Hebrews 11.7 is found on page 1381. Hebrews 11.7, page 1381. When you've found that in your copy of God's Word, would you stand with me for the reading of God's Word? Hebrews 11.7, Pew Bible, page 1381. And this is what Holy Scripture says. By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." And this is the Word of the Lord. Thank you. You may be seated. Though I have seen more than one church nursery decorated with the theme of Noah's Ark, it really is not much of a nursery story. Rampant and unrepentant rebellion is followed by cataclysmic judgment. But in contrast to the almost unspeakable rebellion of that age is the righteousness of Noah. And in contrast to the judgment that came upon that age is the deliverance that God brought about through the ark. Today I want to talk to you about the obedience and the inheritance of Noah. the obedience and the inheritance of Noah. We must note, at the very outset, that Noah's obedience is by faith. This is, of course, that great hall of faith, this chapter, Hebrews 11. Everything about this chapter is wrapped up in faith. And it links us to the bigger theme of this book, Jesus is better, don't turn back. Hold fast to Christ. Don't drift away. Don't walk away. Hold fast to Christ. The Christ that you have professed to believe in, keep on believing in. And not only must you believe in Him as in the sense of some past tense But you must continue to believe in Him. That faith is not just a one time thing, it is a continual and ongoing thing. And so as we look at the obedience of Noah, we notice that he obeys by faith. But as the verse unfolds, we see, not only abstractly, that Noah obeyed by faith, but we see something of a motivation of obedience by faith. It is in the text before us. By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household. The motivation of obedience by faith we see here is that Noah is moved, he is motivated, by godly fear. His godly fear is fear of God. It is a deep reverence. I have stated on more than one occasion that a short definition of the fear of God is a worldview that puts God in His place and us in ours. Now in the context of Noah's life, His believing response to God's warnings and his commands show that he has this kind of godly fear. He believed what God said and he obeyed. We could contrast this with, imagine if one of you came to me and said, hey, listen, there's going to be an incredible judgment that's coming. The entire world is going to be overwhelmed by water and by flood. So you need to start building an arc. If you came and told me that, I would probably ask you if you had been taking your medication. Because that's not a reasonable thing for someone just to come and say. But Noah does not treat these words that he hears as just the words of men. He has received this warning from God and takes it seriously as it deserves. Now, I point this out because we say, of course, if God says something, we must believe that, we must obey that. If God says that, of course, in contrast to the works and the ideas of man, that is the prominent, that's the one that should be obeyed. Well, how often do we fear man more than God? How often, when man might seem to threaten disapproval even, we would bow to that pressure instead of holding fast to God. Do you fear man more than God? Whose words and warnings do you take more seriously? Who has more weight in your mind and in your living? Psalm 110 tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Ecclesiastes 12 verses 13 and 14, the preacher says, let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep His commandments. Notice the connection between fearing God and keeping His commandments. The person who truly fears God, the person that puts God in His place, and themselves in the proper place in relationship to God, will keep His commandments. When we wander it is, at least in part, a departure from the fear of the Lord. Where we think we know better. Or we think that someone else knows better. Or we think that somehow it is better for us to disobey. Again, notice, fear God and keep His commandments. For this is, in the words of the old King James, the whole duty of man. So Noah obeyed by faith. The motivation of his obedience in this passage is that he was moved by godly fear. But I want us also to see in this passage, not only the motivation of his obedience by faith, but the determination of his obedience by faith. Noah was determined to obey. How do we see that in the text? Well, we see that He is warned of things not yet seen. Noah is determined to obey in spite of what he did not know. There were things that God spoke of that had never yet been seen. It's hard for us to think about this, but there was a time on the earth when there was no rain. when God actually caused, He waters the whole face of the earth by bringing up a mist from the earth. Look with me at Genesis chapter 6. We see that story of Noah. God says to Noah, after having given him instructions about the making of the ark, He says to him in chapter 6 verse 17, Behold, I myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life. Everything that is on the earth shall die. God here is speaking of a kind of catastrophe that no one had ever seen before. waters would rise and bring about the death of all who were rebellious, all who did not find refuge in the ark. Noah was determined to obey in spite of what he did not know. And in doing so, Noah was blessed beyond anything he could have imagined. Back in Hebrews 11 and verse 7, it says that in doing so, he saved his household. Noah saved his household and saved humanity itself, as well as the animal kingdom. Beyond that, we could