Love Worth Finding

Adrian Rogers: Noah prepared an ark to the saving of his house. Not his domicile, not the place where he lived, but his family. Now, we want everybody saved, but folks, I want all my family going to heaven. The Bible teaches a household faith. That doesn't mean that you can believe for your children, but it certainly means that you need to have some foresight, you need to make some preparation, you need to say, "I want all my family to be aboard the ark of safety."

Guest (Male): Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring the timeless truth of the gospel through the messages of Adrian Rogers. As we learn from Noah in the book of Genesis, the only way we can raise a family in a way that honors God is by faith. There is an urgent need today to get our children on board the good ship of grace, and we do that through a solid biblical family faith. Now, if you have your Bible, turn to Hebrews chapter 11. We'll begin in verse seven as Adrian Rogers shares Family Faith, part two.

Adrian Rogers: There's a ship that we're all familiar with: the Titanic. It was called an unsinkable ship, and that's about the only thing it ever did. It was a monstrous floating palace. It set sail on April the 10th, 1912. It was unequaled in lavish splendor. It had ballrooms, beauty salons, tennis courts, sauna baths, and it has become a great object lesson that preachers have used and will continue to use, I guess, down through the ages until Jesus comes.

Several things as I studied about the Titanic that interested me. Number one was the confidence that those who sailed her had in this luxurious White Star Liner. Every sailor aboard confidently said that it could not sink. Bruce Ismay, the White Star Chairman, stated, and I quote, "I cannot imagine any condition that would cause the ship to founder. I cannot imagine any disaster happening to this vessel. Modern shipbuilding has come beyond that." He said it just can't happen. And it's no wonder that one of the crewmen flippantly said, "Even God himself could not sink this ship."

Here was a ship that sailed with great confidence, every assurance of safety, every available luxury. And so the Titanic set sail. But not only was there this confidence, there was a carefree spirit. Those on board were having a party. A Mrs. Harris, who was one of those rescued, said, quote, "We were out on a lark. Revelry was the keynote. The weather was superb. The comfort and luxury aboard were all that had been promised. The days passed too quickly. I felt as if I could go on till the end of time."

So here they are, sailing an unsinkable ship, having a wonderful, wonderful time. And those who were in charge repeatedly called out on watch, "All's well, and the lights are burning brightly." Soon, however, the lights were about to go out on the Titanic. On the night of April the 14th, this swiftly gliding ship was the only movement on an ebony sea, and the stars were the only light in a cloudless sky, and the sea was very calm, sailing along, having a party.

Yes, confidence, carefreeness, and then suddenly, calamity. Oh, they struck an iceberg. They were not expecting, of course, to strike an iceberg. The crew had kept the Titanic at its regulated speed of 22 knots, but at 11:40 PM, there was that fateful collision with that iceberg. There were over 2,000 aboard the Titanic, and lifeboats for only about half that number. Some of the men even disguised themselves as women that they might get aboard a lifeboat.

And those who were in the lifeboats circled the Titanic as loved ones might stand around a dying friend, and as a family would stand and watch a loved one go over into eternity. They circled this mighty floating palace as she slithered into a watery grave. And those who were in the lifeboats heard the calls of the survivors who were left struggling in that freezing sea. Agonizing wails, pleading for assistance. Those calls went unheeded because there was no more room in the lifeboats.

The unthinkable had happened. The Titanic was sunk. Nothing left but some desperate survivors. 1,500 souls went to a watery grave. There were many classes on board: those who were traveling luxury, first class, those who were traveling in other classes, and of course, there were those who were below in the steerage. But after this calamity, all of those classes did not matter. There were only two classes: saved and lost.

Now, in society we have all kinds of classes, don't we? But don't you have the idea that we're kind of on board the Titanic? And don't you have the idea that we're on a collision course with destiny? And don't you have an idea that after it's all over there are only going to be two classes, and that will be the saved and the lost? I thought about that as I prepared this message on the good ship Grace, Captain Noah and his ship, the ark. What a difference there was between the sinking of the Titanic and Noah and the ark.

Having said that, did you notice several things about Hebrews chapter 11 and verse seven? The very first thing I want you to notice is Noah's faith. Notice how it begins: "By faith, by faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, and prepared an ark to the saving of his house." How are you going to raise a family in these days in which we live? There's only one way: by faith. And it is a faith that is a working faith. By faith Noah prepared an ark. Faith is not sitting around doing nothing, saying what will be will be, I'm trusting God. Faith is belief with legs on it. Noah, because he had faith, prepared an ark.

It was a working faith, and it was a waiting faith. For 120 years he was building that ark, with the wrath of God in the foreground and the ring of hammers in the background. The Bible says that he did this because he had been warned of God. That is, his faith, therefore, was based on the Word of God. For the Bible says faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. It was a divine revelation that caused Noah to do what he did.

