Let's read from 1 Thessalonians
chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. I'm just going to read the last
few verses, starting in verse 13. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 13. But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you
sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even so, them also which sleep
in Jesus will God bring with him. And this we say unto you
by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words. All right. Noah found grace.
That's what I want to talk about tonight. Noah found grace. I
preached on a little last week. continue with Noah and deal with
the ark next week. Look down here starting at verse
5, Genesis 6 and 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 continually, evil continually. And it repented the Lord that
he had made men on the earth and it grieved him at his heart.
And the Lord said, I will destroy man who 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. These are the generations of
Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect
in his generations. And Noah walked with God. I want
you to look at the times in which Noah lived and the conditions
in which he lived in. He lived in the conditions where
God says man's heart was only evil continually. His imagination.
His imagination was only evil. He couldn't even think good.
Evil continually. Continually. And God said, I'm
going to destroy him. I'm going to destroy him. I'm
going to have a change in how I deal with them. And they've
got so wicked, got so evil, got so against me and so defiant
to me. Don't care anything about me.
Don't think about me. I don't enter in their thoughts
whatsoever. The only thing that enters their
mind is evil. Evil. That was the conditions
when Noah lived. Times and conditions. but also
the times and conditions in which he lived vividly revealed the
character of Noah. It says there in verse 9 that
he was a just man and perfect in his generation, and he walked
with God in that time and those conditions. And then it says,
you know, there that God saw the wickedness whose heart only
continued and the Lord said, I'm going to destroy man. When
God doesn't restrain sin, when God doesn't restrain sin, awful
the consequences of it is absolutely awful you know you read in romans
one four or five times we've said and god gave them up god
gave them up when god gives up on you there's no hope and there's
reasons that god gives up on me and here's a generation a
whole world full of people that god said i give up on them i'm
gonna not only I'm gonna destroy them because they're so evil
and so wicked and so desperately wicked. And when God doesn't
restrain sin, the consequences are awful. I wanna read a verse
in Matthew, and then we're gonna go somewhere else. But look what
it said here in Matthew 24. It says in verse 30, you don't
have to look, I'll read it to you. But it says, but as it were,
as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the
Son of Man be. Now, what was the days of Noah
like? God, this is Christ speaking now. For as in the days that
were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying
and giving in marriage. Absolutely nothing wrong with
we eat and we drink, we marry and give in marriage. That's
what people do. But look what, until the day
that Noah entered the ark. And here's where's the key to
it right here. And knew not until the flood came and took them
all away. They was living as if time would
go on and on and on and on and on, and there'd be no consequences
to the way they lived in this world. And that's what he's talking
about. Nothing wrong with marrying, nothing wrong with eating, nothing
wrong with a man giving his daughter to be married, nothing wrong
with those things. But when that's all you live
for, is what I can eat, who I'm going to marry and all these
and that's all they live for and that's what he said that's
the way it's going they didn't know anything didn't care about
anything but those things the things of the world and yet we
read in this situation Noah found grace Noah found grace in verse
8 Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord that's the first
thing we're told about Noah If a man walks with God, it's because
of the grace of God. Man ain't gonna walk with God
unless God in grace saves him. And if he's perfect in his generation,
he's perfect in his generation, upright in his generation because
of the grace of God. God made the difference, grace
made the difference in Noah and everybody else in that generation.
Noah would have been just like everybody else had not God shown
him grace. And all the reason he walked
with God, grace. He's perfect because the grace
of God. It was the grace of God, not
any graces that was in Noah, which preserved him from the
flood. And this is the first mention
of the word grace, the word. Here was a man living in a very,
very, very, very wicked world. Oh, it's so wicked. You think
it's wicked now. Imagine that everybody in the
world, and there ain't but eight of you left, and everybody else
is going to be destroyed. And that's how wicked the world
is. And this man is living in this world of wickedness. Whoa,
what a world of wickedness. And look what it says in verse
11. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was
filled with violence, violence. And oh, how much violence we
see now. People beating one another in
the streets. Murders just astronomically,
people killing one another. And God in verse 12, looked upon
the earth and behold, it was corrupt for all flesh, all flesh. had corrupted his way upon the
earth. And this is the world in which
Noah lived. And here's what he did. He had
to go against all the ideas, all the opinions, and all the
conduct, and all the world, and everything that was in the world.
