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Good morning. If you'd open your
Bibles to Philippians 2, I've entitled this morning's
sermon, Noah's Salvation. We're going to be starting in
Philippians 2, verse 12. So then, my beloved, just as
you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now
much more in my absence. Work out your salvation with
fear and trembling." Work out your salvation with fear and
trembling. That verse has been somewhat
puzzling to me in my Christian walk as I've considered how do
I work out my salvation And what does it mean to do it in fear
and trembling? I'd like to take a look at a
story that we find in the Old Testament, in Genesis 6, that
will help us to understand this scripture. It's the story of
Moses. I'm sorry, of Noah. The story
of Noah. It's a story that we're all very
familiar with. We could go all the way back to Genesis 1, in
the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, as was
so clearly pointed out. Everything that we see around
us, the stars in the sky, everything was created by God. He made the
land and the waters, the trees, the grass, the animals, and then
He created man. But in time, man grew wicked. And the Lord saw that the wickedness
of man was great, that every intent of the thoughts of their
hearts were evil continually. And God the Creator looked down
in sorrow. The creation that was supposed
to glorify Him, that was supposed to reflect His glory, was in
sin, was really at war with the Creator. in rebellion. His creation was worthy of nothing
less than his divine wrath. But God looked with favor, with
grace upon Noah and chose to save him. And God informed Noah
that there was going to be a day of coming wrath and told him
to build an ark. And he was very specific He told
Noah, you are to build this ark 300 cubits by 50 cubits by 30
cubits. We would know that as about 450
feet by 75 feet by 45 feet. It's about half the length of
the Queen Mary and just about as tall. If you've ever been
there, that's pretty big. It's huge. It was to be made of gopher wood.
It was to have three floors within it. One believer calculated that
if you took sheep inside of those dimensions, you could fit comfortably
230,000 sheep within that ark. God told him that it was to be
coated with pitch inside and out. and to bring aboard enough
food for his family and the animals. And it's at this point we find
a scripture that is just so important. Genesis 6, verse 22. Thus Noah
did according to all that God had commanded him. So he did. What was the size of the ark
that Noah eventually built? It was 300 cubits by 50 cubits
by 30 cubits. It was exactly the way God told
him to build it. How many floors did it end up
having? It had three floors. Did he just cover it and pitch
on the outside and say, that's good enough? No, he put pitch
on the inside as well. Did he bring enough food on just
for him and his family and say, hey, let's just see how long
these animals can last. That's just a lot of work. Thus Noah did according to all
that God had commanded him. So he did. As he was building
the ark, as he was hammering away at the sides of the ark,
the people around, the people of the world ridiculed him. They laughed at him. I believe
in that day and age, There had been no rain. There's different
beliefs and interpretations about that. But I believe in that day
and age that it had not rained upon the earth. And so when Noah
starts telling them, there's a coming flood. Water is going
to fall from the sky. Water is going to shoot up from
the earth. The people laughed at him. That's never happened
before. It's not going to happen now. But they saw that Noah was serious
about what he was doing. Day in and day out, he was obeying
God in his construction of the ark. Every day, as he went to
go get lumber, perhaps buy lumber from his neighbors, here comes
the crazy old man. We can at least make a buck off
of him. Send him on his way. As they would get the pitch,
put it on the ark. the people must have been laughing,
ridiculing him. One day they entered the Ark,
and the people probably partied around the Ark thinking, we'll
never see him again, he's going to die inside with all those
animals. Their laughter stopped when God's
wrath came. God's wrath came upon a wicked
generation. The waters burst forth from the
earth. Water fell from the sky. And the people's attitude and
reaction toward that ark changed dramatically in that one moment.
When they saw the reality of God's wrath, they no longer ridiculed
Noah. They wanted inside of that ark
But it was too late. At first, the waters probably
just swirled around their ankles. And they sought higher ground.
