Episode Transcript
[00:00:16] Many years ago.
[00:00:18] Many years ago, I had the opportunity with. With my wife and my in laws to go to South Africa. Okay, so we got to go to South Africa, Florida. And on this mission trip, we're able to do a safari on the last day. Kids, I've got a question for you. Okay.
[00:00:35] Have any of you ever been in a situation by which you were so scared that your body shook?
[00:00:41] Okay, tell me what that was like for just a moment. Haddon.
[00:00:50] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They feel like jello, for sure. Sade.
[00:01:26] Yeah. Bad dreams can be scary, for sure. Kate and Adeline somebody.
[00:01:53] Those are pretty scary, for sure.
[00:02:16] Wow, that is crazy. Okay, all right, I want to hear the rest of the stories. Okay, so pull me aside after the service. Okay, so we got to go. We got to go to a safari. And in the safari, we got to actually walk into a lion's den. Okay. So being in the lion's den, there weren't mom and dad lions in this particular den, only baby lions. But a lion is a lion if you're standing next to it. Okay? So even a baby lion doesn't feel like what you would imagine. It's very scary. They're big. You could tell they're strong. They've got teeth. Okay. Like. And so the whole time Sidney and I were in this den, like, we felt a sense of reverence and being in the den. But what was crazy was that the lion trainers, the guys who worked with the lions all the time, they would come in and if the lions didn't do what they wanted them to do, they would actually whip the lions. So they had these, like, wooden sticks that they would actually, like, smack the back of the lions. And the whole time we're sitting there watching that, we're thinking, like, could we leave the den before you guys come in and just do that to the lions? Like, that doesn't seem like a wise thing to do.
[00:03:21] And the reason I share this with you is this.
[00:03:24] Sometimes this thing called familiarity, being very familiar with something that you've been around for a long time and you've heard about for a long time and you've encountered and you've never really experienced danger from this particular thing, that familiarity can actually lead us to danger.
[00:03:42] When you think you know something so much that you just don't really have anything to learn from it anymore, or you don't have to go into it with a sense of, oh, my goodness, this thing is massive. Like, that can actually lead to danger. And sometimes kids and adults, I think we do that with a story like the story of Noah.
[00:04:01] For many of us who are experienced in the church or maybe know a little bit about the Bible, you've heard the story of Noah maybe thousands of times.
[00:04:10] And the danger that you and I run into with a story like this, or anybody else in Hebrews chapter 11 for that matter, is this danger of familiarity that when you get to it, it's almost tempting to just gloss over it, isn't it, and just kind of lose the awe and the reverence of the story. And not just of the story, but of the reality that the God in the story of Noah is the same God who exists today.
[00:04:34] That. That God who did those amazing things through this man Noah, is the same God that lives today. He's the same God that's going to kids. He's the same God that's going to come back one day and make everything new.
[00:04:51] And this is the God that you're invited to follow and that we're invited to follow is the God of Noah. So I just want to walk through one verse, Hebrews 11:7, line by line, and talk about a few things that even though maybe many of us are familiar with the story, might be new to us so that we would leave this place refreshed. Does that make sense? Okay, so we want to be very careful when it comes to familiarity in the Bible. And rather than familiarity, what we want to do with the Bible is we want to go into it curiously.
[00:05:25] Even if you've read it a thousand times, you want to go into it curiously and say, holy Spirit, what do you want to teach me today?
[00:05:33] What do you want me to glean from this today? What do you want me to learn about you, God, from this text today? That by your grace and by the power of the spirit, I might come to know you more. That's what we want, right, is to be a church that knows and loves and treasures Jesus. That's what we want to do. That's like our main thing in everything that we do as a church. Whether you're here this morning and you don't have a relationship with God, or you're here this morning and you do have a relationship with God that we would by his grace come to know and treasure him more. Make sense? All right, Hebrews 11:7, let's look at a few things. And kids, any of you know where the story of Noah is found in the Old Testament?
[00:06:13] Okay, Hadn't. Since you answered the last one, I'm going to let Cade try this one. Okay? Cade, what did he say? That's excellent. Book of Genesis. So here's what I want you to do. Hold your place in Hebrews 11 and thumb back with me to Genesis chapter 6, all the way to the beginning of the Bible.
