Aaron Greenleaf is preaching
in Danville this morning. Everybody remember him. And tonight
I'm going to be speaking from Acts chapter 16, where Paul had
been attempting to preach the gospel in several different places
and the spirit suffered him not. And then he had a vision. A man
of Macedonia said, come over and help us. That's what I'm
going to try to preach on. Come over and help us. What was
the help? I've entitled the message for
this morning, NOAH, A SINNER SAVED BY GRACE. NOAH, A SINNER SAVED BY GRACE. Now, if I was writing the biography
of Noah, I doubt that I would have ended up with this story.
As a matter of fact, I've always thought this is I want to say
this reverently, but an unusual way to end up the story of this
man, Noah. We don't know how long Noah had
been off the ark, but during this time, Ham did
not have a son when he came off the ark, and he has a son at
this time by the name of Canaan. And some have actually thought
that Canaan was the one who saw Noah and told Ham about it, and
Ham told his brothers. And that could be the case because
Canaan is cursed in this story. But Ham saw his father's nakedness
and told his brothers, you need to see this hypocrite, Claims
to be a Christian. Claims to be a follower of God.
Look at him. That is what was going on. Look
at him. Now, Noah had become a farmer. He planted a vineyard, became
intoxicated by drinking the wine he produced from that vineyard.
He passed out. When he woke up from his wine,
that means he passed out. and was naked in his tent. Ham, his younger son, sees it
and tells his brothers about it. He was seeking to expose
his father to them. He was seeking to expose his
father's sin to them. Now, I love their reaction, they
would have none of it. As a matter of fact, they went
in with a blanket and went in backwards and covered their father's
nakedness. They had no interest in exposing
their father. You see, love covers a transgression. It always does. and they went
backwards and covered their father. Noah wakes up from his wine and
he knows what was done. And he curses Canaan and Ham,
all the descendants of Ham. Now, this is the final chapter
of this special man's life. the final chapter. Noah had never
been a better man, I don't suppose. We've been looking at him for
quite a while now, but this is the final chapter of this man's
life. And he's mentioned in the New
Testament on eight different occasions, and every time he's
mentioned, it's always good. There's nothing brought up about
this in the New Testament. And I love to remember that the
New Testament account of every believer, because of Christ,
it's all good. Nothing bad to be brought up. Now, the first thing that I would
think of in considering this story is that only the Bible
tells the truth. Only the Bible tells the truth. Now, if I was writing something
about myself, I guarantee you it would come out better than
it is. Same with you. We'd always try to present ourself
in a better light. Only the Bible gives the truth. You believe that? Only the Bible
gives The truth. This story is part of the inspired,
inerrant word of God, and it's for our spiritual instruction
and benefit. And I pray that the Lord blesses
us in considering this event. Now, this tells us that Noah
was clearly still a sinner. He was a saint. He was a man
of faith. He was a man who feared God.
Remember in Hebrews 11, 7 says he moved with fear. He was a
preacher of righteousness. He was a man whom God testified
that he walked with God. What a commendation. He was a
saved man and he was still a sinner. believer that is not in heaven
is still a sinner. I'm looking at a bunch of sinners
this morning. You're listening to a sinner speaking to you,
someone who commits sins. Noah was still a sinner. Now, while we have been born
again and have a new nature, we still have the same nature
we were born with the first time, and it's just as bad and it's
just as evil as it ever was. That's the truth. Paul said, I know that in me,
that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. Do you know that? Paul said,
I know that. Now in that verse of scripture
in Genesis chapter six, verse five, would you look at it with
me? We've looked at this a lot over the, and I, Well, as long
as I'm alive, by the grace of God preaching, we're going to
continue to look at this a lot. And God saw, Genesis chapter
6, 5, and God saw that the wickedness of man, including Noah, was great
in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of
his heart was only evil continually. And that describes every man,
every woman, every boy, every girl. And if you're saved, you
still have that nature that is described just like that. That's
you, that's me, right now, the old man. Now, looking at Noah,
it tells us that a believer can commit any sin that an unbeliever
can. Let me repeat that. A believer,
a child of God, one born of the Spirit, one who looks to Christ
only, can commit any sin an unbeliever can with the exception of the
sin against the Holy Spirit. Somebody says, what is the sin
against the Holy Spirit? Well, spelled out very clearly
in Hebrews chapter 10, where the writer said, if we sin willfully
after that we've received the knowledge of the truth, there
remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. If you've received the
knowledge of the truth, Christ is salvation. It has nothing
to do with your works. And if you go back to works,
It's over. Now that's what that means. It's
over. If you go back to works, if you
turn your back on the only way of salvation and look to your
works once again, because somehow the gospel didn't fit your agenda,
that is the sin against the Holy Spirit. But any other sin, any
believer can commit. Noah, while he is a sinner, is
a beautiful illustration of a sinner saved by grace. Remember that's the title of
this message, Noah, a sinner saved by grace. Now we read in verse eight of
chapter six, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, the
grace of God. I love the way it sounds. I love
to say it, the grace of God. The grace of God is in Christ
Jesus, and Noah is a beautiful illustration of that. All of
God's salvation was in the ark, wasn't it? It wasn't anywhere
else. If you were outside of the ark, there was no salvation
for you. Salvation was for those in the ark. God's grace is in
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not anywhere else. Don't
look for it anywhere else. The grace of God is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. God's grace is eternal. You see,
If you have His grace, you've always been the object of His
grace. Before time began, you were the
object of His grace. He saved us. He called us with
a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. my soul, adore and wonder. Ask, O why such love for me?" God's grace is sovereign. He
says, I'll be gracious to whom I will be gracious. Somebody
that has a problem with that has a problem with God. This
is who He is. His grace is sovereign grace. His grace is saving grace. By grace ye are saved. God's grace is not an offer.
He doesn't throw it out there and say you can accept it or
reject it. No, God's grace saves. God's grace is free. Being justified freely, freely
by His grace. through the redemption that's
in Christ Jesus. And God's grace, I love thinking
this, God's grace is righteous grace. It's altogether righteous.
It's not God sweeping our sin under the carpet. Oh, His righteousness
is exalted in His grace. When sin is punished in the Savior
and His perfect righteousness is given to us, there's nothing
unclean about God's grace. There's nothing unjust about
God's grace. It's altogether righteous. Grace, as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ, our Lord. You see the New Testament account
of Noah is all good because every believer by grace has a brand
new history and it's all perfect. You know, I can't change history.
I can't redo anything I've done, but God gives every believer
a brand new history. Now I'd like to talk a few moments
about the sin of Ham. And what Noah did was sinful.
It cannot be excused on any level. It cannot be justified on any
level as he lays there in the tent, passed out in his nakedness. And that nakedness in the scripture
represents depravity. What's the first thing that happened
when Ab and Eve ate the fruit? They knew they were naked. It
was a new reality with them, dead in trespasses and sins.
And that's what that is representative of in this man, Noah. There he lays, naked and passed
out. Ham sees his father and he's
going to expose him. This man who claims to be a Christian,
this man who claims to be a follower of God, look at him. Ham wants his father exposed
for what he is. Question, have you ever wanted
somebody to be exposed? Have you ever wanted somebody's
sin to be found out? Do you know that's a worse sin
than the sin that that person committed that you weren't exposed?
That's worse. There are degrees of sin. Scripture
teaches that. There are degrees of sin. I think
of what the Lord said to Capernaum. He said he's gonna be more tolerable
for Sodom. And you know what Sodom is. They're
gonna have it better on judgment than you because you've seen
me, you've heard my gospel and you've turned your back on it.
There are different levels of sin and this sin of Ham exposes
the rottenness of his heart. Have I ever wanted somebody to
be exposed? Sure I have. How evil, how wicked,
how contrary to the gospel of God's grace. You ever wanted
somebody kicked out of the church? Well, they ought to be kicked
out for that. What a wicked attitude. What an evil attitude, wanting
somebody to be kicked out. You see, that attitude that Ham
was cursed for, that Canaan was cursed for, is completely contrary
to love. Love covereth a transgression. That's what love does. Love keeps
no records of wrongs. Love covers all things. with
silence. Now when Ham had this attitude
toward his father, he was not displaying love on any level. If you love somebody, you want
to cover their sins, not expose them, but cover them. You know, I think of the golden
rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you
wanna expose, you don't wanna be exposed, do you? You want
somebody to expose you? If you're looking for a reason
to expose somebody, you can find it with anybody. If you're looking
for a reason to make them look bad, you can find it with anybody,
no doubt about it. Somebody wants to dig up dirt
on anybody, it's easy. But it's so contrary to love.
