Faith Working
Hebrews 11:7; Gen.9
INTRODUCTION
As we resume our study on faith, it would be proper at this point to do a brief review.
This chapter introduces the second half of Paul’s teaching on the superiority of Christ to the Jewish Old testament system of works.
In chapters 1 through 10:18 Paul gives his teaching on how Christ is superior to the law, angels, moses and even the sacrifices. In Verse 19, a natural divide takes place.. From this verse until the end of the book, Paul puts everything he has taught into practical application.
In other words,, now that you know the truth, this is what it means in your life.
This chapter introduces the final section of the letter .
In Heb_11:1-40 all Christians are called to live by faith. Every person possesses faith. The difference is how a person puts that faith into practice.
In this chapter , the writer discusses two important topics relating to faith.
First of all, he introduces a description of faith. ( 1-3)
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
This is not a definition of faith but a description of what faith does and how it works. True Bible faith is not blind optimism or a manufactured “hope-so” feeling. Neither is it an intellectual assent to a doctrine. It is certainly not believing in spite of evidence!
True Bible faith is confident obedience to God’s Word in spite of circumstances and consequences.
This faith operates quite simply. God speaks and we hear His Word. We trust His Word and act on it no matter what the circumstances are or what the consequences may be. The circumstances may be impossible, and the consequences frightening and unknown; but we obey God’s Word just the same and believe Him to do what is right and what is best.
Faith is not some “feeling” that we manufacture. It is our total response to what God has revealed in His Word.
The second part of this chapter is devoted to how faith is DEMONSTRATED through the lives of the faithful.
The best way to grow in faith is to walk with the faithful. The remainder of this chapter is devoted to a summary of the lives and labors of great men and women of faith found in the Old Testament. So what does faith DO?
Faith Caused Abel to Worship God (v. 4)
“By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.”
We do not know the details of Abel faith. We do know that his faith caused him to worship God. This verse tells us, “Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice. ” He chose the choicest lamb as an offering and he brought it to the place of sacrifice.
True faith looks for an opportunity to worship!!
Faith Caused Enoch to Walk with God (vv. 5-6)
“By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. (6) But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Enoch walked with God when everyone else chose to abandon God. The Hebrew form of the verb means he walked closely and continually with God. The walk that Enoch experienced was one of deepening intimacy with God.
He lived every day in the presence of the Lord and in constant communion with Him. His faith and his obedience, as well as his worship, were outstanding.
Faith Caused Noah to Work for God (v. 7)
“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.”
He was only one man but God used that one man to actually save his family and in the long term the human race In order to understand what God did through Noah, we have to understand what Noah faced.
Let’s talk about ……
1. THE STATE OF NOAH’S WORLD
Listen to what the world was like in Noah’s time.
GENESIS 6:5-7
The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth--men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air--for I am grieved that I have made them.
"Every inclination of the thoughts of the heart was only evil all the time."
What would cause God to say such a harsh thing? It doesn’t take much imagination to guess what was going on in everyday life back then. The people of that day disregarded God. They may have talked about Him in conversation but He did not occupy a place in their lives.
Religion was an academic exercise; something they did when it was time to do it, but not a way of life for them. Morality was determined by personal choice rather than by God’s standards.
When you compare the two, those days were not much different from our own. The flood wiped those people out, except for Noah and his family.
In Romans 1:29-32 Paul wrote about how things were still depraved in his day.
" They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are
Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters,
Insolent arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God's
righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do
these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
I don’t think things have changed very much over the years, do you? To make you
realize just how much we are like the people of Noah’s day, try this little experiment.
This week as you watch television notice how many times the 10 commandments are
disobeyed in just one half-hour TV show. Look at the innuendo regarding illicit
relationships, or how funny they try to make it when they lie to each other. Look at how
violence and hatred is glorified. And then see if you can find just one instance where
anyone shows true respect towards anyone else. And then realize that this goes on in
nearly every single TV show, and we allow all of that to come into our homes on a daily
basis. It is no wonder why we have troubled marriages, troubled kids, and trouble
finding God in our homes.
Listen to the radio (both talk and music programs) and notice the values of those in
charge of the shows. They have standards that belong in the street, but do not belong to
God. Unless it is a Christian station, most of them follow a god, but it isn’t the Holy God
of Heaven.