He had to be opposite to that, and had to stand out from that.
And he did stand out different from all the world that was in
it. And boy, what a testimony to God's grace that God kept
him in a world like that. And it's a testimony to God's
grace that God keeps us in this world that we live in right now.
And oh, I'm telling you, beloved, let's look over now in Genesis. Well, let me give you this in
Genesis 6, 9, before we move over to Hebrews. But look at
the character of Noah. First thing it says about him
in verse 9 is this. These are the generations of
Noah. The first thing he said about him, he was a just man,
just man. The first man that was ever called
just in the Bible. Now, how could he be just unless
he's been justified by Christ? That's the only way you can be
just. He wasn't a just man because he did everything that was right.
He did what was right because God justified him. and the meritorious
cause of his justification was the blood of Christ. That's the
only thing that can justify. He is a just man. Why? Because
Christ died for him. God set him apart in his grace
and the blood of Christ. That's what, you know, being
justified by his blood, we shall be saved from what? Wrath through
him. And that's what people don't
understand. When they look at this, they think there was something
special about Noah. And there was. And you know what
made him special? Grace. What justified him? Grace, freely justified by the
blood of Christ and freely justified by the grace of God. And the
only way a man's going to be just with God, and that has to
be because of the blood of Christ that pays for our sin and God
be just and justify them who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And the instrumental cause was
faith. The instrumental faith. I could
talk this morning, you know, he said, he that believeth by
him believeth. And beloved, he believed God. You know, therefore being justified
by faith, we have peace with God. How was he justified? He
believed what God said. And the just shall live by faith.
And you find Noah, he's among 15 people named in the book of
Hebrews chapter 11, what they call the Hall of Faith. And he's
one of 15. He's the fourth one mentioned,
if I'm not mistaken. And that faith by which Noah
was justified before God was evidenced by him moving with
fear. And then it says he was perfect
in his generation. He and his family, bless God's
name, he and his family kept themselves from all of that evil
that was around them and that tells us that they were unblemished
and uncontaminated and without blemish uncontaminated by the
world and he walked with God in that situation and people
They, you know, Sunday morning seems to be enough. I don't understand
it. You know that I've got to have
Christ not only Sunday morning, Sunday night, and not only Wednesday
night, I've got to have Him every day, every minute of every day.
I don't understand it. I do. God knows I don't understand
it. I don't understand people that say they believe the gospel
and don't walk with God all the times that they can and give
an evidence of their faith by being faithful to where the gospel's
being preached. I don't get it. I don't get it. And Noah's faith is described
in Hebrews 11. Let's look over there together.
Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11. Lord, Noah's faith is described. He is just, and the just live
by faith, and his justified was evidenced by him being moved
with fear. And oh, look what it says here
in Hebrews 7. Seven things told about Noah's
faith here in this verse of scripture. By faith, Hebrews 11, 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 Now, the first thing that tells
us about Noah's faith, Noah's faith, the ground of his faith
was the Word of God, the Word of God. Look what it says here,
being warned by faith, Noah being warned of God. God told him,
God warned him. And I'll tell you what, faith
cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. And you remember
when our Lord got in Simon Peter's boat, and he said, he hadn't
caught anything, and he said, told Peter, says, launch on out
here, and said, and cast your net down, and he says, Lord,
we fished all night, but nevertheless, at thy word, at thy word, and
that's what it is, at your word, at your word. And Paul, when
he stood in a great storm, And ever if the ship was gonna be
lost, and ever this great storm, he hadn't seen the sun for over
14 days, rain and wind, and oh, beat that ship. And he stood
up in front of all them people in the middle of that storm,
and he said, sirs, be of good cheer. God said he's gonna save
us, and I believe God. But oh, Martin Luther said this.
