We're studying this week, the series theme of All About Faith. I mentioned this morning in our class time that it's based on Hebrews chapter 11 and chapter 12. We're actually only going to look at one lesson from chapter 12 in this series. Faith is something that's important to be pleasing to God. And that's why it's important for us to study it, to know what we need to do. in order to be pleasing to God and to go to heaven. Hebrews chapter 11 is filled with examples, great examples, of men and women of faith in the Old Testament.
And that's what we want to talk about and study in these lessons. And this morning in our Bible class time, we looked at the subject or the person of Enoch. And I mentioned the end of verse six in Hebrews chapter 11 is kind of a segue into what we're going to be studying this time and that is the idea of having the faith to work for God.
- Hebrews 11:6
Not only did Enoch believe in the existence of God but he also believed that he had to diligently seek after him in order to be rewarded. What the Bible is talking about there is you have to take action. You have to do something. You have to work for God.
Work, along with the idea of salvation; is not one that's very popular in our religious world today.
Working Faith
But we want to look at what the Bible teaches about the idea of work, of a working faith. What does that mean? And what does it mean when it says that a working faith is necessary to be pleasing to God? Well, there's no better example, in my opinion, of that in the Bible than the example of Noah.
And the story of Noah, of course, probably most, if not all of us are familiar with it. We know it by heart. We studied it from the time that we were children in Bible class. Noah is probably one of the greatest biblical figures in the history of humanity. He has a distinction that only one other male can claim, and that is that everybody alive today is a descendant of him. And so he's one of those rare people that we read about in the Bible. Here's what the Hebrew writer had to say about Noah and his working faith.
- Hebrews 11:7
He can't talk about Noah, or it'd be really hard to talk about Noah, I guess, without mentioning the Noahic flood. The great universal flood that God brought upon this earth. It was an event that was brought on by the magnitude of humanity's sins. When you go back to Genesis chapter 6, we're given kind of a picture of just how bad and how great the sin of humanity was.
- Genesis 6:5
We know the story of how God poured out his wrath upon mankind, upon the entire human race. In the form of a universal flood. The Bible says that that flood was so great that it was 22 and a half feet above the tallest mountain that was upon the earth.
There were only some people, a few people, who found grace and were saved during that flood. Noah and his family. The thing that I want for us to think about this morning is... how were Noah and his family saved?
And the answer is given to us right here in Hebrews chapter 11. By faith.
By faith, Noah built that ark. By faith, he became heir of the salvation, which is by faith. And we often, when we talk about Noah, we talk to our children about how Noah got all these animals, and he brought them on the ark, and he saved these animals. But listen, the ark was the vehicle of the animal's salvation, but it was also the vehicle of Noah's salvation too. The animals weren't the only ones saved on that ark. Noah was saved, too.
And so, we want to talk about how this vehicle that brought him or led him to his salvation came into his possession and how he was saved by it. Well, the Bible says, again, it was by faith. So what does that mean? Well, one of the first things I think that we learn about whenever we're talking about Noah and his faith, is that Noah's faith built the ark.
Noah’s Faith SCULPTED the Ark
Noah's faith sculpted the ark. In fact, when you look at verse 7, we just read it there.
"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." — Hebrews 11:7
How did he prepare the ark? By faith. So you have this principle in the Bible, that what Noah did is what the Bible says, or what the Bible describes as doing something. And what we learn in verse 7 is this faith that built the ark, it was a faith in something that Noah had yet to see. In fact, in verse 7 that's pointed out. "He was moved with fear...", but he also says "...he was warned of God of things not seen as yet."
We talked about this morning how faith is confidence or it's trust in somebody. When somebody, if you have faith or confidence in somebody, when they tell you something, you can believe it. Can't you? You can confide in it. You can trust that what they're telling you is true. And that's the type of faith that we have to have in God.
When God tells us something, even if we haven't seen it with our own eyes, we have to have confidence that what He's telling us is true. It is going to happen. Noah had that type of faith. He prepared for some things he had never seen before.
