Faith for Justice and Grace.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] This morning, go ahead and turn your Bibles to Genesis 6, [0:03] Genesis 6 verse 5, but I want to spend a few minutes unpacking a few things. [0:08] If this is your first time here in the handout, bulletin, notepad, journal, [0:13] whatever you want to call what it is we give out every week, [0:15] there’s a thing called a connect card. [0:17] And if this is your first time here, go ahead and fill that out.

[0:19] And later we’ll take an offering. [0:20] Go ahead and put that in there. [0:22] But I also want to talk a little bit about baptism. [0:25] We got Easter coming up and we will celebrate the resurrection [0:29] of our great God and King Jesus who is all to us. [0:32] And that is what we believe here at Village Church.

[0:36] But I want to talk a little bit about baptism in this service as well as in the next [0:39] just to kind of unpack for us what exactly that is. [0:42] What exactly do we believe baptism is and in its simplest form, [0:47] we see Jesus command baptism because what it reflects is it reflects in action [0:52] the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. [0:55] But it also reflects the new life in Christ that he gives us.

[1:00] Jesus gave us two things to do as a church to show what it is that he’s doing in us [1:05] and to proclaim outwardly what he’s doing inside of us. [1:08] The first one is communion or the Lord’s Supper. [1:10] And the second one is baptism. [1:13] Baptism is a mark of belonging to Jesus. [1:18] It’s a mark also though of entering into God’s people, the church.

[1:22] In Israel, they had this practice called circumcision on the eighth day of a child’s birth. [1:27] They would circumcise the child and that was a significant outward sign [1:31] that this child was a part of Israel. [1:34] In Jesus, though, God calls all nations to himself, not just Israel, but everyone. [1:40] And baptism necessarily does replace the sign of circumcision. [1:45] It is the sign spiritually outwardly to everyone that God has purified me of my sins.

[1:51] God has brought me in and this is a mark that I belong to Jesus [1:56] and I am also a part of his people, the church. [2:00] In the New Testament, it is seen as a step of trusting, obeying and following Jesus. [2:06] We see that as soon as Jesus is risen from the dead, he commands [2:10] that all people who follow him and all people who trust in him be baptized. [2:15] The norm in the New Testament is not that people got saved,

[2:18] people came to faith in Jesus Christ and they took a year worth of classes, [2:23] that they had to take the New Members class, that they had to take the Covenant membership class, [2:27] and then the other class about being a deacon and the other class about being a parking attendant. [2:31] Okay, now John, maybe you can get baptized. [2:34] Now in New Testament, the norm is to repent and be baptized. [2:39] In Acts chapter 8 verse 36, when Philip is telling the Ethiopian eunuch

[2:47] what it is to be saved and explaining to them what it is that Isaiah 53 is all about, [2:52] and the Ethiopian eunuch comes to faith in Jesus Christ, [2:55] says that the eunuch looks to Philip and says, what prevents me from being baptized? [3:00] Philip did not say, okay, let’s go back to Jerusalem so you can take some classes. [3:04] No, Philip says they stopped right by a body of water, he took them down and he baptized them. [3:09] In Acts chapter 2, Peter looks to the crowd in Jerusalem and he says,

[3:13] repent of your sins and be baptized. [3:16] In Acts chapter 9, 18, it says that the apostle Paul, the scales of sin fell off of his eyes, [3:21] he had faith in Jesus Christ and he was baptized. [3:24] In Acts chapter 10 verse 48, it says that the household of Cornelius was immediately baptized [3:30] when they came to faith in Jesus Christ. [3:33] So the New Testament norm is that when you are saved,

[3:36] the step that you take in signifying to the world that you belong to Jesus, [3:40] as well as signifying, and I will first and foremost obey Jesus above all, [3:46] is that we are baptized. [3:48] It shows the change that Jesus does in us from taking us from a person who is in rebellion against God [3:54] to a person whose sins have been forgiven by God through the work of Jesus Christ, [3:58] through the purifying sign of the water.

[4:02] And when you come out of the water, it shows the world, [4:05] I will now, under the power of the Holy Spirit, follow Jesus with my all.

[4:12] Not desiring baptism then, biblically, is not a fruit of salvation. [4:19] I believe nothing is necessary to be saved except trusting in the life-giving salvation that is available in Jesus Christ. [4:27] But the Scripture says that our lives will be changed and we will desire to obey Him. [4:31] And the first command that Jesus gives us when He has risen from the dead is, [4:35] be baptized. Follow me in baptism. [4:38] Therefore, it takes trust in Jesus to want to be baptized.

