Build your ark before it rains

Build your ark before it rains

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  Build Your ArkBefore It Rains! 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.
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  How many ofyou here tonight can tell me the story of Noah’s Ark? ▪ A few weeks back on Sunday night we asked the question, “Noah’s ark: fact or fiction?” and today we want to now move on to how this story should & must change our lives for the better! ▪ It is important to understand that there is much more to this story than just the big boat & the animals! ▪ Tonight we are going to be focusing on Heb. 11:7 and Noah’s faith in God!
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  We find Noahmenitioned three times in the New Testament! Heb. 11:7; 1 Pet. 3:20 & 2 Pet. 2:5 ▪ Noah is used three times as an example of faithfulness! ▸Hebrews chapter eleven is often called “the chapter of faith or hall of faith!” ▸We find in each of these verses that it was Noah’s faith in God that brought about his deliverance! ▪ Tonight we will see that it is also our faith in God that will/wont bring our deliverance!
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  I. Noah WasWarned! “By faith Noah, being warned of God!” ▪ We should understand that things had gotten really bad in Noah’s day! ▸Even being in the worst state the world has even been in, Noah feared God more than man! –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. ▪ When everyone was walking against God, Noah was walking with God! (Gen. 6:9)
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  God warns Noah’and he heeds the warning! Gen 6:13 And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark ▪ Some scholars believe it had never even rained before the flood! ▸Gen 2:6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. ▸If this was the case or not, one thing for sure, it had never rained like it was about to! ▪ When Noah was warned about the flood he didn’t question it, he simply obeyed!
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  II. We AreWarned! ▪ The Day of the Lord is coming! God’s judgment upon the wicked has not been forgotten! ▸2Pe 3:9,10 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
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  The question is,“will we like Noah, heed the warning?” ▪ One day we will all answer for the lives we have lived! ▸ 2Cor 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. ▸ Rom 14:10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
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  III. Noah WasMoved! “By faith Noah, being warned of God ... moved with fear!” ▪ Noah took the warning seriously & was moved to action! ▸ This was nothing new with Noah, he was one that “walked with God!” (Gen. 6:9 cf. 5:22-24 Enoch) ▪ Now the work wouldn’t be easy, no chain saw, no logging truck, but he had something “better!” ▸ He had God walking with him and that is all he needed!
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  IV. We Mustbe Moved! ▪ If I was to ask you today, “who wants to help me build an ark?” Would any of you volunteer? ▸Yet we have cars, stores to buy supplies, far more advance technology and yet it would “still” be big project! ▪ Are we moved to obedience? The Bible declares that it is only those that obey the Lord that will be saved! ▸Mt.7:-21-23 “he that doeth the will of My Father” ▸Heb. 5:9 “author of salvation to all that obey” ▸2 Thess. 1:8 “flaming fire on them that know not God & obey not the gospel”
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  V, Noah WasPrepared! “By faith Noah, being warned of God ... moved with fear, prepared an ark!” ▪ As soon as Noah received the command by God, he Immediately got to work! ▪ Wouldn’t it be nice is all of God’s children would learn to do this? ▪ Noah didn’t know when the flood was coming, but he did know that a flood was coming! ▸He understood that there was work to be done, so he gets started!
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  VI. We MustPrepare! ▪ Are we prepared to do the will of the Lord? Are we Immediately ready when called upon? ▪ When the Lord comes, will He find us asleep or watching and ready? ▸ In Mk. 13:33-37 four times we are told to “watch!” – Mk. 13:33 “take heed, watch & pray” – Mk. 13:34 “command to watch” – Mk. 13:35 “Watch therefore, not when” – Mk. 13:37 “I say to all, watch”
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  VII. Noah WasSaved! “By faith Noah, being warned of God ... moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house!” ▪ There are no less than four key terms found in this verse! ▸Warned ▸Moved ▸Prepared ▸Saved ▪ This can all be summed up in how this verse begins & ends “Faith!”
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  If Noah didn’theed the warning, he wouldn’t have be moved to obey, he wouldn’t had prepared, and he wouldn’t have been saved! ▪ Truly Noah got it right! ▸1Pe 3:20-21 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
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  VIII. We Canbe Saved! ▪ If we will heed the warning, be moved to obey, prepare for His coming, then we too will be saved! ▸ 1Pe 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: ▪ I have often wondered how many would get ready if a great flood like Noah’s was coming? How many would sell their homes and buy boats, but how many are ready for the Lord’s coming?
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  Conclusion: ▪ I wouldlike to end by encouraging you to “build your ark before it rains!” ▪ If you are here tonight and not yet a Christian, then today is the day, tomorrow maybe too late! ▪ One must “hear” (Rom. 10:17) “believe” (Jn. 8:24) “repent” (Act. 17:30) “confess” (Rom. 10:10) and “be baptized” (Act. 2:38) ▪ If you are a Christian, then I ask you “are you sure you are ready for the flood that is coming?”