MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(Powerpoints used with this message are available for free. Just email me at mnewland@sstelco.com and request PP #119.)
A. Have you noticed? Our society has produced people who ignore their responsibilities & then blame others for their problems. “If I get into financial trouble, it’s not my fault, it’s because of easy credit. And the government needs to do something to protect me.”
Again, “If I develop lung cancer from smoking, it’s not my fault. I blame the cigarette companies, & they need to pay.” Or, “If I go into a rage & grab a gun & start shooting people, I’m not responsible. It’s in my genes, & I just can’t help it.” And again, “If I practice sexual perversion, it’s not my fault; God made me this way.”
As a society, we have become expert at blaming others. And that can even happen in the church. We begin to fall away from the Lord, & we say, “It’s not my fault. I’m not to blame. It’s the church’s fault. They aren’t friendly enough, or the church didn’t meet my needs, or it’s the preacher’s fault. But it’s not my fault.”
SUM. People are blaming heredity, environment, job pressures, poverty, prejudice, abuse, & anything else they can think of for their problems today.
B. But I want you to know that the Bible very clearly teaches that we’re responsible for our choices. Romans 14:12 says, “So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” God is going to hold us responsible for the choices we make.
ILL. There was a story several years ago about twin sisters who had an alcoholic mother. One of them became an alcoholic, but the other didn’t drink at all.
When the alcoholic one was asked why, she said, “Well, my mother was an alcoholic, so what can you expect?” When the other was asked why she wouldn’t drink she said, “Well, my mother was an alcoholic, so what do you expect?”
APPL. You see, the choice is ours. Now if you’re a lettuce seed, you really have no choice. They’ll plant you in the ground, water you, & you’ll become a lettuce plant. You don’t have any choice about that.
But God says that as human beings we’re created higher than plants & animals, & we make choices. We can choose to be good or to be bad. We can choose to obey God or to disobey. But remember, we’re responsible for the choices we make.
PROP. With that in mind, let’s look at the story of Noah & the ark found in Genesis 6. Now this is more than just about a man who built an ark. It is more than about the animals that were saved. It is about man’s accountability to his creator, about a human race engrossed in sin, & about God’s judgment, mercy, & grace.
I. THE WICKEDNESS OF NOAH’S DAY
A. The first thing we notice in Genesis 6 is the absolute wickedness of Noah’s day. Vs. 5 says, “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, & that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.”
Did you hear that? “Every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” The Living Bible paraphrases that as, “Man was rotten to the core.”
And vs. 11 adds, “…the earth was corrupt in God’s sight & was full of violence.” God had created man in His own image, pure & holy. God had created a world of peace, & placed man in it. But by the time of Noah wickedness was everywhere.
And I’m convinced that what was happening in Noah’s day is happening today.
Listen to Jesus in Matthew 24:37, “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”
Have you ever seen violence as widespread as it is today? We have mass murders, school shootings, & gang violence. We’re getting closer & closer to the coming of Christ because our culture is becoming very much like the culture of Noah’s day.
God saw all that in Noah’s day & vs. 6 says, “The Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth, & His heart was filled with pain.”
Can you imagine God’s heart being “filled with pain”? If you’re a parent you can probably understand it. If you have ever watched your son or daughter make bad choices, you know what it is like to have a heart that is filled with pain.
And the wickedness on earth became so overwhelming that as God looked at man He saw that “… every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” God’s creation had truly become “…rotten to the core.”
Vs. 7 says, “So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth…”
APPL. Now I want to remind you again, “We are each accountable to God for the choices we make.” That is exactly what Paul was saying in Romans 14:12, “So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.”
ILL. Do you realize that most of the people in Germany thought Hitler was right when WW2 broke out? Do you realize that most of the people in the south thought slavery was right when the Civil War was fought?
SUM. Often the majority is wrong. So remember, “We are each accountable to God for the choices we make, regardless of what others may say or do.”
II. IN THE MIDST OF WICKEDNESS THERE WAS ONE RIGHTEOUS MAN
A. Now here’s the second thing we notice. In the midst of wickedness Noah remained righteous. Vs. 8 says, “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”
Four times in this passage it says that Noah did all that God commanded him to do. That’s a pretty good thing to have on your resume. “I did everything that God commanded me to do.”
Vs. 9 adds, “Noah was a righteous men, blameless among the people of his time, & he walked with God.” He found favor in God’s sight. He was a righteous man. He was blameless among the people. And it says that “…he walked with God.”
I think that means he was so close to God that he always felt His presence. When he was walking, when he was standing, when he was sitting down – whatever he was doing, he was close to God.
B. The Bible also tells us that “Noah,” was “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5), & that it took more than 100 years to build the ark. And all during that time Noah was warning them of the flood that was coming.
But let me ask you. If you had taken a poll of the people in Noah’s day & asked them, “What do you think of Noah? Do you think he is good or bad? Do you think he is wise or stupid?” What kind of answers do you think you would have gotten?
I think people would have said, “Noah’s an eccentric. He’s bigoted. He’s intolerant. Noah’s crazy!”
Do you think Noah ever became discouraged? Do you think he ever became disenchanted with people & tired of rejection? Do you think he ever felt like saying, “God, you finish the ark. I’m tired of all the hassle. I just want to quit!”? Yes, I think he probably did.
ILL. Did you see the movie, “Mr. Holland’s Opus”? It is one of those “feel-good” type of movies.
Here’s Mr. Hollands. He dreams, he fantasizes about writing this dramatic symphony & one day standing before his own orchestra as they perform his symphony in Carnegie Hall. It’s packed to the rafters, & finally, when he’s through everybody stands to applaud his great effort. That’s his fantasy, his dream.