I just copied this back there a minute ago. Feelings come and
feelings go, and feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the
word of God, naught else is worth believing. Though all my heart
should feel condemned for one of some sweet token, there's
one greater than my heart whose word cannot be broken. I'll trust
in God's unchanging word till soul and body sever, Though all
things shall pass away, his word shall stand forever. And that's
what we stand on. Stand on the word of God. And
that's what Noah did. He is being warned of God. And
that's the thing about being warned of God. God warns us,
warns us. He tells us in his blessed word.
And then look at the sphere of his faith. Look at the sphere
of his faith. And it says, being warned of God of things
not seen as yet. Things not seen as yet. God told
him something's going to happen. And he hadn't ever seen anything
like that ever happen. And you said to him, I said,
you know why we look not at the things that are seen. And that's
what he said, being warned of things not seen as yet. And here's
what they said about him. And you know, we walk by faith,
not by sight. When he went out there and started
building that ark, God told him, said, you build an ark. And he
started building that ark and folks would go by and said, boy,
that man's a fool. That man's a fanatic. That fella
has absolutely lost his mind. They asked him what he was doing.
God told me that there was going to be a flood, and he told me
to prepare this ark, and I've never seen rain. I don't know
what rain is, but God said it's going to do it. He said it's
going to destroy everybody, so he went to building that ark.
I mean, you know how long it took him to build that ark? As
far as I know, it took him 120 years. They had to saw the boards,
had to bend the boards, and he prepared that ark, and he had
never been warned of things not seen as yet, and those folks,
They said, that old boy's wasting his time. He's wasting his time. And there's no telling how many
walked by and said, what are you doing? And that's why the
scripture said he preached for 120 years. He preached righteousness
for 120 years. He preached that God told me
to do this, that I found grace in the eyes of God, and I'm going
to do what God told me to do. He warned me about this thing.
And they said, that old man and his kids, what in the world are
they doing? They had never, he told them
it's going to rain. They didn't know what rain was.
It had never rained yet. And it's going to be 120 years
for the first drop field. Oh, and everything went just
right on. They'd walk by and watch him
working. And all the people around there,
and they'd go on about their business. And after a while,
they said they just forgot about him. That old man's over there
working. Him and his kids, they're just working. And they'd always
continue and always from the creation. And they said, well,
this old man's a fool. And what would make Noah act
the way that he did? The testimony of God. He had
been warned of God of things that he had never seen. And how
many things have we never seen? I've never seen eternity, but
I know it's there. I've never seen Christ face to
face, but I know I will. I don't understand the Trinity,
but I know he exists. I've never went from death, from
life into death. But I will. A lot of things we've
not seen, but I tell you what, we can face everything we've
never seen because of what God said. Ain't that right? By what
God said. And all faith is the eye of the
Spirit. Faith takes their eyes and visualizes
the thing that's unseen. Visualizes it. Right now, we
can't see Herman in glory, but we know that it's where he's
at. And we've never been there. Oh, listen, look at the character
of Noah's faith. Not only was he warned of God,
of things not seen as yet, but it says he moved with fear. He
moved with fear. Oh my. He not only believed God's
promises, but he believed God's warnings. You know, faith not
only looks and rests and relies upon the precious promises of
God, but it also believes the solemn threatenings. You know,
I believe as much as that in the judgment of God as I do in
the salvation of God. And I'll tell you on one side,
he makes these wonderful promises that this is what's going to
do. But on the other side, I'm warned that if I go that way,
this is going to be the consequence. And Noah moved with fear. He
said, I fear for myself. I fear for my family. I fear
for their souls. I fear failing God. I fear not
getting on that ark, because I know me. And oh my, spurging
on believing God. If you believe His promise, you
must also believe the warnings. And that's what we do about our
own families. We know the danger that they're
in. They don't know it. They do not know that the danger
they're in. Shirley's sons don't know the
danger they're in. My sons don't know the danger
they're in. Your children don't know the danger that they're
in. Your dads and mothers and husbands and wives don't know
the danger they're in. And that's why he said he moved
with fear. These folks here, they're going to perish. I've
got to get this art built. I've got a family. I've got children. I've got people that I love and
I don't want them to miss. Oh, he said, oh, God said, it's
going to rain. I'm going to bring judgment on
this generation. I'm going to destroy this people.