[4:45] It is worship for God that drives us to baptism. [4:50] So, just briefly, that is what we believe about baptism. [4:53] That is what we are striving to do when we have baptism at our church. [4:57] So, the question is, if number one, if you have not been baptized, I invite you to that. [5:03] If you trust in Jesus, there is no barrier to you for baptism. [5:06] But I also tell you, if you are looking back and you are like,

[5:09] well, at five years old I was baptized and I did not know what I was doing, [5:13] my life has actually come into faith in Jesus Christ since then, [5:16] well, I invite you to be baptized as well. [5:18] If for nothing more to proclaim to the world that you believe the gospel [5:21] and that God has now done a life-changing work. [5:24] All right? Genesis chapter 6.

[5:26] Now, we are going to skip over chapter 5. [5:29] You can thank me later once you read it. [5:32] It is basically the family tree of all humanity. [5:36] Genesis chapter 5 covers almost 1700 years of history. [5:42] 1656, if you want to be exact about it. [5:44] That is how much human history we are talking about that takes place in Genesis chapter 5

[5:48] up until we get to the story of Noah’s Ark. [5:52] But I just want to briefly, I want to do an overview of that for you. [5:56] In Genesis chapter 5, people are born, people die. [5:59] That is Genesis chapter 5. [6:01] All right? [6:02] It shows really the effect that sin has on humanity.

[6:08] That Adam has children and then his children have children and on and on and on [6:12] and the one thing every single one of them has in common with one another [6:18] is the reality that they are born, they live, [6:22] some of them for a little longer than we are going to live, [6:25] and then they die. [6:26] That is the effect of sin.

[6:27] No one lives forever, except for one man. [6:30] We will talk about him a little bit later in Genesis chapter 5. [6:34] But the reality is that Genesis chapter 5 stands as a testament [6:38] not to man’s greatness, not to man’s progression. [6:42] If you look at 1700 years, if you look at just less than that, [6:47] if you look at from the year 1950 to the year 2013,

[6:52] man, we have made some advancements, haven’t we? [6:54] I am so thankful for things like central air, automatic transmissions. [6:58] I am so thankful because they allow me to be lazy and unmechanical. [7:02] They allow me to just sit in the comfort of my own home. [7:06] They allow me to have as many channels as I want. [7:09] They allow these great things.

[7:11] We even have paint with primer mixed in. [7:14] That is huge. [7:16] Way to go humanity.

[7:19] But Genesis chapter 5 stands as a testament [7:22] that in all of the advancements we may think we make, [7:27] the significant thing that we can really say about humanity [7:30] is that we are all going to die. [7:33] None of us make any real progression past that. [7:37] The average lifespan is something around 70 to 80 years now.

[7:40] So that is about all that you have got. [7:42] We are not Methuselah. We are not going to live for like 900 years. [7:45] I don’t even know what that would be like to be on this earth for that long, [7:48] but he was. [7:50] But the reality is that once we come to the story of Noah’s Ark, [7:53] which is what we are going to talk about today,

[7:56] we see humanity getting further and further and further away [8:01] from what we were created to be like. [8:05] We saw last week the repentance of Cain from sin. [8:08] But what we are going to see is that even in shining examples of great repentance, [8:12] we are going to have to be honest with ourselves and say that [8:15] the longer man lives, the more rebellious we get.

[8:20] The more we attempt to disconnect ourselves from God. [8:25] When we get to Genesis chapter 6 verse 5, [8:27] we see a world that is in trouble. [8:30] We see a world that is falling from God. [8:32] In the first few verses of Genesis chapter 6, [8:34] if you are a theology buff, maybe you will appreciate this,

[8:38] maybe you will disagree with me, [8:39] but we do not have some science fiction tale in Genesis 6, 1-4. [8:43] What we have is man thinking that we just exist for ourselves, [8:48] so we look for women to be married to. [8:50] We go to those women and we just continuously practice this cycle [8:54] of living for ourselves, finding hope in ourselves and apart from God.

[9:02] So look in Genesis chapter 6 verse 5. [9:06] We will just read through verse 7 to begin with. [9:09] In Genesis 6, 5 it says, [9:10] The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. [9:14] Just another kind of by comment that the 11 o’clock service may not get. [9:18] Goliath was not the descendants of the Nephilim,

[9:20] unless the Nephilim were great swimmers. [9:24] I will stop with that.

[9:28] Read 1 through 5 and then maybe Google it later, you will get that. [9:32] Some of you are like, well I understood. [9:34] Good for you. [9:36] It was great in the earth, [9:38] and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. [9:42] And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth,

[9:46] and it grieved him to his heart. [9:49] So the Lord said, I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, [9:55] man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, [9:58] for I am sorry that I have made him.