Now, we could probably spend the rest of our study talking about all the things that Noah hadn't seen. But one area that I want to emphasize to you that I believe that Noah hadn't seen.
Back in Genesis chapter 2, we read about the world after God created it. And sometimes I think as human beings, at least in my experience, I always, when I think of The world that Adam and Eve and all these great patriarchs that lived, I think, well, it's just like our world today, right?
But it was a lot different. There were things that were different in that world and that earth during the days of Adam and Eve and even Noah than they are today. And I think one of the things that we read about and study about and know from studying God's Word and looking at the Scripture is the weather, the weather patterns, and the climate's a lot different than it was today.
- Genesis 2:5-6
Initially, God saw that this earth got the moisture that it needed, and a kind of heavy dew we might describe it, that would come upon the face of the earth every day. And it's interesting, as you think about Noah, and you think about this idea, there were some things that he had never seen before.
The question becomes, had Noah ever even seen rain? Much less a universal flood, much less a flood of any kind, a localized flood, much less the global destruction of the world by water. And so you, you have this principle. And, and I think it's my belief, maybe I should say that, that the scripture indicates to us that he had not seen rain.
One of the reasons that I say that is because of what God tells Noah and the sign of the covenant that he established with him after the flood. God made this covenant with Noah that he would not destroy the earth by water again.
- Genesis 9:13-14
We often talk about the rainbow, a sign of this covenant that God made with mankind, that he would never again destroy the entire earth. by water. Well, had Noah ever seen a rainbow before?
Think about this; why did God have to explain this to him? Why did he have to explain, that when you look up into the sky now, you're going to see this, this colorful reflection of water in it, and it's going to be kind of like a bow, and it's going to be a sign of the covenant that I made with you.
What do you need for a rainbow? You need rain, don't you? And God had to explain it to Noah because Noah had never seen it before, which indicates to me... well, even if it wasn't the case that he'd never seen rain, the Bible tells us that there were some things that he had never seen before that he had to prepare for.
Now, I want to emphasize that word, he had to prepare. He didn't just sit back and do nothing, but there were things that he had to do. That's what faith does.
Noah’s Faith STIRRED Him to Prepare for the Unseen
Faith moves you. Faith stirs you to action. And one of the things that faith does is it moves us to prepare for things that we have yet to see. I don't know about you, but I've never seen God. I've never seen an angel. I've never seen Heaven. I've never seen hell. I've never seen a lot of things that we read about in the Bible. I've never seen global destruction. But I prepare like I have seen it, don't you?
And you know what moves me to do that? It's faith. It's this belief, this trust, this confidence that I have when God says, this is what's going to happen at the end of the world, and here are the things that are going to be behind the veil. I confide in God. I trust in Him. And so I prepare for the things that I have yet to see.
Noah built the ark by faith. It was his faith, his belief in what God said that moved him to prepare for the unseen.
Noah’s Faith Prepared by SWEATING
The second part that I want to point out is this preparation was not all mental. You know, a lot of people today will tell us that faith or belief in God is just a mental exercise. But Noah's faith was more than just a mental exercise, wasn't it? It involved sweat. It involved hard work. It not only involved his mind, it involved his hands, too.
- Hebrews 11:7
In fact, verse 7, talks about how the faith of Noah prepared an ark. Well, how did Noah build the ark? By faith. What does that mean? It means that it was his faith, his belief, in what God told him that moved him, that stirred him, that picked him up, that motivated him to take action and to build that ark.
You know, I think about what Noah had to do and how his faith built that ark. You read about some of the details of the ark, that's one of the... mind-staggering ideas to me just the sheer size of the ark itself.
- Genesis 6:11-14
And you know, you read back in Genesis chapter 6, he was supposed to make an ark of gopher wood, and he had to pitch it, he had to tar it, inside and out. And God had a certain length that he wanted it built, and a certain width, and a certain height, and people today tell us the boat that Noah built, Noah's boat is about the size of a modern battleship today. We know that it's larger than a modern football field. Can you imagine a boat that size? And Noah building it with the tools that he had in that day and age?
