Good morning. Did everyone have a good 4th of July week? Well, mine was busy, but it was a fun time hanging out with Nellie’s family and mine. But as we come back together this morning we are going to continue in the series that asks the question, “Would you get wet?” And hopefully, as in the passage last week about the parting of the Red Sea, hopefully this week we can say that “No, we won’t get wet.” Before we begin, let’s open with a word of prayer.
As we begin, here’s a question for you: How many animals of each kind did Moses take on the ark? The answer, of course, is “None.” It was Noah, not Moses, who brought the animals on the ark.
Well, “Noah and the ark” is probably one of the best-known stories in the entire Bible. Everything from songs, to stories books, to toys, to animal petting farms share the story of Noah and the Ark. Because this story is so well known, it is kind of hard to know what to say about Noah and the ark in a sermon. But we’ll give it a try.
Now, if you’ve studied your Bible, you know that thousands of years ago a preacher named Noah lived among sinful people. Noah preached for more than 100 years to wicked people about the coming punishment by God. Yet, not one person in the whole world besides his family was obedient to God.
As a preacher, I can imagine Noah’s frustration. It’s frustrating to preach over and over, week after week, Sunday after Sunday, about the wages of sin:
... About loving one another as God loves them...
... About being committed and dedicated to kingdom building...
... About the need to lay aside hatred and jealousy and disobedience…
…About the importance of staying faithful to God.
Yet see no visible change in people’s lives. It’s almost as if what Noah was saying was going in one ear and out the other. No doubt Noah was very sad, and God was greatly displeased.
For 120 years Noah preached and at the command of God, with the help of his family, built a large boat as God had instructed him. Sinners laughed at Noah and his family because of what he preached, because of the godly way his family lived, and because of the ark they built. But someone once said, “He who laughs last, laughs best!” For we know from the Bible that God flooded all the earth and drowned every person except this preacher and his family.
So let’s go ahead and look at this story. Now we are not going to read the entire account of Noah and the Ark, so before we get started, let me give a brief overview of the story for anyone who may not be familiar with it or who maybe has forgotten some of the important details. Noah was a man who lived long ago. We don’t know exactly when, but it was a time of great wickedness and evil upon the earth.
Because of that, God decides to destroy the entire human race, except for a man named Noah and his family. The Lord had Noah build a huge boat, an ark, and then had him gather a pair of every kind of animal and bird and bring them into this ark. Then it started to rain, and it rained and rained and rained for 40 days and 40 nights. This great rain that the Lord had sent resulted in a flood that destroyed every living creature on earth, except for Noah, his family, and all the animals and birds which were in the ark. Then, after 6 months, the waters finally receded and Noah, his family, and all the animals and birds left the ark and went out to repopulate the earth.
Go ahead and turn with me to Genesis 6 and hold that spot for just a moment, as we will be looking at a few verses in more detail this morning. A grandchild sitting on her grandfather’s lap listening to the Bible story of Noah’s Ark, asked “Were you in the Ark, grandpa?” He chuckled and replied, “Why, no I wasn’t.” There was a pause, and the child looked up at him quizzically and asked, “Then why weren’t you drowned?”
Now some of you may feel as old as Noah today, but I think that as we look at this account, we can find a few things that we can apply to our lives and cause us to have better lives and to stay afloat in this wicked world that we live in.
Without a doubt, one of the most famous ships that ever sailed was the Titanic. In her day, she was a state of the art Ocean liner, 882.5 feet long; her beam 92.5 feet and 60.5 feet from water line to boat deck. She consisted of 9 decks. She was designed to remain afloat with any 2 compartments flooded, and possibly even with 3 compartments flooded. She could carry 329 passenger’s first class, 285 passengers 2nd class, and 710 passengers 3rd class. On her maiden voyage across the Atlantic, she carried 2,227 on board. When she sank on April 15, 1912, of her 2,227 passengers and crew, only 705 survived. It was widely regarded that the “Olympic Class” liners were largely unsinkable and were themselves lifeboats. In fact, the boast was made that the Titanic was the unsinkable ship.
The White Star Company, who had designed the massive ship, gave a public statement that “not even God could sink the Titanic.” Yet, on April 15, 1912, the Titanic did sink. In a matter of hours more than 1500 people lost their lives in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. It turned out that the Titanic was not an unsinkable ship after all.
Now I believe what we find in Noah is a faith that separates. There is a faith that separates the Titanic for the Ark. There is a faith that separates, and that is what we want to talk about this morning. Now for our First Point, I want us to look at The Priorities That Noah Established.
We find the beginning of the story of Noah in Genesis 6:5-6, and it says, “1”
Even when the earth was at its darkest, Noah established a priority that is worth speaking of and following as life’s example. It says in Hebrews that Noah was warned by God that judgment was coming and he needed to prepare. He heard the Word of God.
The Word of God asked Noah to do something that seems unreal and odd for there had never been rain on the earth before. Judgment was going to come in the form of a flood and destroy all living things. That was the Word that Noah heard.