[10:02] That’s progress right there. [10:05] God created us to live dependent on him, [10:09] to live in worship of him, to live for his glory. [10:13] And in 2000 years man was completely unable to get his act together. [10:20] So what does God say? [10:21] God says, I am sorry that I made them.

[10:24] It says that the sin of humanity grieved his heart. [10:29] Grieved him. [10:30] And what does he say?

[10:33] He says, they are not going to return to me. [10:36] I will blot them out. [10:38] But I want you to understand that in this great judgment that we are going to see for sin, [10:43] we do not see a God that acts in haste and a God that acts impatiently. [10:49] The first thing that you notice about this text is, first and foremost, [10:51] that God is grieved by man’s sin.

[10:54] God is greatly grieved. [10:56] What we see in this text is that God looks to man’s plight, [11:01] and first and foremost he acts as a father. [11:04] This is like a dad who does everything he can to raise his kids the best way that he can, [11:09] and they are all just huge disappointments. [11:13] They are all criminals, or they are all failures at everything that they do.

[11:17] And you know, I am a dad, so I understand what that would be like. [11:19] I have hopes and I have dreams for my kids.

[11:23] And so this is a father looking at those to whom he has given life, [11:27] looking at those to whom he says, these are my children. [11:30] And it pains him that they are not living life to its fullest. [11:36] It pains him that they do not have everything that he created for them to have. [11:41] It pains him that they would rather run from him than be with him. [11:45] It pains him that his own children do not want him.

[11:52] And he does not act quickly. [11:56] Because any time we see tragedy, any time we see the judgment of God on this earth because of sin, [12:03] everything that happens where suffering is concerned is either a small judgment over sin, [12:07] or it is a huge judgment over sin. [12:09] And we are about to see the big judgment when it comes to the flood. [12:13] But I want you to understand that God does not act in haste.

[12:17] 1700 years was a long time to wait for humanity to repent. [12:22] God is patient in the way that he acts towards sin. [12:27] The reality is that he looks at man in the paramount of his creation. [12:31] That which he gave his own image to. [12:33] That which he gave dominion over creation. [12:35] That which he personally came down and walked with.

[12:38] That whom he continually wooed himself even in their sin. [12:42] And we see a great sign of that in the story of Cain.

[12:46] But we see that they would rather die than live for him. [12:54] Think about it, over the course of 1700 years, how many people were born and how many people died. [12:59] And how many people looked back and said, you know what, in Genesis chapter 319, [13:02] when he said, from dust we came, into the dust we shall return. [13:07] It is possible. [13:09] Maybe we are doing something wrong.

[13:13] But no, instead man just continues further and further into wickedness. [13:17] Further and further into sin. [13:19] Trying to find hope in other things. [13:20] Trying to find his significance in creation.

[13:24] In 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 9 we see a great window into the reality of what God is. [13:29] It says, the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness. [13:34] But is patient towards you. [13:36] Not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. [13:42] That is the attitude that God looks at humanity and God looks at humanity and he says, [13:47] they are not going to repent.

[13:50] They will not turn to me. [13:51] So God is patient in the way that he deals with sin. [13:55] God is patient in his waiting for us to take responsibility for what we are supposed to do with our lives. [14:01] He is patient. [14:03] But then we also have to understand that God is sure in his justice.

[14:10] It is a great grace that God allows sinful man to live one day. [14:15] And it is justice if he chooses not to. [14:18] Do you ever think about that reality? [14:20] Do you ever think about those great moments that you did not trust God, [14:24] that you did not follow God, but rather that you just simply rebelled against what you knew you were supposed to do, [14:30] or you continued in rebellion, or maybe right now you are at a place in life where you are continuing in rebellion,

[14:35] you are not living the way that you know God has called you to live, [14:38] you are not taking responsibility for your actions, you are not seeking him in grace, [14:42] you are not repenting of your sin. [14:44] Do you ever think for a moment about the grace it is that God allowed you to get up this morning? [14:50] Do you ever think about the grace that it is that God allows you to eat good food? [14:54] Do you ever think about the grace that it is that God allows you to laugh with your friends,

[14:58] or to enjoy love in your family? [15:00] Do you ever think about the grace that it is that God allows us to live one more day enjoying his great creation?

[15:09] But what we see in this text is that in the face of all of that grace that God gives us, [15:15] there is going to come a point where when we will not repent that God will say no longer,

[15:21] I will not allow you to defame me any longer, and justice will be enacted in one way or another. [15:31] And that is the point that God reaches here in the story of Noah’s Ark. [15:35] He says I am going to blot them out, I just can’t take it anymore. [15:38] I won’t allow them to be wicked against my name any longer. [15:42] But then note in Genesis chapter 6 verse 8,

[15:49] But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. [15:55] But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. [15:59] God does not look to creation and say I am going to destroy it completely.

