Noah and the Ark

- Good morning, Springhouse,

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because when you're not alive in Christ Jesus,

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Yes?

But we are alive in Christ.

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And God is always saving the very best for right now.

Is that true?

We are continuing the journey of looking

at the greatest stories ever told.

And I got the privilege of sitting through this

during the first gathering,

and get ready to leave with a heart change.

Are you ready?

Joshua McCloud's gonna come share with us.

Welcome, Josh.

- I love you, thank you.

It's pretty easy to preach when you get set up like that.

If you haven't met with God,

I probably won't be able to help you at all.

Jonathan and worship team does so good every single week.

Yeah, come on.

You know, this year we started out with some doozy messages.

These greatest stories ever told started with Adam and Eve

talking about the fall.

And then Pastor Ronnie shared last week about Cain and Abel.

And today I'm talking about Noah and a catastrophic flood

that covered the whole world.

So it seems like that we missed maybe the mark

of the feel-good sermons,

but we may be landing in the faith-good sermons.

And I'm talking today about Noah, who is a man of faith.

And I pray that I will be faithful in this message.

You know, let me say just a couple of things about Noah

even before I start.

Noah, he had certain faith.

A hundred percent bet your life on God kind of faith.

Noah followed God's instructions

like his life depended on it, and incidentally it did.

And Noah's faith helped rescue countless people.

So let's compare our faith this morning

to the faith of Noah.

If you're able to stand,

I'd like to read this passage of Scripture.

And let's see if we can read this passage of Scripture

with Kevin level gusto.

So faith is the assurance of things hoped for,

the evidence of things not seen.

For by it the people of old received their commendation.

By faith we understand that the universe was created

by the word of God so that what is seen

was not made out of things that are visible.

By faith Abel offered to God

a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain,

through which he was commended as righteous,

God commending him by accepting his gifts.

And then he moved the clicker.

(audience laughing)

I guess that's my job.

(audience laughing)

And through his faith, though he died,

he still speaks.

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death

and he was not found because God had taken him.

For he was commended as having pleased God

and without faith it is impossible to please him

for whoever would draw near to God must believe

that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

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 by faith.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

You can tell who came from some Anglican background

or something like that when you say,

this is the word of the Lord and you see what happens.

You may please be seated.

Now I'm sure that all of us have heard the story of Noah.

God was gonna destroy the world because of wickedness,

but he had grace upon Noah and his family and saved mankind

and all the animal kinds in a big boat.

So when you're looking at the story of Noah,

I guess the first question that we should ask is,

did this really happen?

Was there really a Noah?

Was there really a boat?

Was there really a flood?

I was looking on YouTube and I watched this debate

between Ken Ham, who's a creation scientist

and Bill Nye the Science Guy, who's a scientist.

And I listened to Ken Ham's arguments and I was like,

wow, it really happened.

This is incredible.

And then I listened to Bill Nye the Science Guy

and I was like, wow, wait, maybe it didn't happen.

What are we gonna do?

And so, you know, there's some people out here today

that I'm sure that you think that the story

of Noah totally happened.

And then there's some people out here

that I'm sure that you think

that it was just a biblical allegory.

So in light of that,

I should probably tell you right up front,

and I may be in the minority,

but I absolutely believe the story of Noah.

I believe that it actually happened.

I believe that there was a boat and an ark and a flood

and animals on the boat,

and that it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, I believe it.

And so some of you might dismiss my sermon today

because I believe in that story of Noah.

But while I'm at it, I might as well tell you

some other crazy things that I believe.

See, I believe that we are living on a big circle

that moves at a thousand miles per hour,

but it feels flat.

And I also believe that there's a huge exploding ball

of fire out in the sky that keeps our world alive.

And there are nuclear explosions happening

in this big ball of fire continuously,

but it never burns up.

I also believe that if this ball of fire

was 5% farther away, we would all freeze.

And if it was 5% closer, we would all melt.