That means that you will not have faith for your family until you hear from God. It was faith that was willing to stand alone. Noah was looked on as being strange, weird, eccentric, out of step with everybody else. And precious friend, so will you. Now don't try to fit in. Noah was different; you must be different. You must stand alone. It was faith that did not depend upon appearances.

There was no reason to believe there would be a flood from appearances. So far as we can tell, it had never even rained upon the earth. There was a mist that went up and watered the earth. There had never been a universal calamity. There was nothing to suggest a flood, nothing but clear skies, nothing but people according to Jesus who were buying and selling and marrying and giving in marriage. Everything was splendid, just as it was on the Titanic. But the Bible says Noah was different. Noah had faith.

Now, here's the second thing I want you to notice. Not only the faith of Noah, but I want you to notice the fear of Noah. Because the Bible says Noah was warned of God. Do you see that? And he was moved with fear. Noah was warned of God. And when we say the fear of God, that's the beginning of wisdom. Now listen to me, precious friend. The fear of God does not mean that we are shocked, dismayed, overwhelmed by the thought of God. The fear of God is love on its knees.

It understands that our God is an awesome God, our God is a holy God. Now, I hear people say that they don't believe in religion based on fear. Well, I do. I do. Those people, by the way, are hypocrites. We live our lives based on fear every day. We fear starvation, so we eat. We fear catching a cold, so we wear overcoats. We fear those who will break and enter our homes, so we lock our doors. We fear being hit by a car, so we look both ways when we cross the street. We exercise self-preservation every day in a hundred different ways.

But the greatest danger that men can face is the wrath of God against our sin and unbelief. And therefore, any man is wise to be moved with fear to get right with God. Let me give you a scripture. Jesus said, "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul." That is, don't you fear the Pharaohs of this world, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell.

Don't fear the people of this world; fear almighty God. The supreme danger is to stand before God unpardoned, unforgiven, and uncleansed. I had rather frighten people into heaven than lull them into hell, had you not? There is something to be warned about.

Now, here's the third thing I want you to notice. Not only Noah's faith and Noah's fear, but I want you to notice Noah and his foresight. The Bible says he was moved with fear and therefore he prepared an ark. Noah did not wait until it began to rain before he prepared an ark. He did not wait until it began to rain in order to get ready. He had some foresight. He made preparation. The Bible says that Noah prepared this ark to the saving of his household.

Now, we have a generation today, however, that makes no preparation. What did Jesus say would be the marks of the last days? He said in Matthew chapter 24, as it was in the days of Noah, so would it be in the day of the coming of the Son of Man. They were marrying, giving in marriage, eating and drinking, and they knew not until the flood came and took them all away.

What were the three marks of Noah's day? The same three marks of our day. Number one: indifference. Eating, drinking, marrying, giving in marriage. Life is just going on. Then the second mark was immorality. The way that they were living was a stench in the nostrils of God; Genesis chapter six tells us that. And the third mark was ignorance. They knew not until the flood came and took them all away. Those are the classic three marks of our generation today: indifference, immorality, and ignorance.

However, Noah went against the tide. He prepared an ark to the saving of his house. Now, here's the next thing I want you to notice. Not only Noah and his foresight, but I want you to notice Noah and his family. Noah prepared an ark for the saving of his house. Now the Bible teaches household faith. Let me give you some verses. Just open if you will, please, to these verses that I've jotted down. Acts chapter 11, beginning in verse 13.

Peter here is talking about his vision and he says, "And he showed us how he," that is Cornelius, "had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, 'Send men to Joppa and call for Simon whose surname is Peter, who shall tell thee words whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.'" Just underscore that: "thou," Cornelius, and all thy house. Cornelius, we don't want you to go to heaven and leave your family behind.

And then look, if you will, in Acts chapter 16. Just fast-forward there just a little bit, and look if you will in verse 15. It talks about a certain woman whose name was Lydia, and the Bible says, "And when she was baptized and her household, she besought us, saying, 'If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there,' and she constrained us." There's an important thing. When Lydia got saved, the very first thing she did was to share her faith with those who were in her household.

Now turn to Acts chapter 16 and look in verse 31 at the Philippian jailer, if you would. And he had asked Paul and Silas, "What must I do to be saved?" And they said, verse 31, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." And they spake unto him the word of the Lord and to all that were in his house. Look in verse 34: "And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them and rejoiced, believing in God with all of his house." With all of his house.

Now, Noah prepared an ark to the saving of his house. Not his domicile, not the place where he lived, but his family. Now we want everybody saved, but folks, I want all my family going to heaven. The Bible teaches a household faith. That doesn't mean that you can believe for your children, but it certainly means that you need to have some foresight, you need to make some preparation, you need to say, "I want all my family to be aboard the ark of safety."

