Love Worth Finding

Adrian Rogers: The book of Hebrews reminds us of Captain Noah's unsinkable faith. Think of all of the heartache and the pain and the difficulty Noah went through. Think of what it cost Noah. Maybe when Noah put that last nail in the ark, that was all he had. And he went into the ark a pauper.

When he came out, he owned the earth. When Noah went into the ark, he went in a minority. When he came out, he was the majority. We're on the winning side. But you have to see this by faith.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring profound truth simply stated by pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers. The Bible emphasizes the importance of household salvation. Now, what does that mean? One of the greatest examples of this is Noah, whose faith in God saved his family from the Great Flood.

In part one of today's message, we learned about Noah's fear of God in a shameless society and how his faith led him to a tremendous act of obedience. If you have your Bible, turn now to Hebrews chapter 11, beginning in verse seven, as Adrian Rogers shares part two of this prophetic message, "Captain Noah and His Unsinkable Faith."

Adrian Rogers: There are four things I want to lay on your heart about Noah's faith, and I pray God that they will buoy your faith, keep your faith afloat, help you to have an unsinkable faith in treacherous days because that's exactly what Noah had, and it made him a champion of faith. Now, the first thing I want you to notice is what I'm going to call the warning his faith believed.

The warning his faith believed. Look in verse seven, "By faith, Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet." Now, God warned Noah of the flood, but he'd never seen a flood. Do you know what? Noah had never even seen rain. Before the flood, it did not rain.

The idea of rain was foreign to Noah's mind, much less any kind of a flood. God watered the earth by springs and by rivers and by evaporation and condensation and dew. And some Bible scholars believe that there was a great canopy over the earth that maintained a constant temperature like a giant greenhouse.

And so, Noah is warned of God of something he has never, ever seen before. It was a warning from the Word. He had the Word of God. Now, again, I want to remind you of a verse that we will mention many times in our study on faith here in Hebrews chapter 11, and it is Romans chapter 10, verse 17, which says, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." Without a word from God, you cannot have faith.

Faith is not a leap in the dark. It is a step into God's light. You must hear from God. That brings us back to Hebrews chapter 11 and verse one, which describes faith. "Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen." I want to remind you one more time that the word hope here does not mean maybe, perhaps, or I wish, but hope means bedrock assurance.

The Bible calls hope an anchor of the soul. Now, you don't put an anchor in a cloud bank. You think of it. Hope is an anchor of the soul. It is solid. And the word substance here, substance, something beneath us that we can stand upon. Where do you get this assurance, this bedrock assurance called hope? From the Word of God.

God speaks. The truth of the Bible is where faith comes from. And when God takes the truth of the Bible and makes that truth to you, when you get a personal word from the Word that applies to you in a situation, God is speaking to you. Then you're going to find faith engendered in your heart.

Did you know that God speaks today? God has his written word once and for all settled, but then God speaks to your own personal heart. And when God speaks to your heart personally and you have a word from God, that's when you find faith growing in your heart and in your life. Big, plain, and straight, you have to hear from God in order to have faith.

Now, let me say this about this faith now that Noah had, the faith that he received. It resulted in fear. Look at it in verse seven. "By faith, Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet," he'd never seen it rain, "moved with fear, prepared an ark." Do you see that? He was moved with fear.

Now, some people say, "I don't believe in a religion based on fear." Bible religion is based on fear. Fear is the foundation of faith. When Noah believed God, he feared God. Listen, fear and faith are inseparably linked together. Fear sees God's power and God's holiness and God's justice. Faith sees God's loving kindness, God's grace, and God's mercy.

Therefore, the fear of God is not a cringing dread of God. It is love on its knees. God gave Noah a word of warning. But now, here's a second thing I want you to see. Not only the warning that his faith believed, but I want you to see the work that his faith achieved. Having heard from God, he got busy.

Now, look again in Hebrews 11 and verse seven. "By faith, Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark." He went to work. Now, the Bible teaches that faith without works is dead. James 2:20, "But wilt thou not know, oh vain man, that faith without works is dead?" God told Noah to build an ark, and Noah obeyed.

The word believe comes from an old English word "by-live." What we really believe, we live by. Now, don't tell me that you have faith if you do not obey. And you have to obey even when you don't understand. Noah had not seen a flood, but he had a word, and he obeyed. Noah was a man of faith, and therefore he prepared an ark.

And he prepared an ark to the saving of his family. Some of you are going to lose your children because your faith is a mere intellectual faith, a mere doctrinal faith. It is not a practical living faith that is obeying God, and your children see the difference. Now, friend, listen to me. The religion that does not begin at home does not begin.