[00:06:32] We're seeing through this series in Hebrews 11 that all of the Bible is a story. It's one big story. It's not just a series of isolated books and stories, but it's all one big story that points to one amazing person. That's what the Bible's about. Okay, so he Genesis chapter 6. And I'm just going to read the first 10 verses so you can follow along with me. Genesis 6, 1, 10. This is the story of this man named Noah.
[00:07:00] It says, when man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them. The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were attractive, and they took as their wives any they chose.
[00:07:14] Then the Lord said, my spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh. His days shall be 120 years. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days. And also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.
[00:07:33] The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
[00:07:42] And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land. Man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them. But listen to this. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah. So there are a couple of things that I want for to point out before we talk about Noah through Hebrews 11, number one in this story and many, many, many years ago. Kids, can you say many years ago?
[00:08:17] Excellent. Many years ago. Many, many years ago. God brought judgment to the earth. And anybody know why God brought judgment to the earth? Kids?
[00:08:26] Yes, sir.
[00:08:29] People were being bad. That's on the people side of things. That's true. Dan, listen to this and I want you to repeat after me, okay? God brought judgment to the earth because God is good.
[00:08:43] Okay, listen. God will eradicate evil from the face of the earth because he is utterly good.
[00:08:52] The judgment of God in the Bible, anytime we see it, is an overflow of his goodness. And not to be apologized for It's a good thing that God looks upon the wickedness of the world and the evil of mankind and all the oppression and the violence and the genocide and the disease and says, I'm going to judge this because he's good. So many years ago, God brought judgment to the earth, but he did not eradicate all things, though he could have done that and been just and right and good to do it. What does he do? He he preserves a remnant.
[00:09:31] One man. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. So this is the context of Noah and many of you know what Noah did. God calls Noah to build a large boat, an ark. And he says, I'm going to flood the earth. Okay, so Noah spends many, many years building this ark. And then God fulfills, he keeps his promise. He brings waters upon the earth. Those waters rise, floods out everything, destroys everything. But Noah and his family are kept safe in the ark. This is a story of Noah and the ark. But what are some things maybe that even for the adults in the room, like maybe we've missed through the story of Noah? Hebrews 11:7 helps us with a few of these things. So number one, we're back in Hebrews 11:7 now. Number one, Hebrews 11:7 says or starts off by saying by faith Noah. Okay, so here's the first thing to keep in mind as it pertains to Noah. Okay? Number one, Noah was a dependent man. Can you guys say dependent? Kids?
[00:10:35] Okay, we're going to stay engaged. You guys are doing great. Noah was a dependent man. Okay, so listen to what, listen to what the text doesn't say.
[00:10:44] The text doesn't say by strength Noah, or by great intellect Noah, or by competency Noah. It doesn't say any of those things. The text says by faith Noah. Noah was a dependent man.
[00:11:03] In Genesis 9 after the flood, we read a story of Noah where he makes this terrible decision in his life.
[00:11:11] And so you can see that as evidence that Noah is just like you and I. There's nothing special about Noah in and of himself. It wasn't that Noah was a great, amazing, well put together man. He was not that. He was a sinner, just like you and I are sinners. And so it wasn't by his goodness that God commends him. It wasn't by his strength or his knowledge. It says by faith Noah. Noah was a truster in God.
[00:11:39] He trusted God.
[00:11:41] He wasn't a self dependent person.
[00:11:46] A self dependent person. Y'all think of it like this because we live in a very self dependent culture, very Independent culture. We want to do the work. We want to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, so to speak. A self dependent person is like bringing a sailboat out to sea and failing to acknowledge that you need the wind to blow it.
[00:12:06] That's what it means to kind of go through life and think that you're the one doing all the things, that you have enough power within yourself, that you have enough strength within yourself, that you're really the one moving things along. You know, you sleep most of your life away, right?
[00:12:22] And I do too. Sleep in and of itself ought to be a humbling reality for you and I, that we're not God.
[00:12:29] You're not the one holding everything together. You're not the one upholding all things.
[00:12:34] You're utterly dependent, and so am I. The problem that you and I have is that many of us will not receive that reality. We will not accept that reality. And so what we do instead is we choose to take our sailboat, take it out to sea, and then push ourselves along, thinking that that's gonna do the thing.
