Noah faced more than one flood

The following are excerpts of a sermon given recently at Westmoreland Community Church by pastor Ron Furgerson:

Noah found grace through a faith that worked. Noah wasn”t a member of the Annapolis Yacht Club and never attended the Capital Expo Boat Show. He had no subscription to Wooden Boat magazine. Yet God chose him to build the largest wooden boat ever.

There are few better known biblical stories than that of Noah. He is known for Noah”s flood. Actually, Noah was associated with two floods, one of which caused the other. The first was a flood of evil.

The Bible records that as people increased on the Earth, so did sin. In fact, it got to the point where “every inclination of the thoughts of the hearts of men was only evil all the time.” We”re not talking about a little white lie every now and then or “liberating” a government pen from the office. We”re talking deep down evil, bad to the bone — all the people, all the thoughts of their hearts, all the time — evil, corrupt, depraved and violent, especially violent. Except, that is, for Noah. Noah dared to be different and “walked with God.” He had a relationship with God and found grace, or favor, in God”s eyes because he had faith in what God revealed to him about himself and his plans.

God grieved and was pained by the evil on the Earth. The people were spiritually dead already, so God determined to destroy all life on the Earth except for Noah and his family and pairs of all the animals. Although Noah had never witnessed rain, much less a flood, he was obedient when God commissioned him to build an ark. We”re talking major construction here under adverse conditions, at least by today”s standards. No Home Depot, and heaven knows, no Lowe”s. No electric table saw. No automatic nail gun. No, we”re talking tons of sweat equity invested over about 120 years. Noah was no ordinary man. When all around him went their own way, Noah walked with God, worked with God and waited on God.

What is walking with God? Walking with God is a metaphor or spiritual picture of living a life that is aligned with God and his purposes and values. It is being right with God. To walk with God meant that Noah had to be alert to and listen to God. We don”t know exactly how God communicated with Noah. We do know that Noah got the message and was obedient.

The Bible says that “Noah did everything just as God commanded.” He worked with God — God designed and provided while Noah did what it was possible for him to do. Noah felled the trees, built the ark to specs, applied the pitch and attended to the details. God delivered the animals, closed the door to the ark and brought on the water. He unleashed the Earth’s subterranean reservoirs from below and the floodgates from the heavens above. Noah worked with God in faithful obedience.

And Noah waited on God. There was a lot of waiting. Years of waiting during construction, waiting on board for over a year for the rain to stop and the flood waters to recede, waiting for the raven and doves to return, and waiting for God to say that they could leave the ark. Lots of waiting. And waiting is not easy. We want things when we want them — instant gratification. But spiritual maturity means learning how to wait on God and His timing.

After the flood, Noah built an altar and worshipped God. Then, God established an unconditional covenant with Noah. Never again would He destroy all life by water, and He set the rainbow as a sign of remembrance.

The Noah narrative is about much more than floods of evil and water. It teaches us about God and His character. Through Noah, we learn that God is holy and just and therefore cannot tolerate sin. He is patient, but eventually sin will be judged and punished. We find that God is merciful. Some are saved and His desire is that all come to repentance and receive salvation. And, God is powerful. He controls the forces of nature and can act in supernatural ways.

God still calls on and uses people of faith to accomplish His purposes. And, He will not ask you to do more than He is willing to help you accomplish. What ark is God asking you to build? Are you going to get on board with what God has planned for you? Or, are you going to see how long you can tread water?