[16:07] In his grace, point number 2 this morning rather, in his love, [16:11] God redeems to show his glory and power to save. [16:17] Look in verse 9, [16:19] These are the generations of Noah. [16:21] Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. [16:26] Noah walked with God.

[16:30] It is very tempting for us to look at this and say man, in the whole world there is this one guy [16:35] and somehow he is holding on, somehow he is living righteously. [16:38] Noah is a good guy, Noah is the good one in this. [16:42] I don’t believe Noah is a good guy. [16:44] I think Noah is just like us, Noah is a sinner. [16:46] Noah is like all of us because I think this text is in a chronological order.

[16:51] I think God looks to Noah, God gives him grace, God draws him to himself, [16:56] God redeems Noah and Noah becomes a good guy because of the grace of God. [17:01] Because of his walk with God, because he knows God, because he is turning to God, [17:06] because he is following God but God draws him to himself, gives him grace, [17:10] because in Hebrew that word for favor is the exact same word that is going to be used throughout the entire Old Testament for grace. [17:17] And what is grace? Grace is undeserved favor.

[17:20] So in Noah, what God exhibits is his power to save, is his power to redeem, [17:27] is his power to hold up in a wicked generation, a people for himself, [17:31] to show that wicked generation that he is the God who has the power to save, [17:37] that he is the God that has the power to redeem. [17:40] God’s favor then is only ever found in grace.

[17:46] What you are also going to see in this story is that there is something significant that happens when we walk with God. [17:55] There is something significant that is going to happen when we trust God above this world. [18:00] There is something significant that is going to happen when we trust and follow Jesus and follow God in spite of what the rest of the world is doing. [18:08] Look in Genesis 5 verse 24. [18:11] There is one place in Genesis 5 where someone follows God, where someone walks with God, [18:16] and then in chapter 6 we find one man walking with God.

[18:18] In chapter 5 verse 24 we see Enoch. [18:22] And it says that Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him. [18:26] That is the totality of what we know about Enoch. [18:30] Yet Enoch is one of the most famous men of scripture. [18:36] But there is the story of his life. [18:37] One sentence, not even a long one.

[18:40] What was significant about Enoch to where we remember him today? [18:44] One thing, he walked with God. [18:47] That is it. [18:49] Do you want to know what is significant about the life of Noah?

[18:54] The end of verse 9 it says Noah walked with God.

[19:03] Guys you may be attempting to do great things with your life and I pray and hope that you are. [19:08] But the reality is that I believe for 1700 years people attempted great things with their lives. [19:14] I believe there are people all over the world attempting great things with their lives. [19:17] But you will never accomplish anything that is of significant eternal value apart from walking with God in your life. [19:31] And it is my aim to spend the rest of our time together unpacking what that meant in the life of Noah. [19:37] And the life of Enoch, I don’t get a great bunch of detail,

[19:40] but here is what I do get in light of what the New Testament also says about Enoch. [19:43] Enoch was the only person in Genesis 5 in 1700 years of history God chose not to let Enoch die on the earth.

[19:54] It just says that he was walking with God and God said, well you know I am going to go to heaven so you just come with me right now. [20:01] It just says God took him. [20:03] God took him straight to heaven, not even death. [20:07] In eternity that is significant. [20:12] With Noah that is going to be the most significant thing about his life.

[20:18] God desires to redeem humans. [20:22] And he wants to do it through us understanding that nothing eternally significant will ever be accomplished by me apart from God. [20:33] I don’t know what it is that you are pouring your life into. [20:35] I don’t know what it is that you are following. [20:37] I don’t know what it is that you are striving for in your life. [20:41] But it will be meaningless on the day that you die unless it was for God.

[20:48] It will have no value in eternity.

[20:53] Zero.

[20:55] You need God and the most focused thing that you need to do with your life is to walk with him [21:02] in spite of what everyone else in the world will tell you to spend your time on in your life. [21:09] Those who were great, those who have been great in the scriptures, those who have been great throughout the history of the church, [21:15] those who will be great in the future will have one thing in common if you are a person of faith.

[21:23] Now there were a lot of people I assume, now there is a subtext here. [21:27] This is just a comment from outside of scriptures. [21:29] Take it what you want it with. [21:32] I bet in 1700 years of history between Adam and Noah there were people that accomplished great things on the earth. [21:37] Imagine the first guy that made a roof.