And that is what Ham was doing. And as a matter of fact, Ham
was demonstrating amazing self-righteousness. Now, Romans chapter two, verse one.
Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that
judgest, for you that judgest, doest. Right now, the same things. Whatever you're seeking to expose
that person about, how hypocritical when you're doing the same things,
present tense, that's you. That's what's in your heart.
Now, Ham was cursed for this behavior. I think of those fellas
that, Brought that woman taken in adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the law says that
such should be stoned, but what sayest thou? I love the Lord's
reply. You that are without sin, throw
the first stone. And I have no doubt he was talking
about that sin. You that are without it, go ahead
and throw the first rock. If I really believe myself to
be a sinner, I feel unqualified to be a judge of anybody about
anything. Ham exposed the rotten of his
heart in seeking to expose his father. Love covers a transgression. Now let's consider the conduct
of Shem and Japheth, and we have such a beautiful type of the
gospel in these men. Look in verse 23. Verse 22, Ham,
the father of Canaan, saw the naked of his father, and he told
his two brethren without. You guys need to see this. This
shows what a monster that man is. He had something against
his dad, no doubt, for whatever reason. But look at Shem and
Japheth's. response. And Shem and Japheth took a garment,
a blanket of some kind, and laid it upon both their shoulders.
And they walked in backwards with that blanket to cover their
father with their faces away to where they never saw his nakedness. And they covered it. Now, let me tell you something
about these two men. They both believed themselves
to be sinners. They believed that about themselves.
They were sure of it. They had no right to expose their
father because they knew something about themselves. If somebody
you know falls into some horrible sin and you find yourself wanting
them exposed and kicked out of the church, watch out. You're
in danger of coming under the curse of Ham, if that is your
heart and thought. Their actions give us a beautiful
type of the gospel of Christ. He covers our nakedness. He covers our sin so as not to
see it. He doesn't look at a believer
and say, I know what you really are. Doesn't work like that. I mean, this is the glory of
the gospel. The thought that came to my mind
when I was trying to consider this was David's cover up. Now,
you want to talk about a cover-up. He's out there on the roof when
he should have been out with the army, wasting time, he sees
Bathsheba in a horrible abuse of power. He has her brought
to him. You see, the king could do anything
he wanted. He committed adultery with her. She became with child,
and he did everything he could to cover it up. He tried to make
Uriah think it was his child by bringing him in immediately.
When that didn't work, He had Uriah, a fine man, a man mentioned
in the mighty men of David, a man who had been loyal to David.
He had this fine man murdered in cold blood. Could a believer do that? Don't
even think something like that. You could do that. I could do
that. Given the opportunity and the right circumstances, there's
nothing you or I wouldn't do, apart from the grace of God.
And he had this man murdered. He had another man implicated
in it. He had Joab do his dirty deeds.
And he had nothing but trouble from Joab from that time forth.
And I'm sure Joab lost all respect for David when he saw that take
place. What wickedness, what a cover-up,
what an abuse of power, but the Lord in mercy exposed David's
sin to him. You remember the story of Nathan
the prophet coming in and saying, let me tell you about something
that happened. There was a man that had a little
lamb that he loved with all of his heart. He'd actually sat
at meals with him, ate from their table with his kids. Oh, he loved
this little lamb. And there was a rich man who
had a vast amount of sheep and somebody came to visit him and
he didn't want to waste one of his sheep on that man. So he went and took that man's
little lamb and killed it and fed it to his guests. David said,
as the Lord liveth, he'll surely die. I'm gonna make sure that
man dies. You know, I think this is just
a beautiful example of how we see everybody else's sin before
we see our own. You know, he said, that man's gonna die. Thou
art the man. And David understood at that
time through the Lord's mercy, his sin was exposed. And he wrote
Psalm 32. Yes, he wrote Psalm 51, but he
also wrote Psalm 32 in response to this. Blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. You see, here's the gospel. My
sin is forgiven because it's been covered by the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ, and it wasn't imputed to me, it was
imputed to Christ. It became his, and his righteousness
is mine. That's the gospel of covering,
covering. Oh, blessed is that man whose
iniquity is forgiven, whose sin is covered, not imputed. I'm so thankful for the Lord's
covering. And His covering is infinitely
different than a covering we can come up with. When He covers,
it's not still there underneath. It's not there because it's not. That's what his blood accomplished. That's his kind of covering.