Perhaps some of them ran to the ark and started pounding on the
side, let me in! But it was too late. The doors
had been sealed. The door had been sealed. There was really only two types
of people at that time. There were those that were inside
the ark, and those that were outside the ark. Those that were
saved from God's wrath and those that were experiencing God's
wrath. Noah weathered the storm. He
had built this ark and it carried him above the wrath of God. He weathered the storm and eventually
stepped foot on dry land. God had saved his chosen one. The question we have to ask is,
who saved Noah? It should be very obvious to
all of us. God saved him by the grace of God. But I'd like us to consider today,
who built the ark? Noah built it. Did Noah's building
of the ark have anything to do with his salvation? Yes, it did. God directed Noah to participate
in his own salvation. And God was specific on how he
was to participate. Why was God so specific? Because
He knew what was coming. He knew the wrath that was to
come. And Noah was obedient. Thus Noah did according to all
that God had commanded him. What if Noah had not built the
ark? What if he had said, God said, I'm saved. Whoo! Don't
have to worry about it. And the flood said, come. What if? You know, I'm an educator
and a parent. Sometimes you get tired of the
what if questions. I'm learning from them, though. What if? What if Noah had not built the
ark? What if Noah had skimped? What if Noah had said, you know,
that gopher was hard to get? That gopher was real expensive. Maple will do just fine. What
if he was tired, you know? It took me 25 years to put the
pitch on the outside of this ark. I've had it. We don't need
it on the inside. What if he had just thought,
I'm saved, I've got my ticket to salvation, I don't need to
do anymore. The work of Noah's hands was
tested in the day of God's wrath. Every nail, every coat of pitch,
every joint that he put together was tested as the waters rose
up, as the waves crashed against the side of that ark. The amount
of food that he placed aboard was tested. Was it enough? Yes. Why? Because he was obedient
to do all that God had commanded. This point is so important that
we don't find it just one place in Scripture. We find it here
in Genesis 6.22, and then once again in Genesis 7.5. Noah did
according to all that the Lord had commanded him. Noah was obedient. My brothers
and sisters, God desires and commands our participation in
our salvation. We are to be builders of arcs
for the day of the Lord's wrath. The Lord's wrath will come again,
and this time it will consume the earth in fire. We can look
upon the world today and know that the wickedness
of man cries out for the justice of God. We can look out and see
the me-centered generation. We can see the humanistic world. It's immoral, pornographic. There's
a lack of respect. Materialism is rampant everywhere
we go. The Creator readies Himself for
imminent justice and judgment upon this earth. And yet He extends
salvation to mankind through His Son and our Savior Jesus
Christ. And as He did with His servant
Noah, He demands our participation. Don't get me wrong, salvation
is from the Lord. In the case of Noah, He could
have said, Noah, you're saved. I'm saving you. And we're speaking
of the same God who from the words that He spoke created this
earth. He could have spoken an ark into existence. He didn't
have to have Noah build that ark. He wanted Noah to build
that ark. In our case, He could do the
same. The moment a believer says, God, forgive me of my sins. I
come to Jesus as my Lord and Savior." That person could be
whisked away and go straight to heaven. But He doesn't do
that. He demands our participation. Let's turn to 1 John 3. The work of our hands is important
just as the work of Noah's hands was important. We've been created for good works,
we find in Ephesians 2. By understanding how important
our work is, we can see in James where it says, faith without
what is dead? Faith without works is dead. We can even say, Noah, without
His work would have been dead. 1 John... We're going to look at 1 John
3 here in a sec. 1 John 2.3 says, By this we know that we have
come to know Him if we keep His commandments. By this we know
that we have come to know Him if we keep His commandments. The work that we've been given
to do, to complete, is a different type of work. It's not a physical
work. It's a spiritual work, an internal
work in our hearts. 1 John 3.10, By this the children of God and
the children of the devil are obvious. Anyone who does not
practice righteousness is not of God. nor the one who does
not love his neighbor." What caught my attention on this verse
is this distinction between the children of God and the children
of the devil. It's the distinction between
those outside of the ark and those inside the ark. Righteousness and love. What type of work does God ask
of us? What is this calling, the work
to which we are called? It is one of righteousness. It
is one of love. It is a denial of self in righteous
living. It is loving God with all of
our heart, mind, soul, and strength. It is loving our neighbor. It is an abundant production
of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Love. Joy. A joy bursting in our hearts
knowing that we're saved. Peace. Knowing that we used to
be at war with God, and now we no longer are. We're His children.