[21:42] I bet he was significant in his time period. [21:44] Guess what? He died.

[21:48] There were people that looked at Enoch and said, Enoch, why are you spending so much time with God? [21:54] Don’t you know that you could do the world much better things if you didn’t? [22:01] Consider that in the choices that you are making with your life right now in walking forward.

[22:07] God though does not leave us in our sinful situation without hope. [22:14] The hope that he is going to show to the world is a guy that is going to build a boat. [22:19] If you think about that for a moment, that is weird.

[22:23] Where is the hope of the world? A guy building a boat. [22:27] I think God is kind of sarcastic with the way that he treats us sometimes. [22:33] I guarantee you there were more advancements than just boats at that point. [22:37] God says, I am just going to use a boat.

[22:40] Look in verse 18. I am going to skip down a little bit.

[22:51] God looks to Noah between verse 9 and verse 18 and he says, Noah, I am going to destroy the world.

[23:00] That is what he says between 11 and 18. [23:02] He says, and here is what you need to do. Here is your response. [23:05] Don’t go and buy non-perishable food items. [23:09] Your response to me destroying everything that exists is that I want you to build a boat. [23:14] We don’t have any thought that there were lakes or rivers. [23:17] I don’t know. Maybe there were.

[23:19] Some people say in the flood that was going to come in chapter 7, that is why we have oceans, lakes, and ponds. [23:24] I don’t know. The scripture doesn’t unfold that for me. [23:27] God just says, your response to me destroying mankind is to build a boat. [23:35] I want you to build a giant yacht of a boat. [23:39] Go get a lot of gopher wood. Go get a lot of pine tar. [23:43] Because that is what is going to crease the seams.

[23:45] You are going to build a boat. [23:48] I want you to see that in this, that the grace of God that was given to Noah,

[23:56] created a life of complete unwavering dependence on God. [24:03] Because the size and the magnitude of the boat that Noah is going to build [24:08] is a boat that took him anywhere from 75 to some people posit, 120 years to build. [24:19] Somewhere in between there. [24:21] Now the reality is, is that Noah was building a boat for a very long time. [24:26] And for a very long time Noah was building that boat and absolutely nothing is happening.

[24:34] Here is what we do with God sometimes. [24:37] We say, Lord I want to follow you. [24:39] Lord I am going to trust you with this thing. [24:41] Lord I am going to wait for your reaction on this one thing. [24:44] I am going to wait for you to work. I will give you a week.

[24:51] Noah had to give God at least 75 years before he saw any payment on his faith.

[25:01] All Noah had to go on was the word of God. That is it. [25:07] So Noah’s full time job goes from whatever it was that he was doing. [25:11] This is a guy that is married. This is a guy that has three kids. [25:14] This is a busy guy. [25:17] Noah has to leave everything and say, honey God told me to build a boat. [25:24] So that is what I am going to be spending all my time on.

[25:27] And in his actions we see a great faith exhibited by Noah. [25:33] We see that he trusts God above absolutely everything else. [25:37] And the evidence for that is when there is no water he is building a boat. [25:42] And the length of time taken is about the length of time that we are going to live our entire lives or longer. [25:50] Noah is just building. [25:52] We see that the grace of God has produced an obedient trust in Noah.

[25:58] And what we do is we give God one thing and it has a cosmic genie. [26:03] He has to respond to that one thing that we have decided he needs to do. [26:07] And when he does not move in the exact way that we want him to move, [26:10] well I guess I am just not going to have to obey you any longer because you won’t work with me God.

[26:17] God is not your partner. He is God.

[26:22] And so when God speaks the only faithful reaction that we can possibly give him is to say, [26:31] yeah I will do that. [26:33] And then we spend our time doing that because we believe God. [26:37] If you want to see what faith is, Noah exhibits faith. [26:43] In Hebrews chapter 11 verse 7 it speaks of Noah and it says, [26:47] By faith Noah being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen,

[26:55] note that as yet unseen in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. [27:01] By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. [27:09] Note that term reverent fear.

[27:13] God looks to Noah and says, Noah I haven’t done this but I am going to do this and I am going to save your entire family. [27:19] Obey me. And they will be.

[27:24] And so Noah goes and it says in reverent fear, in a trust, in a realization of who God is [27:31] and compared to who he is knowing full well that he deserves what the rest of the world is going to get. [27:38] Why else would he have a reverent fear if he didn’t know he deserved the same thing that everybody else was going to get?

[27:46] Noah’s response is faith. [27:48] Scripture calls this faith because it is something that you believe is coming in light of what God has said [27:56] but have not yet seen come to fruition.

