NOAH’S FAITH IS VISIBLE IN THE BUILDING OF THE ARK

Our second thought:

CONDEMNS THE WORLD.

In the previous part we have seen that Noah, by faith, prepared the ark. This was also a condemnation of the world, as it is stated in our text: “By the which he condemned the world.” So it is clear that we cannot make the building of the ark loose from Noah’s faith, otherwise he could never condemn the world. We have seen that Noah could not ignore the Divine commandment because a holy fear came in his life. It was an incentive for him to continue this work. Moreover, he was not allowed to use his own discretion, but he must act precisely according to the Lord’s specifications. The Lord dictated what kind of wood he had to use, the size, the number of stories; that it must be waterproof, how the windows and doors must be and for how many animals there must be room and food. So the Lord described everything about the ark which would be his future shelter.

By faith Noah prepared the ark. God saves Noah, but Noah must build the ark. Not that Noah works out his own salvation, but the Lord saves him by grace in this way; that is, in building the ark, which he does by faith. We read thereof in Gen. 6:22: ‘Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.”

We must imagine what this means, because for the inhabitants of the first world it was foolishness to build a ship on dry land. Some have made a calculation that the ark must have had a capacity of about eighteen thousand tons. It is not likely that Noah and his children have done this work all alone, but he must have received help of the unbelieving world also. If this is true, then many people worked on this ship, but when the flood came, they did not have a place in the ark. This is such a serious warning for all of us; we can also labour in church and school, while we personally miss the grace of Noah, also in beginning. We can be used by the Lord to the upbuilding of the church and that we have no knowledge of what we teach. So Judas was one of the disciples of the Lord; he has preached the Word, but never has it brought him as a poor sinner before the Lord, crying for mercy. Serious is the warning, which the Lord Himself has given about this, that we can have preached in His Name, that we can eat with Him, and still that we are strangers of the life of grace. We eat with Him, when we come to the Lord’s Supper; probably we have the name in our congregation to be a converted man or woman, but if the Lord does not know about it, it will not profit us at all, but make our condemnation the heavier, and more righteous. Oh friends, that we may examine ourselves in the light of God’s Word, because there are so many foundations made by ourselves, but only what the Lord has worked, has value for eternity. In our days so many people want to do something for the Lord, because the Lord did so much for them. When it comes up out of a good root, because of the love which the Lord has worked in us, then it is pleasing to Him; but there is so much “gratitude”, which is so purely human, that it is clear, therein is nothing of the Lord; God’s people learn that they are not such a willing people and not thankful at all of themselves. So seldom they come to that place, by grace, that they may give the Lord the honor for his blessings, which He has bestowed upon them; it is also seldom that they are united with the will of God. The more they learn to know themselves, the more they begin to abhor themselves. No, it is not a good people, that is saved, but hellworthy creatures that are losing their grounds in themselves more and more. It is grace only if they are saved, as it was with Noah, too.

The building of the ark, which made slow, but steady progress, was a preaching itself; under the scornful laughter of the multitude Noah continued his work, which is a deed of faith; but beside this, he spoke in the Name of the Lord. Peter calls him a preacher of righteousness. He could not be silent, he must speak of what would happen in the future. The Spirit of Enoch was also in him and he must tell the wicked generation of his days the coming judgement of the Lord. One hundred and twenty years he preached to them, that the Lord is a holy Judge. He spoke of their sins, but also of the necessity of conversion; if they hardened their hearts the righteous judgements of the Lord would come. No, they did not go unwarned to the end, those contemporaries of Noah; as a preacher of repentance he brought this Divine message in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. This was not an easy task; it is easier to withdraw outselves from that calling and in seclusion to enjoy spiritual fruits of God’s grace. But to be oppressed, to live under the attack of mockings and insults, and still to speak of God’s righteousness, then we must have grace of the Lord, otherwise we would give up and quit. We understand, that Noah could do this only with the help of the Lord, by faith. The love for God’s attributes, but also the love for his neighbors were stimulants for him in the most difficult moments. It was not for a moment, but 120 years is a very long time; and all those years he had to fight against this superior power; humanly spoken it was to become discouraged, but by faith we can overcome the greatest problems of our life. Where is this testimony in our days? We know it is a hard thing, especially in these days, but the testimony of the church must be heard and seen.

Young people, how about you? The world mocks more than ever before and if you listen to it, then they seem to be wiser than God; they try to poison our youth with all kinds of things against God’s Word, whereby they receive the help of the news media, which is an instrument of satan, in general. When you don’t go for all kinds of things of the world and sport, you become a strange person, with all the consequences thereof. May the Lord give the strength to do it, boys and girls, because we cannot serve God and the mammon. Don’t be ashamed to pray and to thank with the meals. It becomes harder all the time, because the power of the antichrist becomes more and more visible. During the last decades of this world it will be more difficult for the Church than ever before. So the Word of the poet will be fulfilled, as we read in Ps. 104:35, “Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the Lord, O my soul.” This is not a sinful hatred, but it is because .of the honor of God’s Name, which is bound to the soul and which is hurt by the sinful deeds of the wicked.