Patience. As we demonstrate and reflect
that same patience that God has had with us. Kindness and goodness. as we realize how good and kind
the Lord has blessed us and blesses us every day. Faithfulness, or
faith, depending on your translation, faith to God, or faithfulness
to Him. Gentleness, as we realize and
understand how gentle He is with us. Self-control, to put to death
the old man, and to live in Christ Jesus. It's a difficult task. For me,
I'd rather have to go and build a physical ark. It would be easier
than to have to carefully consider my heart and do work there. We are to intently, with fear
and trembling, search our hearts with the light of Scripture and
bear fruit. You will remember that in Acts
26, Paul's talking before King Agrippa, and he tells them that
he's been given a heavenly vision, and that he's been told to release
the captives from bondage, to help the blind to see. And he
tells King Agrippa that He was diligent. He fulfilled this task
by declaring to the Gentiles that they should first repent,
and then turn to God. There's that third one that we
so often forget. They're to repent, turn to God,
and perform deeds or works appropriate to repentance. Ark building. building of arcs, what the Lord
has called each and every one of us to do. Let's turn to 1
Corinthians 3. How shall we be tested in the
fiery day of judgment? Our arcs will be tested just
as Noah's arc was tested. 1 Corinthians 3, beginning at verse
11. No man can lay a foundation other
than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if any
man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones,
wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident. For
the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire,
and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. And if any man's work which he
has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. And if any
man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss. But he himself will
be saved, yet so as through fire." This scripture here tells us
how each one of our arcs will be tested. If you will note in
verse 12, Let's back up, verse 11. The
foundation, that foundation of our ark. That's hard to say,
our ark. Our ark has already been laid. The moment we come to Christ
Jesus, the moment we repent and ask the Lord to save us, we step
onto that foundation. We know that we're going to get
carried above the fiery wrath of God to come. The foundation's
been laid, and that foundation is only found in Christ Jesus. Verse 12. We're to build the
walls on that, Art. And they will either be gold,
silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw. Now, we can divide
those elements into two groups. We know that they're going to
be tested with fire. Half of those elements will burn up and
half do not. If we build with wood, hay and
straw, those won't last long in the day of judgment. Gold, silver and precious stones
will. We will survive The fiery flood
of God's wrath in that day of judgment. But the question is,
how? How will we survive? Verse 14,
if any man's work which is built on it remains, he will receive
a reward. I'm reminded of the scripture
that was read to us this morning about the reality, it was said,
of the throne room of God. The cherubim. singing, holy,
holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty, and the elders on their thrones.
And the elders, what did they do? They would bow down, take
their crowns off, and throw them before the Lord. I want to enter heaven with lots
of rewards. Do you know why? Not so I can
enjoy them, but I want to have Lots, because I want to be able
to have lots to throw down at the feet of our God. What better
way to praise the Almighty, the One who saved us from our own
sins? I want an armful of rewards.
If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will
receive rewards. He will have that opportunity
to throw before the feet of our King those rewards. Verse 15, if any man's work is
burned up, he will suffer loss. But he himself will be saved.
Yes, so is through fire. What a what a gruesome, terrible
thought to enter into the presence of our king and to be side by
side with all these believers and they're throwing down their
rewards and have nothing in my hand. Nothing. I can bow down and say, thank
you Lord, I praise you for saving me, but to come empty handed. We are to be builders of arcs. Where are our priorities? Are we building with gold? Silver and precious stones things
that will last the test of that fiery flood Unfortunately today Christianity has a I have my
ticket mentality We've stepped up aboard that
foundation of the ark And we're content with our ticket to paradise. We're not really thinking far
enough into the future. We don't really understand reality. We stand there, we praise God. But the race is not over until
the finish line is crossed. When we neglect our salvation,
When we don't do the work to which the Lord has called us
to, we're denying the word which
He speaks to us. In a sense, we're calling God
a liar. We're saying it's not real. Philippians 2.12 says,
we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Genesis 6.22, we are to do all
that the Lord has commanded. For the unbeliever, the day of
the Lord's wrath is coming. The Apostle Peter tells us that
in the last days mockers will come, living in their lusts. We're in that day right now.
A generation that is living in its lusts. and saying, where
is the promise of His coming? Today seems an awful lot like
yesterday. They speak just like the people
in the time of Noah. They forget and deny the flood
of water that came and snuffed out the life of mankind. Peter also reminds us of the
reality The present heavens and earth, by His Word, are being
reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction
of ungodly men. That is reality. Just as one day in the past this
earth was completely covered in water, it will be consumed
by fire. It'll be much more devastating
than the flood of Noah. The unbeliever stands outside
of the ark, just like in the days of Noah, scoffing. Just like in the days of Noah,
they waited. Perhaps there were some who thought,
maybe he's right, maybe he's wrong. But I can live my life
how I want and rush over there when it's time." But when they
got there, the door was sealed. That date, that time could be
at any moment. It can be in the next moment.