Have you ever heard anybody say, "Well, you know, my loved ones are the hardest ones to witness to"? You're not telling on them; you're telling on you. You know why they're the hardest ones to witness to? Because they know you. They know you. Many of us need to go and say, "Would you forgive me for the life that I've lived in front of you?"

And don't even witness to them. Just say, "Would you forgive me? Just forgive me. I'm a Christian, but I've been a poor example." They'll be watching you for a while to see. "Sure, I forgive you." Then, later on, you come back and say, "Would you forgive me for something else?" "Well, now what do you want me to forgive you for?" "I haven't shared with you the most important thing on earth to me. Would you forgive me for not sharing Jesus with you?"

And just give you an open door to share the Lord Jesus Christ with your loved ones. Noah had faith, and that faith was there for the saving of his household. Put this verse down. There was a man filled with demons. Jesus healed him, and the man wanted to follow Jesus. But notice what Jesus said in Mark chapter five, verse 19, "Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, 'Go home to thy friends and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee and hath had compassion on thee.'"

Now, here's a third thing I want you to see. I want you to see the wickedness that his faith perceived. "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." Now, watch this. "By the which he condemned the world." He was a man that lived in a wicked society.

Now, don't tell me that you cannot have faith today because of the societal problems that we have today. Think of the ungodly world that Noah lived in. It was a day of secular philosophy. Genesis chapter six, verses five and six tell us that the imaginations of the thoughts of man's heart were evil continually. And the word imaginations there doesn't mean daydreams. It means philosophies.

There was a secular philosophy like is on the campuses of today's schools and in the editorial pages of today's newspapers. The days of Noah were days of secular philosophy. The days of Noah were days of scientific progress. Now, don't think they were playing with sticks. How would you like to build a boat, a ship, about the proportion of an ocean liner that could withstand the most ferocious storm the world has ever known?

They were building great cities in this day. Genesis chapter four, verse 17 says, "And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bare Enoch, and he builded a city." Builded a city. I mean, not the people had houses. Here's a man like Donald Trump. He's builded a city. We live in a day of scientific progress. I'm amazed at what we're doing today.

Genetic engineering, the vileness of the internet. The internet is a great tool, but it's a dangerous thing. Pornographers are now talking about virtual reality on the internet and virtual adultery. What all that means is ominous. They were days of social plagues. Notice in Genesis chapter six, verses 11 through 13. The earth was filled with violence.

All flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth. Think of the social plagues today. Think of the terrorism. Think of the violence. Think of the kidnappings. Think of the needless murders that stalk the streets. And yet, Noah was a man of faith. He believed God in all of that. Think of the violence today against the unborn.

Let me tell you something that ought to break your heart. Peter Singer has been installed as the first full-time professor of bioethics at the university center of human values of Princeton University. May I tell you that Princeton University was founded for the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Now, here is Peter Singer.

Let me tell you what Peter Singer, now, this professor of bioethics said. "Killing a disabled infant is not morally equivalent to killing a person." Not the same to kill an afflicted baby is not the same as killing a person. He goes on to say the life of such a newborn baby is of less value than the life of a pig, a dog, or a chimpanzee.

He says, and he's the world's best-known advocate of infanticide, he thinks that parents should be allowed 28 days after the birth of a severely disabled baby to decide whether to kill it or not. He's the founder of the animal rights movement. He is taught the idea that human life is sacred is, here's a new word for you, "speciesism."

Like racism. If you think a human being is superior to a dog or a cat or an antelope or a chimpanzee, you are a speciesist. Well, you say, "That's some looney tune." Friend, that is a professor at Princeton. Days of social plagues. Days of sexual perversion. Genesis 6:5, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually."

Jesus linked the days of Noah with the days of Lot. Luke 17, verses 26 through 30. "And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

Likewise, also, as it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed." Jesus said, "When I come again, the days of Noah and the days of Lot are going to be replicated."

For further information, consult any newspaper or listen to any newscast. Are you listening? Do you know what Noah faced? Do you see the wickedness that Noah perceived? And yet, in all of this, Noah lived and he preached. Now, people didn't listen to him, but he preached. You don't measure preaching success by numbers.

I wonder sometimes what the measurement of preaching is. I was preaching a revival crusade in a South Louisiana town. I preached my heart out. I fasted, I prayed, I wept, I searched my heart, I searched my scriptures, I did everything I knew to do, but nothing was happening. And I finally, giving the invitation one night and holding up my hands and begging people to come to Christ, nothing happened.

I said, "Pastor, you take the invitation. I just need to sit over here. You just go ahead." And I just took my Bible during the invitation. I went and sat down. I opened it. I said, "God, I don't know what's wrong. I've got to have a word, God." And I opened my Bible and just put my finger on a verse randomly, but I believe led of the spirit. And God said in Ezekiel chapter three and verse seven, "The house of Israel will not harken unto thee, for they will not harken unto me."