Has there been no fruit on the labour of Noah at all? God’s Word does not speak of any fruit, only “by the which he condemned the world.” He condemned the world by his preaching, as he was a preacher of righteousness. But we may not forget, that he condemned the world by his building too! Each board was a new warning that the judgement had come a step closer again. Higher and higher came the enormous hull. It was a silent and still and eloquent witness against the world. A condemnation went out from it, that the Lord would come very soon, and His righteousness would be visible. So Noah became by word and deed a preacher of righteousness, and condemned the world. Now we may not forget that he also condemned the world by his conduct. He walked as a child of light, as the Lord has commanded his church: “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.” This saying will not work pride, but humiliation before the Lord. We don’t see that light in ourselves, but must complain that there is so much darkness and shortcomings, while the Lord requires the opposite. They experience, that they cannot perform in their own strength, what the Lord requires, but only with His help. Their prayer will be: “Lead me not into temptations, but deliver me from evil, because Thou art so worthy to be served.”

May this need for eternity be felt, also for the world, who lives without God. I am sure that Noah also prayed for the world, that the Lord might teach them their sins and wickedness, that they might return to Him. So Abraham prayed for Sodom and the other cities. It is a sign of the true child of God, to feel also the need for our fellow travellers for eternity. Alas, we find this so seldom in our days. You hear about sin, which multiplies and must be condemned, but so seldom of people, who are moved with compassion about their neighbour.

But the world did not listen to the preacher of righteousness and went further in the mire of unrighteousness. The end of God’s longsuffering would come very soon as the 120 years were nearly passed. We don’t know either, how long this second world will stand, as the preaching of the coming judgement does not bring any change either. Or did the Lord not speak this year by earthquakes and disasters in many forms? But we can find no signs of a returning to the Lord. Therefore the need of an ark, a hiding place against the coming storm and flood cannot be missed. How happy is that people, who begin to feel this need, by the administration of God’s Spirit. The building of the ark had come to an end, and still nothing pointed to the coming end, no water was visible; but God is on His way, and gave His commandments Noah, as we will see in our next thought.

3) BY FAITH NOAH BECOMES AN HEIR OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

Noah builded the ark by faith, which was a condemnation of the world, but at the same time it was the saving of his family. Because outside of the ark the Lord maintained His righteousness against the wicked world, but inside the Lord showed His goodness and mercy. What an agony, when the flood came, for man and beast, because for them that are outside, it is lost. Noah feared for the coming judgement, but for him and his family the ark was prepared. For the peole who mocked and did not fear, the abyss is opened. How terrible it is to fall in the hands of a living God, when the door of grace is closed.

Oh unconverted friends, how necessary it is to fear the Lord, not with a slavish fear, but as a child with filial fear. Soon we must give acount of how we have spent our time: what we have sowed, we will also harvest. Among the people in the ark, there is also Ham. He is spared in this judgement, although he does not fear the Lord in truth. Later on this became evident. He has probably made a ground of his being saved during the flood, but this is not enough. So we can build on deliverances and answers to prayers, but this is no good foundation either. When we are not united with Christ by faith, it is lost and we will sink away in the flood of God’s wrath. The Lord is still calling unto us by His Word, but by nature we are not willing to listen to it. A good example of this is a man, whereof I read. He went to church, because he liked to hear the organ. He was not interested in the sermon, what he showed very clearly and put his fingers in his ears. You know what happened? A troublesome fly hindered him and when he took his finger out of his ear the minister said: “He that has an ear, let him hear, what the Spirit says to the churches.” This Word was used by the Lord to his eternal welfare. May the Lord also open our ears to hear what He has to say unto us, because soon the ark will be closed for ever for us. Then we will regret having used our time in the service of this world, which did not bring any happiness, in the real sense of the word.

The ark points to Christ: In Him we must be saved; the Lord is still long-suffering with us, as Hellenbroek states about this attribute of God: That goodness of God, whereby He delays the well-deserved punishment in order to bring the elect to repentance and to convince the reprobate. (Rom. 2:4). Now we read of Noah: “By the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” Noah is called “An heir”, which means that he did not merit this himself, but received it without his works, out of free sovereign grace. That grace is from before time, it is from eternity, and has an eternal value.

The concerned church does not see that they are heirs, and fear most of the time that it is lost for them. They have tried to build their own ark, but experience it is leaking; the more we see this, the more the necessity of Christ will be felt, even when we cannot explain this. The Lord must bring us to an end before He will reveal the Mediator by His Word. And when we may see the ark that is a blessing, but it is not the same as entering the ark. We must also receive feet to come there. The true rest is in Christ and not in our experience. He is the Ark of salvation.

Because there is so little exercise of faith, we hear so seldom of the assurance of faith. We can become an heir of this righteousness. It points to the work of Christ for His church. He was conceived and born without sin and lived without sin on this world all the days of his life. He fulfilled the requirements of the Covenant by His life and death. When His merits are applied in our life, then we receive that righteousness to live and die happily. Is this not your longing, people of God? Are there not moments and times that this is most important for you? When something may be tasted of it, then there is such a fulness in it, that we think to possess everything, such a sweetness there is in that communion. When Christ is revealed, then we have everything at such a moment. How great was His love, for such creatures as we are, it is incomprehensible.

But later on we realize that we still are outside of the ark! It is as a Covenant breaker and deathworthy sinner that a soul is saved on the ground of Christ’s righteousness. When we expect to sink away for ever and may justify the Lord, then He will save our soul for Christ’s sake and we may enter that Ark of salvation. Justification is out of faith for Christ’s merits, Who has given Himself for our sin, but Who is risen to our justification. What a precious inheritance is given to Noah!

May the Lord give this benefit also to us, people of God, that we may not rest, before we are safe in Him for time and eternity.

“He became heir of righteousness which is by faith.”

How blest is he whose trespass
Hath freely been forgiv’n;
Whose sin is wholly covered
Before the sight of heav’n.

Norwich

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