So honestly, believing in a catastrophic flood

that covered the entire world,

when 70% of the world is water,

and every major culture in the ancient world

talks about a major flood,

I don't have a problem believing the story of Noah.

But if we're honest, I think the problem that we have

with the story of Noah is not the flood.

I think the problem we have with the story of Noah

is who caused the flood.

See, we have a problem believing anything about God

that doesn't align with our view

of what we think God should do.

The story of Noah reminds us that God can do anything

that he wants to with his world,

and he doesn't have to ask our permission.

If you didn't know that the world is God's sandbox,

not yours.

My son John says, "Dad, you gotta warn people

"to put on some boots when you preach

"'cause sometimes you step on toes."

Sorry, John.

The story of Noah is very challenging to a modern world

because we only want a God who ever brings blessing

and never brings judgment.

We want a faith in God that doesn't require

any fear of God.

I was listening to a sermon recently by Adrian Rogers.

Adrian Rogers was a great man of God,

he was a great speaker.

And he said that the mark of a society on its last legs

is when there is no fear of God.

He said in his sermon, many of us talk about faith,

and we talk about God's kindness and his grace and his mercy.

But the fear of God includes God's power,

his holiness and his justice.

In the passage that we read earlier,

or maybe I read depending on whether or not

I've advanced the slide,

it says that Noah in reverent fear constructed an ark

for the saving of his household.

Adrian Rogers went on to say in that sermon

that the fear of God is a core foundation of faith.

Now I know that reverent fear of God is very different

than craven fear of God.

And God doesn't want us to live in any fear

because he has already demonstrated on the cross

that he loves us entirely.

But I think sometimes in the church,

we've been running away so far from the craven fear of God

that we've completely left out the reverent fear of God.

See now, a human fears something that they can't control.

We can't control God.

It is only right and good for us to fear God

because he is large and in charge, and we are not.

There's a passage from C.S. Lewis's

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,

where Lucy asked a question about Aslan,

who is a type of Christ.

And she says, "Well, is he safe?"

And Mr. Beaver says to Lucy, he says, "Safe?

"Who said anything about being safe?

"Of course he isn't safe, but he's good."

So I wanna ask you, when you compare your faith

to the faith of Noah,

is your faith in God anchored in a reverent fear of God,

or are you taking him lightly?

Do you base your beliefs on your thoughts,

or do you base your beliefs on his word?

Noah was 500 years old when he started building the ark.

Now I was working on a construction project yesterday,

and I'm 47 years old,

and I have like 47-year-old arthritis.

So I woke up this morning feeling like,

oh, can't believe that 500-year-old dude

worked on an ark for 100 years.

I can't even imagine what 500-year-old arthritis feels like.

(audience laughing)

And so Noah came 10 generations after Adam and Eve.

So this is roughly 1,000 years after Cain killed Abel.

And mankind had multiplied all over the earth.

And there was some crazy stuff going on.

There were these things called the Nephilim.

I'm gonna tell you right now,

I have no idea about the Nephilim.

But apparently somebody over here does.

You could go check there.

Now, the reason why I don't know a lot about the Nephilim

is the Bible doesn't say a lot about the Nephilim.

But it does say a lot about Noah.

So I can preach on that pretty easy.

I do, however, know that there were complex cities

and civilizations.

Genesis 4 says that there were farmers and ranchers

and artisans that were making music and craftsmen

that worked in bronze and iron.

But the thing is, after Cain and Abel,

the world kept getting darker and darker and darker.

The Scripture says that God rescued the animals,

two of each kind, so that he could preserve life.

That word kindness is one of my favorite words,

just in general.

Because the word kindness is the same

that we get this idea of each by their kind.

So there were two giraffes and they were the same kind.

There were two elephants and they were the same kind.

Let me tell you something.

If you're in this building, you're humankind.

There is no difference between you and somebody else.

The idea of racism or thinking you're better

than someone else is just craziness.