even say that Noah, in his obedience, in his determined obedience, in spite of what he did not know, would become a picture, or what he provided in the ark, would become a picture of a later and greater deliverance through Christ. Brothers and sisters, let us be determined to obey by faith even when we do not understand. Even if there are things about obedience that we don't know. I think we see as well that Noah obeyed, not only, he was determined to obey, not only in spite of what he did not know, he was determined to obey in spite of the passing of years. In Genesis chapter 6 verse 3, the Lord said, My spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh, yet his days shall be 120 years. It seems that at that point in history, God in his counsels says, God in his intra-Trinitarian counsels says, there will be 120 years that I will give man before I bring this flood. It seems that not long after that, God tells Noah his plans and to build an ark. So for 120 years, Noah is obedient. I don't know if God told Noah the timeline. I suspect He didn't, because when the time comes for the rain to fall and the floods to rise up, God actually says to Noah, it's time to get into the ark. My point here is that here is Noah obeying by faith for 120 years before the flood comes. 120 years. He doesn't understand, he's never experienced the type of thing that God is bringing. He doesn't know exactly when it's coming, and yet he continues to obey for 120 years. Not only that, he obeys in spite of what he doesn't know, in spite of the passing of years, he also obeys in spite of pervasive perversion and violence. Look back with me at Genesis chapter 6. Genesis chapter 6. Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply in the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful, and they took wise for themselves of all whom they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh, yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years. There were giants on the earth in those days, Nephilim, And also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. Then the Lord saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and he was grieved in his heart. So the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Look with me at verse 11. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So the Lord looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Notice the way that the world is in this time. It's a time of great evil. You have, for example, and I won't go into the rabbit hole here, there is, for example, the Nephilim. And though there are different views on this, it seems to me very clear in this passage that these Nephilim are the result of a union between spiritual demonic beings and the daughters of men. And that the result of this are these giants in the land. You see as well that there is wickedness that is internal and external. How do we see that? Well, verse 5, the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. There is wickedness internal and external. And there is violence. Twice in the passage we read that the earth is filled with violence. In verse 11, the earth was corrupt before God and the earth was filled with violence. Verse 13, the earth is filled with violence. It was a horrible place to be. It was a place of great wickedness. Now, I will leave the parsing of the stats to someone other than myself, but we keep being told here in Toronto that crime is going down, which seems very odd to me with all the stories of violence I keep hearing about. I keep hearing about shooting and stabbing. I keep hearing about home invasions. I keep hearing about carjackings. I hear about people shooting at homes. Doesn't seem like crime is going down. It seems like here in our city, there's all kinds of violence. And we might look around and say, this city, what's happening to it? Well, the reality is that Noah's day, the violence was even more pervasive than we have today. The idea in this passage is that through and through, the earth of Noah's day was filled with violence. That at any point, a person not only could be the victim of violence, but was likely to be a victim of violence. We go on the subway now, we have, you know, we're always looking around because we're on the buses because we never know what's gonna happen. We say, well, there might be someone that's a little bit violent there today. But in this time, if there were subways, I'm not saying that there were, when they got on the subway, it was an expectation that they would be a victim of violence at some point. Here is a world that has rebelled against God. Here is a world that has turned aside from His order. Here is a world that is filled with demonic interference and influence. It's a horrible place. And it's in that context that Noah obeys by faith. You think about the pressure to disobey. You think about the pressure to turn aside. He doesn't know all the details. It's 120 years in which he's obeying after, no doubt, after it seems that God has told him about the coming flood. And he's obeying in a world that is hostile to God and hostile to man created in the image of God. All of this is, I hope, for us an encouragement that we, like Noah, must persist in our obedience and be determined to obey. To not use as an excuse what we don't know, or how long we seem to be needing to obey before some good happens, or the wickedness of the world around us. that none of these ought to be excuses for us. Why? Because God is who He is. We trust Him, and we obey Him. I think about this as well in the context of this book. Hebrews, that is, not Genesis. The context of Hebrews is that they're a group of people