Speaking of God, listen how most people talk about God today. The God they talk
about is not the God of the Bible. Even on many so called Christian TV shows you hear
about the love of God, and how He wants to bless you materially. You will hear
preachers say how good you are and not to feel bad about yourself.
But when was the last time you heard a TV preacher talk about calling people back to
Holiness and righteous living? When was the last time you heard a TV preacher call
you to take up your cross and follow Jesus?
Watch any recent movie. Pay attention to the language, the morality, and watch how
God’s people are often portrayed as lunatics or worse.
When you have done these things, ask yourself why you didn’t notice all these things
before, or why you are not repulsed at them when you do see them inside your home.
The answer will startle you. It’s because these things are now considered normal
because we have slowly grown used to it over a long period of time.
IN fact, Gay marriage is now being considered as ‘normal’ among some evangelical
church denominations.
As in our day, in Noah’s day, people had religion, but they had taken God out of it. Such was the state of religion back then. Such is the state of religion today, too. God has promised that there will always be a remnant of believers. We are part of that remnant. Let us never stop praying for a revival; a revival that would reignite the world for Jesus.
Now, let’s talk about …
2. THE CHARACTER OF NOAH: What type of man was Noah?
In GENESIS 6:8-9, it tells us:
‘But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.’
In the midst of that evil society, one man stood out . . . a man by the name of Noah. Notice what we read about him.
Noah found favor.
In the NIV, it says that Noah found favor. He pleased God by obeying God and the result was that God found favor in ( grace KJV) in him.
It is important that we notice something very important here. Noah did not EARN God’s favor . . .he was GIVEN God’s favor.
Noah was not a perfect man. We have a tendency to see Noah as someone extra-ordinary. Truth is, he was just a common man like you or me. And he was willing to follow the Lord. And because of that, Noah was a righteous man
We can conclude that he had a good relationship with others. They may have felt he was a little weird for spending so many years building a boat in his yard, but they respected him. There are no accounts where anyone had any problems with Noah. They may have questioned his sanity, but they could never find fault with his heart.
This is the same experience many believers have today. Many of you can testify to how when you were born again, everything about life and God changed. You saw things in a new light. And when you went to work or school the next day it did not take long for people to see you in a new light.
All of a sudden the jokes you used to laugh at became repugnant. Your friends perhaps out of conviction, no longer spent time around you because they felt something different. You were walking with God.
Noah "walked with God." Noah did not just visit with God. He didn’t "stop in to see God" on Sundays . . . he walked with Him on a daily basis. Noah’s relationship with God was not a temporary fascination; it was a true commitment. Choosing to love God was not something Noah did; it was a life he chose to live.
Now, let’s talk for a moment on …
3. GOD’S PLAN
God was very unhappy how mankind had turned out, but because of Noah’s faithfulness, He came up with a plan. The plan was basically to start over. He would bring a worldwide flood to destroy everything in the world, except Noah and his family and the animals they would take with them aboard an ark. Listen to how the Bible describes it.
GENESIS 6:13-21 -
So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark--you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them."
This story is so familiar that we may miss the importance of what God is asking of Noah.
Noah was asked to build a vessel that was 4 1/2 stories high and as long as a football field and a half - even though he lived over 500 miles from any water! And according to some scholars, it had never rained before upon the earth at that time. So, here we have people who are totally unfamiliar with water coming from the sky, or floods, and Noah is building a big ship to float away in. Can you imagine how Noah explained that one to people?
So, not only did God ask Noah to build this great vessel for which there was no precedent, he had to do so in the midst of public ridicule. Certainly, others must have known him as "crazy Noah". I wouldn’t be surprised if families traveling on vacation would made it a point to drive by and see the man who was building something "God told him to build".
How do you think that scenario would be played out if it happened today? Let’s take a look and see.
( Or Video Illustration)
The Lord spoke to Noah and said: " I’m going to make it rain until the whole earth is covered with water and all the evil people will be destroyed. But I will save you and your family, and two of every kind of living thing on the planet. I am ordering you to build Me an Ark." And God gave Noah the specifications for an Ark.
"OK," said Noah, trembling in fear and fumbling with the blueprints.