And he believed that. So he said, I don't want to be
in that bunch of people. So he moved with fear and he
went to building that ark. And oh, look at the evidence
of Noah's faith. And it says, not only did he
warned of God, saw things that had not been
seen as yet and then he moved with fear but look what he said,
and he prepared an ark. Oh the evidence of Noah's faith.
How do you know he believed God? He prepared an ark. He went to
work preparing an ark. Look over here, James is the
first book right after Hebrews. Look in James 2 17. And oh how
do we know Noah believed God? He prepared an ark. They've got
that ark up there in Kentucky that Ken Ham built, and everybody's
been up there and said it's unbelievable. They said it's built just exactly
the same size according to the pattern that God gave Noah. Now,
I'm going to go up there one of these days and see it, but
they say you have to wait and wait and wait to get to see it.
But I want to go look at it. But they say there's no problem
in carrying everything God sent. But look what it said here in
James chapter 2 and verse 17. The evidence of Noah's faith,
he prepared an ark. Even so, faith, if it hath not
works, is dead, being alone. Now, if he had said, yeah, God's
going to destroy the world, but he's going to save me, regardless
whether there's an ark or not, then he'd have been drowned too.
He'd have been drowned just like anybody else. He did not use
finding grace as an excuse to not labor and do what God told
him to do. And oh, he said, and if a fellow says, I've got faith,
how do you know you've got faith? What justifies your faith? And
he says, if the Admon works, he's dead, being alone. He says
down in verse 14 here of James 2. What doth it profit, my brethren? What profit is it for anybody
to say, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can
faith save him? And here's Noah had evidence
of his faith. What was the evidence? He prepared
an ark. Oh my, how do I justify my profession
of faith? I've got a profession of faith.
I claim faith. There's evidence of people's
faith by their love of Christ, their walk with Christ, their
witness for Christ. And I'll tell you, folks that
ain't interested in witnessing for Christ and walking with Christ
and being faithful to the gospel of Christ, it's all they've got
is a profession of faith. But oh, Noah, he had evidence
of his faith. He prepared an ark. Oh, my. That's why they looked at him
and said, my soul, what in the world are you doing, old man?
And faith evidences. Faith, the evidence of faith,
expresses itself in that which costs those who possess it something. You can't have faith and it not
cost you nothing. You understand what I'm saying?
You can't have faith and it not cost you something. It's got
to cost you something. You know what faith cost us? Our whole
life given to Christ. You know what faith cost us?
Denying ourself. You know what faith cost us?
We'd rather be where the gospel is than anything else. You know
what faith cost us? We won't sit and listen to people
dishonor our Lord. And I'll tell you something,
it took a long, long time and a lot of cost to build that ark. And most folks, that doesn't
cost them anything to express their faith. Get them a Bible,
join the church and say, I'm all right. I'm just as good as
you are. Well, if you ain't no better
than me, you're in trouble. If you ain't no better than me,
you're in real trouble. But I tell you what, faith, it cost us something. It cost us something. It cost
us expressing our faith. It cost us our commitment to
the gospel. It cost us raising our children. It cost us supporting the Word.
