Noah's Faith

In our last message, we saw two examples of faith lived out. We saw the example of Abel who gave an acceptable sacrifice to God, was murdered, and so became an enduring testimony to God’s people. We also saw the example of Enoch who walked with God and then was rescued from death.

These men, along with the rest of the list in Hebrews 11, are examples of the principles of Hebrews 11:6. This is verse you might want to mark in your Bible because of how foundational it is. Hebrews 11:6 says—And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

“Without faith it is impossible to please God.” In other words, faith is not just one way to please God; it is the only way. Faith is the non-negotiable ingredient in walking with God. If there is no genuine faith, then God will not be pleased with your life, and all you will get from Him is eternal judgment. At the core of a life that pleases God, there is not external rituals or duties; the heart of walking with God is a confident trust in what He has revealed to us.

This is the way God’s people have lived ever since the beginning. Faith is essential.

Some people have this idea that under the New Covenant, God cares about faith and He shows us grace, but under the Old Covenant, some say, salvation came by obedience to the Law. That’s not true. That’s not how God operates with sinful man. His grace toward, and acceptance of, sinful man has always come through faith. That hasn’t changed.

What has changed is the level of revelation that is required for us to place our faith in. As time went on, generations came to know more about God and His promises, and that additional information was a requirement for genuine faith.

At first, Adam and Eve knew that God has promised a redeemer to defeat Satan and undo the effects of sin and death on the world. Over time, God’s promises came more and more into focus. God’s people came to understand more of how God was going to redeem the world.

The object of saving faith has always been God Himself. But the content of our faith has come more and more into focus, and the specific expression of that faith has also adjusted. Salvation has always come by faith in God. This was a faith that God was holy and righteous, and yet He would bring to sinful man a redemption.

Today, we know that that redemption has come through the line of Abraham, through the line of David, all the way to the coming of Jesus Christ. He was the once-for-all sacrifice paying for the sins of His people and rising again in victory.

Old Testament saints didn’t fully understand that. In fact, 1 Peter says the prophets searched and studied. That wanted to know through whom and at what time God’s final salvation would be manifest. They didn’t know the full truth, but they didn’t reject it either.

Today, if someone rejects the truth of Jesus Christ, they do not have genuine faith. God has revealed His message to us, and to come to Him in faith means we accept what he has told us. We trust in a Savior who lived a perfect life, who died a sacrificial death, who had a victorious resurrection, and will have a glorious return for final judgment and salvation.

Christ’s return for the redemption of the world and His people is the bulk of the reward mentioned at the end of verse 6. It’s not enough to simply believe that God exists. It’s not enough to obey Him simply out of fear or duty. It has to a faith tied to His goodness. He is a God who rewards those who seek Him.

This faith in the goodness and kindness of God is what Abel expresses when he brought His sacrifice to God. It’s what Enoch expressed as He walked with God. It’s what’s expressed in the parable of the prodigal son. He wastes his father’s money, but he is confident that his father will take him back. That’s the goodness of God who receives all who come to Him in repentance.

This morning, we’re only going to look at one more example from Hebrews 11, and that is Noah, who comes to us in verse 7. Hebrews 11:7 says—By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

The end of the verse tells us about God’s reward to Him. He inherited the righteousness that comes by faith. It doesn’t mean he became instantly righteous in himself. We know that’s not what happened because even after the flood, we read about Noah falling into sin. But still, Noah inherited the righteousness that comes by faith. That means he was declared by God to be righteous.

This is what the Apostle Paul talks about in Philippians 3, where he says that all his great, human, religious credentials meant nothing compared to knowing Christ—because by gaining Christ, Paul says, he gains a righteousness, not from himself or from the law, but a righteousness that comes from God through faith in Christ.

Noah didn’t know about Jesus’ death and resurrection—that hadn’t been revealed yet—but he had genuine faith in God, and just like with us, because of faith, God credited to Him the sacrifice of Christ to pay for his sins and the righteousness of Christ enabling Him to draw near to God.

How do we know that Noah’s faith was genuine? Tied to that, how do we know that the faith of any of us is genuine? This one-verse description of Noah’s life gives us two answers to that question. We see two expressions, or results, of genuine faith.

