Pastor Welton Watson, Central Baptist Church
We find the scripture today in Hebrews 11:7 “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house: by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”
What I notice first in this verse is that Noah was Warned. Not only was he warned of impending destruction, but he was Instructed on what to do to save his household. In Genesis 6:13 we find his warning; “And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. And in verse 17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and everything that is in the earth shall die.”
That’s the warning! Verses 14-16 gives the instruction concerning the building of the ark for the saving of his house, and, then verses 18 & 19 give the promise that will follow his faith; “But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. And the last part of verse 20 “to keep them alive.” And then finally, verse 22 “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.”
What was it about Noah that caused God to choose him to replenish the earth after destroying it? Our text in Hebrews 11:7 answers the question; “By faith Noah.” It seems that Noah was the only man on earth that believed God. Genesis 6:9 and 7:1 give us a look at his character; “These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generation, and Noah walked with God.” 7:1 And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.”
It pays to trust the Lord. When the entire world was destroyed, he and his house were saved.
Acts 16: 31 gives the same truth; when the jailor asked Paul and Silas, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
If we’ll heed the warning and follow the instructions like Noah did, we will be saved, and our house hold can be saved the same way. By faith Noah was warned and moved with fear and faith in God. John 3:36 “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”