the message. In
this, Noah was in a similar position to godly Isaiah, who was told
to tell the people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not, and see ye
indeed, but perceive not. His was a judgmental ministry,
It is a solemn thing to do, for we naturally look for results
and success. Noah had a ministry of 120 years
and saw no results. Or not the results we would naturally
be looking to see, for not one person was brought to repentance
and faith. It is a solemn thing to be called
to live differently, because Noah could never have gone on
preaching righteousness if he had lived as the people around
him. Had he become conformed to the world, he would no longer
have been a preacher of righteousness, and he would no longer have been
concerned to build the ark, for the fear of the Lord would not
have been in his heart. But he was a man of obedience
in a disobedient world, a world condemned by its disobedience. Noah, by his obedience, condemned
the world. What an example he is of a separated
man. He was separated to grace. He
was separated to the Word of God. He was separated from an
ungodly world. Wherefore come out from among
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord. And touch not the unclean
thing, and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you,
and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. We often
forget in these days our calling to be separate and to walk worthy
of the vocation wherewith we are called. Thirdly, the patience
of Noah. For 120 years, longer than anyone
in this congregation has lived, Noah was patiently toiling at
the building of an ark and as a preacher of righteousness without
seemingly any converts. He is an example to us of endurance. Take my brethren, the prophets,
who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering,
affliction, and of patience or endurance. Oh, that we may be
those who endure. We are exhorted to endure hardness
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. What have you been called to
endure in comparison with Noah? Here is Noah, an aged man, largely
single-handedly building an enormous boat and preaching righteousness. What a word to preachers who
feel to be discouraged because they see so little success. We
tend to complain, although we have no grounds to complain because
our sovereign God is in control and has appointed these things.
Our lot is not as bad as others who have gone before us, such
as Noah with his 120 years of ark building and the task of
preaching to a violent and materialistic society. Noah preached and we
too are to preach righteousness in our day, whether people will
hear or whether they will not. The fact that righteousness In our ungodly day it is our
business to live separated lives, to be faithful to the righteousness
which is in Christ and to the testimony which is put in our
charge, and to pray that God will do with our testimony and
with our ministry as seemeth good in his sight. If we do that,
then we are serving our own generation by the will of God. Noah endured. or to endure in
doctrine and in the practice which is according to godliness.
Faultly, the faultitude of Noah. Noah was also a man of faultitude. He was a man of boldness and
courage. With the exception of his father,
his grandfather, and his family, he stood alone in the world,
resting on the promise of God. He sought to live godly. He sought
to continue godly. He submitted to the ridicule
and scoffing which was around him. Peter tells us of the scoffing,
just like the scoffing which comes today when we make mention
of judgment. And men say, Where is the promise
of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continued as they were from the beginning of the
creation. The scoffing in Noah's day was just the same, scoffing
at his beliefs, but he endured it, for he was a godly man, although
it must have been a great provocation to him to have this contradiction
of sinners against himself. Just Lot was vexed with the filthy
conversation of the wicked, and Noah similarly must have been
vexed in his day that the people were so indifferent to the God
who had made them, the God in whom we live and move and have
our being, although they would not have their being much longer
by the will of the same God. Noah submitted to it all, and
so must we. Some of Noah's own family were
amongst the scoffers. For Noah had brothers and sisters. Lamech lived after he begat Noah
590 and 5 years and begat sons and daughters. Genesis 5 verse
30. They were not found in the ark
but belonged rather to that wicked generation. Those of Noah's own
family were indifferent to the things which were precious to
him. Grace is bestowed sovereignly. The Lord himself warned us that
a man's foes shall be they of his own household. But we rest
on the word of God. As Joshua exhorted the Israelites,
be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou
dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou
goest. Noah looked to the promise of
God. In conclusion, 120 years passed
by and none of Noah's warnings seemed
to come to pass. People continued, as Luke tells
us, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until
the day that Noah entered into the ark. A significant event
had occurred that few would have understood it except Noah and
his family. And that was that Methuselah
had died. Methuselah's name, as we said,
meant, when he dies, it shall be sent. They were oblivious
to coming judgement. But then the rain fell and the
waters above the firmament opened up, the vast blanket of invisible
water vapour, which sustained the world before the flood as
the greenhouse effect of that day, letting the water come down.
the water condensed and fell as rain, such rain as has never
been known since and never will be again. For God has set a bow
in the heavens which proclaims to us that he will never again
destroy the world in this way. The fountains of the deep, the
vast subterranean waters under the seas were also broken up
and all vegetation and all life perished that was on the land.
the birds, animals, and men all vanished in the flood. But buoyed
up upon the rising waters was the ark and all its contents,
the beasts and those eight souls which were saved by water. God
vindicated his servant Noah and delivered him as he had promised
in that day of judgment. We shall be delivered. who are
in our ark, Christ Jesus, in the judgments by fire when the
world as it now is shall be burned up and there will be new heavens
and a new earth wherein dwineth righteousness. I wonder, as the
waters rose and the people ran to higher and higher ground before
they were eventually engulfed, they began to think of Noah,
the preacher. But it was too late. It was too
late. They would have been glad then
to find a place in the ark, to have found a place even with
the beasts in the ark, if only they could be saved. But it was
not to be. As it was in the days of Noah,
so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. What folly
to neglect the Word of God and not seek the Lord while He is
to be found, nor call upon Him while He is near. You say, I
would never be like that foolish generation, but men all around
us are like that. But one day there will come an
end, and there will be time no longer. Christ will come, the day of
grace will be at an end, and there will be the bringing in
of the judgments upon the wicked. God warns every man who hears
the word, we're not now possessed of the longevity of those before
the flood, but there will soon come death. And after death,
the judgment. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Oh that we might not be condemned
with the world but rather that we might condemn the unbelief
of the world because of our faith. God give us that faith. May we
seek for it and cry for it for the very earnest seeking and
crying after it be tokens that God is at work in us and that
we have found grace in his sight. This is a very wonderful, but
a very solemn narrative. May we be those who profit from
our consideration of these things, the faith of Noah, the obedience
of Noah, the patience of Noah, and the fortitude of Noah. Above
all, may we be those who have the faith of Noah. God give this
faith to us, that we may be heirs of the righteousness which is
by faith, and that we may be children of God. Those who know
that there is deliverance in the Ark of Salvation, for those
who are in Christ, for those who are hidden in His blood and
righteousness for time and for eternity. The Puritan Thomas
Brooks has a writing entitled An Ark for All God's Knowers. May you be one of God's knowers,
possessed of the faith of God. May we all know Christ to be
our refuge, and our place of safety, now and in whatever lies
ahead of us, which will see us through death and convey us to
that best of worlds, where we shall see Christ and shall be
like him. God apply his truth to us, what
a precious work May it be opened up to us, sealed to our hearts,
and may we be bettered by it. By faith, Noah, being 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 heir of the righteousness, which is by faith. Amen.