We're the same kind.

So when I show someone kindness, I represent to them

that they are a beautiful person made in the image of God.

See, in the days of Noah, there were lots of kinds,

but there was no kindness.

It says in Genesis 6, verse 5,

Genesis 6:5

"The Lord saw that the wickedness of man

"was great in the earth,

"and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart

"was only evil continually.

"And the Lord regretted that he made man on earth

"and it grieved him to his heart."

Now this is an incredible passage of Scripture.

Did you know that you, as a human, can break God's heart?

God is not indifferent to the man that he created.

The actions of man can grieve the heart of God.

There's a New Testament passage that says,

"Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God

"by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and slimmer

"and clamor be put away from you, along with all malice."

God was grieved, not because he created a beautiful world,

not because he created humankind,

but he was grieved because man chose to reject him.

Now we know from several passages of Scripture

that God does not delight in wiping people out,

even wicked people.

In Ezekiel 33, 11, it says,

"Say to them, 'As I live,' declares the Lord God,

"I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked,

"but that the wicked would turn from his way and live,

"turn back, turn back from your evil ways,

"for why will you die, O house of Israel?"

1 Timothy 2, 3 through 4 says,

"This is good, and it is pleasing

"in the sight of God our Savior,

"who desires all people to be saved

"and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

Finally, in 2 Peter 3, 9, it says,

"The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise,

"as some count slowness, but is patient towards you,

"not wishing that any should perish,

"but that all should reach repentance."

So we know that God does not delight in wiping people out,

but at the same time, we see in the sixth chapter

of the Bible, in Genesis 6,

that sometimes God will make a point,

and he has a point where he says, "Enough,"

and he wraps things up.

I mean, think about this, we're still reading about Noah

and learning about Noah and talking about this now,

thousands and thousands of years later.

God holds people accountable for want and sinfulness

and sometimes he takes drastic measures

to protect his future plans.

In Luke 17, Jesus compares the day before the flood

to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

And Sodom and Gomorrah, throughout the Bible,

are cities that are described as places

with pride and arrogance, greed and neglect for the poor,

sexual immorality, abuse of power, and violence.

Now, did you hear what I just said?

Before the flood, what did society look like?

Pride and arrogance, greed, neglect for the poor,

sexual immorality, abuse of power, and violence.

The Sodom and Gomorrah are all throughout the Bible,

but those descriptions come from Ezekiel 16

and Genesis 19 and Jude 1.

But even in Sodom and Gomorrah,

God wasn't quick to destroy them.

In fact, he told Abraham that if there were 10 righteous

people in the two cities combined,

that he would not destroy the city.

So can you imagine an entire world

without 10 righteous people?

It's pretty incredible.

Noah and his family were eight people on the boat.

We learn from 2 Peter 2, 5 that while Noah was building

the ark, he was preaching.

God was giving people the chance to repent

by witnessing both the words and the works

that were accomplished by Noah and his family.

I've read through this book several times.

I hope you've read through this book several times.

I've never seen in this book a place where God forces people

to repent and turn for him.

That's another thing we don't like about God.

See, we don't like that God allows things to play out

and he allows people to do wicked things

and allows wicked things to happen.

We get this idea in our modern culture

that if we just imagine a better future,

that the things are gonna get better.

Like this sentiment is encapsulated perfectly in the song,

"Imagine" by John Lennon.

And philosophers throughout history

have been singing that song.

They started things like the Renaissance

and the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening

and modernism and now postmodernism.

And I'm not sure if John Lennon was a history buff or not,

but he may have forgotten that Cain killed Abel.

And I don't know if you're a history buff or not,

but you may have forgotten that within 100 years,

that within the past 100 years,

Hitler and Stalin were killing millions of people

on this same planet 100 years ago.

One of the things that we forget about sin

is that sin will always grow unless it's stopped.

There is no harmless sin.

Even a white lie leads to darkness and death.

We don't take sin seriously.