But I want you to see that he not only heard the Word of God, but he did the Word of God. Noah’s walk of faith became a working faith even if it caused others to laugh and make fun and scorn him. His belief in God caused him to behave as God had asked.
That is something that is desperately needed in our world today. I believe James is right when he says, “you say you have faith; I will show you my faith by my works.” You see, faith is not just an attitude but it is our actions that demonstrate our belief in God. The Bible says that Noah moved with fear; meaning that Noah moved with obedience. Noah heeded the Word of God and set God’s work as a priority in his own life.
He didn’t worry about what people said about him, or how they treated him. He didn’t worry about how he was going to get the Ark built, or how he was going to come up with all of the animals. He didn’t even worry about the fact that there was going to be a flood, even though it had never rained before. He simply obeyed God and put what God had said as a priority for his family.
Now I want you to see not only the priority that Noah established but also The Provision That Noah Embraced.
You will find this in Genesis 6:13-22. In Genesis 6:13-22 it says, “1”
In those verses, God told Noah to build a ship and even told him how he was to seal the ship. He was to build the ship from gopher wood and make rooms inside the ark. Noah was also to put tar, pitch inside and out. He was told not only how to seal the ship but also the size of the ship. The ship was to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. The ship would probably have weighed around 13,960 pounds.
The ark would have been plenty big enough for anyone who wanted to get in it to do so. The boat was there for people if they would just change their ways and get into the boat. If they would do that, they would have been saved from the flood and the judgment of God. Noah preached about the coming judgment, but no one listened. No one got into the boat with Noah because they chose not to.
Well, that is exactly what the cross means for us today. The death of Jesus on the cross and faith in His finished work has made it possible for us to come aboard and be saved from the judgment that is on the way. Every day that Noah went out to do his work on the ship was a testimony to those around him that judgment was coming. Every day that Noah woke, he was closer to the coming of the judgment.
Preachers like Noah preach every Sunday that the time is coming when the preaching will be over and judgment of God for the rejecters will be here. They do all that they can to prepare people for the time that is ahead.
But Preachers can only offer the ship, Jesus the only safety, and the way to get on board that ship is through faith in Jesus but it is up to you to get on board. I am so glad that growing up in life I made the decision to climb on board. Sure the ride has been rough at times, but I know where this boat will land one of these days.
With that being said, that brings us to our final point. We have talked about the priority that Noah established and the provision that Noah embraced. Now I want you to see The Promise That Noah Enjoyed.
For 120 years Noah preached that judgment was coming in the form of a flood. Can you imagine the ridicule that he received? People would come out and say, why Noah, there is not a cloud in the sky and you say it is coming a flood to destroy the world. He would not only preach but was preparing a ship for safety for his entire family. He preached by word and by deed.
Apparently, none of the people believed the message that Noah was preaching. There were only 8 people that escaped the flood: Noah, his wife, his 3 sons, and their wives. Not a lot of converts for 120 years of preaching, is it? But you know what, Noah’s task was to preach the truth and leave it to the people to accept of reject.
So, why did God bless Noah? Well, I believe we find it in verse 7 of Hebrews chapter 11. It starts by saying, “By faith Noah.” You see, Noah got saved the same way we do today, by faith.
The story that we looked at this morning was a terrible time because almost all people on earth died in that flood. Only the preacher and his family survived. Yes, the same flood water which destroyed the ungodly world, saved Noah and his family. These eight souls were separated by that water from the wicked world because they had faith, and they were in the ark!
As there was but one ark in the days of Noah, there is but one way of salvation for us today. The whole world was drowned under the flood of God’s wrath, except for those 8 happy souls in the ark. Even so, the whole world shall be destroyed in the everlasting wrath of God, except those happy, blessed men and women who are in Christ. Christ alone is the Savior of men. John 14:6, Jesus tells His disciples, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.”
If you want to be saved and keep from getting wet, then you must come into the Ark, you must come to Jesus Christ!
Now as I close this morning, there is one final lesson for us as we conclude our story. In Genesis 9:14-16 it says, “2”
You see, the Lord sends a rainbow to remind us of His promise never to destroy the world again through a flood. As Christians, we need to look for the rainbows and remember what they mean. So let me give you this assignment. Next time you see a rainbow, be reminded that as a Christian, you will never experience God’s wrath.
We will go through tough times, but we will never experience His wrath. And when you remember that, rejoice. Even if you have serious health problems, rejoice, because that rainbow reminds you God will spare you from His wrath. Even though you may have a very difficult situation at home, rejoice, because that rainbow reminds you God will protect you while others experience that wrath. Even though you may be lonely, and frustrated with difficult situations in your life, rejoice, because that rainbow reminds you that you are eternally safe, not in a wooden ark, but in the most secure shelter of all, Jesus Christ. Look for the rainbow, and rejoice in what it means.
Let’s Pray |
