Jump Start # 3637

Hebrews 11:7 “By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, 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.”

Noah prepared the ark. He did all that God commanded. God had told him what was going to happen.  In Genesis six, Noah is told by God that “The end of all flesh has come…I am about to destroy them with the earth” (13). Again, the Lord tells Noah, “I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life” (17). In the next chapter, God states, “I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made” (7:4).

Noah knew. There was no surprise or secret. There was going to be a massive flood. All living things were going to die. The salvation of the world rested in the hands of the Lord and what was in that boat. I think it is easy to imagine that the preparing of the ark meant the construction and supplying of the ark before the rains fell. But, as I thought about this, I think there was more to the “preparing” than simply sawing boards and building the ark. And, when we put some thought to this, it helps us as well.

First, there was an emotional preparation that Noah had to struggle with and deal with. A day was coming when every human he interacted with outside his family was going to die. Did Noah have relatives still alive? It would be hard to see the innocent and young facing this outcome. Did Noah tell them that they were going to die?

Emotionally, it’s hard to prepare for death. I’ve been walking through this with a dear family in our congregation. A loved one is soon to pass through the doorway of death. A wonderful believer in our Lord, we know the angels will be coming. We’ve talked about that. We’ve talked about funerals. We’ve talked about the good times. There are physical steps one can take such as making arrangements, buying burial plots, having a will and talking about these things with the family, but that emotional component is hard to prepare.

I wonder, as God closed that door on the ark, if Noah stood there with tears in his eyes.

Second, there was a spiritual or faith preparation for Noah. What God was asking was HUGE. Would there be enough food? Would the ark leak? How would they know where they were going if no one was steering the ark? There wasn’t a helm. And, unlike you and I, Noah didn’t have pages and pages in his Bible to lean upon. Daniel saved from lions hadn’t happened yet. No parting of the Red Sea. No prison doors opened. No dead raised. No Psalms to comfort. No church to encourage. Noah trusted God. The Lord said and Noah knew it would be ok. It would be ok, because the Lord said so.

And, what a contrast to us. We have the Messiah, Jesus. We have pages and pages of Bible history that shows fortified walls coming down, demons fleeing and blind eyes being opened. We know the compassion of Jesus. We stand upon the promises and hope in God. We have so much and I wonder if our faith is so little compared to that of Noah.

Third, there was the commitment preparation. Busy day after day, building the ark, gathering animals and supplies. Preaching as he worked, the days were filled with so much to do. But, then came THE DAY—the time to enter the ark and not to leave it. Emotionally, mentally, spiritually, this was it. There were no more days to do things. There were no more days to walk among the trees of God. No more days to have a conversation with a neighbor. This was it. No going back.

We have moments of preparation as well. A surgery is scheduled. Papers have been filled out. Blood work has been done. Prep has taken place. Now, sitting on the hospital bed, you are rolled down the hallway heading to surgery. This is it.

A bride has a moment like this. Plans and plans and dreams of her wedding have been filling her days. So much to do and then it becomes “the day.” Family and friends show up. Everything is set. And, there is a final moment before she walks down the isle. Excited. Scared. Hopeful. This is it.

A believer has a moment like this. He has been reading and reading his Bible and talking to others. Questions have been answered. He needs to be baptized. He knows now is the time. Excited. Scared. He’s ready to cross the line and become a disciple of Jesus.

Noah prepared the ark. As he was preparing, a world around him was having a blast in selfish sin. Noah was ready. The world was not ready. And, from this, we need to see the lesson for us. Jesus is coming. Am I ready? There is an appointment we have with death. Are we ready? The world is laughing all the way to destruction.

Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. Noah prepared. Have you?

Roger

Jump Start # 3333

Hebrews 11:7 “By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, 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.”

Our verse today is a wonderful example of faith in action. It begins with believing God. The Lord warned Noah about things not yet seen. As this chapter begins, we are told that “what was seen was not made out of things which are visible.” The invisible made the visible.

That little expression, “things not yet seen,” is fascinating. Most think it has to do with rain. There is no indication that it had rained on the earth up to that time. Early in Genesis, God is watering things from dew. But there is much more than that. Noah had never seen a massive flood. Noah had never seen the earth open up and water coming out. Noah had never seen the wrath of God demonstrated this much. Noah had never seen every living thing, except what was in the ark, die. Not only had Noah not seen these things, nor had anyone else. I have never been in a World War, but I know some who were. I can talk to them about that. I’ve never had heart surgery, but I know some who have had that before. I can talk to them about that. Noah had no one who had seen what was about to happen. No one had traveled down those roads before. No books had been written on that. No journal articles detailing experiences and statical analysis of the events were recorded. All Noah had was what God said. He had to believe. Science couldn’t help him. History couldn’t be relied upon. No person could give him advice about this. Things not yet seen—roads that no one had ever traveled before.