[00:12:55] We need God.
[00:12:57] And Noah recognized he needed God.
[00:13:01] He was a dependent man.
[00:13:04] Noah lived his life by God's grace, out of childlike trust in God. Kids, this is why God says that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as you as kids, because there's something about being childlike, that you just live dependently. Do you guys know what it means to live dependently?
[00:13:23] Okay, that means you're dependent upon your mom and dad for everything.
[00:13:27] Okay? And this is how Jesus is telling us that we're to live with God.
[00:13:32] We're dependent upon him for everything. We must fight against the temptation to think that you and I are in control.
[00:13:40] Okay, so Noah lived as a dependent man.
[00:13:43] Look at what the next the rest of the verse says.
[00:13:46] It says, being warned. So by faith, Noah being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen and reverent fear, constructed an ark. So the second thing to keep in mind about Noah is that Noah was an obedient man.
[00:14:00] Noah was a dependent man. Noah was also an obedient man. Meaning this. Noah understood that trust in God led to obedience and God's commands.
[00:14:12] Okay, so you can think about faith and works almost like two sides of the same coin.
[00:14:19] We know, many of us know, maybe you don't, that one is made right with God. And we'll talk about this more in a moment. One is made right with God by grace, through faith in Jesus alone, not by works, not by anything you do.
[00:14:33] But as an old theologian used to say, Faith alone saves. But faith that saves is never alone.
[00:14:42] Trust in God always produces a changed life. Jesus says, if you love me, you will obey my commands. Because an overflow of a trusting heart in God is one that's willing to do the things by the power of God that he commands us to do. Noah could have said, God, I trust you. I trust you, and not built the boat.
[00:15:06] And over time, that trust, even though it was professed in his mouth or out of his mouth, would have proven to be false.
[00:15:15] You think about the world by which this man lived. God says, construct an ark. I'm going to flood the earth and I'm going to destroy everything in the earth but you and your family. Okay, wow.
[00:15:26] Okay. So Noah. Noah hears this. God warns him that this is the judgment that he's going to bring upon the earth. And by the grace of God, Noah believes. And Noah's belief results in him saying, I'm going to build the boat, even though everybody else in the world must have been coming against him. We kind of draw this out from various texts in the Bible that talk about the state of the world at the time everybody else was coming against him. He lived very far from any body of water. So it wouldn't have made any sense for Noah to build a boat in the middle of nothing but land.
[00:15:56] Okay? None of it made sense. Noah knew the outcome because God had given him the outcome. But he didn't know the journey to attain the outcome. He didn't know what was going to consist of him getting there. And it involved a lot of suffering, Like, a lot of suffering.
[00:16:10] But Noah's faith, his trust in God, resulted in his obedience to God. James says this, and he couldn't be more clear. Friends, faith without works is dead.
[00:16:21] It's dead faith. It isn't a thing.
[00:16:26] I do this thing with my kids sometimes. They can attest to this. Trust falls. Anybody do trust falls?
[00:16:33] Maybe. Okay, all right. So you get somebody to. You get one of your kids. Parents. You get one of your kids to stand in front of you. And you stand back. Okay? Far enough for them to feel your distance, but close enough to catch them if they actually do the thing. And then you say, hey, I want you to just fall. I want you to fall backwards as straight as a board.
[00:16:50] Kids struggle to do it.
[00:16:53] Okay? And you can ask them all day, like, do you trust me? Yes. All right, then fall into me. And it's always but first. Right? Like that.
[00:17:02] And I think that that's a helpful illustration for us as it pertains to what it means to trust God.
[00:17:10] A trust in God must be childlike, empowered by the Spirit, resulting in us saying, yeah, I'm going to do the things that Jesus has called me to do by the power of his spirit, because I trust him. Those things don't save you, but their validation that your faith is a thing, that it's a living faith. Does that make sense?
[00:17:30] So being warned by God concerning events, as yet unseen and reverent fear, he constructed the ark. A few more here and we're going to be shorter today.
[00:17:38] Number three, it says he constructed the ark for the saving of his household. Can you guys say for the saving of his household?
[00:17:47] All right, for the saving of his household. So here's a third thing. Noah was a dependent man. He was an obedient man. He was. And the third thing is Noah prioritized those closest to him.