[28:02] That’s what faith is.

[28:06] Faith is not, I haven’t seen any return from God so I am quitting. [28:11] That’s the opposite of faith. [28:14] Faith is God said this is happening. God said this is coming. [28:20] God has revealed that he wants this. God has said but he has not yet moved. [28:27] But I believe that he will because I believe God is who he says he is and I believe God will do what he says he will do. [28:35] And then you live according to that.

[28:38] Faith is less about up here as much as it is what happens right here with your hands and your feet. [28:47] Faith starts in the way that you think but it must translate into the actions in your life for it to be legitimate [28:54] because trust is only exhibited by living in such a way that you believe something is coming [29:02] and it changes everything that you do with your actions. [29:05] That is what faith is and that is what God is calling Noah to in this text. [29:13] By his actions Noah had to respond accordingly. Look in verse 18.

[29:18] But I will establish my covenant with you. [29:21] God is saying in faith I am making you a promise that I am going to come through on.

[29:27] And you shall come into the ark. You, your sons, your wife and your sons wives with you. [29:32] In every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. [29:40] They shall be male and female, of the birds according to their kinds and of the animals according to their kinds. [29:45] Of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every sort shall come into you to keep them alive. [29:52] Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them. [29:58] Look in verse 22. Noah did this. He did all that God commanded him.

[30:08] That is faith friends. That is faith. Faith is believing that God is going to do something in the following suit.

[30:23] God’s grace not only does it change our actions but it also changes the message of our lives. [30:29] So we see that by his actions Noah believed. But also in his word he believed. [30:35] Look at what 2 Peter says about Noah.

[30:47] If he did not spare the ancient world but preserved Noah a herald of righteousness with seven of others when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly. [30:57] I want to focus on one phrase in that text. Herald of righteousness. What is a herald? It is not a term that we use frequently. [31:05] We do not typically herald anything. We say thanks. A herald is someone that proclaims a message. [31:13] In this text it says that Noah lived his life as one who proclaimed the message of righteousness. [31:19] In other words Noah preached the word of God. Here is what I assume happened. [31:23] In this story we do not see the picture that we often see in documentaries.

[31:28] That is Noah is building an ark and he has a crowd around him. He is like it is going to rain. Come on in. [31:33] We do not see that in the text. It is a subtext kind of reality. [31:37] Here is what I think probably happened and why it says he was a proclamer of righteousness. [31:41] You cannot build a yacht in your backyard without your neighbors noticing something is up. [31:46] You just cannot do it. God does not say, hey Noah build a building because you are going to build a boat inside of it. [31:51] No. It just says Noah get to work and in that day Noah is building out in public.

[31:55] First and foremost he has got to tell his family, hey God said I am going to do. [31:59] Secondly Bob from accounting stops by and he is like hey Noah, yeah what are you doing? [32:06] I am building a boat. Why? God said to because he is going to destroy us all. [32:11] You can come in if you want. What?

[32:16] It says Noah preached the good news that God would save the world through a boat. [32:21] I absolutely believe that in that day because of how wicked the world was, [32:25] I believe that for 75 years at least Noah experienced the mockery of all mankind.

[32:34] You are foolish. How in the world could the world flood? [32:39] What an idiot. Noah, that guy, this wack job down the road. [32:45] He is that guy on the corner that is building that thing in the backyard that everybody else in the HOA is complaining about. [32:52] That is Noah.

[32:56] In 75 to 120 years, you know how large Noah’s church was? 8 people.

[33:06] But what does Noah do? He keeps believing, keeps building, keeps preaching. [33:11] Keeps believing, keeps building, keeps preaching. [33:14] That is the story of Noah’s life. [33:17] It is a life where as in word as well as in deed, he trusts and he believes that God is who he says he is. [33:24] And that God will do what he says he will do. So he built and he preached.

[33:30] The New Testament calls for those who trust in God to be ambassadors for God. [33:36] He calls us to live our lives in light of what God has said as well as what God has done and what God says he will do. [33:44] That is what we are called to do. In 2 Corinthians 5 he calls us ambassadors of reconciliation. [33:50] God making his appeal through us be reconciled to God. [33:52] In Romans 10 verse 4 the scripture says this, [33:56] How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed and how are they to believe in him of whom they have not heard and how are they to hear without someone preaching?

[34:04] The reality is that God called Noah into a life where Noah was his representative on the earth. [34:11] Where Noah proclaimed the goodness of God. Where Noah proclaimed the work of God. [34:16] Where Noah followed God with complete faith. [34:19] And it is the same calling that we have if we are to follow God.

