God's Sovereignty and Man's Responsibility

11 verse 7, our subject, God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. By faith knower, being warned
of God, of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared
an art to the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the
world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. Now I know better than anyone
here the difficulty of my subject. I know that through the centuries
men have not only debated, argued, fought over this subject, but
they have shed blood over this subject. And I know that I am only a babe
and the least worthy of his servants, but I feel that God has given
me some light on this subject, God's sovereignty and man's responsibility
And I feel that God has led me to preach on this subject, and
therefore I'm attempting it. I want to divide this text into
four parts. First of all, we're going to
look at Noah's faith. Then secondly, we're going to
look at Noah's God. And then thirdly, we're going
to look at Noah's obedience, and then fourthly, Noah's glory. Our text begins this way, By
faith, Noah. By faith, Noah. The text begins
with Noah's faith, for in back of everything was his faith in
God. Now, we'll be talking in a few
moments about Noah's faith. but he feared God because he
believed God. We'll be talking in a few moments
about Noah's obedience, that he obeyed God because he believed
God. We'll be talking about Noah's
faithfulness in preaching the gospel when no one believed him,
but he was faithful in preaching the gospel because he believed
God. Back of all is Noah's faith. That's the reason it begins this
way. By faith Noah by faith. Turn to Genesis 6. Now, I want
you to look at this. In Genesis 6, Noah believed God
before the flood. Noah believed God in ordinary
life, in day-by-day living. It says in Genesis 6, verse 9,
these are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man. Now the scripture says four times
that just shall live by faith. Noah wasn't just in himself,
he was just in his Lord, in his Redeemer, in his Savior. That
just shall live by faith. God would have never called Noah
a just man if Noah did not believe. Noah believed God for his daily
bread. Noah believed God in his daily
walk. Faith was his normal attitude. He believed God. He was a just
man. and he was perfect, that is, upright in his generation,
and Noah walked with God. Now, no man is going to walk
with God without faith. Look back at the text. In verse
6 it says in Hebrews 11, without faith it's impossible to please
God. No man, no woman is going to
please God or walk with God who does not believe God. So back
of all of this, Noah's obedience, Noah's preaching, Noah's fear,
Noah's preparation of the ark, back of all of it was his faith
in God. He believed God. He believed
God in ordinary life. I wish we could see this, that
we not only need faith to build a building, we need faith to
build a house back. We not only need faith to preach,
you need faith to plow. I'm talking about believing God
in the common, ordinary things of life. Noah was a just man,
an upright man, and a man that walked with God because he believed
God. We need faith not only to walk
with God, we need faith to walk with men. We not only need faith
to die. Somebody says, I hope the Lord
will give me dying faith. I hope he'll give me living faith.
And if I have living faith, I'll have dying faith. All of us want faith for the
crisis. That's the reason we have so
many crises, is because we don't have faith in the ordinary things
of life. Yes, you'll find Noah rising
to the occasion when the great trial came, but you'll find Noah
rising to the occasion when the great trial came because he believed
God before it came. You see what I'm saying? He believed
God by faith, Noah. And Noah believed God's warnings.
I hear people talking about believing the promises of God. I do. I trust that I do, I want to,
claim the promises of God. Well, I'm saying this, you can't
have faith in God's promises if you don't believe God's warnings. Noah moved with fear to prepare
an ark because he believed God's warnings. He who does not believe
God will punish sin, how can he believe God will pardon sin?
He who does not believe that God will cast unbelievers into
hell, how can he believe that God will take believers to heaven?
He who does not believe there will be a flood, why would he
waste his time preparing an ark? Noah believed God. He believed
God in the ordinary things of life. He believed God when he
plowed his field. He believed God when he tended
his sheep. He believed God when he blessed his children. He believed
God when he sat down at the table. He believed God when he lay down
to rest. He believed God in the common,
ordinary things of life. Therefore, when God came to him
with a warning, when God came to him with a trial, he believed
God then, too. And watch this. He believed God,
though no one else believe God, and no one else followed him.
