Noah

7 HERE are six things in the life of Noah 1 The warning 2 The fear 3 The ark 4 The sal vation 5 The condemnation 6 The righteous ness I The warning The word is the same as is used regarding Joseph and the young child in a dream Matt ii 12 22 regarding Simeon Luke ii 26 regarding Cornelius by an angel Acts x 22 The warning was a divine one how given we know not whether by voice or vision or dream or angel As the sons of God still worshipped in front of Paradise where the shekinah rested it might be from the glory that the God of glory spoke to Noah as afterwards to Abraham The warning was explicit and unconditional regarding coming danger and destruction God announced that He meant to bring a flood upon the earth for total destruction whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished There has been a warning sounding through the ages Behold the Lord cometh It is the warning of a more terrible deluge than that of Noah a fiery deluge in the day of the vengeance of our God II The fear The word does not mean dread or terror but pious reverential awe at the pro spect of divine judgment God's words The end of all flesh is come before me I even I do bring a flood of waters upon the earth have sunk deep into his soul He was not alarmed but he was solemnized He had heard God's verdict on the earth and on man he knew how God hated sin he saw the wickedness around he knew that God would fulfil his word he knew also that he and his family were safe for God had said it he thought of the calamity that was coming and solemn awe took possession of him Let us be of those who tremble at his word Let the prospect of the great day of the Lord of the world's de struction and of our own salvation in that day make us solemn men Noah's fear is the con trast of the world's want of fear He feared they feared not they went on in their feasting and revelling without fear till the flood came Let us have reverence and godly fear fear that solem nizes fear that separates from the unfearing world fear that leads to forethought and making ready for what is coming on the earth III The ark This was God's means of salva tion in the evil day It was his way of preserving Noah when He destroyed the rest It was a thing of difficulty cost labour ridicule It was to some a stumblingblock and to others foolishness but to the saved ones it was the power of God It was the first intimation of deliverance in the midst of danger as Enoch's translation was of removal from danger It was a vessel of God's planning and man's making like the tabernacle type of Him who was made of a woman It was a vessel of earthly materials as was the tabernacle and as He was who was made flesh There was nothing supernatural or miraculous about it yet it was meant to protect against the supernatural and miraculous viz the deluge IV The salvation Its object was salvation salvation from the flood to Noah and his house It did not help to save it saved It was effectual Noah built it for this end He knew what he was doing for he acted in obedience to God He was persuaded that it would save because God had said so He believed in a coming destruction and he believed in a coming salvation Both of these might seem dreams to the millions round him but to his faith they were realities The ark might seem a piece of folly to the world to him it was salvation It was God's ark not Noah's ark It is salvation not only to himself but to his family for his sake God saved them because he had found favour in his sight He is the second speci men of God's representative dealings with man Adam the first then Noah and then Abraham one V The condemnation It was the world that he condemned the seed of the serpent they who are elsewhere called men and sons of men whom Christ calls the world the children of the evil That world Noah condemned He did so 1 By his faith His faith was the condemna tion of their unbelief his walk of faith was the condemnation of their walk of unbelief So is it that we by faith condemn the world There is nothing so condemning to the world as the faith of believing men that faith which is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen 2 By his building the ark That ark meant both salvation and destruction It was Noah's warning to the world and it was God's warning For many a year he persisted in his work of build ing it and every plank laid every nail driven in every stroke of the hammer was the condemna tion of the world We have no ark to build but we have to enter one already built Christ Jesus himself and in doing so in reckoning ourselves safe simply because of our connection with it we condemn the world 3 By his preaching He was a preacher of righteousness Like Paul he reasoned of right eousness temperance and judgment to come In him and through him Jesus himself went and preached unto those who were disobedient in the day of God's long suffering Noah condemned their unbelief their violence their licentiousness their luxury their worldliness Let our words so condemn the world 4 By his life He lived what he preached He kept himself unspotted from the world His life was a protest against the lives of all around So let our lives be Thus let us follow Noah let us follow Christ being holy harmless undefiled separate from the world for the friendship of the world is enmity with God VI The righteousness He became heir or served himself heir to the righteousness which is by faith Not that now he first became a justified man He was so before But now his faith came out con spicuously and exhibited him as one of the great company to whom belongs the righteousness which is by faith To him it might be said Thy faith hath saved thee His life and actings proved him to be an heir of the righteousness He acted out what he believed He lived and spoke in faith God testified of him that he had found favour in his sight that he was a justified man Are we of this blessed company the company of the justified Do we believe and in believing find favour with God Do we stand by Noah's side as justified men condemners of the world witnesses for God in a godless world