Then the Lord said, "Six months, and it starts to rain, so you’d better get a move on, Noah."
Six months passed. The skies began to cloud up and rain began to fall. The Lord saw that Noah was sitting in his front yard, just looking at this huge stack of lumber. But the Lord saw no Ark.
( Get Don and one of his boys to act)
The Lord shouted, “Noah! Where is my Ark?"
"Lord, please forgive me!" begged Noah. "I did my best. But there were big problems. First I had to get a building permit for the Ark’s construction, and your plans didn’t meet the local fire code. So I had to hire an engineer to redraw the plans. Then, my neighbors objected, claiming I was violating zoning by building the Ark in my front yard, so I had to get a variance from the city planning commission.
Then I had a big problem getting enough wood for the Ark because there was a ban on cutting trees in order to save some kind of owl. I had to convince Fish and Wildlife people that I needed the wood to save the owls. But they wouldn’t let me catch any owls. Then the carpenters formed a union and went out on strike. I had to negotiate with them before anyone would pick up a saw or a hammer.
When I started gathering up animals, an animal rights group sued me. Then, the government got involved and wanted to know where I got the money for the lumber. Now I’m trying to resolve a complaint from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over how many people I’m supposed to hire. And on top of all that the IRS seized all my assets claiming I’m trying to avoid paying taxes by leaving the country.
Noah’s society was corrupt, and so is ours today. And all during this time of building, Noah is preaching to the people. He preached but no one responded. But Noah continued doing what God called him to do. He trusted God’s Word and God’s promise. And that’s what made him a man of faith.
Think about what happened as a result of this one man. Noah was able to save his family, and because of what he did, he saved humanity itself! I want you to notice that Noah was able to accomplish all this, not because he was overly capable or overly smart – but he was faithful enough to do what God wanted him to do.
WHAT NOAHS FAITH TEACHES YOU AND ME
I want you to understand that this is not just a story about what happened long ago. God is still using individuals today to do His work. He may not ask you to build an Ark in your front yard, but…
He will call you to be FAITHFUL to Him.
It was the great holiness preacher Oswald Chambers who first penned the words, “ God has not called us to success but to faithfulness.’
That is a forgotten virtue in our results oriented society.
The emphasis is placed upon the pastor or evangelist who can fill a football auditorium with thousands of people, and draw hundreds to Christ.
We lift up the person who makes great life changing discoveries or embarks on impossible missions of conquest.
But what about the Sunday school teacher who has been serving the same group of junior age boys and girls without absence for decades? What about the nameless janitor who keeps the bathrooms clean? What about the one who witnesses to a person while in line at Tim Hortons or the little grandmother who knits some socks for a little boy or girl in the town so they can be warm for the winter?
While the Toronto Star will never write a story about these nameless servants, they are being noted in Heaven. Jesus said that when the rewards for faithfulness are being distributed he is going to turn to a group of nameless servants and say,
"My father has blessed you! Come and receive the kingdom that was prepared for you before
The world was created. When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat, and when I was
thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I was a stranger, you welcomed me, and when
I was naked, you gave me clothes to wear. When I was sick, you took care of me, and when I
was in jail, you visited me." Then the ones who pleased the Lord will ask, "When did we give
you something to eat or drink? When did we welcome you as a stranger or give you clothes to
wear or visit you while you were sick or in jail?" The king will answer, "Whenever you did it
for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me."
When we read Jesus parables on the Kingdom we get excited about the hope of His coming.
Jesus parables of the kingdom encourage us to love His appearing, look for His appearing, but more than that we are encouraged to labor faithfully until He comes.
We should be a people who are ever watching, witnessing, and working. We may not be successful in the eyes of men, or even popular with others. But if we are faithful and profitable, we shall receive our reward.
An old deacon was leading in prayer using one of same old phrases which was, ‘;Lord, touch the needy with Thy Finger.’
All of a sudden as he was praying, he stopped. The silence caused the people to rush over to him and ask if he were ill.
No. He responded. ‘But something seemed to say to me, ‘thou art the finger.’
If you are waiting for God to show you His will, then look where you can serve. It may be in giving. It may be helping with VBS this summer, it may be serving at the breakfast program at HPS.