Think about how hard he had to work to do that. I think we're given a little bit of a glimpse into how hard Noah had to work.
- Genesis 6:3
You have God giving Noah the command immediately after that to build the ark. And then we read about how it was about a hundred years later. that Noah enters into that ark. Well, you have this principle that kind of outlines for us a timetable around the construction of the ark. And I think what he was telling him there, God said, I'm not going to keep on fighting with man.
I'm not going to keep pleading with him to repent and change. He's got a limited amount of time. And that limited amount of time is the time that it's going to take Noah to build this ark. The Bible says when Noah finished the ark, God told him to get on it and get the animals on it. God shuts the door. How long was that? About 120 years.
You have this space in Noah's life. Can you imagine building something? I know we don't live as long as Noah did, but can you imagine building something for a tenth of your life? That's how long Noah was engaged in building this ark. A tremendous amount of time that he devoted. Think about how hard he had to work in order to make it happen.
Noah was SAVED by Faith
But you know how the Bible says he did it? Now, I don't know about you, but I would feel, I would feel a little bit uneasy if I were to see Noah today and say, Noah, you had it easy. You know, all you had to do was have faith. And God saved you because you had faith, right?
And the religious world today will tell us you just believe in God. You just mentally acknowledge His existence. That's all Noah did, right? For 120 years? No, he worked. And he worked hard. And he prepared himself for the things that he had never seen before. He believed what God told him, and it was that belief, that faith, that moved him, that motivated him, that stirred him to take action.
True faith makes us work. It brings out motivation in our lives. And so it was his faith because he believed what the Lord told him that he built that ark. The second thing that I want to point out is the Bible teaches us and we just mentioned it, that it was through faith or by faith that Noah was saved.
A SOLO Faith Didn’t Save Noah
But let me point out to you, that it wasn't just a solo faith, a mental faith that saved Noah. It was a working faith. That's the type that the Bible describes led to Noah's salvation, and it's going to lead to our salvation, too. He prepared that ark to the saving of his house. Noah's faith didn't just involve his head.
It involved his hands, too. It provides for us with a classic demonstration of the relationship between faith and works.
Again, I ask you to think about the question, Why did Noah build the ark? It was his faith, wasn't it? It was his belief, it was his trust, and his confidence in God that made him build that ark. It was that belief in the things he had not yet seen, but God told him about.
And what was the evidence? What was the evidence that Noah had faith? The ark. It was his work. It was only through his works that you could see that Noah believed what God told him. And it's only through our works today, through doing what God tells us to do, that you can see that we believe in God too.
- James 2:14, 15,
In other words, he's asking this question, What good is faith without works? So you have this belief, you have this trust, this confidence in God, and you see your brother or your sister, they need some clothes, or they need something to eat. What does God tell us to do? God says, feed them. God says, clothe them. Do it without any works? Do it with mental faith? Can you do that? What good is a mental faith for them? It's not going to profit anything. It's not going to give them the things that are needful to them. It takes a working faith. It takes that belief, that confidence that we have in God, that trust that we have in what He's told us, put into action in order to accomplish what He wants us to accomplish.
Noah is a tremendous example of that. Noah had to put his belief and his trust in God, the things that he told him about, into action. He had to build the ark. And so it was through a working faith that Noah was saved and not just a solo faith or a mental acknowledgment.
- James 2:17-20
The point that I'm making unto you, or I'm trying to make to you is, unless Noah had faith, he would not have built that ark, would he? Unless Noah believed what God told him, he would not have done what God said he needed to do in order to be safe. It was because he had faith. It was because he believed what God told him that Noah built that ark. And it was evidence that he believed what God told him. Without faith, Noah would not have done anything.