As far as we know, as far as we can judge from the scripture,
for 120 years Noah preached, Noah believed, Noah built his
ark, and Noah stood alone. 120 years. As far as we know
from the scripture, and I'm sure that it's true, Noah was held
up for ridicule. Here is a man miles from any
ocean or river or lake building an ark, a three-story ark. Here is a man talking about it
raining so much that God is going to send a flood. They never had
a drop of rain fallen. The earth was watered by other
means. His faith was held up for mockery,
for derision, for ridicule, and yet he stood alone. how difficult
it is for us to stand alone. When our faith is mocked, when
our faith is ridiculed, how difficult it is. We're embarrassed, we're
ashamed. But Noah stood. And we think
it's hard to live one life, one 60-year life is so difficult. Noah lived two 60-year lives
through this trial. 120 years. He stood alone 120 years. We find it difficult to stand
alone 120 days. He preached without results for
120 years. We moan and groan and complain
if we preach without results for 120 weeks or days. We pray about a matter of six
months and get no answer and grow discouraged and figure God's
not here in prayer anymore. Noah, for 120 years, waited for
God's answer. He believed God. He waited on
God. This is a day of impatience.
We want it right now. We want God to work right now,
we want God to move right now, we want God to expand our facilities
and our influence right now, right now. And if it's not done
today or next week or next month or next year, we'll get a new
pastor, we'll get a new board of deacons, or we'll get a new
way of doing things. We'll try different methods. Noah believed God, and he just
kept building his eyes, building his eyes, waiting on God, waiting
on God. Noah's faith, all for a faith
that will not shrink, all for a faith that can wait
on God, all for a faith that in every area of life, ordinary
life, that believes God. Walk with God. Notice the second thing, Noah's
God. It says here, Noah believed God,
being warned of God of things not seen as yet. Now, Noah had
not seen the rain, but God had Noah had not seen the flood.
He'd never seen a flood. He didn't know what a flood was.
But God had, and God knew. Noah had never seen destruction.
But God saw it because God ordained it, because God decreed it. Noah was a creature of time.
God is eternal. and Noah being warned of God
of things not seen. That is, Noah had not seen them,
but God had seen them. I want you to turn to some scriptures
with me in Isaiah chapter 46. Isaiah 46. The flood which was coming, God
purposed, God planned, God decreed, and God as he does all things, as he
is the first cause of all things. All things spring from him, directly
or indirectly. Isaiah 46, verse 9. Remember
the former things of old. I am God, there's none else.
I am God, there's none like me, declaring the end from the beginning,
and from ancient times things that are not yet done. Noah being warned of God of things
not yet seen, not yet done, not yet accomplished. But God says,
I declare those things which are not yet done, saying, My
counsel shall stand, I will do all my pleasure. I will do my pleasure. Where
is your God? They said to David. David said,
Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he pleased
in heaven and earth, in the seas, and in all deep places. Have
I not spoken, God said, and shall I not do it? He worketh all things, Paul said,
according to the good pleasure of his own will. And Solomon
wrote in Proverbs 16, The lot is cast into the lap but the
decision is holy of the Lord. Even the events that seem accidental
are really ordered by the Lord. Turn with me to the book of Acts,
chapter 4. Now, men do what they want to
do, but in doing what they want to do, they do what God Almighty
decrees, and purpose is in In Acts chapter 4, it says here
in verse 27, 26, "...the kings of this earth stood up, and the
rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against
his Christ, for of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou
hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles
and the people of Israel." Everybody was gathered together. to do
whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done."
Almighty God is the first cause of all things. Even the wrath
of man will praise the Lord. There is nothing that takes place
in this universe that is not on God's blueprint. There is
nothing that occurs for which God has to go back and search
and see if it was in the plan, if it was in the purpose. It's
there. I declare the end from the beginning. This is Noah's
God. By faith Noah moved with fear and being warned of God
of things not seen. Noah hadn't seen them, but God
had seen them. God had purposed them, God had
planned them. Let me show you a picture in Genesis 45. Now,
you know how Joseph got down in Egypt. You know how he came
there and his brothers had sold him into slavery, he'd gone to
prison. He had a rough and rocky road
to the throne. But God preserved Egypt through
Joseph, and he preserved even the nation of Israel through
Joseph. And Joseph revealed himself to
his brothers, and he said in verse 5 of Genesis 45. Now he says, don't be grieved
and don't be angry with yourselves that you sold me hither, for
God did send me before you to preserve life. Verse 7, And God
sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth.
Verse 8, So now it was not you that sent me here, but God? That boy Joseph came out in the
field, and those wicked brethren, they didn't look up the scripture
to find out what they ought to do with Joseph. Their wicked
hearts told them what to do with him. They did what they wanted
to do. They did it because they hated
him. They did it because they despised him, and they roughly
threw him into a pit, sold him to some strangers coming through
those parts, sold their own brother into slavery. and cut up his
coat and poured blood on it and took it home and told his daddy
he was dead. Rotten, scheming, conniving, evil men. And then Joseph went down to
Egypt and wound up in prison and then on the throne. And he
said, It's God that brought me here, not you. Same thing with
that cross. They nailed Christ to a cross
because they despised and hated him. But in doing so, they fulfilled
the will of God. Now turn to Genesis 50, verse
19, and Joseph talking to his brethren here. He says, Genesis
50, verse 19, And Joseph said unto them, Fear not, for am I
in the place of God, but as for you, You thought evil against
me, but God meant it unto good to bring it to pass." All right,
let's go back to our text, Hebrews chapter 11. Noah's faith, he believed God.
