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 by faith.
Here are some things about Noah I thought I’d share. See if you can relate to any of these. We say we have faith. There has to be simliarities between our faith and their faith. There must be similarities. (Ephesians 4:5) One Lord, one faith…
He was warned
By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet…
Noah was warned of God of things not seen as yet. It’s been said that the world knew nothing of rain until the flood; that the earth was water as it was in the garden of Eden with a midst until the times of the flood. (Genesis 2:5-6) And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth… 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. So when the flood came upon man, it was a surprise, a shock to mankind. (Genesis 7:11) In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. No one had ever seen this sight. And no doubt nobody believed it would ever happen; of things not seen as yet.
I’m reminded of (Jeremiah 33:3) Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. Faith is the evidence of things not seen as yet; great and mighty things. Jesus said of the Holy Ghost: (John 16:13) Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. So from even from the the very beginning pages of the holy text, God has been intent that man know his will; particularly his will concerning the future. He was warned.
Lately, I’ve been reading through the prophets. And most of the books of the prophets deal with the turning away and fall of Israel and carrying away and captivity of God’s people due to their sin. And that is one truth that is repeated over and over and over. They were warned. Adam was warned. Noah was warned. Abraham was warned. Moses was warned. Joshua was warned. Samuel was warned. John the Baptist was warned. The list goes on and on. God has never left man ignorant of his will and the things to come. And God never changes.
He was moved
By faith Noah… moved with fear…
The difference between Noah and all them that drowned in the flood was this. He moved with fear. They all got the warning, but they weren’t moved. Why? No fear. Why is it that some respond to the gospel and some don’t? Fear. There is no way you can be saved and not fear God. (2 Chronicles 19:7) Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do it… Noah took heed and did it. He moved. The others had not fear, so they took no heed and did nothing. (Romans 3:18) There is no fear of God before their eyes.
But not so with God’s people. (Psalm 34:9) O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. There is no salvation without fear. Therefore there is no faith without fear. Faith will move a man to do something about what or whom he has faith in. If we do nothing, there’s something wrong. There’s something wrong with our faith, or maybe there’s something wrong with what or whom we’ve put your faith.
There’s nothing wrong with Jesus. The problem is on our side of the meter. We might want to check the fear department. You don’t hear much preaching on the fear of God. (Isaiah 8:13) Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. Noah moved with fear. You can’t move without it. There will be no going ye therefore and teaching all nations. There will be no walking in the Spirit, no walking the foreordained works of God. There will be no running the race with patience. There will be no pressing on to the mark. You can’t move without it. Noah moved with fear.
He was burdened
By faith Noah… prepared an ark to the saving of his house…
Noah prepared an ark to the saving of his house.. Noah had a burden for his loved ones. Warning reveals God’s will to us. Moving is taking heed to the God’s will. But being burdened is embracing God’s will as your own. The heart of man is awoken and hears. Then the heart is affected and responds. But then the heart embraces and is made. The heart first hears the voice of God, and then responds to his voice, but then begins to echo his voice. The bible says (1 Samuel 13:14) The LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart…
Noah had a burden. We hear the word of God. We respond to the word of God. But then we preach the word of God. (2 Peter 2:5) Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness… Jesus said (Matthew 10:27) What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. Our commission to preach the gospel is an invitation to know the heart of God.
Doing God’s will is not necessarily us bending to the will of God. Submission to God is not solely doing what is expected of you. Ultimately, I suppose that should be the end result or the manifestation of it. But I believe what God truly desires of us is to have a heart that is in tune with his heart; a heart that mirrors his heart. Sometimes, when a family sings together, soprano, alto, and tenor, their voices blend so well you cannot distinguish the different parts. It sounds as one person singing. Praise God that we can sing to him psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. But our hearts can sing with him. (Revelation 22:17) And the Spirit and the bride say, Come…
He was separated
By faith Noah… condemned the world…
There’s no indication that Noah condemned the world in word, but rather in deed. For Noah, by his faith and actions, to stand in the place of judgement over the world demonstrates a material difference between them and him. This speaks to me of separation. For ’tis the world’s cry against the people of righteousness, You’re judging me! Any move the righteous makes in the fear of the Lord, the ungodly cries in defense, You’re judging me!
So the ungodly world is half right and half wrong. Our faith and work do stand in judgment of this generation. But our separation is truly not our doing, but God’s. There is a difference between us and them because God has declared it so. (Romans 1:1) Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, Paul did not practice separation, but God performed a separation on him. Separation is a divine call from another world. (2 Corinthians 6:17) Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord. And it’s a call of love from our beloved. (Song of Solomon 2:10) My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. Separation’s motive is not to judge and condemn, but to awaken to the call of God and to drawn away toward him.
(Luke 16:26) And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Man did not place that gulf there, God did. Real biblical Christian separation is founded on what God has done, not what man can do. For Noah, building the ark was a reproof to the unbelieving sinners. To hear the voice of God, be moved by it, and then do something about it, will always reprove those who are deaf, unmoved, and negligent to the things of God.
He was rich
By faith Noah… became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
Let me just jump to the chase. Paul said (Romans 4:5) But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. And then he says regarding the righteousness of God: (Romans 4:23-24) Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; If you have put your faith and trust in him that raised up Jesus from the dead, he who justifieth the ungodly, then you also are an heir of righteousness. Like Noah, you are an heir of the the world to come.
One day, we’ll step off this boat into a world without end. And God shall present us the inheritance that awaits us. (Ephesians 1:11) In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: What a blessed sight it would be to catch a glimpse of what God has prepared for us. Paul prayed that (Ephesians 1:18) The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know… what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, We are truly rich.
We may seem as paupers for a season, but what has been imputed on our account will soon be manifest when the Lord Jesus Christ will bring us (1 Peter 1:4) To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. Praise the Lord, I’ve made my reservations! The old account was settled! I’m glad I trusted Jesus! My wife and I were discussing finances the other day and I told her, “We only have to last as long as we live! When we make it past that, we’ll be in eternity.”
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