With the Lord's help this morning,
I would bring to your attention the first part of Genesis chapter
8 and verse 1. Just the first four words of
that verse, Genesis 8 verse 1. And God remembered Noah. And God remembered Noah. Now Noah stands as one of the
great characters of the Bible and it is from him, of course,
that we are all descended. Each one of us here this morning
are all related because Noah was, as it were, our great-great-great-etc. grandfather. We're all the descendants
of Noah and his history is recorded in the book of Genesis from chapter
5 in fact through to chapter 9 and he's mentioned later on
by the prophet Ezekiel and he's mentioned there as one of the
three great worthies of the Old Testament Ezekiel 14, 14, though
these three men Noah, Daniel and Job were in it and so on
and then verse 20 though Noah, Daniel and Job were in it as
I live saith the Lord God they shall deliver neither son nor
daughter they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness Noah was one of the three great
worthies of the Old Testament and he is frequently mentioned
in the New Testament by the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Apostles
of the Lamb He appears among the so great a cloud of witnesses
of Hebrews chapter 11. Well there is then considerable
instruction for the church and for the individual believer in
the life of Noah and surely this is the purpose that these things
are recorded for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written
for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures
might have hope. Now Noah lived in a very evil
day we read there in Genesis 6 verse 5 and God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually now
that is total depravity every imagination of the thoughts of
his heart was only evil continually and in verse 11 the earth also
was corrupt before God and the earth was filled with violence now no doubt there were many
of the inhabitants of the earth at that time who didn't think
of themselves as particularly wicked or corrupt they measured
themselves by their own standards or perhaps they compared themselves
with others around them and they thought well I'm not as bad as
that man down the road or I'm not as bad as that person I read
about in the newspaper they compared themselves with each other and
certainly they didn't think of themselves as corrupt before
God they went about their daily lives
not considering that the judgment of God was about to break on
their heads the Lord Jesus Christ refers to those days in Matthew
24 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 knew not until the flood came
and took them all away so shall also the coming of the Son of
Man be they went on with their lives heedless of the impending
judgment that was about to come upon them and so it is today
and so it is today there are lessons here then for us in the
21st century upon whom the ends of the world are come. As we
come to our text this morning I would consider with you firstly
something of the character of Noah and then secondly the calling
of Noah and then thirdly the faith of Noah and then fourthly
the trial of the faith of Noah. Let us consider firstly then
the character of this man Noah. We see that Noah and his family
were different to all those around them. In verse 9 of chapter 6
we read, These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man
and perfect in his generations. And Noah walked with God. And Noah walked with God. He
was completely different from the men around him, like his
great-grandfather before him, Enoch. he walked with God he
was a godly man in an ungodly day but we must beware in thinking
that he was naturally different from other men he was not like
all other men he was descended from Adam and like all other
men he had a fallen nature and that fallen nature manifested
itself later on of course, in the history of his life. In Genesis
9 verse 20 we read, now this is after he had come out of the
ark, and Noah began to be a hospital man and he planted a vineyard
and he drank of the wine and was drunken and he was uncovered
within his tent. Here was Noah in a drunken stupor he was not sinlessly perfect how we must beware of putting
men on a pedestal the best of men are men at best
and I believe that the sins and faults of Bible saints are recorded
for us that our faith should not stand in the wisdom of men
but in the power of God as Paul says, we are to cease from man
we are to learn from their mistakes, we are to take warning from their
faults wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed
lest he fall Noah fell he was not sinlessly perfect
but we do read of him that he was a just man and perfect in
his generations and that he walked with God. He was a justified
man. He was counted righteous. He
was preserved in Jesus Christ before he was preserved in the
Ark. And this was manifested in that
he walked with God. Now what was the cause of this? As we have said, he was naturally
no different from other men what was the cause then of his walking
with God? well we're told in the verse
preceding that ninth verse of chapter 6 chapter 6 and verse
8 but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord it's interesting to note that
we read of Noah finding grace in the eyes of the Lord before
we read of him being a just man and perfect in his generations
and walking with God you see the cause of Noah being a just
man and perfect in his generations and walking with God is this
he found grace in the eyes of the Lord he was as I say preserved
in Jesus Christ before he was preserved in the ark and this
was the difference this was the great difference between Noah
and all the other men on the face of the earth and God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually and it
repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth and it
grieved him at his heart and 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 but Noah found grace in
the eyes of the Lord and then it is that we read of
him being a just man and perfect in his generations and walking
with God it was a difference you see which God was pleased
to make but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord and so
it is with all the elect by grace you are saved Again, as Paul
says in Romans, even so then at this present time also there
