The One God Uses

Genesis chapter 6.

Genesis 6 · chapter mention

The way God works and the way he moves is often unpredictable.

I often say that God throws curveballs.

He works in unexpected ways.

But a common trait of God is to raise somebody up in just the nick of time

when there's a task at hand.

He challenged Abraham to pick it all up, everything he had,

and go and God would tell him where he had to go along the way.

That's pretty scary.

He rose up Moses to become the mouthpiece of the law, of God's law.

And Moses was, by his own description, slow of speech and tongue.

He even said that slowly.

Joseph was a man who ran the breadbasket of the world in the midst of a famine,

but he had been sold into slavery by his brothers, left for dead.

David was the youngest and the overlooked,

but God used him to expand Israel to its greatest heights, at least so far.

Did we bring up the foot-shaped mouth of Peter?

Did we bring up the Christian killer named Saul or the late bloomer named James

who became the pastor of the church in Jerusalem?

That's just a few of those because God throws curveballs.

How about if God picks a man that lives in the desert

to build a boat to save humanity from total destruction

while the earth was to face utter destruction?

That's what God did, and he chose Noah to be that man.

Now, how did he pick him?

Who is it that God uses?

What is God looking for in us to use us?

Now, as I've listed several people,

we could get several traits that God looks for

in examining the many that I've mentioned,

but I just found, I just want to look at a few traits

that we see in Noah this morning.

I think it's challenging enough.

It's plenty to ponder on.

It's found in Genesis chapter 6, beginning in verse 5,

Genesis 6 · chapter mention

and it says this,

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,

that every intention of the thoughts of his heart

was only evil continually,

and the Lord regretted that he had made man on earth,

and he grieved him to his heart.

So the Lord said,

I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land,

and man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens,

for I am sorry that I made them.

But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

These are the generations of Noah.

Noah was a righteous man,

blameless in his generation.

Noah walked with God.

I don't know about you,

but I know that I,

I want to be used of God.

I want God to use me for his purposes,

as he sees fit,

and to do my best to remove any hindrances

that may be,

that I may be prone to put in his way.

I want to be used of God.

And from Noah's example,

I believe we find some things that God looks for.

Who does God use?

God uses one who is blessed.

It may seem kind of backwards to say it like that,

but it's the truth.

It's not.

It's not backwards.

It's the truth.

It's just the way God works,

and we don't have to understand his work.

We better accept it,

but we don't have to understand it.

God favored Noah.

He did.

He blessed Noah.

He didn't do that because Noah was righteous,

although Noah was righteous.

He was not perfect,

and scripture points that out,

but he was right.

And God looked upon him with favor,

and he shined.

It is the blessings of God

that allow us to be at our very best.

We're not able to do that within ourselves.

God enables us.

As a matter of fact,

when it says that he found favor with God,

that word in the Hebrew literally speaks of grace.

In other words,

it's in his grace and by his blessings

that we're allowed to be everything that we can be

for his honor and for his glory.

We don't receive his blessings because of what we do.

We are blessed by his grace

and given the ability to do that.

And when we use that God-given ability

to do blessed things,

we are further blessed.

It is a fulfillment of what life was meant to be.

It has to do with being used for your purpose.

I don't normally carry a pocket knife.

I've had a few in that big knife store

in Sevierville.

I'll go in there and find one and buy one

and put it in my pocket

and wash it in the washing machine the following week.

I don't normally carry a pocket knife.

I have a couple,

but I just don't need it that often.

But I do carry a set of keys.

I carry a set of keys

and I can cut a lot of things

with a jaggered end of a key.

I'm pretty good at it.

Don't come messing with me.

I'm pretty good at it.

So,

do my keys always do a good job cutting something?

No.

My keys are made to open locks,

but sometimes I can cut through packaging tape

to open a package when it comes.

You take those tags off your clothes,

you know,

I'll get my key out, son,

and saw that baby off.

But much beyond that,

my keys won't cut it.

Pun intended.

Why?

Because that's not the purpose of the keys.

The purpose of the key is to unlock,

to open a lock.

My best defense is my key,

so if you mess with me,

be careful, son,

because I'll pull it on you,

you know.

But that's not really the purpose of the key.

The key is to unlock.

Knives are made for cutting.

Our purpose in life

is to live for the Lord.

We're to carry out His will for our lives,

and when we don't do that,

we are living outside of our purpose.

We're not living up to our potential.

You'll be blessed by God

when you carry out His purpose for your life,

that His grace has enabled you

to do,

and you'll see the favor of God.

