← ArchiveGenesis (Foundations)Sunday, May 15, 2016DateMay 15, 2016Speaker—TextGenesis 6Passages in this sermonGenesis 60:002 Peter 32:02Revelation 202:30Hebrews 115:38Luke 2319:30Hosea 7:220:13Isaiah 43:2520:53TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00If you have your Bibles with you, please turn to Genesis chapter 6. Genesis chapter 6, and we have, I knew this would be a unique service, so we have actually done the work for you. In your bulletins, the handouts for the sermon, we have already filled in the blanks for you. So, that'll help you as we follow along this morning. Genesis chapter 6, and we are continuing as a church the sermon series in Genesis called The Gospel in Genesis, meaning the gospel of good news.0:28So, the good news of God, the good news of salvation, the good news of Jesus Christ is not just a New Testament concept. God has been gracious from the beginning. The good news in Genesis. And today, we will see that we can find comfort even in the flood. Comfort even in the flood. You say, well, why do we need comfort? Some of you remember the Genesis Noah story from nursery, from Vacation Bible School, but0:57we need to shatter that just briefly. Because the flood, the story of Noah, is not necessarily this nursery rhyme that we have in our minds of great colors and this beautiful ark. And Noah's like the biblical Dr. Doolittle talking to the animals, brushing them, washing them before they get on the ark. What we need to remember is that the flood is God's response to sin.1:22And may we not forget that God always responds to sin. And as the flood was Noah's reminder of God's response to sin and judgment, the cross of Jesus Christ is our reminder of God's judgment. And at the same time, God's response to our sin. And before we also forget or think that this flood was an ancient account long, long time ago,1:472 Peter reminds us that just as the world was flooded and there was judgment upon the earth, one day too, he says this, 2 Peter 3, 7, but the heavens and the earth, which are now preserved by the same word, that is God's holy word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.2:15That just as Noah's day was judged for sin, so too will our day be judged with sin. Because our God is a judge, he is a great judge. Revelations 20 reminds us this, here's the day of judgment. Then I saw, this is the apostle John, so Peter is writing about judgment, and then in Revelation, John is writing about judgment, and in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, we have judgment.2:40So everything in God's word points us to our sin requires a response. Revelation 20, I saw a great white throne and him, capital him, who sat upon it, that is Jesus Christ, from whose face, listen to this, the earth and the heavens fled away, that our Savior will judge the world,3:03and when he gets on his throne, earth and heaven say, I'm out of here. So what hope do we have? If earth runs away from the creator because of the judgment, what hope and eternity do you and I have in the flood? And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life.3:32And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books. Our God will not be silent concerning our sin. And because of Jesus Christ, thank God, that our God is not silent about our sin. Let's pray. Father, as we look at your judgment, as we look at the flood, may you break our hearts over our sin.4:01And Lord, may that sorrow bring us to repentance, which brings us to Jesus Christ, who said that he is the way, he is the truth, he is the life. No man comes to you but through Jesus Christ. Father, may your judgment lead us to sorrow, to repentance, and to salvation. And I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Amen. Verse 22, chapter 6.4:29Thus Noah did according to all that God commanded him, so he did. Thus Noah did. And you say, well, pastor, what did he do? Go home this afternoon and read that. Back up from verse 22 and read all of what Noah did. Here's a great plug for Wednesday night. If you were with us on Wednesday night, you know what Noah did. We looked at the ark. We looked at the commands. But here's the biblical truth in all that Noah did. True faith always requires obedience.5:00True faith always requires obedience. Look at verse 22. God's word reminds us several times. Thus Noah did. It didn't say thus Noah prayed. Thus Noah believed. Thus Noah did according to all that God commanded him. So Noah did in the New King James. As if we need another reminder.5:30Saying to us, Noah's faith was shown by what he did. This is what Hebrews 11, 7 reminds us. This is the hall of faith. 