One prayer that God will ALWAYS answer is when we pray, “Lord show me who I can help show your love too today.”
Remember, It is not success that God rewards but faithfulness in doing His will.
You must be AVAILABLE to follow Him
We do not know what Noah was doing the day God called him. We do know that Noah was used by God because he made himself available to be used.
As I read both the old and new testaments, I discover that all the men and women God used were in a place of being available when they were called.
Abraham was leading his family to another city when God called him to pack up and go to Canaan
Moses was a taking care of the sheep when he saw a burning bush and God called him to be ISreals leader
David was simply delivering a lunch to his brothers, when the call came out for a hero to defeat Goliath.
Isaiah was in mourning over a great friend when worshipping in the temple3, God called him to be a prophet
The disciples were working, minding their own business when jesus called them and said he would make them fishers of men.
So many miss Gods opportunities because THEY Are wating for the right moment or to be the perfect person. Many miss out because they feel they are not qualified.
Listen, God does not call the qualified, but he does qualifiy the called.
We become available to God when we fully worship and trust Him, when we go out of our comfort zones; There are many possibilities open to us in our church and community, if we will only open our ears, our eyes and our hands and be willing to say,
I WILL Do IT
The last thing I want to point out is Noahs example of faith reminds us
You must be TEACHABLE so that you can follow Him.
When God called \noah, He gave Noah specific instructions on what to build, how to
build it, the dimensions and materials to be used. Nothing was left out.
Keep in mind, Noah had never built a boat before. There were no books, “Ark building
for Dummies”
HE could have excused himself by saying
Lord I can’t do this no on e has ever done it this way before.’
In Psalm 25:4,5 the Psalmist writes, Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is
in you all day long
Are you teachable? What is an unteachable person like?
• He thinks he has learned enough
• He tunes out instruction
• He makes excuses for his behavior and attitudes ( Its always someone elses fault)
What distinguishes an unteachable spirit from a teachable one?
It is not the willingness to learn that which we desire eto learn but rather a willingness to learn that which we NEED TO LEARN, even if it is unpleasant or seems unnecessary. ( Nathan Johnston/ Sermoncentral.com/A Teachable spirit)
The essence of teachbility is humility. The kind of person God wants to promote is someone who is teachable and has a humble heart.
James 4:10 says, Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.
If you have a humble heart you will be teachable and usable to the Father.
Do you have a humble attitude that says, ‘I can learn from this situation?”
Often being teachable means accepting and learning things that can be poainful, but eternally beneficial.
Do you have a humble spirit that says Ican learn from this situation? Or do your have a prideful attitude that says, its my way or the highway?”
Here is a test to help determine your teachablitiyt quotient: Answer yes or no.
• I am willing to listen more than talk
• I admit when I am mistaken.
• I observe before acting on a situation.
• I desire information m,ore than answers.
• I enjoy asking questions.
• I am open to suggestions and new ideas.
• I feel comfortable asking for advice or directions.
• I am pateintand a willing student.
• I enjoy reading for information that is practical and applicable.
• I can appreciate criticism without being deeply wpunded.
If you can answer yes, to at least five of those statements than you are on your way to being teachable.
When we are teachable then we can be used by God. God is not limited but we can certainly limit what He is able to accomplish for His kingdom, through us , if we are unwilling to learn.
Before God can use you for His kingdom, you must be F.A.T. You must be Faithful in following Him. You must be Available to follow Him. And, you must be Teachable so you can follow Him.
God will put the opportunities in front of those who are willing to accept them. But there is always a sacrifice involved. To step forward for God, you must be willing to step out of where you are now. You cannot stand in one spot and move forward, can you?
God is looking for those who will dare to trust Him as Noah did; someone willing to do what He says to do. I personally think it is time that we start letting God use us, because we have all used Him too long.
When we decide to let God guide us, it is not a decision to be made lightly. It is the deepest of commitments. God is not looking for the weak; He is looking for that which is solid and strong. He is not looking for those who will talk loudly, but those who will talk boldly. He is just looking for ordinary people who are willing to trust in a very great God.
Over and over God used ordinary folks. God chose Noah, an old patriarch well beyond the human ability to build a house let alone a boat because he was available, teachable, and faithful to Gods will for his life. And, God can use you . . . if you let Him.