And I thought, "Oh, God, thank you for showing me this." He said, "The house of Israel will not harken unto thee, for they'll not harken unto me." And God showed me in an instant, "Adrian, they haven't rejected you. They rejected me. You're my servant. The only reason they won't hear you is they won't hear me." I said, "Lord, that's such a good verse. Give me another one."

And again, I put my finger down by random, and I tell you, I almost came unglued when I read what it was. It was Ezekiel 2:5. "And they, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear, yet shall they know there hath been a prophet among them." You think of that. God said, "Whether they hear or not, they will know there has been a prophet among them."

That's what it means when it says, "And Noah, when he preached, condemned them." One of these days, they're going to have to give an account for that. Our generation also has been warned. Now, here's the final thing I want you to see. I want you to see the wealth that his faith received.

The wealth that his faith received. Look at it again. "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 the heir of righteousness, of the righteousness which is by faith." What was his legacy? What was the wealth that his faith received? It was righteousness.

He was made righteous in the sight of the Lord by faith. Remember chapter 10, "The just shall live by faith." We receive spiritual life when we receive Christ. How was Noah saved? Not by works, but by grace. Genesis chapter six and verse eight, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." That's the first time grace is used in the Bible.

Think of all of the heartache and the pain and the difficulty Noah went through. Think of what it cost Noah to build that ark. I don't know where he got his resources, but I have an idea that he put everything into the ark. Maybe when Noah put that last nail in the ark, that was all he had. And he went into the ark a pauper.

When he came out, he owned the earth. Remember what Jesus said? "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." When Noah went into the ark, he went in a minority. When he came out, he was the majority. We're on the winning side. But you have to see this by faith. You see, the ark is also an illustration of salvation.

It's a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, a gigantic object lesson Peter tells us in the New Testament. The ark is finished. Storm clouds begin to roil. The earth trembles. Great fissures open. Water belches out. Rain comes down. But just before that, God says, "Noah," Genesis 7:1, "Noah, come thou into the ark."

God didn't say, "Noah, go into the ark." He said, "Come into the ark." That means God was in there. God said, "Noah, come into the ark." And then the Bible says that God shut the door. There was a window on top, a door on the side. Noah was in charge of the window. God in charge of the door. You see, I daily can look into the face of God, but I have been shut into the Lord Jesus Christ.

The ark was sealed on the inside and the outside with a gooey substance called pitch. It's the same word translated "atonement" in the Old Testament. God put atonement on the outside, and God put atonement on the inside, and not one drop of water could come through. "Noah, come into the ark." When you come into Jesus, God shuts the door.

You're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Not one drop of judgment can come to the child of God who's safe in Jesus. We have a wonderful salvation. We have a wonderful Savior. May I ask you a question? Are you in the ark? I don't say, "Do you believe the ark?" Are you in the ark? Are you safe in Christ? Do you know, absolutely know, that you're safe?

If you should die this moment, you'd go straight to heaven. May I guide you in this decision and help you to receive Christ? The door is open, and God is saying to you, "Come. Come thou into the ark." Would you pray this prayer? "Dear God, I need to be saved, and I want to be saved. Jesus, you shed your blood on the cross to pay for my sin. I believe it. I receive it. Come into my life. Take control of my life, and begin now to make me the person you want me to be. And I will live for you, Lord Jesus. Not in order to be saved, that's a gift. I will live for you because I am saved, because you've saved me by your grace. Begin now to make me the person you want me to be. In your holy name, I pray. Amen."

Guest (Male): Amen. If you prayed to receive Jesus Christ just now, we would love to celebrate with you and invite you to our "Find God's Love" page on our website. There you'll find answers you may need about your newfound faith. Again, click "Find God's Love" when you go to lwf.org/radio. Again, lwf.org/radio and click the tab that says "Find God's Love." Welcome to his forever family. We can't wait to hear from you today.

Carrie Vaughan: Hi, this is Carrie Vaughan. And this program has been brought to you by Love Worth Finding, a nonprofit ministry showcasing the powerful preaching and teaching of Pastor Adrian Rogers. We operate solely through the generous gifts of individual supporters just like you. To give a gift today, call 1-877-LOVEGOD. That's 1-877-568-3463.

Or write to us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38-600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. You can also connect with us online by going to lwf.org/radio. There we offer helpful resources inspired by the timeless teachings of Pastor Adrian Rogers. Additionally, you can sign up for daily emails, donate to the ministry, and learn more about how to become an ambassador of the Word. Thank you so much for listening today. Be sure to join us next time for more profound truth simply stated right here on Love Worth Finding.

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