[34:27] There is an unwillingness in many of us to be used as God’s mouthpiece. [34:31] But the reality is that shows a complete lack of faith in the God that we claim to believe.

[34:39] The world should be asking us probably what they were asking Noah. [34:45] Why do you live with a different faith and obviously different values?

[34:51] But quite frankly our actions typically never bring the world to ask us that because we live the exact same way as everyone else. [34:58] Because our lives require zero faith in God. [35:03] And our lives require great faith in this world and nothing else.

[35:11] Our response to God should be that we believe in Jesus as much as Noah believed in the ark.

[35:21] This morning I want you to understand that in Noah’s day he provided a way of grace for the world. [35:28] In love God always provides a way of hopeful grace. [35:34] Always. Always. [35:37] Look in chapter 7 verse 1.

[35:41] Then the Lord said to Noah, Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. [35:49] Why? Because you have faith. [35:52] Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate. [35:58] And a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate. [36:01] And seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of the earth. [36:06] Note this in verse 4.

[36:09] For in seven days I will send rain on the earth, forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out on the face of the earth. [36:17] And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him. [36:20] But before we go on I want you to notice something. [36:22] That even when he is done with the boat, God wants more faith. [36:26] It’s not raining when Noah gets in the boat. [36:30] Nothing has happened.

[36:31] And God says get in the boat because I am going to do something in seven days.

[36:37] What does Noah do? [36:38] Obey all that God tells him to do.

[36:42] In faith. [36:43] Then look, verse 6. [36:45] Noah was 600 years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth.

[36:53] So we see a man taking his family in faith into the ark provided by God to redeem him and his family.

[37:04] Upon completion, God tells Noah to exhibit more trust. [37:08] In verse 5, the story of Noah says that God saved him from the condemnation the rest of the world endured.

[37:15] The mercy of God is what gives meaning to the story of Noah.

[37:21] It is not about Noah as much as it is about God. [37:26] The ark saved those who trusted in God.

[37:32] For the better part of 100 years God sends a herald of who He is and what He is going [37:40] to do to the world and what do we see the world do? [37:43] Nothing, they just keep living. [37:46] They just keep being wicked.

[37:49] God saved those who trusted in Him and He condemned everyone else. [37:54] The reality is that the story of Noah’s Ark is an analogy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. [38:01] As God provided an ark to save those who have trust in Him, He’s also provided His Son Jesus Christ [38:08] to save those who will trust in God for their lives. [38:11] As God interjected Himself into a sinful world to redeem a people for Himself in Noah’s day, [38:16] He also did so in Jesus Christ.

[38:20] It would not be a redemption for a brief time through an ark built by wood, [38:23] but instead God’s instrument of redemption was His own body and blood. [38:28] What God required of Noah though, He also requires of us. [38:33] It’s not a physical boat or even a building that God has tasked us with. [38:37] Instead, He tells us to build our lives on what He has revealed. [38:42] In Matthew chapter 7, I love the analogy that God gives through Jesus Christ.

[38:47] He says that there is a difference between wisdom and foolishness in Matthew chapter 7. [38:52] He says that the wise will build their lives on the solid rock of what God has said [38:57] and what God has revealed that He’s going to do. [39:01] He says the foolish man builds his life on sand that will sink, sand that will shift. [39:06] And that is a hope that is in the things of this world. [39:09] God did not say the storm’s not coming.

[39:13] God said the storm is coming. [39:15] The storm will come time and time again. [39:17] And the only ones that will endure to the end are those who build their lives on the solid rock [39:23] of what God has said He will do. [39:25] And that is through faith in Jesus Christ, He will redeem all who believe. [39:31] As in the ark, He gives mercy.

[39:33] So in the person and work of Jesus Christ, He gives mercy. [39:39] In Ephesians chapter 2 verses 21 through 22, those who have faith in Jesus Christ [39:43] are not called to build a boat. [39:44] We’re not called to even build a building. [39:46] We are called starting in verse 20. [39:48] It says that we’re called to build something on the cornerstone of Jesus Christ,

[39:51] built on the foundation of the apostles. [39:54] And then it says in whom the whole structure being joined together [39:57] grows into a holy temple in the Lord in whom you also are being built together [40:02] into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

[40:07] God calls us to build His church. [40:11] He calls us to be heralds of righteousness with the good news of what Jesus Christ has done. [40:17] He’s called us to base our lives on the values that are eternal, [40:21] on the values that come from Jesus and Jesus alone. [40:24] He has not called you to base your life on how big of a house you can buy, [40:30] on how much money that you can get with your life,

[40:32] on how much fun that you can have, on how much leisure you can exhibit, [40:36] on how many Saturdays you can do absolutely nothing, [40:39] on how much sleep you can get, [40:41] on how much folly you can just throw your life away on.