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 commanded the world, or condemned the world, and became heir of righteousness, which is according to faith.5:43Hebrews 11, 7 reminds us, this is how you know Noah's faith. Because he did what with the ark? He prepared the ark. Your faith, true faith, has always worked out in your obedience.6:09So let me just say this. For those of you who struggle with your faith, and you say, God, I don't know if I have faith, look at your life. If you see steps of obedience in your life, if you see fruits of your faith in your life, then you have faith. So if you struggle with that faith, and you say, Lord, I just don't know, look at your obedience. And you can say, God, thank you that you let me be obedient to you. On the other side of that book, if you walk in here and you say, man, I am a man of faith.6:38God, you are glad that I am here worshiping you today. And yet your life shows no signs of obedience. And this is going to be harsh, but I want you to hear this. That way you will repent and find Jesus Christ. If your life shows no fruits of the Spirit, if your life shows no obedience, you do not have faith. You are empty wind. James says, you show me your faith by what you say.7:06I'll show you mine by what I do. True faith always requires obedience. True obedience always requires faith. Now, I don't want to sound that this is easy, though. You say, well, Pastor, so this is easy, right? Obedience is easy. Look at Noah. Think about how difficult obedience can be in our life. Some of you, most of you are probably not called to Thailand to forsake most of your friends and family and go, and I thank God that we have that display of faith here today.7:34Think about Noah. Noah gave tremendous amount of time to this project. Some even speculate it was 120 years he built an ark. 120 years. Think about the tremendous amount of resources that Noah spent building this ark. Where did he get the wood from? He didn't call Lowe's and say, hey, I need some lumber. How much? I don't know, but enough to build 450-foot boats.8:03Three stories tall. And by the way, I need to hold two of every animal in the world. Where does Noah get that? How do they cut that down? Tremendous amount of resources for Noah. Think about the trust that Noah had to have in his obedience. There was no rudder on the ship. There were no sailors on the ship. There was no steering wheel. There was no GPS. Noah had to trust God to deliver.8:33Think about the ridicule of Noah constantly going to people and saying, the flood is coming. And they say, Noah, you foolish, foolish man. Why are you building a boat in the desert? And Noah says, you don't understand, but the flood is coming. Find repentance because God is judging you of your sin. But don't worry. There's a plan of salvation. We don't know if Noah was an animal lover.9:03Think about it. Being cramped up in that boat with those animals for 150 days. And by the way, if it even mattered, Noah was 600 years old when he was walking steps of obedience. Some of you are thinking, man, my back hurts. I can't build that. Yet God calls us to obedience. Think about how difficult that was. This is why Jesus Christ reminds us.9:33We do not enter by the broad gate. God did not say, Noah, go build an ark. Make sure it's air conditioned. Make sure the pews are padded. Make sure you have the handles you want. Not the 1975 edition, but the 1965 edition with the song that you like. Or the praise song, you know, that new song, the one you really like on the radio. No, make sure you play that. No, God said, this is how you obey. Go build. Go prepare. And Noah, trust in me.10:02This is why Jesus Christ looks at us and says, you enter through the narrow gate. True faith always requires obedience. Second truth we see from Noah's life. Verse 4, chapter 7. For after seven days, I will cause it to rain on the earth 40 days and 40 nights. And I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.10:30Here is the second biblical truth we get from God's word. One, true faith always requires obedience. Two, God will judge and his judgment is always timely and it is always real. You say, pastor, I don't want to hear about judgment. Here's where we need to pause. Because if the God you worship is not a judging God, that is not holy, that does not hold sin accountable,10:59you do not worship the one true God. You worship an idol you have created with your own hands. God's judgment is real and it is timely. Before you check out, we're going to look at salvation. Because even in God's judgment, he has created a way for salvation. Verse 13 of chapter 6, this is what we see from the Lord. God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them.11:30And behold, I will destroy them with the earth. God promised Noah, I will destroy. And he did. God can destroy that which he makes. And that which God destroys, he can make new. That's why God's word says, the old things have passed, behold, new things have come. Old things have been destroyed, new things have come.11:57And that only happens in Jesus Christ. This is why Peter says about judgment in 2 Peter, God is not slow, as some of you count slackness. But he is longsuffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And then the next verse says this, verse 10, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. Peter reminds us, guys, judgment