And the foundation of your ark is already laid, and it's Jesus
Christ. All He asks you to do is repent
of your sin. your warfare against God, and
accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior." To the unbeliever, I say, choose
wisely. Your time is running out. To the believer, we're reminded that there are
two types of people. There's the scoffers, and there
are those who build arcs. We could also say that in time
we will see that distinction as those outside of the ark and
those that are inside of the ark. Right now, are you a builder
of arks? And if so, how serious are you? Do you work with fear
and trembling to do all that the Lord has commanded? Noah's
work was a constant business. Is our work always before us? Noah's ark did not have leaks.
How will your ark stand the test of the fiery flood? The people in Noah's time scoffed
at his message. But note that the Ark was a byproduct
of what Noah believed. Noah believed that the flood
of God's wrath was coming, so he seriously worked on the Ark. And the people scoffed. Was it
at the Ark, or was it scoffing at what he believed? It was what
he believed, and the Ark was a result of what he believed.
Why is that important? Today, the people scoff at us
for wrong reasons. Today, they scoff at us because
we build wrath. We lash a few logs together,
and then we go and tell our neighbors, God's wrath is coming. And they
look at us and laugh. And they say, you live just like
I do. Get serious. You're just as materialistic
as I am. You're caught up in just the
same sins as I am. The only difference I see is
you go to church on Sunday and I don't. We build rafts and they
laugh at us. We pump ourselves up. Perhaps
we come to church on Sunday and get pumped up for the week. But,
you know, I don't think Noah pumped himself up from feeling
down. I don't think he expressed his joy of salvation prior to
the flood by saying, you know, I'm feeling kind of down today.
Get his sons around him, hey, high five, we're saved, guys.
Let's pump ourselves up here. No, when he started feeling down,
how could he get himself back on track by building The Ark. Because that was reality. It
would remind him of what was coming. It would remind him of
what God had done in his life. And that was a constant business. It was not reserved for one day.
Not one day out of seven. It was every day. Noah did not let the cares and
concerns of the world distract him. Can we say the same? Participating in our salvation
is a serious responsibility. For the believer and unbeliever,
this is reality. A fiery flood of judgment is
coming. Do we live, Philippians 2.12
and Genesis 6.22, that we are working out our salvation with
fear and trembling? That thus we do according to
all that the Lord has commanded us, so we do. How well will your
ark ride out the storm? How will you enter paradise?
Will you enter with your arms full of treasure? or will you
enter scorched? Let's turn to 1 Corinthians,
our last verse we're going to be looking
at. 1 Corinthians 15. God Almighty, the Creator and
the Redeemer, has asked us to join Him in our salvation. And just as we honestly don't
believe that Noah saved himself, so the world should see the works
of our hands. So the world should see our arcs
and know that it is the Lord who saves. He will be glorified. We are reminded to let our lights
shine before men that they may see our good works. For what purpose? To glorify
our Father who is in heaven. May we build arcs in earnest. May the world hear the hammering
and know that we are serious. May we not build rafts, but build
strong, sturdy arcs as we diligently prepare for the coming fiery
flood. May we do all that the Lord has
commanded and seek our salvation with fear and trembling, and
in doing so, glorify our Creator. our Redeemer, our Lord and our
God. Let's close now with 1 Corinthians
15, verse 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,
we praise you this morning. We deserve to be consumed by
your fiery wrath. We have sinned against you. We at one time or another have
been at war with you. You loved us anyway. You gave your son that he would
die on the cross and save us from ourselves. Thank you so
much, Father. And then you give us the privilege,
the honor to work with you in the salvation to glorify you,
to give you honor. What an amazing and incredible
privilege we have, Lord. We are so undeserving, but so
grateful. Help us, Father, to keep our
perspectives true. Help us to keep reality before
us. Help us to keep our eyes on You. And Lord, may all that
we do, every thought, every word, every work in our lives, give
glory and honor unto Your precious name. In the name of our Lord
and Savior Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Noah's Salvation
What does the Bible mean when it says we should work out our own salvation with fear and trembling? Find out about how after the Lord saves us, He brings us into a cooperative effort to further His work in us.
Copyright 2003, Tree of Life Christian Church. All rights reserved.
| Sermon ID | 3300317339 |
| Duration | 36:18 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Philippians 2:12 |
| Language | English |
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