Noah's God, absolutely, unquestionably, immutably, totally sovereign
in all things. who doeth according to his will
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of this earth,
and giveth it to whomsoever he will. Moses said, Lord, show
me your glory. He said, I'll show you my glory,
I'll cause my goodness to pass before you. I'll be merciful,
but I'll be merciful to whom I will be merciful. I'll be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. God's on the throne. We're told
to come boldly before the throne of grace, and we emphasize the
grace part, and thank God we can. But remember this, it's
a throne of grace. It's a throne. God is sovereign,
king of kings. Lord of Lords. But now let's
look at Noah's obedience in verse 7 again. By faith Noah, being
warned of God, of things God had decreed, God had purposed,
God had ordered, what did Noah do? He moved with fear, prepared
an ark, obeyed the Lord. Now Noah knew that God would
send a flood. God told him so. Noah knew that
God had made a covenant with him. God said, I'll make a covenant
with you. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. How did
he know that? God told him so. He knew it. Noah knew that his
house would be saved. That's right. Turn back to Genesis. Let me show you that. Noah knew
that his house would be saved. Right here in Genesis 6, God
told him so. In Genesis 6, God even said in
verse 3, man's days will be 120 years. That's how long it was.
In verse 18 of Genesis 6, God said, with thee will I establish
my covenant. Thou shalt come into the ark.
Our Lord Jesus said, I have many sheep, I have many people. Them
I shall bring, they shall hear my voice, they shall come to
me. You shall enter the ark. You and your sons and your wife
and your sons' wives with them." They're all going into the ark.
Eight souls shall be saved by water. No one knew that. God
told him so. What was his reaction? I'm glad he didn't live in 1976 and become obsessed with a warped
fatalism and Calvinism that being preached in this day, or he would
have sat down in a rocking chair and said, Well, there's nothing
I can do. If God's going to send a flood, it'll come. If God's
going to save me, he'll save me. If God's going to save my
boys, he'll save them. No use in me doing anything about
it. What Noah do? He moved. He moved. He knew he was saved, but he
moved. And he moved in awe and fear of God. and he obeyed God. He obeyed every command concerning
that ark. He carefully prepared it, and
when it was complete, he entered it. His faith was not idle, but
moved him in fear to obedience of God's commandments. Now, you and I know that God
is going to judge us well. He says so in his word. You and
I know that God Almighty is going to show mercy to some people.
I know that. He delights to show mercy. He's
plenteous in mercy. We know that Jesus Christ, his
Son, has been given a people. That's what the scripture says.
I don't know who they are, and you don't either. God knows. Christ
knows. He knew from the beginning who
should believe on him and who wouldn't, who would crucify Christ
is that Ark, Christ is that City of Refuge, Christ is that Savior,
and we know this from the Word of God. All who want to be saved
are commanded to do what? Noah, I made a covenant with
you, I'm going to destroy this world, but you're going to be
saved. You and your wife and your three
sons and their wives with thee. Noah, build an ark. Now, here
are the instructions and here are the dimensions and here are
the blueprints. You get busy, Noah. What has
God said to you? For as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God. Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Lucifer shall call
upon the name of the Lord, or the same. If thou shalt confess
with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe in thine heart God
hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from
all unrighteousness. Oh, every one that thirsteth,
come to the water and drink." Come unto me, all ye that labour
in a heavy laden, I'll give you rest." You see the wickedness. Some
people think it's glorifying the God to sit down over there
and say, well, salvation's of the Lord. Noah didn't think that
was glorifying to God. Noah did as he was commanded. And I'll tell you this, I know
God cannot lie. And the scripture says, if you
confess with your mouth Jesus to the Lord and believe in your
heart God raised him from the dead, God will save you. Build
an ark, get in it, you'll be saved. And you turn to Matthew
11. I want to show you a scripture.
And you go home, and before you pop off about it too much, you
spend as much time studying it as I did, will you? You spend
as much time. You read as many commentaries,
you check as many references, before you pop off about this
scripture, you study it. Now listen to it. In Matthew
11, verse 12, And from the days of John the Baptist until now,
the kingdom of heaven suffered violence. That is, it's gotten
by force. And the violent take it by force. What does that mean, Preacher?