is coming.12:28It is real. It is timely. Get your hearts right. True faith requires obedience. God's judgment is real. Verse 15. But even in the judgment, we see this. And they went into the ark. Now, who's they? Noah and his family and all them animals. Two by two of all flesh in which is the breath of life.12:59And by the way, we can just kind of gloss over that breath of life. But where does the breath of life come from? God. How did man get his breath? Because God breathed his breath into him. The Hebrew word for breath is the same Hebrew word for wind, which is the same Hebrew word for spirits. Verse 16. And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And beautiful verse. And the Lord shut them in.13:29We don't know if God got in with them and said, you're safe. Or we don't know if the Lord stood outside and said, don't worry, I'm here. But we see that even in the midst of the flood, God protects. Even in the midst of the flood, God protects. Here's the beauty about this verse. You can go back and if you look at the Babylonian literature, there's a flood account called the Gilgamesh flood accounts.13:56In that account, you know who shuts the door in the hero's flood accounts? It wasn't God. It was Gilgamesh. And if you go back and look at every ancient Near Eastern flood accounts, every single time, you know who shuts the door of the boat? The hero, the man. Here's the beauty about our Savior. When we trust in him, you don't shut the door to your life. You don't protect yourself. We have a guy that can look at these Muslims and say,14:27you don't trust in me yet, but I am protecting you. Get in the ark. I will shut you in. Even in the midst of the flood, God is protecting. And some of you need to hear that because you are, the water is up to your neck right now. And you say, I just don't feel like swimming. I feel like I'm doomed. I'm hurting. I'm torn. I feel like God is judging me right now. And God is saying, my judgment will come. But in Jesus Christ, if you have faith, I have protected you.14:56I have washed over you. Do you trust God to protect you? I'm reminded of a story. We lived in New Orleans. I actually moved to New Orleans two days before Hurricane Katrina. It's our two weeks. Two weeks. Like it really matters. And so we lived in New Orleans a year after Hurricane Katrina. So we had a lot of visitation from the UN and from our presidents.15:24And Casey actually worked in the CBD, the Central Business District, my wife. And they took off because one day the president was coming to town and they shut down the whole city. So they said, we can't get to work. We're just going to cancel. So Casey was outside seeing George W. Bush, president. And the thought occurred to her, look, I'm in trouble here because we're in danger. The president's coming. And she had a gentleman standing next to her. I don't know if he was a CIA agent or not.15:52Could have been. We won't know that. And he heard her verbalize this, that I'm scared. And he looked at her and said, you don't have to be scared. You're in the safest place in the world. And he did this. He said, look up there. And on every single building, there was a sniper. On trees, there were people in camouflage protecting. She was in the safest place she could have been, although she was fearing. Now, how much greater is our safety in our Savior?16:22I think sometimes we walk around and we're scared and God is saying, just open your eyes, pastor. Look at that. Don't you see that I could call down angels to protect you? What are you worried for? If you have trusted in me, Noah, when the flood climbs, I will shut the door. And by the way, I gave you the dimensions of the ark. Don't you think they're accurate? Are you trusting in God? Because when the flood comes, only our Savior offers us protection.16:52Even in the flood, we have protection. And then verse 1 of chapter 8, true faith requires obedience. God's judgment is coming. And it's coming on me first. I'm held accountable. It is coming upon us. It came upon Noah. But even in the flood, there is protection if we trust. And then verse 1, chapter 8. Even in the flood.17:22And we heard this verse earlier. We didn't plan this, David. Verse 1, beautiful verse. One of the most beautiful verses in all of Scripture. Then God remembered Noah and every living thing and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth and the waters subsided. Even in the flood. And if you came in here right now and you say, I'm in the flood. Even in the flood, God is faithful.17:51Even in the day of judgment when he sits on his throne and he is judging every single person the world has ever been home to. Even in judgment, God is faithful. There was a flood. Verse 1, then God. I love how God's word says that. Flood, destruction, hurt, torment. Then God. Some of you need to hear that this morning because you are going through it.18:19You're walking difficult roads. You need to hear. But then God stepped in. And when God steps in, we see his faithfulness. And