The first expression, simply, is obedience to the word. Obedience to the word. True faith will result in obedience.

Verse 7 tells us that Noah was warned about “events as yet unseen.” There’s a little debate as to whether or not the people had seen rain up to this time, but, for sure, no one had ever seen a flood so massive that there was nowhere on earth to hide. Up to this point, there had never been a global flood.

God said to Noah, Genesis 6:14—Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. [15] This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits.

Then God says, “Make a roof for it, put a door in the side, and give it three decks within.”

Normally, a cubit is understood to be 18 inches long, which was a measurement from the tip of your elbow to the tip of your middle finger, but there is something known as a “royal” cubit which was used for large ancient structures, and that was just over 20 inches. This would put the ark in the range of 450-510 feet long (137-155 meters).

The Ark Encounter in Kentucky uses the longer cubit, so the replica they’ve built there is 510 feet long. They say that the interior space can hold up to 450 semi-trailers. It is a massive structure.

The Bible doesn’t say exactly how long it took Noah to build the ark, but the end of Genesis 5 says Noah was over 500 when he had his sons, and he was 600 when the rain started. So, for the better part of a century, Noah is building this massive boat.

But the author of Hebrews doesn’t draw our attention to the size of the ark, but rather to the response of Noah. God said to build, and he did for decades. It says, “in reverent fear [he] constructed an ark for the saving of his household.” Noah heard God’s word, and he obeyed “in reverent fear.”

That is a description of every single person who has come to genuine faith in Jesus Christ. There is a reverent fear of God that leads us to obey His word. If someone says they believe in Jesus, but there is no change in their life, and no desire to obey Him, then he/she hasn’t really been converted. True faith will come with true repentance.

This is a truth taught by the Old Testament and by Jesus and His Apostles. The fruit of saving faith is a changed way of thinking, a changed life.

The prophet Isaiah, for example, in chapter 55 says, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

Jesus, in Matthew 7:21, says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

In Luke 6:46, Jesus asks, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? [47] Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them [he is the wise man who will be saved.]”

Later, in John 14, He adds, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. … Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father. … If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

And lastly, in John 15, Jesus proclaims, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. … You are my friends if you do what I command you.”

Jesus didn’t mean that we have to be perfectly obedient to win our salvation. He was saying that if you truly belong to Him, the direction and the pattern and the trajectory of your life will be one of obedience to His word. Obedience is what it means to call Jesus “Lord.” He is our Master.

And this is what the rest of the New Testament teaches as well. If the pattern of your life is not one of obedience to God’s word, then there is no fruit, no evidence, that salvation has taken place.

In James 2, we’re told that faith without works is dead. That kind of faith doesn’t save. Faith is demonstrated through action, through obedience.

The first epistle of John states it over and over. If you want something to read this week, read 1 John, and notice how many times he says that genuine salvation will be marked by obedience. If we walk in darkness, we don’t know God. If we don’t walk in love, we don’t know God. You know you’ve come to salvation if you keep His commandments.

This principle doesn’t just help confirm our salvation, it also motivates us in our sanctification. Walking in faith mean growing in our obedience to God.

This is how we’re supposed to be encouraging one another as brothers and sisters. Where do you struggle? How are you falling? How can I help you obey? How can you help me obey? How can we, as a church, grow in obedience to God, as an expression of our faith?

God isn’t telling you today, that you need to build a giant boat. But He has already told us how we are to obey Him, right? And He continues to tell us as we study His word.

We need to trust in Christ. We need to pursue purity and holiness. We need to confess and repent when we fall. We need to depend on another and build one another up and serve one another. We need to live in unity. We need to pray. We need to make Christ known.

Genuine faith will produce obedience to the word, and we should all work to see that happen in our own lives and in one another’s.

Let’s move on now to the second expression of faith. The first is obedience to the world; the second is condemnation of the world. Condemnation of the world.

Obedience to God’s word is rooted both in reverent fear and in joyful hope. But the contrast to that hope is the judgment that is coming upon the rest of the world.

The end of Hebrews 11:7 tells us that by His obedience Noah “condemned the world.” He was saving his family, and, at the same time, he was condemning the world.