It cost us. You can't have faith and it not
cost you your soul. Old Barnard used to say, get
up. He said, I get up every morning and I sign myself away to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Give myself away to Christ again
today. It'll cost you, you. You got
to deny yourself. That's what it is. First thing
it is, is I have nothing. You know how hard it is for a
fellow to say, ìI have nothing.î You know even how hard it is
to say, ìNot only I have nothing, but I am nothing.î ìI not only
donít have anything, but I am nobody.î Everybody wants to be
somebody, you know, canít spell ìchurchî without you. But oh,
listen, thatís the greatest cost it is. I ain't got anything to
contribute to my salvation. I don't have anything. And not
only don't I don't have anything, but what God gave me and what
Christ gave me, I don't know. I am nothing apart from Christ's
grace. Is that not right? Let me show
you something. I've done this before. Can you
all see that? That's three zeros. That's three
more. Six of them. Now there's nine of them. And until you put a one in front
of them, that's all we are, zeros. I don't care how much we think
of ourselves. Christ takes zeros and makes
them worse. That's the way it is. And I love
it like that, don't you, Joe? I love it like that. Absolutely
love it. Oh, I wouldn't have it any other
way. And oh my, where did I leave off at? Well, I've lost a couple days.
I don't know. I'll find it here in a minute.
Oh, here we go. Here we go. All right. The effect
of Noah's faith. Look back here in Hebrews 11
again. The effect of Noah's grace. He prepared an ark, and listen
to this, to the saving of his house. To the saving of his house. And I'll tell you, God honors
them who honor him. God honors them who honor him.
Abraham believed God. And God gave the land to his
seed and made him promise that in his seed would all nations
of the earth be blessed. Rahab believed God and her family
was saved when the walls of Jericho came down. These men took this
man because there was such a crowd where Christ was preaching. He
was in a house. They carried him up on the rooftop, took all
the tiles off and let him down. And Christ, the scripture said,
he saw their faith and said unto him, Son, be of good cheer, thy
sins be forgiven thee. And that Syrophoenician woman,
when she brought her daughter, and the Lord wouldn't answer,
wouldn't answer, wouldn't answer. And finally, she said, my daughter's
sick grievously, grievously. And he said, it's not me for
me to take the children's bread and give them to a dog. She said,
yes, Lord, I'm a dog. But even the dogs get the crumbs
from the table, Lord, the master's table. And you know what he said?
Oh, listen, let it be unto your daughter as you will. Oh, God
honors faith. And Noah, he prepared an ark
to the saving of his house. Saving of his house. And that
nobleman's servant was healed. When they said, the Lord was
on his way over and he said, tell him not to, he don't have
to come under my house. I'm not worried that he come
under my roof. All he's got to do is just say the word. And
I know my servant will be healed. Oh, my. I tell you, he prepared
an ark to the saving of his house. You don't have, we don't have
any idea of how faith will affect somebody down the road. Herman
never got converted until he was 75 years old, sat under the
gospel for years and years and years. Wife was already gone. Scott Richardson preached for
years, and after he's gone, one of his wayward sons believed
God. God honors faith, and I tell
you what, and every one of us has got children, and oh my,
when we say, come hear the gospel, if we think they're going to
be in a service, our heart just goes out and says, oh God, please,
please, please, please speak to them, touch them today in
this service. My I just and I'm this is the
God's truth. I'll tell you the truth right
here. This is God's truth I just I would be just as thrilled and
just as joyful seeing your children converted as I would my I Really
God knows that's the truth. You know, why? Because it's a
soul being brought to Christ and I know what it does for you.
I And then look here at the witness of Noah s faith. Noah had a witness
to his faith. It says there in the last part
of verse 7, By the witch he condemned the world. Oh, when he was preparing
that ark, and laboring, every time he sought a board, and every
time he put it together, started putting that thing together,
everything he did condemned the world. They would look at him,
and you know, and they'd say, that old man's a fool. And they'd
tell us what fools you are, that you all believe in election,
that you believe God's sovereign, that you believe that God only
saves sinners, that you're not saved by good works, you're not
saved by any merit of your own. And you don't have to do any
works to be sad. People always talk about what
they've done. Listen, we don't talk about what
we talk about what he did. And that's what he did, everything
he did. And I'll tell you, beloved, our
witness for Christ condemns the world. Everybody that you've
ever been in contact with knows you're a believer, and knows
you believe the grace of God, and knows where you go and what
you believe, really knows it. And every time they're around
you, your faith and your witness stay over here. Do you know how
awful it's going to be? I heard Paul talking the other
day about his brother. The brother's brilliant, brilliant.