Only a Faith Which Works is SIGNIFICANT
The evidence of his faith was the works of the ark. What saved Noah? A working faith. Would he have been saved without building the ark? Not a chance, right? We can see that just as easily. And that's what the Bible teaches us. It's only a faith that works that makes a difference in going to heaven and being saved or not.
- Galatians 5:6
Now notice this, "...but faith which worketh by love." The great debate among the Jews was, should we keep this Old Testament law? Does it matter if you're circumcised?
Does it matter if you're not? And here's what Paul says, that doesn't amount to anything. That doesn't accomplish anything. That doesn't count for anything in the sight of God.
But here's something that does, a working faith. It's only a working faith that counts. It's only a working faith that accomplishes anything for God. It's only a working faith that amounts to anything in the sight of God. What would we say about Noah's faith if he hadn't built the ark? I know what I'd say, he didn't believe, wouldn't you? He didn't have any faith. It was only when he built the ark that we can say that Noah had faith.
And so, you have this idea that if you don't do something about your belief in God, you have this demon faith. You have this mental acknowledgment of the existence of God, but you're not doing anything about it. It's not going to save the demons, and it's not going to save any of us, too.
So faith and works are inseparable when it comes to our salvation. I'll give you a really simple illustration. I know you probably already get the point, but we're preachers and we like to over-illustrate everything.
If I were to tell you this morning, I don't want to cause any alarm or anybody to hit the panic button if somebody's asleep. You might want to nudge them before I say this so they know that this is not the real scenario. But what if I were to tell you that there was a bomb in this building this morning? What would you do if you believed that? Would you just sit in your pew and act like nothing had happened? What if you wanted to be safe? What if I told you there's, there's a bomb in this building, and in less than one minute it's going to blow up? And if you're inside here, you're going to be part of that explosion, you're not going to make it. If you believe what I tell you, and you want to be saved, you're going to take action, aren't you? You understand that you have to do something about what you mentally acknowledge to be true in order to secure your salvation.
And the Bible is no different either. God tells us something, we believe it to be true, but we have to take action on what we believe to be true in order to secure our salvation. And that's what the Bible calls a working faith.
That's the only one that is significant.
- 1 Peter 3:20-21
Think about this question. Do you think that God asked more of Noah than he asked of us? Well, he didn't ask me to spend 120 years building an ark, did he? I would say I have it a lot easier than Noah had it. But the Bible tells us that God did ask Noah, or tell Noah to do something in order to be saved.
It seems kind of minor in comparison when you say this guy had to build a boat. It took him a hundred and twenty years to build this gigantic boat in order to be saved.
Do you know what God tells us to do? Be baptized in water. That seems kind of small in comparison, doesn't it? But the point is this, Noah's faith, because he believed God, he did what God told him to do and it led to his salvation. And it's because we believe in God, we trust God, that we're baptized in water and it leads to our salvation too. And so we have a working faith, yes, we may not have to build a gigantic boat like Noah, but we still have to believe and trust and do what God has asked us to do. What does it take to be right in the sight of God?
- Acts 2:37-38, 41
What did they do? The Bible says in verse 41, "They that were gladly received his word were baptized." Why did they do it? Because they believed what he said. When he told them you needed to be baptized and you need to repent in order to have your sins forgiven, they believed it and so guess what they did? They repented of their sins and they were baptized.
And they did it because of their faith. Faith alone, a solo faith, no, that's not what's significant with God. It's a working faith. If we believe, we'll do what God tells us to do. If we don't believe, we won't do anything. And so, we believe what God says, we act upon that belief, and that is what the Bible calls the work, a working faith.
And friends, that's the only type of faith that the Bible says saves. It's the only type of faith that'll ever accomplish anything that means anything. The demons have the mental faith. That doesn't mean a thing to God. It's not going to get them anywhere. It's the working faith that saves.
Noah’s Faith Made Him a SUCCESSOR of Righteousness
The last thing that I'll point out to you is that it was through faith or by faith that Noah became a successor of righteousness. But a successor, a person who inherited righteousness. How did he inherit righteousness?
