04/18/10 “Living Like A Giant” Series – Part 1
Living Like a Giant – A Faith Building Series – Part 1
4 18 10 HT PM
Hebrews 12:1-3 MSG
Tonight we kick off a faith building series – “ Living Like a Giant” over the next few weeks we will look at some of the Giants of Faith and how our life can be strengthened by their life. We will uncover the principles that guided them to Supernatural outcomes seeking to strengthen our faith through their faith.
Hebrews 12:1 MSG
Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins.
Hebrews 12:2
Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.
Hebrews 12:3
When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!
Tonight we enter the stadium of faith – if you will look around you in the supernatural you will see various faces and names of old whose faith proved to be exemplarily and whose life reached the extraordinary!
The life of Noah –
Hebrews 11:7 NKJV
By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
Our life tonight –
2 Chronicles 16:9a MSG
God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him.
God is looking for people who are committed to Him – He is looking for people whose faith can be a catalyst for His power to be revealed through.
Back to Noah
Genesis 6:5-13: Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth” (NKJV, emphasis mine).
Quick observations about Noah
• In the midst of the violence, he was just.
• In the midst of the corruption, he was blameless.
• In the midst of the wickedness, he walked with God.
As God looked over the whole earth, there was one guy who was not conforming to the culture. There was one guy who walked with God.
2 Chronicles 16:9 “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong to those whose heart is loyal to him.”
As I look at Noah’s life, three qualities, three values, three character traits stand out to me as to the reason the Bible is able to say what is said about Noah: his Faith, his Obedience and his Inner Character.
The encouragement I have for us is this: God will walk with those of Noah-like Faith, and God will walk with those of Noah-like Obedience, and God will walk with those of Noah-like Character. We can still walk with God no matter what is going on in the culture around us.
1. Noah’s Faith
Noah was a man of great faith. He believed God. He was persuaded that what God said was true. Noah is listed in what is sometimes referred to as God’s hall of faith.
Hebrews 11:7 “By faith Noah being divinely warned of things not yet seen moved with godly fear prepared an ark for the saving of his household” (Hebrews 11:7, emphasis mine).
Three things about Noah’s faith from this verse.
First, Noah’s faith was based on the Word of God. He was divinely warned. Faith, to be properly placed, must be based on what God says. Some people have faith in faith. If they have enough faith or believe hard enough, God is obligated to make about anything happen. But the problem with some people’s faith is that it is not based on what God has said: the Bible.
Second thing about Noah’s faith was that it involved things not yet seen. Noah had never seen a worldwide judgment. He had never seen a worldwide flood. He had never seen an ark like God wanted him to build. All the animals would come on their own two by two? It didn’t seem possible. Imagine God asking you to take decades out of your life and build a wooden ark of mammoth size over in East Texas. People would think you were crazy. If you started, you might think you were crazy as well.
Third thing about Noah’s faith is that it moved him to action. It was not a passive faith; it was an active one. Moved with godly fear, He prepared the ark. His faith led to his obedience.
Not only was Noah a man of faith, he was also a man of great obedience.
Noah’s Obedience
Genesis 6:14-22:
“Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. 15 “And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 “You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 “And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 “But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark – you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 “And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 “Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. 21 “And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.” 22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did (NKJV).
Noah’s obedience was complete. Verse 22 reads “all that God commanded so he did.” God said, “Build an ark.” Noah built an ark. God said, “Make it 300 cubits long.” Noah said, “Yes, Lord, 300 cubits long.” God said, “Make it 50 cubits wide.” Noah said, “Yes, Lord, 50 cubits wide;” 30 cubits high, “30 cubits high;” 3 decks, “3 decks;” window around the top, “window around the top;” door on the side, “door on the side.”
Do you ever wonder if you could have been obedient like Noah? Maybe you would have bargained for a smaller ark, or sign of rain. Forget the animals. No creeping things and no termites.
Noah did not do that. He did all that God commanded him. Day after day, Noah obeyed. Week after week, Noah obeyed. Month after month, Noah obeyed, slowly but surely building the ark. Year after year, Noah obeyed, seeming to others to waste his life.
Decade after decade, he persisted in obedience until it was finally finished.
Genesis 6;22, “And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him.” From start to finish, Noah obeyed.
When it comes to obedience, we are in direct conflict with our culture, BUT God will walk with those of Noah-like obedience. Noah was not only a man of faith and obedience, but also a man of godly character.
Noah’s Character
Genesis 7:1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation” (NKJV).
God saw that Noah was righteous. In Hebrew, the word is singular. So it could be understood in this context: “as you alone are righteous.” The rest are evil
Genesis 6:8 But Noah was a pleasure to the Lord. Here is the story of Noah:
Genesis 6:9-10
- He was the only truly righteous man living on the earth at that time. He tried always to conduct his affairs according to God’s will. And he had three sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (LB)
Noah was not perfect. He had failures but his character was solid as far as God’s description of him is concerned. Noah walked with God with righteous character.
Conclusion
Today is ripe as it was in the days of Noah for someone to hear a word from God and walk in obedience.
Matthew 24:37
But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Matthew 24:38
For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
Matthew 24:39
and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. NKJV
If we have Noah like conditions we also have room for Noah like miracles through Noah like faith .
D.L. Moody, the great American evangelist of the 19th century, is estimated to have personally led 1 million people to faith in Jesus Christ. What’s even more amazing about this estimate is that his ministry occurred before radio or TV broadcasts. Also, he had very little educational background and never went to high school. One biographer put it this way: “Moody reduced the population of hell by 1 million souls.” How did Moody get to that point of having such a ministry? God’s grace certainly, but early in Moody’s career someone challenged him to excel in his walk with God. He said, “D.L., the world has yet to see what God can do with a man whose heart is completely devoted to him.” Moody thought about it a moment and responded, “By God’s grace, I’ll be that man.”
Closing thought: what you can learn from a guy 950 years old –
The final half can be the most productive:
• Open to the voice of God
• Obedient to the Word of God
• Others being more important than self
Your life summary –
Its easy to ask God to increase our faith for things that matter to us, what about asking God to increase our obedience for things that matter to him. Isn’t it safe to say that God will certainly meet our needs.