Sin is real.

It's not a philosophy.

It's a deadly growing cancer.

I've seen firsthand the effects of sin

in places like Darfur, Sudan, and in the Kibera slums,

and in the Khaelishe slums,

and in Haiti after an earthquake.

And we wanna ask God, "Where are you?"

Now, I can't give you the answers for God

because I'm not God.

But I do know something about this word.

There's not a place in this word

where the devastation and sin and horror

of the atrocities and the earthquakes and the sickness

and all of the things in this world,

they're all in this book.

So God didn't just replace all those things.

You know what he did?

He joined in.

Jesus came and joined the suffering.

I can't tell you that I understand everything that God does

because God is eternal and I am temporary.

Or maybe God says I'm eternal.

In Him.

I know that God allows what He hates

to accomplish what He loves.

From the creation of the world,

God had a plan for the redeemer

of this broken, sin-sick, horrible world.

We learned last week that in Revelation it says,

"The Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the earth."

God always had a plan to send a redeemer.

But in the days of Noah, it was the worst case scenario

because there wasn't even anyone left to redeem but God.

Genesis 6-8 says,

"But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord."

Now I know we've all had hard times and challenges

and sin and problems.

Noah's hard time was that the entire world

was going bonkers and everyone only thought

of evil continually.

But it doesn't matter how dark this world gets,

there is hope and God's favor is available

for people who turn to God.

I'm fascinated with this word favor.

I love in the Bible, you can look up like the first time

that a word is used in the Bible.

The first time the word Spirit of God is used in the Bible

is with Bezalel, a construction superintendent

who built the tabernacle for God.

And it says Bezalel was filled with the Spirit of God

and wisdom and understanding and knowledge

and craftsmanship.

And we should pay attention to that.

Like the first time the word filled with the Spirit,

it didn't just come like this, it wasn't just a feeling

but it was a creative power, excellence, wisdom,

understanding, knowledge.

The first time that Noah is mentioned

or the first time that favor is mentioned is with Noah.

The word favor means grace.

And the word grace means to bend and stoop in kindness

and deal mercifully.

If God didn't have grace on Noah,

then none of us would be here today.

God knew that there were going to be more people than Noah

that would want to get in the ark

and remember their creator.

The gospel message is a message of grace.

I've had the luxury of traveling in more than 30 countries

and I have deep dive studied in other religions

because I wanted to know if they were true.

But maybe they're true.

How do I know?

I want to test this.

And I saw this common theme in every religion.

And some people put this same theme on Christianity,

but it's not in Christianity.

And the theme is this, to get to God, you need to do X

and then they fill in X.

You might need to give more, you might need to give less.

You know, in Islam, you've got these five pillars.

You got to do this and this and this and this.

In Hinduism, you got to withdraw from this and this and this.

In modernism, you need to, whatever you do,

you need to believe in nothing.

But in Christianity, God said,

"There's a chasm between us because of separation

and there's nothing you can do."

Sit in that for a second.

There is a chasm, there is sin and death and brokenness,

and there is nothing you can do.

And so Jesus invented grace.

Grace is when he comes down and lifts you out of a flood

or a fire or a terrible circumstance,

and he gives you eternity with him because of his grace.

Genesis 6 with the Noah story

is the first message of grace in the Bible.

Now here's something interesting about Noah.

How did Noah respond to grace?

It's curious to me that Noah responded,

he had reverent fear for God,

and then he received grace, and so he went to work.

So God gave Noah grace, and then he gave him work.

Now the moment that I talk about work in a church,

we're in trouble because, no, it's not work,

there's no works-based salvation

and there's grace-based salvation.

There's a fantastic passage that talks about this subject.

Ephesians 2, eight and nine.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith,

"and it is not your own doing, it is the gift of God,

"not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."

Okay, if you have not read that verse,

it just validates what I said about Christianity.

You can do it, it's not about you.

It's about what Jesus did.

