Moved, Prepared, Condemned and Became

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.

Noah not only professed with his mouth to believe God but he proved by his stead fast reliance upon God that his faith was the genuine gift of God. The reason for this whole Hebrew letter is to teach us that there is nothing better than Christ--not prophets, not angels, not Moses, not Joshua, not a sabaath day or temporal land such as Canaan, not an earthly priest, not our sacrifices, not any ceremonies, not a tabernacle; Christ is better! In Noah, it is not zeal without knowledge which we see, it is the walk of one who knows there is nothing better than Christ Jesus the Lord.

Notice the action involved in true faith:
1. By faith Noah moved with fear. Godly fear has to do with understanding God is holy and requires perfect righteousness. It has to do with understanding the power and right of God to save and to destroy whom he will. It has to do with understanding that God is and I am not. Thereby, it was an utter impossibility by God's power for Noah to move back and join himself to the idolatrous, self-righteous, adulterers around him (2 Cor 7: 1; Psa 36: 1,2.) Believing God is being moved with fear.

2. By faith Noah prepared an ark to the saving of his house. To understand the promise from God to Noah which moved him to prepare this ark we have to see that this ark is a beautiful picture of our Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation of our souls by him. By God coming to Noah with dimensions for this ark already in place, we see a figure of God providing his Son before the foundation of the world and revealing him in us. The size of the ark teaches us the strength of our Holy Redeemer. By seeing God shut Noah in the ark without Noah's help we see a type of divine election, of sovereign predestination, of irresistible regenerating grace and of our preservation in Christ our Ark. The ark was covered on all sides with the rain of judgment just as Christ was baptized in the flood of God's holy wrath until he satisfied the law in the place of those he represented. Yet, inside the ark, Noah, his family and the animals were safe from the rain even as Christ our Ark shielded us. When that flood subsided the ark rested on a high mountain even as our Lord is risen and resting at God's right hand in Mt. Zion. These were the promises Noah received from God through faith. Thus Noah prepared the ark and the Lord used him as the instrument by which he saved his household.

3. By faith Noah condemned the world. Those around Noah could say nothing against him. Their guilt was aggravated because Noah would not join them in sin. Noah had one message. Get in the ark or die! God will raise Noah up in judgment to testify against all those in his day--their condemnation is made even greater--because they would not repent at the preaching of Noah (Joh 15: 22-25.)

4. By faith Noah became the heir of righteousness which is by faith. The righteousness of God without the sinners obedience to the law is how God choose to save sinners. His righteousness is revealed in his Son whom God set forth to be the propitiatory Lamb on behalf of his people. God is just because his law is satisfied. He is the justifier of all who believe because in his Son he justified his children (Rom 3: 21-26.) Through the believer's faith, the perfect obedience of Christ is imputed to our account. This inheritance is the double reward to those for whom Christ accomplished the warfare (Isa 40:2.) It is an inheritance because it comes by the will and testament of God. It is an inheritance because it given from the Father to each of his children. It is called an inheritance because through faith this righteousness is absolutely free.

What can we learn from Noah? First, we see that faith is not lazy. When Noah knew God's will he straightway put his hand to the task and prepared the ark. Do you believe God or are you procrastinating? Today is the day of salvation. Secondly, we understand that faith is not a one time, or a part time or a sometime thing, faith is a lifetime. Over 120 years while Noah was preparing the ark, he looked at it, studied it, and observed it because the ark was Noah's life. Thus faith grows more committed as every season passes because by God's grace we are made to see more of Christ. Thirdly, faith can not be turned away from Christ. Do you think Noah received any pressure to stop building that ark, or to take short cuts, or to add something of his own to it? It had been a short time since these Hebrew believers' began trusting Christ but already folks had begun to pressure them to turn back to the prophets, to Moses and the law. It's been over 2000 years for believers today and the world is full of those that would have you turn from Christ to your own way, but faith can not be turned from Christ. Finally, we see that Noah's constant faith in God showed his family and all those around him that God was preeminent in his heart. Do we show that? In all this, Genesis 6: 22 declares, "Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he." That is faith--doing all that God commands. And all that God commands is that we believe on his Son and follow him.

http://www.sovereign-grace.us/

SOVEREIGN GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH Of Princeton, New Jersey

LOCATION & TELEPHONE
Rocky Hill Firehouse, 2nd floor
150 Washington Street, Rocky Hill, NJ, 08553
Pastor's Telephone: 615-513-4464

SCHEDULE OF SERVICES
Sunday 10 AM Bible Class
11 AM Morning Worship
Thursday 7:00 PM Mid-week Service
(The first Sunday of each month, morning worship begins at 10am followed by observing the Lord's Table. Afterwards we have lunch together.)