HEROS OF FAITH — NOAH & ABRAHAM
Heb 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.
Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
Gen 6:7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
Gen 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
Noah was a man that lived in a generation on earth where the fear and reverence of God was no longer. Mankind had become exceedingly evil. Man’s thoughts and actions were bent on evil continually. False god’s were worshiped. Every abhorrent and revolting act was being committed and society was approving of these actions.
That humanity knew of God and creation is certain as Adam still lived 139 years of Noah’s life time. There were those alive who knew of creation, of the garden of Eden, of the sin of Adam, of the death of Abel. There were those who knew what sin had brought into the world, yet they were walking away from God and following idols and their own desires rather than following God.
So great had wickedness become in the earth that God regretted that He had even created humanity, His heart was grieved by all the sin and evil which was upon the earth. So God decided to wipe out humanity.
But Noah found grace and favor in the sight of God. Though the whole earth was corrupt and evil, and God had decided to destroy it, yet He finds that Noah, a man who yet had faith in Him. A man who was raising his family to fear and revere the LORD.
Noah acted in faith and built the ark according to God’s command. Noah continually preached to the people that the flood was coming, though they laughed him to scorn.
Isa_54:9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. [KJV]
Eze_14:14 Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.
Eze_14:20 Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness. [KJV]
2 Pet 2:5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
2Pe 2:6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
Mat 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Mat 24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
We know from scripture that Noah made enough of an impression on God, that God considers him to be of reference in other places in scripture. God mentions His promise to Noah that He would not again destroy the earth by water on Isaiah 54:9. He declared this to Noah and He keeps His word. He mentions Noah along with Daniel and Job in Ezekiel as men of renown whose prayers changed situations for others. He mentions Noah through Peter and reaffirms that God had spared Noah when the entire earth and all humanity had been destroyed. Noah was an outstanding man who had faith in God in a time when all humanity was following after idols and self indulgence.
This we know of Noah that he was a man of faith in God. We know that he cared for lost humanity as he preached faithfully to them during the years he was building the ark.
“The readiness and watchfulness our Lord commanded in the prospect of the impending judgments he foretold, may by the same unanswerable reasoning be applied to the Lord’s second coming, to judgment, and to every man’s departure out of life. For what, in fact, is the day of judgment to the whole world, but the day of death to every individual. Hence the only readiness is, being one with Christ, in an union with his person, regenerated by his spirit, washed in his blood, clothed in his righteousness, and habitually ready in the lively exercise of faith and hope, for the expectation of his coming; that when his Lord shall call, at midnight, or cock-crowing, or in the morning, he may arise at the joyful call, and mount up and meet the Lord in the air, and so forever be with the Lord. Oh! the blessedness of that servant, whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing!” Robert Hawker
Noah was a man of _______ in God.
Noah ____ _____ to a godless generation.
What will the world be like before Jesus’ return?
How should knowing the story of Noah cause us to be more active in telling the truth of Jesus soon return?
ABRAHAM
Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
Heb 11:9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
Heb 11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Heb 11:11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.
Heb 11:12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
Gen 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Gen 12:4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
Gen 12:5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
Gen 22:1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
Gen 22:2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
Gen 22:3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
Gen 22:4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.
Gen 22:5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”
Gen 22:6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.
Gen 22:7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
Gen 22:8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
Abraham was only 10 generations from Noah, and Noah would have lived 30 years of Abraham’s father Terah’s life time. This soon after the flood had destroyed all of mankind and everything on the earth, again mankind was worshiping idols and living lives of sin and debauchery. The area where Abraham’s family lived was idolatrous. The people there worshiped the sun, the moon and stars as gods. Yet Abraham refused to accepted their religion. He chose rather to worship God the creator of all things. Like Noah he chose to keep his faith in the living God no matter if others did not do so.
“This call of Abram is an emblem of the call of men by the grace of God out of the world, and from among the men of it, and to renounce the things of it, and not be conformed unto it, and to forget their own people and their father’s house, and to cleave to the Lord, and follow him whithersoever he directs them.” John Gill
The first thing the writer of Hebrews tells us about Abraham is that he moved by faith and obedience to God’s call. He left all he had and all he had known to follow the call of God to go forth into a place that he was not told where it was, just go.
God found something very unique in the faith of Abraham, as he is known as the father of the faithful. When we talk of faith our first mention of a person of faith is Abraham. Abraham was so strong in his faith in God that he was willing to simply obey God’s command to go somewhere and God would tell him when he got there. At the age of 100 he had faith enough to believe that God would give him a son and heir. He did not “stagger” or doubt at all when God told him he would have a son. His faith was so sure in God that he was willing to officer Isaac as a sacrifice to God believing with full assurance that if he did so, God would bring Isaac back from the dead and keep His promise to him that in Isaac would he have children as innumerable as the very stars of the sky.
God blessed Abraham for his faith and kept His promises to him. God provided a ram for the sacrifice for Abraham. He was only testing Abraham’s faith and did not require Isaac as a sacrifice, but this was a foreshadowing of what God was going to do for mankind through Jesus sacrifice on Calvary.
Abraham’s faith told him that God was God, that all that He said He would do, He would do. Abraham had such an assurance that God would and could, that God had all the resources and capabilities to perform anything He decided to do. There was no doubt in his mind or heart. He simply believed in God.
Abraham _______ God and it was counted as ___ to him.
Abraham did not _______ at the promises of God.
What did Abraham do when God called him to leave everyone and everything and follow God’s call?
How was God’s provision of the Ram a foreshadowing of Jesus on Calvary?
How does this story of Abraham’s faith apply to our lives today?