You can either accept it or reject it, but you can't do it.

But have you ever read the next verse?

The very next verse says,

"For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus

"for good works, which God prepared beforehand

"that we should walk in them."

A lot of us are focused on the grace of God,

but we're not focused on any work, right?

Noah had a family that needed saved.

When God gave Noah grace, he also gave him an assignment.

I don't wanna get sidetracked,

this is a whole sermon on itself,

but if you have grace, you have work to do.

It doesn't mean, the grace of God does not mean

that you are allowed to sit on your hands

and watch a lost and broken world get lost and die.

If you have received the grace of God,

you are assigned to a rescue mission.

With no fear of God in our modern culture,

we don't feel the need to rescue anyone.

Nobody wants to build a boat

because nobody believes that there will be a flood.

If we're honest, we are more concerned

with retirement than rescue.

We are more about prosperity than people.

We care more about a bonus

than we care about building a boat.

How many of us spent the majority of last week

on a rescue mission?

How many of us are building a boat for our families

and our coworkers and our communities

and our neighbor?

How many of us believe in kindness?

Or are we stuck in pride and power and sexual immorality?

Noah feared God.

Noah got to work.

The boat could have fit a lot more people.

The Bible says that the ark was bigger than a stadium.

It was bigger than a football field.

You can fit a lot of people in there.

I've been to the Titans game.

It was a stadium high.

There were three decks.

There were animals.

There was food.

And God miraculously called animals.

And there are so many symbols in the book of Noah.

I could talk about so many different things.

Why did Noah have to wait in the boat seven days

before it started to rain?

Why did it rain for 40 days and 40 nights?

Why was there only one door in the ark?

Why did God himself shut the door?

Why did Noah send out a raven and then he sent out a dove?

Why did the dove go out three times

and why did the dove come back with an olive branch?

There's so much story.

There's so much symbolism in the story of Noah.

I could be here all day.

But God told me to talk about faith.

If you have faith in God, you have a reverend fear of God.

If you have faith in God, you are a rescuer automatically.

But here's the deal.

Satan is a master of attacking your faith.

You try putting a message like this together,

he's attacking my faith.

You try reading the word of God

and sharing with your coworker,

he's going to be attacking your faith.

And here are three questions that are faith builders

because they are faith challengers.

Now Satan is allowed to tempt,

but he's not allowed to win if you put your faith in God.

Satan tempted Eve.

Did God really say?

Did God really say?

And now we read this, we're modernists,

we read this Bible and we said, "Did God really do that?

Did God really do that?"

I mean, come on.

Like they didn't even have the internet.

Did God, will God really do that again?

It sound familiar?

In the chapter, in the script for passage we read,

it says, "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for,

the conviction of things not seen."

I wanna say something about faith.

Faith means conviction.

Conviction means you actually believe it.

It's evidence, it's proof.

Verse six says, "And without faith,

it is impossible to please Him,

for whoever would draw near to Him,

whoever would draw near to God,

must believe that He exists

and that He rewards those who seek Him."

When the Bible talks about faith,

it's talking about a thing in which there is no doubting.

Faith is the point at which your doubts are removed

and you trust in God that He says who He says He is,

that He is who He says He is.

You know, even in James it says,

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God

who gives to all men liberally without reproach,

and it will be given to him."

But then it says, "But let him ask in faith,"

and then what do the next words say?

"With no doubting."

See, it defines what faith is.

Now I can have a belief

that maybe the chiefs will win the Super Bowl.

But I can't tell you I have faith in that.

I'm not gonna bet my life on that.

But when you're dealing with God,

you don't want belief, you want faith.

You want faith that is the kind of faith

that puts you in action.

Faith does not deal in feelings or philosophy.

Faith deals in certainty.

Now it is so counter-cultural

to believe in anything with certainty these days.

Probably most of you are like, "We don't like you, Josh.

What are you talking about?

You can't be certain about anything.