And, for us, God has warned us about things not yet seen. Consider:

First, no one has ever seen Hell. People use that word all the time in an unbiblical fashion. No one in your family has ever gone to Hell and reported what it was like. No co-worker has experienced Hell. Oh, there are some who think that they are living Hell right now, but they are not. A sorry marriage. Dysfunctional family. Toxic work place. Junky car. Health problems. No money. No friends. But as bad as all of that may get, it’s still not Hell. As long as you are alive there are options. There are no options in Hell. As long as you are alive you can turn to the Lord. It will be too late for that after you die.

Outside of the Bible, no one knows what Hell is like. No one has been there to write about it. No one has done research on it. All we know, is what God tells us. By faith, we know that there is a Hell. And, by faith, we know that we don’t want to go there, not even for a minute.

Noah had no experiences with floods. Yet he believed God and got busy doing what God told him. You and I have no experiences with Hell. Do we believe God and are we busy doing what He tells us?

Second, we have never experienced standing before God in judgment. We may have stood before a judge in a court room, but what is at stake is nothing like standing before God. And, what will be involved are the most intimate, personal aspects of our lives. Our thoughts. Our words. Our actions. Our sins. Nothing is more raw, open and revealing as that. What will it be like? No courtroom TV shows are like it. No human judge is like the Lord. No one we know is as righteous, merciful, just and holy as the Lord.

And, gathered at the judgment will be all humanity of all time. The great and small will stand before the throne as Revelation tells us. Will we see each other? Will I recognize Abraham Lincoln? Will I recognize THE Abraham? Will I see the Noah, that our verse today is about? Will I see ancestors that I have never met? Will I see my mom? Are we in alphabetical order? Are we lined up by generations? Are we lined up by faith?

All we have to go on is what is in the Bible. No one you talk to today has already been through that experience. No book, other than the Bible, can give us insight into what that judgment will be. God has told us what we need to know. By faith, we believe. Things no one has ever seen before, we know that it will happen because God says so.

Third, we have never experienced a resurrection in which we will never die again. There are a few resurrections in the Bible. Just a few. The way some talk, you’d get the idea that someone was raised every day. But among those who were raised, they all died again. Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, he died again. Jairus’ daughter that Jesus raised, she died later on. The boy that fell out of the window while Paul was preaching died. Paul brought him back. He later died again. They all died again.

But there is a day coming in which the tombs will be opened and the dead will be raised never to die again. What’s that like? Aside from the Bible, no one knows. No one other than Jesus understands this. No one has written a PhD. dissertation on this. There is no information on this. Things not yet seen. Yet, we believe. We know because the Lord has told us.

Noah was told things that only his faith understood. No one else had experienced in the past what God was warning about. No books to study about that. No one to talk to about that. Things not yet seen, yet Noah believed.

How about you and I? Noah got busy building. Maybe we ought to do the same.

Roger

Jump Start # 562

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, 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.

Our series on male leadership continues as we take a look at Noah. This hero of faith is held up as one who stood out with great faith in a world that disappointed God. Noah obeyed God. Noah walked with God. What we often don’t realize is that Noah was a leader.

This passage states that Noah prepared an ark “for the salvation of his household.” Noah saved his family. During the construction of the ark, Noah preached. Peter calls him a preacher of righteousness. Apparently few listened. Only Noah and his family entered the ark. Today, many would look upon Noah as a terrible preacher. After all those years of preaching, only his family listened. In the preaching world, Noah would have a tough time finding a job today. We too often judge success by numbers and not by faith. Noah saved his family. If every family did only that, our church buildings would be busting at the seams.

Noah prepared an ark for the salvation of his household. Consider what that meant.

• First, Noah was building most likely the largest boat ever built at that time. He didn’t build it next to a lake or the ocean. People must have wondered how he was going to get the boat to water. The building project took years and years to accomplish. Neighbors must have thought that O’ Noah was off his rocker.
• Noah warned his neighbors about a coming rain and flood. There is a strong case to be made that it had never rained before this. Genesis tells us that God made a mist from the ground that watered things. It’s hard to convince folks of something they have never seen before.
• Noah was to place many animals in the ark. People must have thought how is that to be accomplished? How are you going to round them all up?