here's the beauty of God's faithfulness. Verse 1 of chapter 8. God will remember. God will remember. And this is not, this Hebrew word is not mental recognition. It's not mental cognition. This is not going through the processes of thinking, you know what? Who is that dude? Noah, that's his name.18:51Let's help him out again. Now, this is remembrance in the Bible is God acting. So when God remembers us, he doesn't just say, oh, by the way, there's a guy named Josh somewhere in Alabama and he needs my help. It is God acting upon that. It is us praying and God saying, if you humble yourself, I will work. I will remember. I will wash over you. I will protect you because I am faithful. The beauty of those who trust in Jesus Christ and trust in the one true God is he will not forget.19:16He has not forgotten about you and he will be faithful in your life. This is why in Luke 23, when the thief on the cross said to Jesus, Lord, remember me. Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom, that he had truth and he had comfort in that because he knew that Jesus Christ would not forget.19:38I believe some of you this morning just need to pray, God, remember me. Because our God has the greatest memory the world has ever known. He will not forget. But here's the danger in that. Not only does God not forget you, but he will not forget your sin.20:06He will not forget your sin. Hosea 7.2 says this. They do not consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Now their own deeds have surrounded them. They are before my face. The people of Hosea's day said this about the Lord. He's forgotten. We can do whatever we want to because God has forgotten about our sins. We just said that God will not forget and he will not forget about your sins.20:31But wait, there's more. If we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we will have redemption of our sins and he will offer us forgiveness. So God will not forget your sins. But I want you to listen to this verse. Isaiah 43.25. I, even I, this is the Lord speaking, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake.20:57And God says, I will not remember your sins. That if we put our trust in Jesus Christ and we say, I believe in my heart that you were crucified for my sake. I believe in my heart that you rose again. And I now confess with my mouth that you are Lord. God says, I won't forget your sins. But now I just won't remember them because of what Jesus Christ has done.21:26No one here deserves to be in that ark. We are all people who deserve to be in the floodwaters. And God says, but I have prepared a way. Think about Noah. God did not give Noah in his salvation. He did not leave that to chance, did he? God didn't tell Noah, Noah, just go build a boat. Look, dude. Here, go. You have 120 years.21:55Go get some lumber. Go get some nails. You figure it out. Noah, save yourself. That's not what the Lord did to Noah, was it? God said, I have a plan of salvation for you, Noah. And this is what it looks like. The boat will be this length. It will be this height. And it will be this width. And Noah, you will have these animals on that boat. And Noah, you will have this family on that boat. And Noah, when the floodwaters come, you will get in and I will shut the door.22:23And then you will be saved. That, this wasn't a boat. Actually, the word is not even the word for a boat. They have that in Hebrew. But the word is a very specially used word. And it only means those that are being saved. This was a vessel of salvation, not a sailboat. And God did not leave that to chance. And for our lives, God does not leave our salvation to chance. That's why Acts says this.22:53There is only one name under heaven by which men can be saved. And it's not Bethel Baptist Church. And it's not whatever church you're a part of. It's not Josh Burnham, because I can't do it on my own. That's why Jesus Christ said that I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No man comes to the Father but through me. The only way we have salvation is through Jesus Christ. So what does that look like?23:23The Bible says this, if you believe in your heart, one, that you're a sinner, and that two, he's your savior. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, meaning he is the boss, I surrender to him. I can't do it. The water's coming. I need salvation. And it is only found in Christ that you will be saved. Today, if you do not have obedience, you do not have faith. But that can change. What God makes, he can destroy. What God destroys, he can make new.23:52Do you need obedience in your life? God's judgment is coming upon you. It is real. It is timely. I don't know the day. It comes like a thief in the night, but I pray that we will be ready because we have redemption from our sins. God will not remember our sins because of Jesus Christ. If you need to put your hope in Christ today, do not wait because he offers you the free gift of salvation. Let's pray. 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