Noah: The Obedience of Faith, Part 2

It's measured by life, not lips. Walk, not talk.

It's measured by what you do. The Bible calls it walking by faith. Dr. Tony Evans talks about the importance of doing what God has told us to do. If the feet are not moving in the work of obedience, there is no faith.

It doesn't come alive. Celebrating 40 years of faithfulness, this is The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, author, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president of the Urban Alternative. When God gives us our marching orders, the idea is to start marching. But Dr. Evans says that's not always what we do, and today he'll explain why busyness is no substitute for obedience.

Let's join him. Many of us have a dried-up faith. It's not robust. It's not alive.

It's not vibrant. James puts it this way. Faith without works is dead. He says in James chapter 2 verse 14, he talks about a useless faith.

He talks about a faith that's not working. It's not active. It's dry. It's sterile. It's not producing anything.

There's no life to it. You activate your faith by your works of obedience. It is the work of obedience that ignites the reality of faith so that you see the invisible enter into the visible, which is what faith does. It grabs the invisible and brings it into the visible, for faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, Hebrews 11 verse 1 says. Now remember, faith is not founded on how you feel. You can feel no faith and be full of faith. You can feel like you're full of faith and have no faith, because faith is measured by foot traffic. It's measured by life, not lips, walk, not talk.

It's measured by what you do. The Bible calls it walking by faith. It's movement. If there is no movement, you can shout, you can clap, you can scream, you can holler, you can flip a pew, and you have no faith, because if the feet are not moving in the work of obedience to which God has commanded you, there is no faith.

It doesn't come alive. And so the invisible is not seen in the visible. One of the great Old Testament illustrations is Noah. One verse is given to him in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 7, and here's what it says. By faith Noah, being warned of God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. We're introduced to Noah as the illustration of faith at work. In Genesis 6 verse 9, these are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time. Noah walked with God. Verse 11 of Genesis 6, now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. Then God said to Noah, the end of all flesh has come, for the earth is filled with violence because of them, and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood. You got to be kidding me.

You got to be kidding me. God talks to him, I'm going to destroy the world, and I want you to make a boat. Now let me explain something. Hebrews 11, 7 says that Noah built an ark when he hadn't seen anything, meaning he had never seen a flood. It hadn't rained up to this point because the earth was warded from underneath. So God is warning him about something he's never seen. He lives a hundred miles away from an ocean.

What in the world do you build a boat a hundred miles from the water you got to put the boat on? So let me give you a secret. Shh, don't tell anybody I told you this. When God is close enough to you to speak to you, and what he tells you is weird, makes absolutely no sense, let me get ready to do something big. The weirder God gets in leading you, the bigger the thing is he's involved with.

He's going to destroy the whole world. He tells Noah, build a boat on dry land, even though you've never seen rain, you don't know what a flood is, and trust me. Let me tell you how big this boat is, because God gives the measurements in the chapter. To use our foot and yard measurements, the measurements God gives in the chapter for the ark is one and a half football fields long. That's how big the ark is.

One and a half football fields long, it is four stories high, so it's higher than this church building. And it took him 120 years to build it. Scripture says 120 years. Some of you been saying, I've been waiting on God for a long time, and I ain't seen it rain yet. I haven't seen a flood yet.

I haven't seen anything yet. But what we find out in the Scripture is it says that Noah, as soon as God told him, verse 22 of Genesis 6, thus Noah did according to all that God had commanded him, so he did. Now let me tell you what we do. We do some of what God tells us to do. To walk by faith involves completing what God tells you to do. The work He's called you to, the obedience He's demanded of you. But remember, that obedience is coming because you're walking with Him. If you're not walking with Him and told to obey Him, obedience becomes an irritation. If you're walking with Him, obedience becomes a natural outgrowth. That's why some people like obeying God and some people hate obeying God, even though they may be doing the outward thing. They may hate obeying God because they haven't been walking with God. The folks who love obeying God are the folks who are walking with God.

So you need your walk to appreciate the obedience, even when the obedience doesn't make sense. I'm reminded of Peter. You remember? Peter. God told Peter, Peter, cast your net on the other side of the boat.

I think we're gonna get some fish. Guess what Peter said? Jesus. Come on now, Jesus. Come on now. Okay, I am part of the Zebedee Fishing Corporation.

Okay, I've been doing this all my life. We have fished all night and caught nothing. They're not biting. So Jesus, you stick to preaching. Let me take care of the fish. I know fishing, you know preaching. I ain't gonna tell you how to preach. Don't you tell me how to fish. I know fish.

And so it's not working. Jesus said, just humor me. Throw the net on the other side of the boat.

He said, all right, let me humor you. Throws the net on the other side of the boat. So many fish go into the net. The nets are about to break.

The boat is about to sink. And he fell before God and said, I am a sinful man, because I questioned your knowledge. But let me give Peter a compliment. Peter has some major questions about whether Jesus knew what he's talking about, but he obeyed. His faith was in his obedience in spite of how he felt about it.

