1 Noah Found Grace in the Eyes of the Lord Part 3 The Flood Genesis 7:1-24 Introduction: Let me begin this morning with a reminder of some background leading to our text this morning. A. The population was increasing according to Genesis 6:1 and with this increase of mankind came wickedness. 1. Wicked had increased to the point that God was done with it, God was grieved, sorry that He had ever created man. 5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved [a]in His heart. Genesis 6:5-6 Church, sin and wickedness touches the heart of God! The sinned of man breaks God s heart, He was grieved at the situation. B. In verse 7 God s makes it very clear that He will deal with sin, nowhere in the scripture does it say that God puts Noah in charge of dealing with the sin of man. 1. God clearly says that He has reached His toleration point with sin and He is going to deal with it. 7 The Lord said, I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the [a]sky; for I am sorry that I have made them. Genesis 6:7
2 Ultimately God deals with all sin either we are redeemed by the propitiation of Christ taking the wrath of God on the cross or there will be eternal death separated from God eternal punishment. Point is God deals with the sin of man! C. But there was a man by the name of Noah that found favor with God. 1. The bible says that Noah was a righteous man. - But it would be wrong for us to think that Noah was picked because he had some way earned his way to be chosen of God. - Noah did not live his life so that God would pick him to build a boat, Noah was righteous because He walked with God, and Noah simply believed God! 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, [a]in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. Hebrews 11:7 Transition: Now in this closing message of this series I want to look at the flood itself. After a very long time as man count time God kept His promise to Noah and the flood came and destroyed everything! A. But Noah found favor with God. B. Church we cannot lose sight of the picture that God is painting of His Justice and righteousness! It chapter 7 we see its time Noah has been obediently building the ark for over 100 years now it s time. God said Enter the Ark: I. God said Enter the Ark verse 1-5
3 A. Now I believe that every time the Bible say And the Lord Spoke it is time to take special notice. 1. God said that it was time for Noah to get in the Ark! - I am convinced that at this point that Noah would have just kept on going trying to as obedient as he could keep telling people about God keep working on the boat! It seem as if Noah was not concerned about when God would move but that he would continue to work until God did. - Noah believed the promises of God! 2. Church that is such a lesson for us to learn that God works on His time and not ours but that God is not slack concerning His promises and when the time is right by God s clock He will move in amazing ways! B. God had not waited to see if man would change his mind or if Noah would really build the Ark. 1. God said that He was going to send a flood to blot out creation save Noah and his family and when the time came that is exactly what He did. God is not a God of reaction rather He is a God of action concerning His good will. Church we spend way too much time, we waste so much time trying to figure out when God is going to do something instead of just being obedient and trusting that He will! Yet those who [a]wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will [b]mount up with [c]wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary. Isaiah 40:31
4 Transition: God tells Noah to enter the Ark come inside where it is safe and I want to bring with you a representation of my creation. A. God was not finished with the world He created so God supernaturally brought to the ark a representation of His creation. 1. The note here is that God did chose some and some He did not. 2. There were 7 of every clean animal and two each of the unclean animals 2 You shall take [a]with you of every clean animal [b]by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female; Genesis 7:2 There were a lot of animals on the ark I mean a lot but there were a lot more that were not. Why did God chose that particular cow, or that particular lion, church that is in the hands of a fair and just God? (That is the sovereign will of God) B. Could God have risen up a different family than the Noah s? 1. Sure He could or more families? Sure He could, but God gave Noah alone the faith to believe to obedience and righteousness. That is the sovereignty of God! C. Now God tells Noah that he is going to send rain for 40 days and forty nights but He is going to wait seven days after everyone is on board first. 1. Now I would imagine that these seven days would be pretty difficult days. - Everyone is on board and now they wait. - Noah waited yet again by faith for the God to act! - He was not constantly going out to see if it had started raining yet (It had never rained)
5 Listen again to verse 5 Noah did according to all that the Lord had commanded him. Genesis 7:5 So after Noah and all the animals were in the Ark God shut the door! II. God Shut the Door verse 16 A. What we see in these events of the story of Noah and the Ark and the flood is the complete and total Sovereignty of God! All the works of man are worthless unless God is the power behind it! 1. Noah had spent many years building the ark, building it to God specifications he had done a great job, he had preached righteousness. - But God shut the door! It was not for Noah to determine who or what or when Noah was to be obedient and get in the Ark when God told him to and God shut the door! B. Church if the door would be left open that the whole boat would never had floated. 1. The same is true concerning the salvation of man: Listen as Paul writes to the Church @ Rome: 28 And we know that [b]god causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Noah was placed in the Ark by God) 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. Romans 8:28-30 It is not for us to determine the elect but to keep preaching righteousness, to keep telling people about Jesus.
6 God is the door keeper not us and just like Noah we must simply be obedient to God and let him take care of everything. C. It is important that we see as Noah seen that it was God that saved him and not all His years of hard work. 1. Noah had been working on the Ark for many years longer than any of us will even live. - Everyday driving more nails, bending more boards, applying more pitch day after day didn t He deserve something for all his hard word work shouldn t he be saved from the flood because of his great effort. But it was God that gave him the warning, it was God that gave him direction, it was God that gave him the faith to believe to obedience and it was God that shut the door! 2. Too often we see this problem in not only are personal lives but in the church itself. - The name of God is used to build great and wonderful things church names become famous, Pastor s become like rock stars and things look great but what is missing is God! - But don t they deserve something: They have spent a lot of their money; they have built amazing facilities (the same could be said of our personal lives) and when people are ask why you are there? - There is a long list of answers: The music is incredible, the pastor s message really makes me feel good about myself the list goes on and I will now get off of my soap box is that building something without the humbling ourselves to the power of God is fruitless and ungodly! D. How did we get there Noah found favor with God, God did not find favor with Noah.
7 1. In other words the monumental events in the life of Noah were not because Noah chose God but because God chose Noah! In turn we do not have the power of God in our lives because we decide we want it we have power from God because we find favor with God because of the imputed righteousness of Christ at the choosing of God! Transition: And finally this morning we see in verse 23 that God fulfilled His promise: 23 Thus He blotted out [a]every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the [b]sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark. Genesis 7:23 III. And Only Noah was Left verse 23 A. Only Noah was righteous before God! 1. Everything thing else beside the remnant that God saved inside the Ark was destroyed! = God had kept His promise that He had made to Noah! 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 = Church it broke the heart of God that man had become so wicked and so sinful and that everything that man thought about was about himself. And the Holiness of God would not allow God to do anything else but destroy His creation. B. But Noah found favor with God.
8 1. In the fullness of time God will once again destroy the earth as we know it: 7 But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the Day of Judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and [a]its works will be [b]burned up. 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. 2 Peter 3:7-13 That s right I read it out loud and I will tell you out loud that God will destroy the wicked and the sin of this world with FIRE! - God told Noah that never again would He use the flood waters to destroy we are reminded of that every time we see a rainbow but God will in the fullness of time according to His plan and His promise He will destroy the earth once again but with fire.
9 We don t hear about that much in contemporary preaching but it is the truth of God s Word! Closing: Let me close with these thoughts from 2 Peter 3:11 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 2 Peter 3:11 A. And this is the question that we leave here today with: If all this is true: 1. If God leave the practice of sin unpunished! 2. If God spared Noah because he was righteous and blameless? 3. If God has promised that he is coming as a thief in the night to destroy the earth once again with intense heat! = We end with the same question that Peter asks: What sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? = That church is a great question to live our lives for Christ asking ourselves!