Known for his unique ability to simplify profound truth so that it can be applied to everyday life, Adrian Rogers was one of the most effective preachers, respected Bible teachers, and Christian leaders of our time. Thanks for joining us for this message. Here's Adrian Rogers. I cannot. I cannot overemphasize the importance A faith.
We meet one another in the hallways and we say How are you feeling? Perhaps we ought to be saying, How are you faith thing? May I ask you that question today? How is your faith? What is the state?
Of your faith. We're going to learn some wonderful things about faith in one short verse today: Hebrews chapter 11, verse 7. Look at it. 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.
Now we're going to camp right there. and tell you that I do believe, and I hope you believe, that the story of Noah and the Ark is not myth. It is true history. As a matter of fact, Historians tell us Archaeologists and anthropologists tell us in all of the great groupings of the world in ancient history, there is a flood story.
Now, of course, the Bible has it accurately, and other histories have been corrupted and mismanaged. But they all root in a literal fact. Proof that the flood literally existed is that Jesus believed it. Jesus said in Matthew 24, verse 37: but as the days of Noah were, So shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. If Jesus believed it, I have no difficulty believing in the flood, the time of Noah.
And to this generation, I want to say we swagger at our technological advance, but someone has pointed out that while amateurs built the ark, Professionals built the Titanic. Tell us something.
Now, Noah may have been an amateur in art building, but he was certainly technologically advanced spiritually as he trusted the Lord. There are some great, great ideas and truths about faith here in this Chapter of Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 7 as we're talking about champions of faith. 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 7. 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. Look, if you will, in Genesis chapter 2, verses 5 and 6.
It tells of the time before the flood. And it says, and every plant of the field. Before it was in the earth. and every herb of the field before it grew. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth.
And there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist. from the earth. and watered the whole face of the ground. Uh 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. We'll say it many times in this study, you do not name it and claim it. You believe it and receive it because God has named it and you claim it.
That's very important. You do not name it and claim it. You believe it and receive it because God has named it and you claim it. God does the naming, you do the claiming. That brings us back to Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1, 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. Bed rock. Assurance.
The Bible calls hope an anchor of the soul.
Now you don't put an anchor in the cloud bank. You think of it. A hope is an anchor. Of the soul. It is solid and the word substance here.
substands, 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.
Now it's very interesting. You say, Pastor, I cannot have faith like Noah had unless I have a word from God. How does God communicate that word to me? I'm glad you asked that question.
Well, let me try to clear it up. God communicates His Word two ways. First of all, there is what we call the written word. That's the word logos. Logos.
That's the 66 books of the Bible, the Word of God. Over and over again, the Bible is called the Word of God. That means the total revelation of God. But there's another word that is translated word, and it's Rima. R-H-E-M-A.
Rhema. Are However you choose to pronounce it. And this rhema or rhema means an utterance. That is, is not merely the written word, and I don't deprecate the written word. I don't fail to appreciate the written word.
But you're going to find out that a Rhema It is a word From the word. A word that God communicates personally. to your heart. A personal word from God, a rhema from God. Let me give you a verse where that word is used and it is translated word.
Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 17: take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Rhema of God. That's what Jesus did. when Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness. Jesus took a word from the word, used it as a sword. And said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Take that, Satan. He used the word As a sword. That's the sword of the Spirit, the rhema of God. You know some people are so superstitious about the Bible. If you ever seen a B-grade movie when a vampire is coming, somebody gets a Bible and says, back, back, back.
Like leather and paper and black print. No, no, no, no. 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, you have a rhema 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. Romans 10:14, ask a good question. Put it down and let me read it to you. How then shall they call? on him in whom they have not believed.
And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? That is, you have to hear. in order to bleed. But let me sharpen the focus a little bit more.
This verse, Romans 10, 14, says, how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? That's my translation I'm reading from today, King James. But that can be sharpened. The new American standard says, how shall they believe in him whom they've not heard? Not now listen, you say, what's the difference, Pastor?
Listen to this. One says, how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And that's, of course, a possible translation. But it literally says, how shall they believe? In him whom they've not heard.
You see, you hear God. In order to believe Him, you don't just hear about Him. You hear him.
Now, I can preach Christ today. But if all you hear is Adrian, Then so what? You Must hear God, not that I'm God. But God takes his word. And God will speak to your heart.
You have a rama. A word from the word, God is speaking to you. That's the reason the Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 1 and verse 12, I know whom I have believed. He didn't say, I know in whom I have believed. I've believed him.
Faith is believing God. You must have faith. that hears God.
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 7, by faith, Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet, he had 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 of faith.
Now Do you know what is wrong with this generation today? May I tell you in a sentence, there's no fear of God in this generation. I'm going to read an extended passage of scripture. From Romans chapter 3. I'm going to begin in verse 10 and I'm going to read through verse 18.
And I want you to listen to this description that I'm going to read to you. And I want you to compare it with society today in America. Listen to it. As it is written, There's none righteous, no, not one. There's none that understandeth, there's none that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good, no not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues, they have used deceit.
The poison of asps is under their lips. whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known. And now verse 18.
There is no fear of God. before their eyes. All of the above Is a description of a generation that does not fear God.
Now put this verse down. Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 19. Thine own wickedness shall correct thee. and thy backsliding shall reprove thee.
Now God doesn't have to judge us, we judge ourselves. Listen, thine own wickedness shall correct thee. And thy backsliding shall reprove thee. Know, therefore, and see that it is an evil thing and bitter. That thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is.
is not in thee. Saith the Lord of hosts. 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. I want to mention to you nine things that the fear of God will do for you.