How he felt about it could have kept him from throwing the net, but he didn't let how he felt about it stop him from throwing the net. He threw the net anyway, and even a little bit of faith brought him a big blessing. So even if you doubt God, even if you question, even though it doesn't make sense, throw the dumb net. The work of faith is the obedience, and the more it doesn't make sense, the more chaotic it seems, the more insane God looks is the bigger thing he has in store. Noah exercised faith when he went out and chopped down the first gopher wood tree. And he was gonna spend 120 years obeying God without seeing anything. I don't know this, but I'm sure there had to be days when he's saying, I'm tired of chopping trees.

I'm tired of putting this thing together, this huge boat on dry land. But not only that, guess what 2 Peter says? 2 Peter says that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. It talks about this, 2 Peter 2.5, 1 Peter 3.20. Noah is a preacher of righteousness.

So watch this now. Noah is chopping down trees during the day, because he has to work during the day to see what he's doing, and he's going to town to preach at night. Now, he only got a three-word sermon. It's gonna rain. It's gonna rain. God told me to tell you it's gonna rain. They said, what's rain? All I know is, you know, wet stuff coming down, and it's gonna rain. God told me to tell you it's gonna rain.

They talk about looking like a fool. He worked and he witnessed. Like Edith before, he proclaimed his faith.

He was not a secret agent Christian, a spiritual CIA representative, a covert operative. Everybody else is going public with their lifestyle, how they believe, what you so silent about. You have the most rank stuff being televised to your children and my children on television, all kind of vulgarity, gay lifestyles being paraded around us, and we are silent.

If they can show their view, I'm not going to keep quiet on mine. Paul says, I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. If you can put placards on your car, placards on your lawn about who you're voting for in the election, then why are you an undecided voter when it comes to standing up and proclaiming your faith in Jesus Christ? It says he proclaimed his faith. In other words, on your job, if you were accused of being a follower of Christ, would there be enough evidence to convict you or would you be found innocent of all charges? He was crystal clear where he stood. The atheists aren't silent. The folks teaching your kids evolution and there is no God, they're not silent. So he worked by day, he witnessed by night, and he walked with God.

That's how he rolled. Dr. Evans says we don't see much of Noah's brand of obedience these days, and he'll tell us more about that in a moment when he continues this message from his current series, Heroes of the Faith. This two-volume, 13-lesson collection explores what it's like to really live out the conviction that God can be trusted as we make the discovery that real faith is more than a matter of just what we believe.

Find out how ordinary people like us can live extraordinary lives by doing exactly what some of the most famous characters in the Bible did, act as though God is telling the truth. And for a limited time, when you make a financial contribution to help support Tony's outreach here on this station, we'd like to say thank you by sending you the Heroes of the Faith collection on CD and digital download along with Tony's just-released book and Bible study that go hand in hand with this series, Kingdom Heroes. You can be one of the first to receive this new book, so don't miss out. Visit us today at tonyevans.org to make the arrangements for getting this powerful package of resources in your hands. Again, that's tonyevans.org, or call us day or night at 1-800-800-3222, and let one of our resource team members help you. Dr. Evans will be back with more of today's lesson right after this.

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tonyevanstraining.org. Explore the kingdom anytime, anywhere. Hebrews 11 says, he prepared his ark in reverence. Reverence, that's a worship word, awe to awe God, to fear God.

You know, you remember that old whistle while you work? He worshiped while he worked. So he out there chopping down gov'tries, I praise you. I give you glory. I don't see no rain, but I'm praising you. I'm giving you glory. I'm putting up this wood just like you told me, and I'm going to bless your name in the middle of the work, even though I don't see any results of the work.

I don't see what you're doing. I'm going to give you glory. You worship while you work. He says he built his ark in reverence, and then it says, he built the ark for the salvation of his family, because a job of a real man is to save his family. The job of a kingdom man is to save his family. Kingdom men don't walk away from their family, don't abandon their children, don't sit home while she goes to work, and he does nothing.

No, no, no. He was out working. He was out working, and it was clear that if nobody else bleeds me, I'm going to make sure my family bleeds me. I'm going to make sure my wife's walking with me. I'm going to make sure my children walking with me, because a real man delivers his family even if nobody else bleeds him.

So Noah built the boat, and he saved his family. I remember going out one day, 17 years old, so I'm up a teenager. I said, Dad, I'm going out with some friends. I'll be back about 1230.

He said, no, you will be back by 1130, or else you won't get in, because I ain't going to be sitting up here all night worrying about where you are and all that stuff. I ain't doing all that. But I said, but Dad, my friends, your friends, as soon as your friends start feeding you, clothing you, paying the electric bill, paying the house note, then you can bring up your friends.

But as long as they ain't taking care of you, they're not dictating to you. You can't walk with your Heavenly Father and let everybody else dictate to you because they're your friends. You're walking with God.