The favor that God has for you

as you walk in His way.

Living for Him

brings everything to light.

Scripture says that Noah

was favored and blessed,

and God used him.

But I see another trait as well.

God uses one who is righteous.

One who walks with the Lord

can be righteous.

It's not that we earn that righteousness.

It is that we're changed by God's power

and by His might,

and under God,

we can live in a way that pleases Him.

Now, for the Christian,

this righteousness is positional.

We have been made right by the Lord

when we come into relationship with Him.

And now,

we just have to live that way

in our practice.

And Noah did.

He put his faith in God

to work,

and God enabled him

to live a righteous life.

I want you to listen to what Hebrews 11,

Hebrews 11:7

verse 7 said about him.

He said,

By faith Noah,

being warned by God

concerning events as yet unseen,

in reverent fear,

constructed an ark

for the saving of his household.

By this,

he condemned the world

and became an heir

of the righteousness

that comes from faith.

Just as in the days of Noah,

so it'll be

in the days of the Son of Man.

What a contrast to the world

in which he was living.

His world was marked by wickedness.

His world was marked by perversion.

And the thoughts and the minds of society

were polluted.

They were led by the lust of the flesh.

They were led by the lust of the eyes.

They were led by the pride of life.

How do you survive in your walk with God

when you live in a world

that's filled with all of that stuff?

Well, we better learn

because we're right there.

We're right in the midst of it.

Jesus was talking about his return

and he said this in Luke chapter 17,

Luke 17:26

verse 26 and following.

He said,

Just as in the days of Noah,

so it will be in the days of the Son of Man.

They were eating and drinking

and marrying and being given in marriage

until the day when Noah entered the ark.

And the flood came and destroyed them all.

Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot,

there will be eating and drinking

and buying and selling,

planting and building.

But on the day when Lot went out from Sodom,

fire and sulfur rained from heaven

and destroyed them all.

So it will be on the day

when the Son of Man is revealed.

Now, I want you to understand something.

The point of that passage is the suddenness

and the need of readiness

concerning the return of the Lord.

I truly believe the only thing

that is holding the Lord back from coming

is the Father telling him to go get his bride.

And I believe we need to be ready.

I don't care what's happening in the world

and you're trying to figure it out on your timeline.

You better be ready

because I'm telling you,

the Lord could return at any time.

However, I want you to understand

that the wickedness we see around us today,

it is no greater than the wickedness around Noah.

He faced the same thing.

It's probably not any better today

than it was with Noah,

but it's probably not any worse.

So what do you do if you're a Christian

who's trying to live for Christ

if the world you live in is wicked enough to destroy?

What do you do

when the whole world seems to have turned upside down?

It becomes completely amoral

and the things that they should shame

are held as if it's correct.

And the things that are correct

as if they're shamed.

What do you do in the midst of that?

I'll tell you what you do.

You live for the Lord Jesus.

You live on for Christ.

You live a righteous life.

It is the darkness that the light is made more obvious.

The more wicked world,

the more the faithful Christian will stand out.

And friend, it's time we stand out.

It's time we make a difference in the world

in which we're planted.

God uses one who's righteous,

but also God uses one who is a witness.

No one didn't try to hide the fact

that the difference in him was God.

He let that be known.

He spoke out about living right before the Lord.

And you know how I know that?

Because 2 Peter 2, verse 5

2 Peter 2:5

calls him a herald of righteousness.

Now, a herald is a person who carries

or proclaims important news.

And Noah was speaking of the Lord.

He was preaching about the Lord.

So don't think that Noah was some recluse whittler

that never engaged with anybody,

but spent 100 years of himself,

to himself building the boat

that God told him to build.

No, Noah honored God with his life.

And when people ask him

why he lived the way he did,

if people ask him

why he built a boat miles away from water,

he told them.

Actually, he was telling them

before they ask

because he is a herald of righteousness

as Scripture describes him.

There is a fella at Sam's Club these days

that is trying his best.

He stands beside the dog food

and he's trying to sell me a home warranty

every time I go in there.

He asked me if I'm a homeowner.

I said, I am.

He does his sales pitch.

I tell him I'm not interested.

I come back two weeks later.

He says, are you a homeowner?

What is it about me

that makes him think I'm losing my home?

I mean, what is that, you know?

But I want you to understand something

about this fella.

He is a herald for the home warranty.

I mean, he is.

He does not wait for you to ask him,

why do you loiter by the dog food?

He don't ask.

He meets you where you are.

And he tells you

the qualities and the timing.

If you'll do it today,

Sam's will pay for your first month,

but you got to fill out the form now.