Faith Makes Us Righteous by SUBMITTING
By faith. By faith, Noah built the ark, and he became an heir of the righteousness. Faith made Noah righteous by submitting.
- 1 John 2:29
- Romans 1:16-17
Faith Makes us Righteous by Paying Attention to SPECIFICS
And then, I know I said the last, but the very last, Noah's faith, he was made righteous by paying attention to the details. But I want you to think just a moment about what all that entailed.
- Genesis 6:14-22
It involved using the right wood, didn't it? God told Noah, make thee an ark of gopher wood. It wasn't just any wood that Noah could use, Noah paid attention to the details. He used the wood that God told him to use. It involved building the ark to a specific length. He paid attention to how long God wanted that ark to be and he built it according to that length, a specific width, a specific height. God said, make three stories within that giant boat. So he made three stories. God said, put a window in that ark. So, Noah put an opening in that ark. God said, put a door on that ark. And so, Noah built a door on that ark. He said, take this number of animals on the ark, and take this food on the ark. And Noah did exactly what God told him to do. He paid attention to the specific details that God gave him.
The idea of paying attention to specific details in the religious world today, is an idea that's often laughed at, isn't it? It's an idea that's often made fun of or even condemned.
Today, there are a lot of people in the religious world who will tell you that if you're a detail-oriented Christian, if you're trying to pay attention to the details, these minor things that God has told you, that you're narrow-minded. That your attitude and your conduct is like that of a Pharisee.
Remember what Jesus said about the narrow-mindedness, and the attention to detail that the Pharisees gave to the law?
- Matthew 23:23
These guys were ridiculous when it came to minor details, weren't they? He said you're supposed to tithe. That was the commandment in the Old Testament. Everything that God gives you, give you a tenth of it. You know what they did? They went out to their mint plants. And they said, well, here's a mint leaf here. I've got to give a tenth of that to God. Here's anise, here's spices, and cumin, I've got to give a tenth of that to God. And so, notice what Jesus said about their attention to detail. He said you ought to do what they're doing. The problem wasn't their attention to detail that Jesus had, the problem was they weren't looking at the whole law. They said, we'll pay attention to the minor details, but we won't pay attention to any of this part over here.
Jesus said you've omitted these big matters of the law. You're concerned about all these minor details. You should be concerned with them, but you should be concerned with the big parts of God's law too.
And so don't overlook those little things. You know, this idea of obeying God in minor details is detrimental to us. it'll cause you to shrink as a Christian; you'll not find that in God's Word. You'll find that it will cause you to grow, though. It will cause you to be what God wants you to be. It will cause you to be right in the sight of God.
It was the attention to detail that helped make Noah right in the sight of God. He paid attention to the specific details that God made to him. It made him right in God's sight. It helps to make us right, too.
I think about the message of and the story of Noah. You know, that message for our world today is the same message as it was for Noah. God told Noah, that destruction is coming for all of mankind in a way that has never been seen before. Isn't that what we preach today? We preach it in the idea of fire, though.
The question becomes this, how can we be saved? And the answer is the same way that Noah and his family were saved. The same way that every person who has ever been saved or has ever lived has been saved. The answer is by faith. Faith alone? Faith without obedience? Faith without submission? Faith without paying attention to details? No!
It's because we believe what God says that we submit. And we pay attention to the details that God has given us. And that's a working faith.
I hope you'll come back with us tonight we're going to talk about faith in the promises of God. Another, great example, is Abraham in the scriptures.
Maybe you are one who has never obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Lord's invitation is extended to you. If you need to obey the gospel and be baptized. Water baptism saves us, confessing the name of Christ, and turning away from your sin.
If you're an erring child of God who has sinned in a public way, you need to make a confession the prayers of the church on your behalf.
If there's any way that we can help you to grow into a working faith, we ask that you contact us.