It means this right here. Those who know the terror of the Lord,
those who know the certainty of God's those who know God's
judgment against sin, those who know the beauty of Christ, and
those who know the glory of his kingdom, and those who know the
faithfulness of God's word, press, press with zeal and enthusiasm
into the kingdom of God, like Jacob who said, Lord, I will
not let you go unless you bless me. Like Brian Bartimaeus who
cried, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me, be quiet, I
won't be quiet. Like the woman with the issue
of blood who crawled through the crowd, who crawled to him,
who reached out with her hand, if I can just touch him, get
back woman, if I can just touch him, I'll be healed, I'm going
to touch him whatever it costs. I'm going to touch him." That's what it means. Now, if
you have, if you... Let me tell you this with all
my heart. If the kingdom of God, if salvation from sin, if knowing
Jesus Christ, if being healed of your sins, if being delivered
from condemnation, if being rescued from God's wrath means no more
to you, then you can sit down and not seek it, and pursue it,
and craft it, and search for it, and beg for it, and hunt
it. You've missed it. You don't know
what salvation is. No, you don't. No, you don't. If it does not fire your soul,
If it does not burn within you, if you don't spend your time
seeking the Lord and examining yourself and giving diligence
to make your calling and election sure, if you can sit down and
rest in the fact, well, I hope when the smoke clears away and
when the dust dies down, I'm on the right side, boy, it means
more to me than that. You don't know God, you don't
know the terror of the Lord. Knowing the terror of the Lord,
Paul said, I persuade men. I could wish myself a curse from
Christ for my brethren. Lord, if you're not going to
do anything for the people, brought me out of your book! That's how
important it was to Moses. Don't let them perish. You offer a starving man a piece
of bread, you take your hand off trying to get it. The reason you're not reaching
for the grace of God and seeking the kingdom of God and pursuing
the Lord is you are not hungry enough yet. You offer a drown
in a man a life preserver. Do you ever watch anybody drown?
It's a horrible sight. If you offer him a life preserver
and see how polite he is and how nice he is and how he stands
back and says, well, is it the will of God for me to be saved?
I'll be saved. He'll climb over your back and
get into it. That's the reason you have to knock a drowning
man out. He'll drown you trying to get saved. You see what I'm
saying? The kingdom of God suffered violence,
and the violent, the zealous, the enthusiastic press into it. Who touched me? Christ said.
Why, Lord, everybody's brushing against you. Somebody touch me! I feel power going out of me.
some hungry, some diseased, some eager woman touched you, Lord!"
There she is right there. Greatest, I say. Old Zacchaeus
climbed up a tree so he could see the Lord. Most of you won't
even go to church on Sunday. This woman came from miles just
to get to the Lord. You offer a dying man medicine,
he'll zealously take it. I want to show you an illustration. You know this as well as I know
it, maybe you've just never looked at it. Jacob and Esau. Here's God's sovereignty and
man's responsibility. Jacob knew the value of that
blessing. He knew the value of it. He knew
what it meant. He knew what it meant to have
the Father put the right hand on him and give him a blessing,
make him the leader of the family, make him the leader of the people,
give him the position of priest of the home, the oldest one,
the head man. He knew what that meant, and
he wanted it. He desired it. He fought for
it. He'd go to any length to get
it. And he got it. But God had decreed it. You see what I'm saying? The
children not yet being born, neither having done any good
or evil, It was said to their mother, Rebecca, the elder going
to serve the younger. But God didn't come down and
say, Isaac, don't you bless Esau, you bless Jacob. In fact, Isaac
did his best not to bless Jacob. He wasn't fixing to bless Jacob.
He was going to bless Esau. But Jacob wanted that blessing,
and Jacob was determined to have that blessing. And Jacob fought
to get that blessing, and Jacob got it, but God had already said
he was going to have it. What about Esau? Esau cared nothing
for that birthright. In fact, he exchanged it, he
trifled with it. He exchanged it, you remember,
for a bowl of beans. It was not important to him.
He cared nothing for it. He had no interest in it. till
after it was gone. Let me show you. Turn to Genesis
27. In Genesis 27, the Bible says
he sought it with tears, but it was too late. It was gone.