Go to it now.

He's a herald of the home warranty.

He's dedicated to it.

I don't approach him.

He approaches me.

Noah was living it,

is what I'm trying to tell you.

Noah was sharing it.

He was telling people about it.

He told people

who made the difference in his life.

And my friend,

we ought to too.

We ought to be heralds of the gospel.

Sharing with others

the difference that Christ has made in our life.

Seek them out.

Pray for them.

Speak to them.

When God opens the door for you to do that,

God uses a witness.

Somebody who's just willing.

He'll use you.

He also uses one who is blameless.

Blamelessness speaks of how people took him.

Some people live right.

They talk right.

But you just don't trust them.

You can't quite put your finger on it.

But something just don't smell right.

It just seems like something's up.

That was not the case for Noah.

Noah lived out his faith.

He spoke of it.

And when Noah was standing with two other men

having a conversation

and Noah walked off,

those other two guys would look at each other

and say,

I think a lot of that man.

That man's a lot.

He's a man of God.

And when discussion came up

about why Noah was building

a cruise ship-sized boat

in the middle of the desert,

they didn't understand him.

They probably thought he was a little off.

Maybe way off.

But I'm telling you,

if he was blameless,

they thought the world of him.

He believed God

and people believed in him

and God uses people

with a reputation

that people can trust.

He'll use the blameless.

God also uses one who walks with God.

He uses the person who walks with God.

And Scripture says clearly

at the end of this passage,

Noah walked with God daily.

That means he talked with God.

That means he walked with God.

That means he lived for God.

Now, I want you to notice

the progressive buildup

in this description of Noah.

First, he was a blessed man.

We could spend the afternoon here.

If I were to ask you,

has God blessed your life?

Share today some way

that God has blessed your life.

If you were quick

and wasn't hungry,

you could stand up and speak

and talk about the blessings

of the Lord.

He was blessed.

He was a righteous man.

Not near as many as there should be

are righteous today.

God honors

and God uses

the righteous.

He was a blameless man.

Many want that.

They aim for that kind of goal,

but they few reach that,

that blamelessness.

He was a godly man.

He walked with God.

That term there,

Noah walked with God,

is something that is used

very rarely in the Old Testament.

It is spoken of about Enoch.

It is spoken of about Abraham.

It is spoken of about Isaac

and some godly kings.

And that's it.

And when you combine

all those characteristics

of being blessed

and being righteous

and being blameless

and walking with God,

I want you to understand

the impact

that that has upon your life.

For one,

you are spiritually alert.

He knew the judgment

of God was coming

because he walked with God.

Nobody else seemed

to have a clue apparently.

But he knew it was coming

because he walked with God.

He was spiritually alert.

Not only that,

but he was spiritually accurate.

He was aiming

in the right direction.

He was surrounded

by the ungodlessness

of the day

and yet he was blameless

and above reproach.

It wasn't that he was

a little bit better

than everybody else.

No, he was blameless

and above reproach.

That means that people

didn't say anything bad about him

and if they did say something about him,

somebody was going to straighten you out

if you said something.

That whole phrase

that Noah was blameless

and above reproach

just hangs over me.

What a testimony.

What a place to aim.

to be blameless

and above reproach.

Not only that,

but he was also

spiritually consistent.

He steadily walked with God.

Not only was he made stronger

by that,

but he impacted

other people's lives.

He was a herald

of godliness.

I mean,

as Noah was exposed

to the holiness of God

in his walk,

he became more aware

of the wickedness

around him.

And it's cyclical

the way this works

because the more aware

of the wickedness

around him,

the more he realized

the coming

of the judgment of God.

And the more he realized

the judgment of God

was coming,

the more he considered

the evil of the world.

And the more aware

of that that he was,

the closer he walked

with God.

And the closer

that he walked with God,

the more he was aware

of the judgment of God.

Out of the overflow

of that spiritual life,

he lived blamelessly

blamelessly before the Lord.

He lived,

he walked obediently

before the Lord.

And he spoke openly

about the Lord.

And what,

what may seem ironic

about all that,

I don't believe it is,

is the name Noah

means rest.

Debatably,

the busiest man

on the earth.

He had a big boat to build.

Yet his name

means rest.

That's what

a blameless walk

and talk

with God

will do for you.

In the midst of the busyness

and the chaos,

God will give you rest.

Hebrews 11 verse 7

Hebrews 11:7

says that he worked

with a reverent fear.

That means that he had

a reverence

and an obedience

to God

that motivated him

to let nothing

come in the way.

Nothing.