In expressing his faith in the goodness of God to save him, Noah was also expressing his faith that everyone outside the ark was going to die. And that is similar to our faith today, right? It’s not a popular message, and this is not an easily-received message, but it is the message of the Bible.

By faith, we know that we will be saved, and we also know that God will glorify Himself by condemning forever those who have rebelled against His truth and have not turned to Him in faith.

Before telling Noah to build the ark, this is what God said to Noah in Genesis 6:13—I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

That term “violence” includes physical violence, but it can also include any kind of wrongdoing or injustice. God’s law is being broken. Justice and righteousness are not being upheld anywhere on earth, and that is why God decides to bring judgment on the earth. He is basically going to start all over again with Noah’s family, just like He did with Adam and Eve.

During all those years, as the ark was being built, Noah wasn’t just thinking about his family’s salvation; he was also thinking about the destruction of the world.

Noah’s life is a reminder both of God’s mercy and God’s judgment. This is why Jesus uses it as an analogy in the New Testament. Jesus said that His coming would be just like the days of Noah. People will be going about their lives, giving no care to God at all, but then judgment will come upon them.

Second Peter 2:5 says that Noah was a “herald of righteousness” And 1 Peter 3 says that his generation “did not obey when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared.”

This wasn’t some innocent generation. This was a world that deserved the coming condemnation, and Noah understood that. He preached to them repentance, but they would not respond. They wouldn’t listen. They wouldn’t obey. And judgment was coming.

In condemning the world, Noah understood that he was not like them. He was different. His lifestyle was different, and his eternal destiny was different.

You and I are supposed to be living with the exact same mindset. We celebrate the goodness and mercy of God that will save us, and we also know where this world is headed. By faith, we condemn this world. We’re not the ones who bring condemnation. But we are the ones who proclaim it, on behalf of the Lord.

Jesus and the Apostles had no issues with warning the people of coming judgment. Most of us know John 3:16 which says that whoever believes in the Son will have eternal life. But that eternal life is in contrast to perishing eternally. Two verses later, John 3:18, we’re told this—Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

The reason 2 Peter 2 mentions Noah is to remind us that God’s judgment is coming. It says there—[9] The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, [10] and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

When Peter preached his first sermon in Acts 2, he ended by saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!” “Escape! Don’t let judgment come upon you! The Judge of all men is coming!” That’s the message this world needs to hear. And that’s the message we’re supposed to be preaching, by faith.

This culture goes through life with its eyes closed. People don’t see their sin, and they don’t accept a coming judgment, because they don’t see the holiness of God.

How many movies and TV shows and songs are filled with, or polluted by, immoral sexuality, degrading violence, or selfish desires? How many commercials do you have to watch before something comes on that dishonors God? How many clicks are you away on your phone or your computer from something that dishonors God?

If an American from 100 years ago could time travel to today, what would he think? What would a person from 1926 say about us now in 2026? Look at what people wear. Look at how people talk. Look at what’s on display all around us. Look at what our laws permit and our culture celebrates: gambling, digital prostitution, vulgar language, the murder and mutilation of children.

We live in a culture now where many don’t event know how to be ashamed. They call good evil, and evil good. This world is headed toward condemnation.

Part of the tragedy, however, is that this culture still pulls at us. It pulls at our sinful hearts. It allures us. It leads us to desire what we’re told to desire, rather than to value what God values.

By faith, we need to turn away, recognizing that these kinds of things bring condemnation.

In 2 Peter 2, in speaking about God’s coming judgment, it also mentions Sodom and Gomorrah, which is where Lot lived. Here’s what it says—By turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, [God] condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly

And it also tells us about Lot’s life. Remember, Lot lived among them. It says Lot was “greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard).

That’s what it’s like to live in world headed for condemnation. We preach the truth of Christ, and we feel the torment over the lawlessness around. There is a torment in how ugly it is, and also a torment because it’s still appealing to us, right? We’re living in a daily war against the world.

So, with a faith that calls to obedience to God’s word and a faith reminds us of the condemnation of the world, how do we live? I think 1 John 2:15-17 is a needed reminder. I’m going to close with these verses, and you’re welcome to turn there and mark it, if you like.

First John 2:15-17. The Apostle John says—Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. [16] For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. [17] And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

May God lead us to always do His will and turn away from the world in faith.