Didn't you wake up today in a modern society?"

You go into your job, or you go into university,

and you talk about absolute truth and see what happens.

The only truth believed in society with the philosophers

and the teachers of our day

is that there is no absolute truth.

Now I'm gonna give you a little hack, okay?

This is important, pay attention.

If you ever get in a conversation with somebody that says,

"There is absolutely no truth.

You can't say that there's absolute truth."

Ask them, "Are you absolutely sure about that?"

See, the argument kind of breaks down pretty quick.

Satan challenged Eve's faith in the garden,

and he challenges our faith today.

Did God actually say?

Pastor Ronnie shared some questions

where he was challenged in the scripture

about the goodness of God and His Word.

And he had a faith struggle.

And he said in his faith struggle,

he walked away from God for five years

because he read something in the Word of God,

and he couldn't figure it out.

I have also had many a faith struggle.

Let me tell you some of the stuff

that gave me a faith struggle.

Is sin really that bad?

Like really eternal?

Like you're gonna send people to hell because of sin?

Really?

Is there really heaven and hell?

Did God really wipe out the world with a great flood?

Did God really completely obliterate the Canaanites?

Does God, does really following other gods than Jesus

really keep people from heaven?

Do continual habits of immorality, pride, anger, and greed

really keep people from heaven?

See, I wrestle with these things.

I don't know if anybody else out there

ever asked the question of God,

and they're like, "I don't like this,

and I'm reading something,

and you tell me that this book defines me,

but I wanna put you on my own terms."

At our church, we read through the Bible in a year.

One of the best ways to challenge your faith

is to read the Bible.

I often put a little note in my Bible studies that say,

"What the heck?"

If you've never had a what the heck moment with God,

either you don't take God seriously,

or His Word seriously, or yourself seriously.

It's not like you're not gonna be able to read the Bible

it's not okay to not wrestle with God in this day and age.

And it is critically important to teach your children

that wrestling with God is okay.

I mean, they're gonna go out,

and they're going to be made fun of

for anything that looks like faith.

Okay, Noah was mocked his whole life.

But here's the thing,

I don't think you're ever gonna have a satisfactory answer

to the challenge of your faith until you meet with Jesus.

I can't logic my way into meeting with God,

but when I meet with God,

I don't have any problems anymore.

When I start conversations now with questions like these,

I always start them with,

"Jesus, I'm gonna look at the cross first.

"I see this pain, I see this horror, I see this thing,

"but I know that you love the world enough

"to die on a cross for my sin

"and the sin of everybody in this world.

"I'm having a hard time with this passage, Jesus.

"What the heck?"

Sometimes God lets me sit for a while, okay?

Sometimes he's not gonna answer me for like a year.

But I can tell you that I have never had a question

about God that God hasn't met with me about.

Where did Noah get his faith with God?

Where did this come from?

This is one of my favorite verses about Noah.

"Noah walked with God."

You know how Noah built his faith

and overcame the attacks of the enemy?

He walks with God.

God will take you seriously if you take God seriously,

and he will not take you seriously

if you do not take him seriously.

If you aren't sure about God, start walking with God.

I think if Noah was alive in our day,

he would look around at our culture,

he would say, "What the heck?

"God, do I need to start building another boat?"

And I think God would say, "I already built one,

"and it's called the church."

If you came in here today, you may not know it,

but you stepped into an ark.

You may not know it, but everybody sitting around you

that has faith is a rescuer,

and they care deeply about your soul,

and they want you to spend eternity with them in heaven.

Every person in this room is on a Jesus rescue mission.

Sin wants to destroy you,

just like it wanted to destroy Eve and Adam.

Sin wanted to destroy Cain,

and God wants you to be rescued by his grace.

Noah stood out like a sore thumb.

He was mocked by everyone.

And if you're gonna walk in faith,

you better not be seeking popularity.

It's not gonna happen, but you can build a boat

where your friends and your family in this world

will find Jesus.