is a remnant according to the election of grace. It is grace
alone which makes the difference between the elect and the reprobate. But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Well, having considered something
of the character of Noah, let us proceed to consider his calling,
by which I mean not his call by grace, but his call to bear
a witness and a testimony to all those around him. We're told
of this calling in 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 5, where we read
that God spared not the old world, but saved Noah, the 8th person,
a preacher of righteousness. bringing in the flood upon the
world of the ungodly he was a preacher of righteousness and Peter refers
to this calling also in his first epistle where he says that it
was Christ who was preaching by his Spirit to those who were
subsequently destroyed in the flood in 1 Peter chapter 3 verse
18 is that the right reference? sorry, yes, 18 and 19, I'm looking
at the wrong verses 1 Peter 3, 18, for Christ also
has suffered has once suffered for sins the just for the unjust
that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh
but quickened by the Spirit by which also he went and preached
unto the spirits in prison 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." Now note that, while the ark was a-preparing,
while the ark was a-preparing, Christ was preaching by His Spirit. He was preaching to those who
were subsequently destroyed in the flood, the disobedient. whose
spirits are now in the prison of hell and Christ was preaching to them
through the ministry of his servant Noah and Noah's preaching to them
was not in word only but he warned them also by his deeds and we
see this in 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 now Dr. Gill says on that verse as a
preacher he declared they would be condemned in case of impenitence
and unbelief and his words heard and his actions seen by them
were aggravations of their condemnation for by his works as well as by
his deeds he reproved and condemned them. By building the ark he
declared his own faith and so he condemned their unbelief. Noah himself had been warned
by God Now how he had been warned we don't know, whether by dream
or by vision or by an audible voice, we don't know, we're not
told, but it is clear that the Word of God had come to him.
He was warned of God of things not seen as yet and he in turn
warned those around him and his building of the Ark was a witness
against them by which he condemned the world. Now we have been warned of God,
of things not seen as yet we do not need dreams or visions
or audible voices or signs we have the Word of God the Word
of God has come to us and there are clear warnings to the ungodly
and the unbeliever in the Holy Scriptures concerning a judgment
which is to come For example, they're in 2 Peter 3 verse 5. For this they willingly are ignorant
of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the
earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the
world that then was being overflowed with water perished. But the
heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word, are kept
in store, reserved unto fire, against the day of judgment and
perdition of ungodly men. Now, the word prediction means
destruction, the destruction of ungodly men. This present
world is reserved unto fire against the day of judgment. And as Noah
was called to be a faithful witness in his day and generation, so
the church is now called to bear a faithful witness until that
great day of judgment. the Lord Jesus Christ tells us
this in Matthew 24 verse 14 and this gospel of the kingdom shall
be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations
and then shall the end come as you know the purpose of preaching
the gospel in all the world It's not that all the world might
be saved. It's not that all the world might be Christianised.
It is for a witness unto all nations. This is the Church's
calling in these last days. It is to preach the Gospel. See
how Paul writes to Timothy, there in 2 Timothy chapter 4, I charge thee therefore before
God oh what a solemn charge this is I charge thee therefore before
God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and
the dead at his appearing and his kingdom preach the word be
instant, in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with
all longsuffering and doctrine for the time will come when they
shall not endure sound doctrine and after their own lasts shall
they be to themselves teachers having itching ears many are now turned from the
truth of the word of God to fables the fables of delusions of the
charismatic movement the fable of evolution There are many,
even in professing churches, who will not endure sound doctrine. They hate it. They will have
anything but sound doctrine. They'll have music, they'll have
drama, they'll have entertainment, they'll have tongues, they'll
have ritual, and incense, and candles, and the prayer book. They'll have anything but sound
doctrine. nevertheless we are to continue
to preach the word whether they will hear or whether they will
forbear but I'm not called to preach
you say well it's true that not all are called to actually stand
in a pulpit or a street corner and to actually engage in the
work of preaching but if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ You are called to be a fellow helper to the truth. John in
his third epistle commends Gaius. 3 John 5 he says Beloved thou
doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren and to
strangers and then John goes on to speak of those brethren
in verse 7 because that for his name's sake they went forth taking
nothing of the Gentiles we therefore ought to receive such that we
might be fellow helpers to the truth. Gaius was to provide practical,
perhaps financial, support to those who for Christ's name's
sake had gone forth, no doubt, to preach the gospel. In this
way, Gaius was a fellow helper to the truth. Women are not permitted to preach
or to teach in the churches under the gospel let alone be bishops
they are not permitted to preach or to teach in the churches 1
Timothy 2 verse 11 let the woman learn in silence
with all subjection but I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp
authority over the man but to be in silence for Adam was first
