Subject – NOAH BELIEVED GOD!
Text – Genesis 6:8; Ephesians 2:8 (read vv. 5-8)
“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.”
“8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” Genesis 6:5-8 (KJV)
INTRODUCTION –
We understand that man’s sin had reached to a level that made GOD sorry that He had even made man. We understand that GOD decided to destroy man because of his wickedness. We understand that GOD chose to have the world flooded out. Try to imagine how great the wickedness of mankind must have been throughout the whole world that GOD didn’t destroy a family, a village, a city, or even a continent; GOD destroyed the whole entire world!
We understand that after the flood, the world was populated through Noah and his family. We understand that Noah found favor with GOD. We understand that Noah was given strict instructions on what to do. We understand that NOAH BELIEVED GOD! (Expound).
POINTS –
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- “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” (v.8) – But in the midst of all the sinful people in the world, Noah found favor in the sight of GOD. Noah lived such a life that GOD was pleased with how he lived. It is no question in our minds that Noah believed in GOD; but what is even more important is that NOAH BELIEVED GOD (expound).
- “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8 (NIV) – Faith and Belief can be used interchangeably in this context (don’t take my word for it, check it out for yourself). I believe a lot of people misunderstand this verse. I believe that a lot of people think that GOD saves people simply because HE is Sovereign and He chooses to show favor to whomever HE chooses. We understand that GOD can do that, but that is not what HE says HE does. “Through Faith” is a very important statement because it lets us know the condition by which GOD “Chose” to extend HIS favor (expound).
CONCLUSION –
Beloved, we cannot emphasize enough that NOAH BELIEVED GOD! Many of us need to understand that believing in God is not enough! What did I just say? I said: “BELIEVING IN GOD IS NOT ENOUGH! Pharaoh believed in God. Judas believed in God. Pilate believed in God. Even Satan and his followers believe in God.
Believing in God is part one of a person’s commitment to Jesus; part one “A” is BELIEVING GOD!” There are many people who proclaim their belief in God, but when it comes to obeying what the Lord says, they must not believe Him because THEY DON’T DO IT! Jesus says if we love Him we’ll keep His commandments. In other words, if we Believe in Him we’ll Believe Him and do what He says (expound).
Look at what it says about Noah in the 22nd verse of Genesis 6:
“Noah did everything just as God commanded him.”
Noah not only believed in GOD, but he also believed God. No
ah was 500 years old when the Bible mentions him beginning to work on the Ark. It took Noah about 100 years to build the Ark, so Noah was around 600 years old when he finished the Ark and the flood came. We can only imagine the type of ridicule Noah and his family had to endure as he spent those years building and preparing the Ark (expound).
Many of us make all types of excuses, justifications, rationalizations, procrastinations, and whatever when it comes to doing what God says, but Noah showed that he not only believed in GOD, but he also believed GOD because even though what he was doing made no sense to the people who were watching him, he endured whatever forms of ridicules they threw at him (expound and conclude).