He's an agnostic. He's out in Colorado living the
life of a hermit. And Paul said, do you know how
awful it's going to be for him of all the gospel he's heard?
And not only that, but his daddy is Henry Mahan. Best preacher
in his generation. He said, do you know how awful
it's going to be? What a condemnation it's going
to be. And we're a man preaching the gospel. And were we witness,
oh, the condemnation that people's going to be under because of
the witness. We witnessed that we don't have
a righteous or only Christ. We witnessed that we live by
faith and faith alone. We witnessed that we're saved
by grace and grace alone. And we're saved by grace chosen
in Christ before the world ever began. Let me tell you something. Faith is the opposite of sin. Sin is more than an act. It's
an attitude. What it is, it's an attitude
of defiance against God. It's rebellion. Sin is a man
exercising self-will, self-assertion, self-independency. The opposite
of that is this, faith is more than just an act. Oh, there's
a time we believed, but oh my, have you ever stopped believing? Faith is more than just an isolated
act, it's an attitude. And faith is an attitude of submitting
ourselves to God and to God's rule, submitting ourselves to
His will, coming to the end of ourselves, dependent entirely
upon God Himself. And you know the difference between
the wicked and the righteous in this world? We want by faith. We live for God's glory, they
live for self-gratification. We live for eternity, they live
for time. We walk by faith, and that necessarily
condemns the world. Necessarily condemns the world.
And let me give you the seventh thing, and then look at the reward
of his faith here in Hebrews 7. The reward of it. In the last
verse, the last part of the verse, not only did he condemn the world
and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. He became
an heir. He inherited something. What did he inherit? Righteousness.
What did he inherit? Christ. What did he inherit?
Life. Oh my. Faith brings a present
blessing, righteousness, and acceptance with God. Approved
of God it brings peace and joy in belief, but the grand reward
look in Romans chapter chapter 8 And I'll close with this but
all the grand reward of faith. You know what it is. Oh Faith
right now brings the present blessing Romans 8 16. Oh my we
have a righteous. We have the righteousness of
Christ We accepted of God accepted in the beloved We're approved
of God. We found grace in His eyes. It
gives us peace. It gives us joy and belief. But
look what it says, Romans 8, 16. The Spirit itself bears witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. The Spirit bore
witness to Noah, I'm a child of God. And if children, if it
bears witness that you're a child of God, and if you're children,
if children, then you're heirs, you're heirs. Children inherit
things, heirs of God, and join heirs with Christ. And oh my,
so be that we suffer with him, we shall all be glorified with
him. The reward of faith is not only
received in this life, but faith will cease to be one of these
days because we'll enter into that place where faith don't
need to be. That's the inheritance we got. That's what Abraham had. That's what Abraham and Noah
had. Oh, that's what they had. Noah found grace, and he believed
God. Oh, I believe God. Don't you
believe God? Sometimes I believe Him more than I do in others,
but oh, I believe Him. I believe Him. Our Father, oh, our Father, the
blessed name of our Lord Jesus Christ, thank You for the day. Oh, the day. the day you've given
us, another day to worship, another day of the gospel, another day
of enjoying Christ and the fellowship of God's people, worshiping together,
rejoicing together, believing together, resting in Christ together,
enjoying God's grace together. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for
giving us this faith that believes, this faith that comes to Christ
and finds Him to be our all in all. Thank you for it. Thank
you for it. We know it's not of ourselves.
And Lord, continue, continue to continue to save us, leave
us never, ever to ourselves. We ask it for Christ's sake.
Amen. Amen.