that have made a profession of faith to Christ, But persecution and difficulty is intensifying against them. And they are being tempted to go back. They are being tempted to turn aside. For them, the example of Noah coming not only from their common history, but also the manner in which he obeyed, should have been incredibly encouraging to them. Noah obeyed and kept on obeying. So we see the motivation of his obedience, the fear of God, the determination of his obedience. He obeyed in spite of what he did not know. He obeyed in spite of the passing of years, and he obeyed in spite of the wickedness that was present on the earth. But there's something else in this passage, back to Hebrews 11 verse 7, there's something else in this passage that is worth noting for us, and that is the condemnation of obedience by faith. Notice it says, that by faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world. There is a condemnation of obedience by faith. Now, how did Noah condemn the world? Well, we could say there is one sense that he condemned the world through his lips. Noah is described as a preacher of righteousness in 2 Peter chapter 2. that Noah is a preacher of righteousness. And no doubt that as he's building, he's also proclaiming the message of repentance to these people. And as he proclaims the message of repentance, by his message and their refusal to accept it, he is condemning those who refuse to obey. The very message he preaches condemns the people who refuse to obey. But he also not only condemns through his lips, I would say, but also through his life. There's a sense in which, as the child of God lives the way that God has called them to live, there is a conviction or a shame that can come upon those who are not living right. This dynamic is spoken of in 1 Peter 3. In 1 Peter 3 verses 15 and 16 we read, But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear, having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. Sometimes, the very actions of obedience bring conviction and condemnation to those who refuse to do so. Maybe you've experienced this at work. Someone knows that you're a Christian, and something happens, and they exclaim something in anger, and they use the Lord's name in vain. And then they see you there, and they say, oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. Now, if you weren't there, they wouldn't have done that. Why did they feel the need to do that? Hopefully it's because they know that you're a Christian and they've seen your good conduct. And they realize, by contrast, that what they're doing is wrong and wicked. That contrast is seen particularly in the life of our Savior. Chief priests and scribes and Pharisees didn't hate Jesus for just reasons. His righteousness condemned their wickedness. Noah's obedience by faith condemned a faithless generation by a contrast of direction. Noah had a life that was characterized by obedience toward God, whereas the world had a lifestyle that was characterized by wickedness against God. Noah's own character, his disposition was also a great contrast that condemned the world. His disposition of submission to God, even when he didn't understand, even with the passing of years, even with pervasive wickedness in society, he submitted to God versus the rebellion of the disposition of the people of the world. And then ultimately, there was a contrast of his destiny. He and his family were saved and the world was destroyed. It's hard to think of something more necessary to humanity that can also be more deadly to humanity than water. Some of you might remember January 26, 2004, shortly before 8 a.m., a massive underground earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, displacing huge amounts of water. You might remember that that caused a massive tsunami. The coast of Sumatra was first to be hit. And when that tsunami hit, about 100,000 people were killed nearly instantly. Those tsunami waves continued on. They went to Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Much of the footage that we have about that tsunami came from Thailand because there is, in Phuket, there is a, it's almost like a tourist destination there and a lot of people had their cameras out recording. Some of you have seen some of that footage. There was one semi-large wave that struck and then the ocean receded. And people had no idea what was happening. They went out and played in the sand of the ocean that had receded. And then all of a sudden they see this black wall coming toward them. And some of them realized too late what was happening. And some of them, when they did realize what was happening, sought refuge in places that could not provide for them refuge. Some people tried to cling to trees or climb trees that were close to the coast, and that wall of water came rushing in. The thing about a tsunami is it does not leave a lot of survivors. You have a lot that are killed, you don't have a lot that are wounded and survive. because of the nature of the power of that water. You don't have the strength to stand before it. And if you get caught within its power, it will take you with it. And you cannot resist it. And those floodwaters crashed over those coasts of those lands And at the end of the day, around a quarter of a million people were killed in a matter of a few hours. Now listen to me carefully. That tsunami was like a thimble full compared to the flood of Noah's day. That tsunami struck a limited area of our planet, causing great devastation for a limited time. The flood of Noah's day covered the earth. You can think of the desperation of those who had refused the message that Noah had preached over and over again. Now the floodwaters were coming. They had refused to go into the ark of safety. God had shut the door. There was no safety left. Only certain fearful judgment. If you are not a believer today, Do not fool yourself. God is able to judge, and He will judge. 