But if you care more about retirement and relationship,

and you care more about profit than people,

then the lost and dying world will stay exactly like it is.

Jesus said, he was teaching, and he talked about a lady

that was a widow that came before God,

and she was just wearing them out,

like, "Give me justice, give me justice, give me justice."

And Jesus said, "I'll answer a person like that."

But then he said, "Nevertheless, when I return,

"will I find faith on the earth?"

I pray that Springhouse Church

is not a church that cares more about retirement

than relationship.

We are on a rescue mission, people.

And listen, if you're lost, get on the boat.

His name is Jesus.

This church is about building up this place for Jesus.

Now, if you walk with God like Noah,

you get some very specific instructions.

When you read the account of Noah,

he told him exactly how to build a boat, right?

Noah didn't go off on a wing like, "You know what?

"I think I'm gonna put this timber over here."

And this was not artistic enough,

so I'm gonna put a little flourish right here.

No, Noah's like, "Wait, so let's get this straight, God.

"So you're going to wipe out the entire world,

"and these are the instructions for this ark.

"Yeah, I'm gonna do exactly what's in this book."

You know?

Noah followed the instructions.

Have you ever read the book?

Do you know the instructions?

Are you basing your life and your history

on somebody else's interpretation of the instructions?

Look, I mean, look,

I put some stuff together with instructions,

and I do not wanna rely on somebody else telling me

what the instructions say.

That will be crazy.

Noah feared God, he reverently walked with God,

and he obeyed God's Word like his life depended on it.

Perhaps the most destructive movement in Christianity today

is this tendency to think that personal Bible study

is somewhat optional.

Take yourself seriously, please.

Noah knew that building the ark according to God's plan

was critical for being able to rescue his family.

Do we think that we're gonna be able to rescue our family

and ignore the instructions?

Some of us are just watching TV.

You know, that's where all my happiness is gonna be found.

The Word of God says that in the presence of God

is the fullness of joy.

Our worship team, I don't know where you are,

but you better come get me off this stage.

(congregation cheering)

Did God really say?

Did God really do?

Will God really do this again?

Where is your faith?

How does your faith compare to Noah's faith?

I'll tell you why I believe in the story of Noah,

because Jesus did.

I'll tell you why I believe in heaven and hell,

because Jesus preached about it.

I'll tell you why I believe in salvation based on grace,

because I'm a vile sinner.

And God have mercy on my soul.

I'll tell you why the church of God

is full of everyone who believes the same thing.

You don't have judgment in the house of the Lord.

You have a bunch of people like that.

I'm glad I'm on a boat,

and I want everybody else on the boat.

The Bible says that if you are in Christ,

that you have salvation.

If Christ is in you, you will live in eternity with God.

If you were on the boat, you were rescued.

And if you're in Christ, you will be rescued.

(gentle music)

It only takes grace.

You don't have to do anything but repent.

Say, God, I need you.

We're going to open this altar space.

And if you've never wrestled with God,

I want you to come down and wrestle with God and pray,

and repent and ask God to give you faith.

Some of us like me, we wrestle with God every day,

and God's like, "Quit wrestling and start resting."

You might need to come down and rest in God.

If you're living life without a church family,

and you don't have a boat that you're building,

this is your church family.

You're here for a reason.

Come and get in the boat.

We need another hammer.

If your life has not been a rescue mission,

and you have cared more about your prosperity than people,

surrender, Elvin.

Come down here and surrender to follow Christ,

and to use every bit of your heart, mind, soul, and strength

for the worship of God and the rescue of man.

If you need healing or deliverance, freedom,

come down here and receive me.

If I could get the prayer team

and the worshipers to come down, meet with God today.

We live in a world that it's getting darker and darker

and darker, and Jesus only has perfect light.

If you have never experienced light,

you can experience it at the cross.

Don't leave today without getting on the boat.

In Jesus' name, amen.

[music fades out]

[music fades out]