I cannot even imagine the thought of being in heaven without my children, without my grandchildren. I want them to know the Lord. That's the reason that I've questioned each of them so carefully and dealt with them so prayerfully, that they might come to know the Lord Jesus and would sit down and talk with each of my grandchildren, face to face, heart to heart, as their parents have done about faith in the Lord Jesus.

I can remember one time many years ago I was praying and I said, "Lord, if any of my children who have made a profession of faith are not saved, oh God, please, if they just are members of the church but they're not truly saved, oh God, speak to their heart." I told nobody about the prayer. But the next Sunday my precious daughter Gail came down the aisle and said, "Daddy, I'm not sure I've really been saved. I want to be saved. I want to be saved."

I thank God for that. We need to be concerned about our children, that they're all upon that ark. Parents, can you imagine a little boy in Noah's time who would come home to his dad and say, "Daddy, there's a man over here, his name is Noah. He's building a great big ship because he says God's going to send a flood and destroy the world."

Can you imagine that man saying, "Son, don't worry about that. Old Noah's just a religious fanatic. He's an old fool. He's been building that boat now for more than a hundred years. No flood is coming. As a matter of fact, son, it's almost humorous. When I was a little boy, I went out and saw old Noah building that boat, and I came to my dad and asked my dad about it. And son, you won't believe this, but my dad said the same thing had happened to him. He talked to his dad about it."

"Son, from generation to generation there've always been religious fanatics. We live in one of the finest neighborhoods here. You're going to one of the finest schools here. Son, your daddy loves you. Don't you worry about being aboard any so-called ark. Don't you worry about those fundamentalist believers. Just don't worry about that. Everything is going to be all right, son." Mister, it'd be bad enough for you to go to hell, but for you to take your children with you, how sad that would be.

The Bible says that Noah prepared an ark to the saving of his house. And so think with me just a little bit about Noah and his family. He got his family into the ark. The last thing I would have you to think about is not only Noah and his family, but Noah and his fortune. Look at it here now again in verse seven. Go back to Hebrews chapter 11 and verse seven, and the Bible speaks of the fortune that this man had because he obeyed the Lord. The Bible says he prepared an ark to the saving of his house, "by the which he condemned the world and became the heir of righteousness which is by faith."

That's his fortune. That's his fortune. Now he had more than that fortune. Actually, he had a great fortune in other ways. You see, while other people were buying and selling, marrying and giving in marriage, and going on about taking care of feathering their own nest, Noah was building the ark. Perhaps Noah put everything that he had into the building of that ark because evidently it was a costly project.

Maybe when the last nail was driven into that ark, Noah was bankrupt. God said, "Noah, come thou and your family into the ark." And Noah and his family went into that ark, and he put everything into the ark and went into the ark according to this world, a pauper. But friend, when he came out of the ark, he owned the world. The Bible says the meek shall inherit the earth.

When he went into the ark he was a minority. When he came out he was a majority. I just love to think about this, but the great thing is not necessarily the real estate that he had, but the main thing is this: that he was an heir of righteousness. The things that really mattered to Noah, he gained by faith. And so what is the message here? I have an idea that there are a lot of people who are on board the Titanic right now and they're saying all is well and the lights are burning brightly.

But I have an idea there's some other people who are on board the good ship Grace and have put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and truly all is well. Are you on board? Is your family on board? The gangplank is faith. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Let me help you for a moment. You might say, "Pastor, I'm not sure that I'm saved, but I want to be. If a man can be saved, if a man can know it, if a woman can be saved and if they can know it, I want to know it."

"I don't want to face the floodwaters of God's wrath without an ark of safety. I want to be saved." If you feel that way, let me just guide you in a prayer. Would you pray this way? Lord Jesus, I know that you're the Son of God. I know that you died for my sins. You paid for my sins with your blood on the cross. I know that God raised you from the dead.

You promised to save me if I would trust you. Right now, I trust you to save me, right now with all of my heart. I don't look for a feeling. I don't ask for a sign. I stand upon your word. You promised to save me if I would receive you and trust you, and I do it by an act of my will as you have enabled me to do it. I choose you as my Lord and Savior. I trust you to save me. I now belong to you. And Lord Jesus, I'll not be ashamed of you. I'll not try to hide the fact that I've given my heart to you, but I will make it public if you'll only help me. In your name I pray, Amen.

Guest (Male): If you prayed to receive Jesus Christ just now, we want to celebrate with you and invite you to our Discover Jesus page at the website. There, you'll find answers you may need about your newfound faith. We have a response section there as well. You can share your testimony with us or maybe how this message has impacted you. Go to lwf.org/radio and click the tab at the top that says Discover Jesus. Welcome to God's forever family; we can't wait to hear from you today.

Hi, this is Cary Vaughn, and this program has been brought to you by Love Worth Finding, a non-profit 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-LOVE-GOD. That's 1-877-568-3463, or write to us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38-600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183.

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