Nine things. I'm going to give you the scriptures very quickly. And here's the lead scripture. Proverbs 22, verse 4, by humility and fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life.
Now let me mention some of the riches, the honor, and the life that comes by fear. First of all, godly living. Proverbs 16, 6. By mercy and truth, iniquity is purged, and by the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil. By the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil.
Therefore, godly living. Number two, godly knowledge. Proverbs 1:7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning. of knowledge.
But fools despise wisdom and destruction.
Next, Godly wisdom. Proverbs 9.10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Godly contentment. Proverbs 15 verse 16, Better is little with the fear of the Lord.
then great treasure and trouble. There with.
Next. Godly worship. Psalm 5, 7, But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy, and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple. This morning we ought to be worshiping God. in his fear.
And godly salvation comes through fear. Psalm 85 verse 9, Surely His salvation is nigh unto them that fear Him. That glory may dwell in our land. And godly confidence is in the fear of the Lord. Proverbs 14 verse 26, In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence, and his children shall have a place of refuge.
Godly insight comes from the fear of the Lord. Psalm 25 verse 14, The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. And he will show them his covenant. Godly deliverance comes from the fear of the Lord. Psalm 33 verses 18 and 19, Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine.
Now In my study, I found many more verses. that dealt with the amenities and the felicities and the blessings of fear. Noah Was a man of faith. Because he feared The Lord, listen to it again. By faith, Noah, being warned of God, of things not seen as yet.
moved with fear. Prepared an art. The mark of a society on its last legs is when there is no fear. of God. God gave Noah a word of warning.
But now here's the second thing I want you to see. not only the warning that his faith believed. But I want you to see the work. That is faith achieved. Having heard from God.
He got busy.
Now look again in Hebrews 11 and verse 7. 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, verse 20. But wilt thou not know, O 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.
Warren Wisby, a great Bible teacher, said faith is obeying God in spite of circumstances or consequences.
Now, if you work without faith, that is presumption. If you have faith without work, that is pretense. Faith and work is power. Faith without works is dead. True faith is more than intellectual belief.
It is belief with legs on it. It's not what you eat. It's what you digest that makes you strong. It's not what you gain. It's what you save that makes you rich.
It's not what you read, but what you remember that makes you learned. It's not what you preach. But what you practice that makes you a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. 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. I mere doctrinal faith. It is not a practical living faith that is obeying God and your children see the difference. Two men in the Bible.
who are contrasted in my mind One is Noah and the others Lot. Lot is one of the most miserable creatures in the Bible, and yet he was a saved man. You can read about Lot in Genesis chapter 19. Lot moved into Sodom, the most vile, wicked city on the face of the earth. And he pitched his tent towards Sodom, soon became ingratiated with the people of Sodom, began to live in the fellowship of the Sodomites.
I got a place uh in uh the political office there. In Sodom. God told Lot, and God warned Lot as God had warned Noah. God said, I'm going to destroy this place, Lot. Get your children, get your family, get out of here.
just as God had warned Noah to get his family. The Bible says that Lot, this backslidden, miserable, so-called Christian, went witness to his sons-in-law. They laughed at him. They mocked him because they'd seen the way that he lived. He got his wife.
The angel said, get your wife and get out of here and flee. Lot's wife was so filled with her love For that wicked, vile, worldly city that she turned around and was destroyed, turned into a pillar of salt. He took his daughters up into the mountains. And their lot became drunk and his... had an incestuous relationship with his daughters.
Can you imagine that? Lot had a saved soul, but he lost his family. I don't want to go to heaven without all my children. And my grandchildren. Friend, I want all of my children in the ark.
Noah, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his household.
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 have forgive me? Just forgive me. I'm a Christian, but I've been a poor example. They'll be watching you for a while. They say, Yeah, 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 am 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 5, 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 the Now here's the 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 witch. He condemned the world. He was a man. that live 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 6, verses 5 and 6 tells 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 plying 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 4 verse 17 says, And Cain to his wife and she conceived and bare Enoch and he built a city. Built a city. I mean, not the people that had houses. Here's a man like Donald Trump. He's built 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 6 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 and all of that. Think of the violence today. against the unborn. Let me tell you something that ought to break your heart. Peter Senga.
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's 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. It's 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's 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 superior to a dog or cat or An antelope. Or chimpanzee, you're a speciesist.
Well, you say that's some loony tom. For in that is a professor at Princeton. Days of social playings. Days of sexual perversion. Genesis 6, verse 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 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.
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 I 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 3. And verse 7. The house of Israel will not hearken unto thee.
for they will not hearken unto me. And I thought, oh God, thank you for showing me this. He said, the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee. For they have not hearkened 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, verse 5. And they. Whether they will hear or whether they will forbear, yet shall they know there hath been a prophet among them. You say you are. God said, were they here or not?
They will know. There hath been a prophet among them. That's what it means when it says, and Noah. When he preached Condemn 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 is 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, Hebrews 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 6 and verse 8, 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 art. I don't know where he got his resources. But I have an idea they'd put everything into the ark.
Yeah. Maybe when Noah Put that last nail in the ark. That was all he had. And he went into the ark. A pauper.
When we 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. Yeah. 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. No one.
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 had been shut into the Lord Jesus Christ. The ark was sealed on the inside and 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.
of a wonderful Saviour. May I ask 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 saved. 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 doors 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 lift 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.
If you would like to learn more about how you can know Jesus or deepen your relationship with him, simply click the Discover Jesus link on our website, lwf.org. For a copy of this message or additional resources, visit our online store at lwf.org or call 1-800-274-5683. Thank you.