But somehow he finds himself locked into the mundane. He becomes the music teacher at a high school. He shows up for work each day. He teaches kids how to play clarinets & flutes & saxophones & trombones & trumpets. And he wonders if his life is going anywhere at all.
And one vulnerable moment in life, when his marriage is maybe not all it ought to be, there is this attractive girl who becomes infatuated with him.
She is moving to New York to begin her career & invites him to come along. She says, “Come with me & you can chase your dream.” He begins to feel that this will be the only chance he will ever have to fulfill his dream. And he wants to go.
On that morning when she waits at the bus depot to leave for New York, he shows up. But he is empty-handed. She says, “You pack lightly.” “I’m not going,” he says. And he tells her, “Goodbye.” Then when he gets back home, he kisses his wife & says, “I love you.” “I know,” she says, & rolls over & goes back to sleep.
SUM. That’s not what he wanted to do. But in his moment of weakness he did the right thing. He made the right choice. He didn’t let his feelings lead him in a different & disastrous direction.
Noah was a righteous man who realized he was responsible for his choices.
C. Years later, Moses makes that same point when he tells the Israelites, “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life & death, blessings & curses.
“Now choose life, so that you & your children may live, & that you & your children may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, & hold fast to Him.” (Deut. 30:19-20)
III. GOD’S JUSTICE & LOVE
A. Now here is the last thing I want you to see: God’s justice & love. We’ve seen the wickedness of humankind. We’ve seen that there was one righteous man. Now see God’s justice & His love.
God is a holy & just God. So God cannot put up with wickedness forever. Vs. 13 says, “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 & the earth.”
You ask, “What kind of God would do something like that? What kind of God would destroy the world with a flood, & kill everything that is not on the ark? What kind of God would do that?”
I’ll tell you what kind of God He is – He is a God whose heart is filled with pain, a God who loves His children & has watched them go astray & make wrong choices over & over & over again.
And He is a God who realizes that if He doesn’t act soon, there will not be any righteousness left on the face of the earth. So before the last family is gone, God decides to act because He is a God of justice.
I’ll tell you what kind of God He is – He is a patient & loving God who sent Noah to warn them & who waited 120 years for them to listen to Noah’s warnings. But their hard hearts would not allow them to listen, so they kept on going their own evil ways.
He is a God who "So loved this world that He gave His one & only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
Can you imagine the ridicule Noah received? “Have you seen what that old guy is doing? He’s building a monstrosity. He says a flood is going to come & destroy the world. Have you heard anything as ridiculous as that?”
B. Hebrews 11:7 says, “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world & became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”
How is your faith this morning? Is it strong enough to keep you doing the right thing in spite of what everyone else is doing? What do you do when life gets tough & the situation seems hopeless?
ILL. Listen to what one mother did in what seemed to be a hopeless situation. It is a true & amazing story.
Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling. They found out that the new baby is going to be a girl, & day after day, Michael sings to his sister in Mommy’s tummy.
The song he sings is an old one that his mother has often sung to him, “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray…”
The pregnancy seemed to progress normally for Karen, an active member of the Panther Creek Ch. in Morristown, TN. But complications arose during delivery & a C-section was required. The baby is born alive, but in a serious condition.
With siren howling, an ambulance rushed the baby girl to the much better equipped neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary’s Hospital in Knoxville. Days pass by, but the little girl gets worse, not better. The specialist tells the parents, “There is very little hope. You better prepare now for the worst.”
So Karen & her husband contact a local cemetery about a burial plot. They had fixed up a special room in their home for the new baby – but now they’re planning a funeral instead. Meanwhile, little Michael keeps begging his parents to let him see his sister. “I want to sing to her,” he says.
Week two slips by, & it looks as if a funeral will come before the week is over. Michael keeps nagging about wanting to sing to his sister, but little children are never allowed in Intensive Care. Finally, Karen makes up her mind. She will take Michael to see his sister whether they like it or not. If he doesn’t see his sister now, he may never see her alive.
She carefully dresses him in an oversized scrub suit & takes him into the ICU. When the head nurse sees him she bellows, “Get that child out of here. No children are allowed.” But the usually mild-mannered Karen stares right back at the nurse & says, “He is not leaving until he sees his sister!”
Karen takes Michael to his sister’s bed. He gazes at the tiny infant losing her battle to live. Then he begins to sing. In the voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sings:
“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray…” Instantly the baby girl responds. Her pulse rate becomes calm & steady.
“Keep on singing, Michael.” “You never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.” Her ragged, strained breathing becomes as smooth as a kitten’s purr. “Keep on singing, Michael.”
Tears conquer the face of the head nurse & Karen glows. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. Please don’t take my sunshine away.”
Funeral plans are scrapped. The next day – the very next day – the little girl is well enough to go home! “Women’s Day” magazine called it “The miracle of a brother’s song.” The medical staff just called it “a miracle.” Karen called it a miracle of God’s love that teaches us, “Never give up on the people you love.”
CONCL. I know there may be someone here who has thought, “I’ve made some bad choices, but I really couldn’t help it. I messed up my life, but there was nothing I could do about it.”
Or maybe someone thinks, “It’s pretty vulgar in my work place, & I’m being pulled down. But there is nothing I can do about it.”
But no matter how many wrong choices you have made, or how bad or how dark or how deep they are, none are so bad that the blood of Jesus Christ can’t make you clean & new again.
And you can make the choice to change. You can become a new person, a new creation in Jesus Christ. The choice is yours.