[00:17:58] This has been really convicting for me this week, and I really want to encourage you to listen.
[00:18:03] Noah prioritized those who were closest to him. Noah is said in 2nd Peter 2.5as to have been a preacher of righteousness, meaning that Noah preached to the world.
[00:18:17] Okay, we don't have all the details of how this worked itself out in Noah's day, but this ark was huge. Like, it would have attracted all sorts of people to come in and be like, what are you doing?
[00:18:30] There's no body of water anywhere. Like, what are you doing? And in the process, Noah's saying, a flood is coming and you're gonna die in it.
[00:18:39] You have to turn from your evil ways and enter the ark. You must do that. It's the only way. There's no other way.
[00:18:48] You must turn from your evil way and enter into the ark. You have to do this. And even though Noah preached to the world as a preacher of righteousness, it was his household first that he prioritized.
[00:19:00] So listen, I've been in ministry for 11 years and I can. I will full throatedly confess this, that the first three to five years of my marriage, I idolized ministry.
[00:19:13] Everything in my life was about how I can do the most ministry I could do, the biggest ministry I could have, reach the most people I could reach, and I would come home as a. I mean, essentially an emotionally dead man.
[00:19:29] Because my identity was being found in that season of my life as one who I am, who I am based on what I do for God.
[00:19:41] And that idolatry led me to neglect in some of the worst ways those who were closest to me, my own household.
[00:19:52] You want to know how many of the character Quality. How many of the qualifications for an elder, as mentioned in 1 Timothy 3, have to do with competency?
[00:20:00] 1.
[00:20:03] Everything else is about the man in his house and how he how he conducts himself in his life. It's about character.
[00:20:14] So Noah constructed an ark.
[00:20:17] Everybody was welcome to come.
[00:20:20] He called people to repentance, but he constructed an ark for the saving of what his household.
[00:20:31] Listen to this quote, friends from author Greg Morse from Desiring God.
[00:20:38] He says it betrays a man to worry about the refugee status of distant peoples in far off provinces, but not consider the health of those under his immediate care.
[00:20:48] The author isn't saying don't care about refugees. He's not saying that, but he's saying it's foolish to care, to spend all of our time doing these things outside of our walls, all the while neglecting those within them.
[00:21:07] He says we face a great temptation to care, in theory, about other people's homes while neglecting our own. Righteous Noah did not make this fatal mistake. When he heard about the impending flood he began holding. He began building with a trembling reverence toward God for the saving of his household.
[00:21:25] He sought to bring his own family into the ark before other families. Other sons and daughters, wives and grandchildren were welcomed if they heeded his preaching. But he began with what God had first assigned to him, his own household. He did not outsource their welfare to the local pastor or youth leader or to the government. In the fear of the Lord, he labored intentionally for the saving of his family friends. If you're a follower of Jesus, how are you ministering to those closest to if you're married, how are you ministering to your spouse in a way that reflects the character of Jesus and by the power of the Spirit? If you're a parent, how are you ministering to your kids?
[00:22:16] If you're single, how are you ministering to those in your immediate sphere? And there are all sorts of them, whether it be in your neighborhood or at your workplace or your family.
[00:22:29] Maybe we can misread Jesus words when he says, I come to bring a sword to set father against child, child against father, et cetera. Anyone who he says, anyone who doesn't hate father, mother, wife, child, for my sake, will not enter the kingdom. He says that.
[00:22:51] Okay, but here's what Jesus is talking about when he says he came to bring a sword between family members, he's not talking about you not prioritizing your family as it pertains to discipleship. He's saying, here's the reality of things within a house. Sometimes There are going to be Christians and non Christians.
[00:23:08] And at the end of the day, your allegiance must be first to Jesus and not to anybody else.
[00:23:14] Like I'm only going to love Sidney rightly, by God's grace, when I'm loving Jesus more than I love her, I'm only going to love my kids rightly, by God's grace, when I love Jesus more than I love my kids, that's the only way I'm going to serve them right.
[00:23:30] And the same is true for you. So friend, follower of Jesus, if you are a Christian, how are you ministering to those closest to you? That doesn't mean you don't minister to those far from you. You should were called to, but not, not at the neglect of those within our household.