2 Peter 3 verses 3 to 7 tells us this, knowing this first, that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, where is the promise of His coming? I wonder how many people mocked Noah. Where is the promise of this judgment? When is it coming? He's been saying the same thing for years, Noah. No doubt those of you that have witnessed have at some point or another experienced some person that mocks like this. Where's the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they willfully forget, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. The judgment of God was so cataclysmic that Peter, under the Spirit's inspiration, could speak of it as the world that then existed. The world that then was. It perished. If you go around the world, nearly every culture has some memory in myth and legend and history of a great flood. And even today there are people that mock that as some kind of a relic of ignorance. No, it's a reflection of reality. But notice where Peter goes with this next. After he speaks about the past judgment of God. So he's talking about people that right now mock. And he says they don't remember that flood. They're willfully ignorant of it. He says this, but the heavens and earth, which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. God once judged the earth with water. There is a coming judgment He will bring with fire. If you have not turned from your sins to trust in Jesus, run to Him today. Just as those upon the earth of Noah's day could not escape the judgment of the flood, so you will not escape the coming judgment of fire and perdition. But there is a way of escape. There is a rescue. There is a way of salvation that is through the ark of safety Jesus Christ. Run to Him. Trust in Him. And you will be saved. But let me turn my focus back to those of you who have professed faith in Christ. Are you walking in obedience? Here's the example of Noah. Moved by godly fear. Here's the example of Noah. determined to obey. Here's the example of Noah condemning the world by his obedience. In the midst of a world opposed to God, the only way you can walk in obedience is to walk by faith. It's the only way you can do it. When you stop fearing God, and when you stop trusting God, you will stop walking with Him. So let's again remember this big picture. Jesus is better. Don't turn back. That's the obedience of Noah. Let me move quickly now to the inheritance of Noah. We see that the scripture says he became heir of the righteousness, which is according to faith. The end of this verse is the New Testament exposition and explanation of the Old Testament expression, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah found grace. He did not earn grace. Noah was an heir of righteousness by faith. He was justified by faith. This is not about Noah's earning something from God. First of all, we know that because the idea of earning righteousness by righteousness is somewhat nonsensical. If Noah was righteous, why would he need to earn righteousness? If he had a righteous standing because of his righteousness, why would he need to earn that? but also because the text explicitly tells us that this righteousness is righteousness by faith as opposed to works. The obedience of Noah demonstrated his standing before God. It did not earn his standing before God. Of course this is confirmed by other passages which use similar language. We think about Philippians chapter 3 verses 8 and 9 where Paul says, Yes, indeed, I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ." Notice this terminology. The righteousness which is from God, by faith. If a person is going to be justified, if a person is going to be counted righteous before God, it must be by the grace of God, through faith. We cannot earn that standing. We have all sinned. We have all fallen short. Our righteousness could never be what God requires. No, the righteousness that Noah had was a righteousness by faith, just as any righteous standing that we might have before God is a righteousness which is from God by faith. Have you received this righteousness? Are you an heir of this righteousness? Have you trusted in Christ? I appeal to you once again, those who may have not yet trusted in Christ, to turn from your sin to trust in Him. Really, in the ending of this verse, you see only two classes of people. Those who are condemned, and those who are heirs of righteousness. If you are not an heir of righteousness by faith, you are condemned. As the scripture says, He that believes in Him is not condemned, but he that believes not is condemned already. O friend, turn from your sin to receive the righteousness that comes through faith. And so as we conclude this morning, remember the example of Noah's obedience. and remember the inheritance that Noah received. This verse before us pictures Noah in his obedience by faith. And we might well remember this. But let us also remember that Noah himself needed a Savior. There is more that happens in Noah's life than just this event. You can read the rest of the story. As Pastor Daniel used to say, we are all descended from a drunken sailor. Noah himself needed a Savior. For Noah himself was a sinner. And Noah received that gift of righteousness by faith. Have you? Have you trusted in Christ? If you've received the gift of righteousness by faith, then walk by faith in obedience to the God who saved you. Bye.