[40:46] God has called you in this culture, [40:48] a culture that He says in Revelation chapter 21, [40:53] or excuse me, chapter 20, verses 11 through 15, [40:56] that He will judge.

[41:00] It says that He’s going to open a book of life [41:02] and the dead were judged by what was written in those books [41:05] according to what they have done. [41:07] And the sea gave up the dead and who were in it, [41:09] death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. [41:13] And they were judged, each one of them according to what they had done.

[41:17] Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. [41:20] This is the second death, the lake of fire. [41:24] And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, [41:27] he was thrown into the lake of fire.

[41:32] Many of us live as though God’s done judging.

[41:39] Friends, Genesis chapter 6 and 7 are just the beginning of God’s judgment.

[41:46] Scripture says there’s coming a day where He’s not going to wipe the world out [41:51] and start over with a few that are going to get wicked.

[41:57] The Scripture says He’s going to refine the world through fire. [42:02] And those who do not believe His heralds of righteousness, [42:06] those who do not believe the faithful who preach the word through their lives [42:11] as well as through their words, [42:14] they will be judged eternally and thrown into the lake of fire with death and Hades. [42:18] But those who are faithful will be redeemed.

[42:22] Those who are faithful will be restored. [42:25] And we will see a kingdom that’s sinless. [42:31] We’ll see a kingdom that’s holy. [42:33] We’ll see a kingdom that’s perfect.

[42:37] But I want to tell you something right now that you’re not going to thank me for.

[42:41] You may even email me, tell me I’m wrong. [42:45] Your life stands as a testimony of what you believe. [42:52] Your life stands as a testimony of your faith. [42:57] For some of us, we see in our lives a faith in the things of this world. [43:02] And for some of us, with our lives, we see a faith that judgment’s coming.

[43:09] Which side does your life show? [43:14] What are you building your life upon? [43:17] Says Noah built the ark in reverent fear. [43:24] Friends in Jesus Christ,

[43:28] God gives us hope. [43:30] He gives us eternal salvation. [43:32] He also gives us glorious change to live the mission of God in this culture.

[43:44] As a band comes up, I want you to know you can be saved.

[43:52] There may have been a time in your life

[43:56] where you prayed a prayer, [43:59] where you walked an aisle,

[44:03] where you didn’t believe.

[44:06] You didn’t really trust. [44:08] And you know that because of the life that you’re living. [44:12] You know that because there’s never been a change. [44:15] You know that because you don’t experience any reverent fear. [44:19] All of your faith that you’re exhibiting with your life is thrown into this world. [44:22] It’s thrown into materialism.

[44:24] It’s thrown into promiscuity. [44:25] It’s thrown into your family. [44:27] It’s just thrown into things that aren’t going to outlive this world. [44:30] We were meant for more than this. [44:34] We were meant to live lives for all that God will do throughout all of eternity. [44:39] And our lives should look that way.

[44:44] If anyone looks at your life right now, [44:46] do they see a person living in radical faith to Jesus Christ?

[44:55] Or do they just see another guy, another girl?

[45:03] Our lives were meant to matter for eternity. [45:08] And I tell you this because I want you to have all that God has for you.

[45:14] And he’s got more than this world has to offer.

[45:20] This morning, as we respond and reflect in communion, [45:24] I want you to understand that the life of Jesus is for you. [45:28] That it’s a work of grace. [45:29] It’s a work of divine favor that God draws in any of us. [45:34] But just as in the day of Noah, there was an ark to show the reality of God’s salvation, [45:40] today it’s the cross of Jesus Christ.

[45:44] It’s the empty tomb of His resurrection. [45:47] As His blood was shed and as His body was broken, [45:51] He did it to take the penalty that we deserve for our sins on that judgment day. [45:56] But in the cup and in the plate are the things that will redeem us, [46:01] and that is the life of Jesus Christ. [46:04] It’s a picture of the life of Jesus entering into our own.

[46:09] Today is the day of salvation if you’ve not been redeemed.

[46:14] You can be saved forever. [46:17] I’ll be over here. There will be some in the foyer. [46:20] If you’d like to talk about it, I’d love to have a moment to tell you about Jesus Christ. [46:24] For those of you who are followers of Jesus, I invite you to come. [46:28] I invite you to reflect, and I invite you to continue to live a life [46:32] where grace is driving you further and further into trust in God.

[46:38] Because you know you don’t deserve His favor, but in Jesus, He gives it. [46:43] Let’s worship.