formed, then Eve but in Philippians Paul does
speak of certain women who laboured with him in the gospel now these
of course were not preaching because Paul has told them that
they are not allowed to preach but he does speak of them labouring
with him in the gospel Philippians 4 verse 3 and I entreat thee
also true yoke-fellow help those women which laboured with me
in the gospel with Clemens also and with other my fellow labourers
whose names are in the book of life though we may not be called
to preaching yet we are called to be fellow labourers and fellow
helpers to the truth supporting the ministry of the Word of God
as we are able every living member of the body of Christ then has
a part to bear in this witness unto all nations until the end
of time and besides it's not only by our words that we bear
a witness in this present evil world, it is also by our works
as was the case with Noah let your moderation be known unto
all men the Lord is at hand Peter tells us under the inspiration
of the Spirit of God but this is God's will for us 1 Peter
2 verse 15 for so is the will of God that
with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish
men by our well-doing we stop the mouths of those foolish men
who in their ignorance oppose the gospel our witness condemns
them Well, let us go on to consider
the faith of Noah. We are clearly told in the New
Testament that Noah was a man of faith. 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. And we see in Genesis chapter
8 that his faith centred in the Christ who was to come. He believed
the promise. What was the first thing that
Noah did when he went forth of the ark? He and his wife and
his sons and his sons' wives with him. What was the first
thing that Noah did? Well we're told in verse 20 of
chapter 8 and Noah builded an altar unto
the Lord and took of every clean beast
and of every clean fowl and offered burnt offerings on the altar
now Dr Kraus in his lecture says it seemed as if he was desirous
that the new world should have the religion of the gospel impressed
upon it You see, Noah was here testifying
that he had been redeemed, that he had been redeemed by blood,
that he had been redeemed by the blood of a most pure and
holy and spotless One, the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. Here is Noah teaching his family
and teaching us the ground of his and of our justification
before God. for all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God being justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God has
set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood to
declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are
past through the forbearance of God to declare, I say at this
time, His righteousness that He might be just and the justifier
of him which believeth in Jesus Noah was a preacher of righteousness
both before and after the flood he preached Christ and he depended
upon the Christ who was to come for his own salvation and the
same Christ that Noah believed in and preached is the same Christ
that by grace we are brought to believe in and to preach for
as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers but with the precious blood of
Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily
was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest
in these last times." And we see of course that Noah's
faith was an active principle in his life. His faith led to
action. He showed his faith by his work.
He heard the word of God and he acted upon it, he being not
a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work. This is the nature,
you see, of true saving faith. Isn't that what Paul says in
Hebrews regarding Noah? By faith Noah, being warned of
God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an
ark for the saving of his house. It didn't have that wretched,
fatalistic spirit that just sits there and says, well it's all
of the Lord and I mustn't put my hand to it. If I'm elect then
God will save me. With a shrug of the shoulders.
That's not faith, that's death! It's spiritual death and it's
a delusion of the devil. Beware of that trap. Beware of
that snare of Satan. Fatalism. Noah's faith was a real faith
he was a decided Christian being taught of God his faith was a
true faith a living faith a faith which worked now where there is true faith
there will certainly be the trial of faith and Noah's faith was
tried oh how Noah's faith was tried. Let us consider then,
fourthly, and finally, the trial of Noah's faith. We see from
the account in Genesis chapters 7 and 8 that Noah was shut up
in the ark for a whole year and 10 days. Now who can imagine
the horror and the devastation that Noah witnessed when the
floods came? We read in chapter 6 verse 16
that the ark had a window. There was only one window the
ark had. I'm sure Noah could see the devastation that was
happening all around him. All around that ark raged darkness
and tempest and judgement and destruction. All around Noah
and his family and the creatures that were with him in the ark
they were tokens of divine displeasure the wrath of God being poured
out upon the earth and for a whole year and 17 days there was no
communication from God to Noah Noah heard nothing from God all
he could see was the destruction and desolation around him We
read, you see, that the Lord spoke to Noah seven days before
he went into the ark. And the Lord said unto Noah,
chapter 7, Come thou and all thy house into the ark. And then
in verse 4, for yet seven days and I will cause it to rain upon
the earth. And so on. Seven days before the flood came,
God spoke to Noah. Noah entered the ark, and then
we read in verse 11, of that 7th chapter in the 600th year
of Noah's life in the second month, the 17th day of the month
the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up and
the windows of heaven were opened the flood came and then the next
time that the Lord speaks to Noah is after he has been in
the ark for a year and 10 days in chapter 8 verse 14 we read
and in the second month that is of the 601st year as you see
from the previous verse in the second month on the 720th day
of the month was the earth dried and God spake unto Noah saying
go forth of the ark so what I say is for a year and 17 days Noah