And there are going to be people up yonder at the judgment who
are going to cry, Lord, we did this, that and the other. Open
the gate, Lord. it's shut after it's gone. Genesis 27, he came in verse
32, and Isaac his father said, Esau said, Well, I'm your son,
I'm your firstborn son, Esau. And Isaac, trembling and exceeding,
said, Well, who is he that hath taken venison and brought it
to me? And I've eaten it all before thou camest, and I've
blessed him. Lord, he shall be blessed! It's
gone! It's over! I've blessed him,
and he's going to stay blessed! And Esau heard those words, it's
all over. He cried with a great and exceeding
bitter cry. And he said unto his father,
O my father, bless me. Bless me. Too late, son. You
trifled with it. You fooled around, you didn't
care. It wasn't important to you. I've already blessed your brother.
to me. But God decreed it. You see that? You see that? Before the children were born,
neither having done any good or evil, it was said to her that
elders shall serve the younger. Noah was going to be a flood.
Noah built an ark, moved with fear, prepared an ark. Old Jacob wanted that birthright.
And all the way through his life it was that way. There were so
many uncommendable things about him, but one, he wanted that
birthright. He wanted that blessing. And
he said to the Lord, even God smote him on the hip and crippled
him. He limped for the rest of his life because he wouldn't
let go. I will not let thee go. Seek me." He said, when you seek
me with all your heart, God said, you'll be found. Do you call
seeking the Lord with all your heart, sitting down in a rocking
chair and waiting for the lightning to strike? That's not seeking
the Lord. It's not important. You're like
Esau. Well, if you get it, okay. If you don't, that's all right,
too. But after it's gone, you won't think it's all right. All
that great and exceeding, this is Christ! Father, bless me too."
Too late, son. Too late. But God had decreed
it. Now you look back at our text.
Our faith, Noah, being warned of God, of things not seen. You've
been warned, I've been warned. of things not seen. I haven't
seen this world destroyed, but God has. I haven't seen all the
nations gathered before him in judgment, but God has. I haven't
seen men taken to glory, men sent to hell, but God has, and
I believe it, and I'm moving with fear. And I'm reading this
book, and I'm seeking the Lord, and I'm praying that God will
give me a little light and a little wisdom and God will increase
my faith, and God will reveal Christ to me, and God will give
me some enthusiasm and some zeal to seek the Lord. Noah's glory, all right. He saved
his house by which he condemned this world. Noah's going to condemn
us, the Queen of Sheba's going to condemn us, the men of Nineveh
are going to condemn us. If the mighty works had been
done in them which have been done in you, they would have
sought the Lord, they would have repented a long time ago. If
they had the light you've got and the knowledge you've got
and the revelation you've got, they would have been standing
today. And Noah became an heir of the
righteousness which is by faith. I look within me, and I see no
hope. I see only sin, inability. I look without me, and I see
no strength. I see no good. There's none that
seeketh after God. There's none that understandeth.
They're altogether become unprofitable, all like sheep that have gone
their own way. I look beneath me, and I see hell moving up
to meet us at our coming. But I look above me, and I see
a city." What did it say here? It says he looked for a city.
Verse 10, Abraham looked for a city. I see a city. I see a city of promise. I see
also a city of refuge. I see a city of hope. I see a
city of deliverance. I see a Savior! and I'm not willing
to surrender to that which is within me and that which is without
me, and commit my soul to that which is beneath me, I'm going
to look to Him. I'm going to cry, and I'm going
to seek the Lord, and I'm going to beg for mercy, and I'm going
to believe Him, and if I go to hell, I'll go to hell seeking
the Lord and clinging to the cross of Jesus Christ. That's
my responsibility. And God has promised, God has
promised, if we seek, we shall find. If we're not, not after
the door's closed, not after judgment's If we're not, it shall
be open. If we ask, we'll receive. You
know what he said? And when you come to the end
of the whole thing, you know what you'll find out? God decreed
it. God decreed it. That's his business. This
is my business. Our Father in heaven, the kingdom of heaven suffered
violence. and the violent press into it
by force. We pray that thou would put within
these hearts of ours a fear of the Lord like Noah as he moved
with fear. I would put within these hearts
of ours some understanding of the exceeding sinfulness of sin,
the consequence of evil, rebellion against thee. Put within these
hearts of ours a pending, like David whose soul pended for the
living God. Put within our hearts a desire
to be healed, to have spiritual eyes like Bartimaeus who would
not quit crying, The thief on the cross who begged
for mercy. Make it the end and goal of our
very being. Oh, that I might know Him and
the power of His resurrection. Oh, that I might win Christ and
be found in Him. In His precious name we pray
for His glory. Amen.

God's Sovereignty and Man's Responsibility

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

God's Sovereignty and Man's Responsibility

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book