Sermon: Hebrews 11:7 – walking with God (BY FAITH) Read Hebrews 11 and the account of Noah in Genesis.
In recent years our Church Motto was, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12). In a series of messages I recall how I spoke about living out our lives of faith in the midst of difficult circumstances, of perhaps of attending the “University of Life” (or the “school of hard knocks”); and the “school of prayer”, where we have wrestled with God and learned something of what it means to grow in faith…
This morning I want us to return to (perhaps) the best-known chapter in the letter to the Hebrews, chapter 11.
We should not read it in isolation though. The writer-to-the Hebrews (W2H) has warned and encouraged a church struggling with its faith…he encouraged the community to be faithful to the faithful God. He tells the church not to throw away their confidence (Faith), it will be rewarded; to persevere and obey God so that they will get what God has promised (10:35, 36); they are not to shrink back (twice), but to live (believing) BY FAITH; and that will please God (10: 38).
But how can we live this sort of life? How do we just not give up? Well (for one) we are encouraged to study the lives of biblical characters, and follow the example of those who pleased God and were “commended” by him. None of them were perfect or sinless people. They all made mistakes. They sometimes took one step forward and two steps back. But they all had one thing in common – they lived BY FAITH.
Remember your baptism? You declared publically that you believed in God. His power and love became real for you. God called you to a new life. You made a decision to turn away from sin, to renounce the works of the devil. You left that life. You became a disciple of Jesus Christ and promised to follow him, whatever the cost, whatever the future might bring. You made your promises and believed that God would honour his promises to you and bring you with him, over peak and valley, finally to the place he had prepared for you.
You made (in short) a decision to live by faith, just as these men and women did – they knew nothing of Jesus Christ – but were determined to “walk with God”.
I remember my calling. I remember an expression I learned in Spain, the land where I left a corrupt life and first met with God, and that expression was “Vaya con Dios” – “Go with God!” And I did. I found that wherever I might find myself, He was there beside me…
In Hebrews 11: 1-16 there are 11 “by faiths” and 4 references to faith/faithful. They lived daily in the confidence (assurance) that, what they ‘hoped for’, would come to pass (Heb 11:1) – even if (in this life) they didn’t see full or even immediate results. The men and women in this “hall of fame/faith” all had very different stories (journeys). They all walked with God.
We’re told (twice) in Genesis 5 that Enoch “walked with God”. Noah (his grandson) “walked faithfully” with God in his generation. That was a generation whose every inclination was only evil all the time:
5:6 The LORD regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the LORD said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD. (But Noah was different. GOD liked what he saw!)
We should take seriously the story of Noah and his ark – it no mere fairytale; it’s a harrowing account of God’s judgment. His life has much to teach the grown-ups – it is a horror picture (the flood) of what happens when people ignore God or live as if there was no God.
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
Why did he find grace in the eyes of the LORD? (Gen 6:8) Why does God smile on this man?
The answer to that question is that God delivers (rescues, saves) only that (minority) who walk with him and do not pervert or corrupt his ways. Those who walk with God are those who keep company with him, who keep him in mind, keep him close, talk to him and listen to what he says.
The writer does not tell us outright what it means to walk with God – but he does ask us to watch Noah at work, to look at what it means to live by faith.
NOAH LISTENED TO GOD: every one of the members of the “Hall of Faith” began their journey with God by hearing God’s word to them. Genesis 6: 13 – “So God said to Noah…”
Noah took God and his Word seriously. It was in “Holy Fear” that Noah began to build the ark. He was warned by God of “things not seen” – the flood and the judgment to come.
Noah was more prepared to listen to God’s voice (he had a holy fear) than he was to listen to the baying, ridiculing voices of the world around him. “Where’s the rain, Noah?! Ha, ha! Where’s your God, Noah?! Judgment - what judgment?!”
Walking with God meant finding life in the midst of a violent and broken world. And, in many respects, life is no different now. It has always, of course, been important to listen to God. But what an opportunity we have been given through a God-permitted pandemic to listen to the voice of the Shepherd, to hear Him speak to us over the 24/7 clamour of
NOAH RESPONDED TO GOD: (Gen 6:22; 7:5, 9, 16) – “Noah did everything just as God commanded him…”
For the boat, Noah followed the exact specifications, the right numbers/species. Walking with God meant more than knowing that God existed, but it meant trusting, obeying – responding as well…not just trusting but obeying, not waiting aimlessly but working, too…
God would provide the Covenant relationship/boundaries; God would provide the promises, and provide for Noah’s future. Obedience and blessing would go together (Ex. 39:43). As James said, “Faith without works is dead!”
Noah put himself in the one place where he could be safe and decided – unlike the rest of the world – to WalkWithGod instead. Noah must do his part and build the ark. It took him a long time; it required patience and perseverance of Noah. “Those with true faith walk with God day after day.”
NOAH WAS A WITNESS FOR GOD: Noah lived in a world that was utterly opposed to God. There is little doubt that Noah would have been a laughing stock to the people who witnessed his boat-building. He will most certainly have been frightened and persecuted for his faith.
But the LORD had called the man to “walk with him” and he did, at some cost – even though the “world” thought he was “barking mad”.
We know (don’t we?) only too well that those who warn of a judgment to come or preach the return of Christ will face ridicule:
Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. (2 Peter 3)
Like Abraham after him Noah is approved of as righteous because he believed the Lord, not because he is without fault or sin. For a start he believed that God existed and that God would never fail (in time) to reward those who drew near.
Against all the evidence (the sun kept shining); against all the opposition; swimming against the tide, Noah continued to warn his contemporaries that there would be a judgment and there would be a time when it was “all too late” – when the rain came and the door to the ark was bang shut!
Noah believed all that God had to say – not just the nice bits. He took no pleasure in the perishing of his contemporaries, but he was prepared to stand out (like the proverbial sore thumb) in his generation; Noah was prepared to stand up for the God who had called him.
What about us? Are we walking with God like this? Or are we, truth-be-told, walking in the ways of the world? Are we listening to God? Are we responding to God? Are we witnessing for God?
We must walk with God. We must trust and obey – there is no other way - in the face of a scoffing world; and that often means family and friends; we must preach the doctrines of God’s grace, judgment and mercy - and warn this generation that living as though there were no God is a grave and dangerous mistake.
Jesus (John 13:18) said: “Now that you know these things you will be blessed when you do them…”
Salvation belongs to our God! I wish we were together now singing that hymn! Salvation and Blessing are found in GOD’S COVENANT – in a relationship with him, and nowhere else. Safety and security and destiny (all the things we are worried about) are not found outside of the boundaries that God has set in his COVENANT OF GRACE.
After the flood, Noah built an altar and offered sacrifices to God (Gen 8:20). Worship was a central plank (excuse the pun!) of Noah’s life.
Noah’s walking with God shows us the eternal truth that we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). He made a Covenant with Noah: the rainbow that God set in the sky was to remind all humankind that there is a faithful God who keeps his promises. And those promises are fulfilled in Christ.
In Jesus Christ God made a new covenant which was sealed by his blood. Jesus Christ is the Ark.
Jesus is the true Noah, in bringing to comfort and rest to his people. Through his substitionary death God has judged our sin. We worship at this altar the one who delivered us. In Him there is victory over the world, the flesh, the devil – and death and judgment.
In Him, however, there is room for many others. He is the door (gate) for the sheep through which people pass from death into life, even eternal life.
Walking with God – by faith – one day – by grace - we’ll find ourselves in a better country…
Walk with God. Walk with Him. Vaya Con Dios! (GB, MFR) 14/06/20