Faith Series 7: Serving by Faith

 Today's lesson is part 7 in our faith series. Last week, we instructed you on what was "Worshipping by Faith"? Now, we look at what we mean by the phrase, "Serving by Faith"?  This is important as you don't want to be deceived about your faith. You want a faith that is alive and operational in your life. You want to serve by faith. Thank God, we have His Word, and He will guide us. We can know the truth and that truth will set us free. Prayerfully read this lesson and ask yourself, "Am I "Serving by Faith"? 

Introduction

Hebrews 11:7 reads as follows: "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." Over the last two weeks, we have seen God's order: worshipping by faith, walking by faith and today we study serving by faith. We know that Noah was a saved man when God revealed to him that He was going to destroy the earth with a flood, because in Genesis 6: 8, we find these words: "Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD."

Isn't that a great truth? Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. I have had people ask me, "Pastor, how can I find the grace of God?" You will find the grace of God when you learn of the Lord Jesus Christ, how He died for sinners, and how God revealed Christ to your heart. How did God reveal grace to Noah's heart? Genesis 8: 20 states: "Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar." You can say that was after the flood, which is true, however, if Noah built an altar after the flood, he must have done so before the flood, because he found grace in the eyes of God before the flood. How did God save Noah? When did He save him? The Scriptures do not say, but we know from history and experience that He saved Noah just as He saves any other sinner. He does so by grace, not by acts or works of the lost soul. It has always been salvation through grace and faith.

Listen, friend, Noah, like Abraham, "Believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. Friend, have you ever found grace in the eyes of the LORD? I have. I saw myself as a lost, totally depraved sinner, bound for hell and justly so. I deserved hell. BUT GOD, Who is rich in mercy, sent the Holy Spirit to convict me of my sin, I took responsibility, and knew that Christ had taken my place. He took my sins, and He gave me His righteousness. That is how you get saved, my friend! That is shouting ground! When the Holy Spirit revealed to my heart by the Holy Spirit through His Word that Christ was my substitute, Who died for me, and I saw my sins on His account, I knew I was free from the penalty of sin, became a new creation, and the power of sin over me was broken. God imputed His righteousness to me by faith, and I became an heir of the righteousness of God in Christ, which is by faith. AND NOAH FOUND GRACE IN THE EYES OF THE LORD.

What God did for Noah and me, He will do for you. One day God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shall pitch it within and without with pitch." (Genesis 6: 13, 14) What did Noah do? Did he argue with God? The Scripture says, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, MOVED WITH FEAR, prepared an ark to the saving of his house."

Section 1: Noah's Faith in Serving God

You are saved by faith, you walk by faith, you serve God by faith. This is a truth you should see. Noah's faith was based on the Word of God. God revealed to God that He was going to destroy the the earth with a flood. The Scriptures say, "God said to Noah." We don't know whether God spoke in the morning, noon or evening, but we do know that God spoke, and Noah listened.

When God spoke to Noah, Noah didn't argue with God. He believed the Word of God. The foundation for a believer's faith is always going to be the Word of God. God revealed to Noah that He was going to destroy the earth, and Noah believed Him.

Notice that Noah was not surprised by the judgment of God. Before a sinner gets saved, he will come to realize that he is under the judgment of God and deserving of punishment. He is deserving of hell. When you get saved, you will see the entire earth under judgment of God. You can read a newspaper, go online and see how people, even those claiming to be Christians, how far they are from the Word of God. There are people claiming to have faith in Christ today that support abortion, homosexual marriage and transgender choice. A recent poll found that 37% of evangelicals believe gender is a personal choice. The Bible is clear on all these issues. There can be no real debate on them. The ways things are moving at such a rapid pace, I would not be surprised if God brought His final judgment soon.

Section 2: The Effects of Noah's Faith

It says, "Noah...moved with fear," (Hebrews 11: 7), he feared God. How much fear do you see in church members today? The fear of God is not on the average individual today. Thousands of you who attend church today will go there, return home and then go about your business tomorrow with no fear of God. I read a satirical article the other day about this strange religious cult that has hundreds of thousands of people that gather to scream, shout, attend services that last more than four hours, and they give lots of money. Many of these religious folks claim to "love Jesus." They have a god alright, the god of NFL football. Noah's faith caused him to move in accordance with God's Word to him. "Christians" today talk more about their favorite team, and they know more statistics about their team than they do Bible verses. "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom." (Psalm 111:10). Noah had it, but most today do not.

Noah's fear of God led to his obedience in making the art according to God's orders and according to God's pattern. He was "moved with fear" to do what God wanted him to do. Listen friend, you will never come to obey God until your heart is moved with fear. So, what did Noah do, he began to build the ark. I have previously mentioned that some people think I preach too hard. I should talk more about the love of God. Friend, you will never learn about the love of God until you know the wrath of God! God never calls a man to misrepresent Him. If you are not preaching God's Word, you are not called by God. We are to preach God's Word as it is, to men as they are, without compromise, without a shadow of turning, without varying one hair's breath from it.