And it says, and by His walk, He condemned the world, Hebrews 11 says, He condemned the world with His work and His witness. Noah was given instruction without knowing how God was going to pull it off. How are we going to get all the animals into the ark? In fact, God, you asked me to build an ark, and of all the instructions you gave me, you gave me nothing related to navigation. So how do I know where I'm going? In fact, how am I even going to get to water? Because He didn't know how all this was going to work. How is all this going to work? How am I going to get enough food to feed all these animals for 40 days and 40 nights? God may not give you all the information, but do the work of obedience He's called you to do until He shows you how He plans to pull it off.

Okay? You remember Martha and Mary, Lazarus died. Lazarus is put in the tomb. There's a stone over the tomb. Jesus comes to the tomb, says, Martha, move the stone. Get you guys, tell them, move the stone.

Martha said, he's been dead four days and he stinks. Jesus says, I did not ask for you instructions in mortuary science. I didn't ask you all that. I just told you move the stone. I just told you obey me and do the work I called you to do, even though it doesn't make sense.

It seems ridiculous. Move the stone. And then He says, didn't I say to you, you would not see until you believe. You believe with your feet, not with your feelings.

So I don't care how much doubt you have. Get your feet moving the right way and you're moving in faith. Don't wait for the emotions. Emotions are the caboose. Your obedience is the engine.

And the reason why we're not seeing more of God in the unseen, back to the seen, is our feet are moving in the wrong direction. All of a sudden, it became clear that the one man was right and the civilization was wrong. Okay? It became crystal clear.

It took a while. I know some of you want to give up. Some of you want to quit. You're trying to live the Christian life. Nobody's buying it. Nobody's believing it. Maybe ladies, guys are rejecting you because you won't compromise your standards.

Maybe folks are leaving you because you won't hang out with them and do what they're doing. And yes, you're going to, but there is coming a day when God will make it inextricably clear where He stands. And if you're walking with God, He's standing with you. And there came a day when they begin to realize Noah's walk with God was the truth, their rebellion against God was a lie, and they found it out too late, because the floods came. The Bible declares that one day Jesus is coming back. It says, as it was in the days of Noah, shall it be when the Son of Man returns. We are seeing the days of Noah right before us. We're seeing the demonic possession. We're seeing the compromise of values. We're seeing the rebellion against God. We're seeing the dismissing of God from the culture. We are in the days of Noah. The Bible says, when you see those days, look up, your redemption draweth nigh. You will be the one who will be good.

And I love this, I'll just mention this. It says that he had to seal the boat with pitch. Pitch keeps the water from getting into the boat.

It's a sealant. He sealed the boat with pitch. The Hebrew word for pitch is the root word for atonement. So he sealed the boat with the atonement of pitch. Guess why you're gonna be saved for eternity?

You're gonna be saved for eternity because the Hebrew word for pitch is atonement, and the blood of Jesus Christ seals the eternal destiny of anyone who comes to God by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. And so Jesus is your ark of safety. God has an ark for you to build. He's waiting on you to obey, and to obey Him completely, not partially. If God says, do this and you only have done this much, He won't move. He will not move until obedience has been completed, until faith has been fully exercised. That's why you better hang out with somebody who does have faith.

When you don't have faith, grab a hold of their faith, ride their backs until it's transferred to you, because God has integrity and He can be trusted even though He's confusing at times. Dr. Tony Evans will be back in a moment to close out today's program with a lesson we can learn from one of his favorite classic TV shows. First though, if you'd like to get a full-length copy of today's message to review on your own or share with a friend or family member, you can find it at tonyevans.org. But even better, today's message is one small part of the complete two-volume, 13-lesson collection from Tony's study of Heroes of the Faith, and the entire series is available to you on CD or digital download as our gift when you make a contribution to support the Urban Alternatives Ministry. Right now for a limited time, we're even including Tony's just-released book and companion Bible study, Kingdom Heroes, along with each copy of the Heroes of the Faith series that goes out. All you need to do is request it when you make your donation.

It's easy to do. There's a link right on our home page for this special offer, so make a point of visiting us today at tonyevans.org to make the arrangements, or you can call our 24-hour resource center at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our team members help you. That's 1-800-800-3222. One of the toughest things to do in the Christian life is nothing, to wait patiently on God and trust Him while we do. Tomorrow Dr. Evans will talk about how we can learn that skill by taking a look at the life of Abraham. Right now though, he's back with this final story.

One of the old television shows I love was simply called Early Edition. It was this man who got tomorrow's newspaper today. He got tomorrow's newspaper today. So he saw what was coming the day before it came. Because he had the early edition, the day before the actual event, he could do things to make changes because he knew what was coming tomorrow. Noah knew what was coming tomorrow. He walked in light of it today. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you know where this thing is going. So why don't we walk with God today so that we can hear His voice, be prepared for what He wants to do in this life, and reward us in the next life? Because like Noah, we walked with God, saved our families, condemned the world, and then it closes by thing, and He became the heir. He was the beneficiary, because His family was saved and protected. May God help us as a church collectively, as individuals personally, to be known not for our buildings, not for our program, not for our resources, and all that's good, but to be known for one dominant fact, that those folks walk with God. May that be what we're really known for. The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by The Urban Alternative, celebrating 40 years of faithfulness thanks to the generous contributions of listeners like you.