Strange things to a world that didn’t believe. Noah was different. He put his trust in God and not what his neighbors thought. He stayed with it, even though his neighbors may well have questioned him, ridiculed him, and even laughed at him. Noah’s faith is what carried him through.

Leaders will do just what Noah did. Spiritual leaders especially, and in this series, spiritual dads, will walk by faith and listen to what God says. If you want to save your family, you must be willing to do things differently than what everyone else is doing. The majority do not walk with God. The majority are on a path of destruction. Remember the Lord’s words about the strait and the narrow way? Spiritual leaders are not interested in being a typical family. Average doesn’t cut it for them. What everyone else is doing isn’t good enough. Spiritual dads are willing to be different to save their families.

• Spiritual dads are going to go to church services every week with the family. With Bibles in hand, they are going to worship the God of Heaven and earth. They are setting the pace that God is important.
• Spiritual dads are going to have a time for the family to be together. Meal time is one occasion. Other times may be a family night. Talk, fun, games, connecting will take place. This is missing today. Everyone is in their own corner of the house with their own electronic gadgets, many spending more time on facebook than “face to face” with their family. Spiritual dads are going to lead the family to togetherness.

• Spiritual dads are going to lead the family in prayers and devotion to God. The family will discuss and talk about what they learned from sermons and Bible classes. It’s a great time to lower the nets and get beyond superficial chit chat and shallow thinking. This is where character is built and proper attitudes are formed. Spiritual dads will take the lead in molding these young and tender hearts.
• Spiritual dads will lead the family on projects to help others. It may be doing yard work for an elderly neighbor. It may be taking food to a sick member. It may be going to the hospital or funeral home –together, as a family. Spiritual dads will not shelter the kids from these things. They will show the kids how to serve others and in so doing develop the servant’s heart.
• Spiritual dads will lead the family in righteous ways. This may make them unpopular at home, because they will turn the TV off when inappropriate shows are being watched. They will be on top of who their kids friends are and where and what they are planning to do. They may discourage certain friendships because of the character and behaviors of some. Spiritual dads will stand with God. They will discipline. They will be the authority in the home. Spiritual dads will not allow the kids to sass mom, to back talk or to cop an attitude. That’s the scene in most homes. Spiritual dads aren’t interested in doing what most do, they want to do what God wants. Being different, being weird doesn’t bother spiritual dads. They know where they are headed and they are walking side by side with the Lord.

Noah sure was weird in his time. But all these hundreds and hundreds of years later, here we are talking about Noah. Can you name one of Noah’s neighbors? Gone. Forgotten. Lost. Drowned. Noah didn’t fit in the selfish and sinful world he lived in. Spiritual families today are just like that. The latest fashion, the hottest show, who kissed who in Hollywood means nothing to spiritual families. Their heroes are not found in glamour magazines or ESPN, but in church buildings. I’ve seen young children lined up after a gospel meeting with their Bibles opened to a blank page, waiting patiently so the guest preacher will sign their Bibles. They are interested in the autographs of spiritual giants.

What kind of family do you want? Normal, typical family? Or are you willing to be different, and take all the things that comes with that, to have a spiritual family. I know a family that has their own personal tract rack at home. When someone visits or knocks on the door, they can give them literature about the Bible. That’s weird. I know a family that on a Friday night, invites several people into their home to sing hymns. That’s weird. I know a family that took their vacation to travel to another state to attend a lectureship at a church. That’s weird. I know a family that writes letters to preachers overseas. The children color pictures that are included with the letters. That’s weird. I know a family that has a large jar in their kitchen. Each day, everyone deposits whatever change they have in their pockets. When enough money is collected, the family goes and buys a Bible for someone. That’s weird. I know a family that takes one Saturday a month to visit the nursing home. They don’t know anyone there. They just go and visit and sing some songs with the patients. Yes, nursing homes smell. Yes, there are some ballgames the kids could be playing, but it’s their way of making a spiritual difference. Weird, isn’t it? I know a family that will go on a school night to a gospel meeting at another congregation. That’s weird.

What’s going on in your home? Is everyone coming home, immediately turning the TV on, and going off by themselves until bedtime, only to start the same thing again tomorrow? Home, for many, is more like an apartment building. Everyone is under the same structure, but they don’t really connect with each other. That’s normal in America. Is that your home? Is that the way you like it? Is that making a difference spiritually?

Noah was different. Noah saved his family. It’s time we quit worrying about fitting in and start being different and start saving your family. Dads, it all starts with you. It wasn’t Mama Noah who did these things, it was Noah.

It’s ok to be different, if it saves your family. Just ask Noah some day!

Roger