Look in Genesis six, verse nine, God's testimony of Noah. These are the generations of
Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect,
undefiled in his generations. That's God's testimony of Noah.
at all times because of this covering. Now go back to Genesis
chapter nine, verse 24. And Noah awoke from his wine
and knew what his younger son had done unto him. No point in speculating what
it is because we don't know. We know he uncovered him and
saw his nakedness and that's enough. And he said, cursed be Canaan. That was the son of Ham. Cursed
be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. Now remember, these three boys,
Shem, Ham, and Japheth are the men that God used to repopulate
the earth. And Canaan was going to be a
servant. And indeed he was. Remember how Abraham was given
the land of Canaan and the inhabitants of Canaan were dispossessed.
Somebody says, why did God do that? Well, they were so wicked.
He didn't do it because Abraham was good. He told Israel, don't
think that I'm doing this because of some goodness on your part.
It's because of the wickedness of the inhabitants of the land.
And that was the Canaanites, and they were under God's curse. But the gospel is so clear here. Verse 26, and he said, Blessed
be the Lord God of Shem. You know, Shem's mentioned in
the New Testament, the Christ came through his wine. Blessed
be the Lord God of Shem. Read it in Luke 3, 36. He's in
that great genealogy that goes all the way to Adam of the line
of the Christ. Blessed be the Lord God of Shem
and Canaan shall be his servant. Now look what it says in verse
27. God shall enlarge Japheth, He's gonna have wide open spaces
at complete liberty, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem. Now,
the liberty that's dwelling in Christ, that's what that's a
reference to. Shem represents Christ, Japheth dwells in his
tents. Abide in me, the Lord said. And this is the believer
dwelling in the wide open liberty of God. the liberty that's in
Christ Jesus, the freedom that's in Christ Jesus. If the Son shall
make you free, you're free indeed. That's where Japheth dwelled.
And Canaan shall be his servant. And Noah lived after the flood
350 years. And all the days of Noah were
950 years. And here's his end, he died. He died. Three words the scripture gives
to describe the death of the believer. Now everybody's going
to die. And if I'm not in Christ, that ain't good. It's not good
in any way. I don't even like to think about
it. Standing before God in my sins, hearing the Lord say, on judgment
day depart from me, I never knew you. It shall be ill with the
wicked. But with every believer, with
that exception, three words describe their death. Blessed, number one, blessed
are the dead. in the Lord, the most blessed
day any believer has is the day of their death because that very
day they're going to wake in the very presence of God in perfect
conformity to the image of Christ, no longer being a sinner, seeing
His face in righteousness. That's blessed. And then there's the word precious.
Precious is in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. You know, when I die, when any
believer dies, it's precious to the Lord. You know, we don't
have any idea how much he really loves us or what that love is.
And we, I mean, we, we believe it, but understanding it, no,
but it's precious to the Lord. And then there's the word gain.
Paul said, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. What gain Noah had when he died? He was in the presence of the
Lord, perfectly conformed to his image. And he died. Blessed day. Let's pray. Lord, we are so grateful for
the covering of your gospel. We're so thankful for the power
of the blood of your son that removes our sin because he willingly
took it on himself. Lord, deliver us from ever wanting
to expose somebody. Deliver us from that. Forgive
us for the wickedness of our heart that would make us want
to. Cause us to be like Shem and Japheth, not seeing the sin
of others because we see so clearly the sin of ourselves. Give us the grace to believe
your gospel. Give us the grace to love one
another. The love that keeps no records
of wrongs. Bless us for Christ's sake, in
His name we pray. Amen.