had heard nothing from God he was not told how long he would
be in the ark the Lord had shut him in and there was no information
as to how long he must remain shut up in that dark place. Like the psalmist who said, I
am shut up and I cannot come forth. Now sometimes the child
of God is shut up, as it were, in a particular situation in
God's providence and he or she cannot come forth. It's a dark
place. It may be so in providence or
it may be spiritually in the soul. It's a dark place and the
Lord shuts the child of God up, as it were, in that place the
Lord will teach His children to live upon the bare promise
of His Word and He will teach His people patience the Lord
had promised Noah but with thee will I establish my covenant
Noah and those with him in the ark must be preserved because
the promise of the Messiah must be fulfilled the promised seed
must come and the covenant was established with Noah so he must
be preserved but with thee will I establish my covenant and Noah
must live upon that promise and so it is with every child of
God who is among you that feareth the Lord and obeyeth the voice
of his servant that walketh in darkness and hath no light let
him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God and we must remember this that
the Lord was ever with Noah he never left Noah he was with him
when he was active in his calling when he was preaching when he
was building the ark and he was with him when he was shut up
in the ark the Lord is ever with his people though they may not
be sensible of it though they may feel that the Lord has forgotten
them for he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee Noah I believe must have felt that God had forgotten him
this is the trial of his faith I do believe our text says and
God remembered Noah it was as if God had forgotten him this
is how it must have felt in Noah's experience now God can never
forget his people can a woman forget her sucking child? that
she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea,
they may forget, yet will I not forget thee? Behold, I have graven
thee upon the palms of my hands. Oh, but in the experience of
the child of God it can seem as though God has forgotten him.
David prays in Psalm 13, How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord,
forever? How long wilt thou hide thy face
from me? The child of God is sometimes
brought to cry out in desperation, Remember me! Remember me, O Lord,
with the favour that Thou bearest unto Thy people. O visit me with Thy salvation,
that I may see the good of Thy chosen, that I may rejoice in
the gladness of Thy nation, that I may glory with Thine inheritance. think of the penitent thief on
the cross and he said unto Jesus Lord remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom and the Lord is said to remember his people
when he returns to them after a period of seeming delay or
after a period of suspending the outward or indeed the inward
manifestation of his loving kindness and tender mercies and so we
read that God remembered Abraham for example and that he remembered
Hannah and so on and how he remembered that people on the cross and
Jesus said unto him verily I say unto thee today shall thou be
with me in paradise there was a seeming delay in the fulfilment
of the promise of the coming of the Messiah but when Christ's sinless human
nature was formed in the womb of the Virgin it was as Zacharias
the father of John the Baptist prophesied to perform the mercy
promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant in
remembering His holy covenant the Lord has remembered us in
our lowest state for His mercy endureth forever and as there
was a fulfilment of that great promise so there will be a fulfilment
of the great promise of the second coming of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ though there is a seeming delay the promise will
be performed though it tarry wait for it because it will surely
come it will not tarry God will yet remember His Church the enemies
may be ranged against us but God will remember his church
and fire from heaven shall devour the adversaries that's what we're
told see the multitudes of Gog and Magog the church's enemies
there in the book of Revelation surrounding the church are all
sides they are deceived by Satan and they are gathered, as John
says, together to battle the number of whom is as the sand
of the sea and they went up on the breadth of the earth and
compassed the camp of the saints about and the beloved city and
fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them we are to be patient we are to
be patient for we are saved by hope but hope that is seen is
not hope. For if a man seeth, why did he
yet hope for? But if we hope for that which we see not, then
do we with patience wait for it. Paul says in Hebrews that it
is through faith and patience that we inherit the promises. He writes there in the sixth
chapter of Hebrews concerning Abraham that after he had patiently
endured he obtained the promise, for so it was with Noah and so
it must be with us and with all the elect of God he's perfectly
expressed I think in Psalm 37, fret not thyself because of evil
to us neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity
for they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as
the green herb trust in the Lord and do good so shalt thou dwell
in the land and verily thou shalt be fed in conclusion we note
that it was not only Noah that was remembered we read and God
remembered Noah and every living thing and all the cattle that
was with him in the ark yes he remembered even the creatures
the cattle even the worms were not forgotten by God even the
worm was not forgotten do you think then that God will forget
his own children are not five sparrows sold for
two farthings and not one of them is forgotten before God
but even the very hairs of your head are all numbered Fear not
therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. May the Lord
bless his word to each of our hearts. May we wait patiently
for him in all our afflictions, in all our troubles. May we ever
hold cleave to the promise. And God remembered Noah. Amen. Closing prayers in hymn
1065. The tune is Lloyd 172 O Thou from whom all goodness
flows, I lift my head to Thee. In all my sorrows, conflicts,
woes, Jesus, remember me.