Not,

not his misunderstanding,

a flood.

Many believed

it hadn't even rained yet.

And here he is

preparing for a flood.

How do you wrap

your head around that?

He didn't let his

weariness get in the way.

He built a big old boat.

He didn't let his

weariness come in the way.

He didn't let the ridicule

come in the way.

I mean,

he was blameless

and right,

but people would say,

you know,

he's blameless

and he's right,

but is he all right?

What's he doing?

Not the stress

of the job

ahead of him.

Did you realize

that once he

got that thing built,

what was in front

of him?

For one,

he was going to be

on a boat

with his family

for a year,

you know?

But besides that,

he was a cruise

ship manager

for thousands

of animals.

Nothing

came in the way

of him being

used by God.

And I'll tell you,

in a day of wickedness,

God uses

the person

that lives out

God's purposes

for his or her life.

The person

that's blessed

by God.

The person

who's willing

to be a blessing

for the Lord.

God wants people

who live

a consecrated life,

a solid witness

for the Lord,

a reputation

without blame,

that have a solid

daily walk

with God.

God's

God's

God's

God's

love.

That's why

he'll use you today.

May there not

be any

hindrances

in our life

from being

everything

that God

would have us

to be,

from doing

everything

that God

would have us

to do,

than accomplishing

all

that God

has set forth

for us.

May nothing

come in the way

of that.

And so I ask

today,

what is it

in your life

today

that serves

as a hindrance

from you being

everything that God

would have you

to be?

I'm not

talking about

10 years

ago.

I'm not

talking about

20 years

ago.

I'm not

talking about

two weeks

ago.

Let's deal

with today.

What is it

today

that keeps

you from being

everything that God

would have you

to be?

for some

of you,

it may be

that although

you have a

knowledge of

the Lord,

an awareness

of Him,

the reality

is when you

look at your

life,

you've never

entered into

a relationship

with Christ.

You've never

surrendered your

life to follow

Him.

You've never

confessed your

sins before Him.

You've never

asked Him to

forgive you and

to come into

your life and

change you.

You've never

entered into

a relationship,

never been

saved.

And if that's

the case in

your life,

I've got news

for you.

Today's the

day of salvation.

He'll meet

you where you

are and change

you forever.

And maybe you

have done that,

but the reality

is there's areas

of your life that

are not pleasing

to God.

You've not been

obedient about God.

Maybe you've

done that privately

and never made

it public.

Jesus, by His

example and by

His commission,

tells us that

our faith ought

to be made

public.

We need to

let that be

known.

Or maybe you

have all that

down, but you

don't have

everything down.

And there's

some things you

need to put

down at the

altar and leave

them today so

that you can be

used of God,

not for great,

mighty, earth-shaking,

life, world-changing,

but just be ready

to do what God

wants to do in

your life.

Let nothing come

in the way of

what God wants

to do in you.

May we honor God

with everything that

we are.

With every head

bowed,

with every

eye closed.

God wants to

love.

I don't know how

God speaks to

you today, but I

know you'll never

be happy unless

you are obedient

to Him.

And so I would

encourage you to

just simply be

obedient to God.

If you've never

given your heart and

life to the Lord,

I'd love to guide

you in that

process.

If you've never

been baptized as

a believer, but

you've got a

personal relationship

with Him privately

and never made

that public, you

come.

We'd love to

guide you in

that.

Maybe God's

drawing you to

this church.

This is where

God would have

you to go.

I encourage you

to join us.

You invest in

us, we invest

in you, we grow

together.

We get it done

for the kingdom's

sake.

Or maybe you just

got something in

your life that's

gnawing on you

today and the

Holy Spirit is

eating your lunch.

Whether it's in

the pew where you

are or whether it's

at this altar, it

don't make any

difference.

Let's just get

rid of it.

Let's just take

care of it today.

Let's make a

commitment to not

let anything in our

life be a hindrance,

to be everything that

God would have us

to be.

We're not looking

for the grandiose,

we're just looking

for obedience.

Just do whatever

it takes to be

everything that God

would have us to be.

Lord Jesus, I love

you and I thank you

for the life of

Noah.

How inspiring and

how encouraging it

is to me to know

that you meet us

where we are, you

make us what we

need to be, and you

guide us to be

everything that you

have us to be, and

you use us for your

purposes.

God, today, speak to

our hearts and lives

and give us the

willingness and the

fortitude and the

obedience to do

exactly what you

would tell us to do.

Nothing more and

nothing less.

Lead us right now

during this time, I

pray.

In Jesus' name, amen.