2 Peter 3: 10-12 reads: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein SHALL be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversations and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?"

Friend, that is God's message. That is God's warning. Noah believed God, but do you believe Him? Do you care more about sports than the LORD? Do you get more excited over the "big game" than you do being with the Lord Jesus Christ?

As I prepare this message, I want to be clear, right now, this very moment, the earth is under the judgment of God and so is every unsaved sinner. Friend, right now, are you under judgment from the Living God? Are you headed to a devil's hell? Are you headed to the Lake of Fire? Why won't you believe today in the Lord Jesus Christ?

Section 3: Why Noah Built the Ark?

Noah built the ark for the saving of his family, the condemning of the world, and because he was the heir of righteousness, which is by faith. I believe Noah was a saved man before he started building the ark. Genesis 6: 8 states: "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." That is a saved man. He had 120 years of grace to offer the world. Listen, when an individual is moved with fear, that is when his obedience unto the LORD God begins. If Noah had not been obedient, he would have perished as well. I want you to see that this was God's way of preserving Noah and his family, and back of all of Noah's obedience was the power of God. Noah believed God was going to do what He said He would do, and Noah acted accordingly.

Notice the ark did not have a mast or a sail, neither a rudder nor a steering wheel. Noah was 100% dependent on God to keep this boat from being torn to pieces. Every saint of God knows how helpless you are, how dependent you are upon the LORD. If you are saved, one day you fell at His feet and crowned Jesus Christ Lord of your life. There you were in the dust of repentance, helpless, hopeless, doomed and damned. You could not save yourself. You needed a substitute. When you saw how dependent you were on the Lord Jesus Christ and He saved you, it was the happiest of moments. As you have walked out your faith, you should have come to an understanding that you have no way of protecting yourself against the enemies of the world. Today, you are just as dependent on Him as you can be. My friend, that is the safest place for you to be!

So it is in our Christian life: we use the means that God gives us to preserve us, trusting everything into His hands. If it were not for the power of God, we would fail miserably. But how gracious it is that God gives us faith to trust Him and believe His Word! That's the only way we can please Him--BY FAITH. Yes, we see that Noah built this ark by faith, built it according to God's orders. Build your life according to God's orders, my friend, and you will persevere to the end. Be faithful because He is faithful.

Section 4: Deliverance Types: Temporal and Eternal

The temporal deliverance of Noah from the flood is an example of the ETERNAL DELIVERANCE of God's elect from the wrath to come. Christ is our Ark, and we are hidden in Him by faith. From the 6th chapter in Genesis, we see the following order:

1. Divine judgment announced.

2. 120-year delay so Noah can prepare.

3. The way of deliverance is presented to one who had found grace in His eyes.

4. Faith's obedience is manifested in Noah's life.

5. Noah was moved with fear and obeyed God's orders.

We see FAITH OBEYING. Then in order to be saved from the destructive power of sin, the ruinous allurements of the world, and the devouring assaults of Satan, we must tread the path of obedience to Christ.

Hebrews 5: 9 reads: "And be made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." We see in the life of Enoch that faith elevated our affections above the earth and set them on things above. In Hebrews 11:7, in the life of Noah, we see that our lives on earth are to be regulated by heavenly principles. The real born-again believer is a heavenly man living on earth AS a heavenly man, he is governed by spiritual and Divine principles, and not by fleshly motives and worldly interests. Hear that all that worship the "god of Sunday" known as NFL football. While the saved and lost man will do many of the same things, the Christian has a different object and purpose. In other words, he lives and works and does what he does in obedience to God in a joyous response to His revealed will.

The Divine warning was the ground of Noah's faith--he did not argue, he did not rebel; he believed God. he believed the threatening as well as the Promise of God. He believed the justice of God as well as the mercy of God. Know that human reasoning opposed what God made known to Noah. There had been no rain up to this point, according to Genesis 2: 6, and they could not see how the world would be destroyed by a flood. But praise God, faith topped human reasoning. Noah moved with fear and was obedient and built the ark. Temporally, the ark brought deliverance. Spiritually, the ark is a type of Christ and will bring eternal deliverance.

Conclusion

Noah's faith in obeying God CONDEMNED THE WORLD. Noah's faith condemned the unbelieving, unconcerned, godless people around him. When a child of God is said to condemn another, it is his godly life that he shows what the other should do, and this reveals the guilt of the other individual. He who abandons a worldly church and goes forth unto Christ outside the camp condemns the compromiser.

Noah served by faith and his actions were in faith contrary to human reasoning, served to provide us with the keys to serving by faith.

What does your life speak? Are you serving by faith? Have you been sidetracked into the worldliness of the modern compromising church? AS THE OLD EVANGELIST SAID, "COME CLEAN COME CLEAR!" Come my friend to the foot of the cross, repent and be saved. If you are born-again, walk-in obedience and serve by faith. MAKE A DIFFERENCE!