[00:23:47] Does this make sense? He conducted an ark. He constructed an ark for the saving of his household.
[00:23:56] Two more things. Number four says, by faith, he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. So Noah was a righteous man. He was a dependent man. He was an obedient man. He prioritized those closest to him. And Noah was a righteous man. Genesis 6, 9 says, Noah was a righteous man. Blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. Okay? The world in Noah's day was already condemned rightly by God because of its evil. Noah said no to following the ways of the world and yes to following God. And so, in so doing, Noah condemned the world because of their unrighteousness.
[00:24:38] He said no to the world and yes to following God.
[00:24:42] And the most significant thing about Noah's life was not the fact that he built a big boat. It wasn't the fact that he survived the flood. It wasn't any of these things. The most significant thing about Noah's life, as is true for you friends, is not your job. It's not your bank account. It's not your successes or your failures or your marriage status or any of those things. The most significant thing about Noah was, was that he walked with God.
[00:25:05] That he was declared by God as a righteous man.
[00:25:10] How?
[00:25:12] How is it that a holy God can look upon an unrighteous man and say, righteous in my sight? How does that happen, Noah? And this leads to the last point. Noah was a part of a global family of people, men, women and children who by the grace of God, through faith alone, enjoy a right relationship with God. He was an heir of righteousness. How does this happen? It happens because of this. And here's the final point. Noah and his ark point to a greater story and a greater Reality in which you and I are directly involved.
[00:25:49] Noah and the Ark really happened. Kids, can you say it really happened?
[00:25:54] It really. You're like, wow, that's. How could something so big and so crazy, something I feel like I would only see in a movie, how could something like that happen? Right? It really happened.
[00:26:04] It's amazing. It really happened. But here's the thing about Noah and the ark.
[00:26:08] The story of Noah and the ark and the reality of it actually happening was not ultimately the point of why it happened.
[00:26:16] Noah and the Ark points to an even bigger story and an even greater story by which you and I are involved. And this is the reason. This is the means by which Noah could be counted as righteous before God and the means by which you and I, this morning, kids or adults, can be counted righteous before God. And it's the only way.
[00:26:35] So what is. What is that way? Matthew 24:36 42. So now we're in the New Testament again. Listen to the words of Jesus.
[00:26:45] Here's what Jesus says.
[00:26:47] Jesus is talking about another judgment coming.
[00:26:51] So one judgment came many, many, many thousands of years ago through a flood. And God said, I'm never going to do it that way again. So every time you see a rainbow, you say, rainbow, kids.
[00:26:59] Yep. Every time you see a rainbow, you can be reminded that this is a sign given by God to say, I'm never going to flood the earth again. Okay? But there is coming another day of judgment, friends.
[00:27:11] And this isn't like, incredibly popular to talk about, but it's true.
[00:27:15] There's coming another day of judgment, by which God, because he's good and beautiful and holy and right in all of who he is and all of his ways, is going to judge the evil of the world once for all.
[00:27:29] And this is what Jesus says about that day.
[00:27:32] Concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
[00:27:40] For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man. For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and given in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark. And they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away. So will be the coming of the Son of man. Jesus is saying there's another day of judgment coming that's going to resemble that day, but it's going to be much more extreme because on this day, the earth won't be flooded with water. It'll be refined by fire.
[00:28:14] And all evil and evildoers will.
[00:28:18] Will be judged, condemned Forever. It is a day that the Bible talks about as being a day of God's wrath, of God's vengeance on all that's evil, on all that's wicked, on all sin and all death and all oppression, God is going to say, enough. So if you sit and watch the news sometimes like I do, and think, oh my gosh, and just get infuriated by it, that's a right response.
[00:28:46] Like, when is Jesus going to do away with it all? When's he going to come back and make it all right? We don't know the day or the hour. The angels don't even know the day or the hour. But Jesus promises there will be a reckoning.
[00:28:58] There will be a reckoning on all evil. How will we escape?
[00:29:04] How? How will we escape?
[00:29:08] John 14:1 3.
[00:29:10] Jesus says, Let not your hearts be troubled.
[00:29:14] Believe in God. Believe also in me.
[00:29:18] In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. And here's what I want you to consider. Noah constructed an ark. Jesus went to prepare a place.
[00:29:30] Noah used wood. Jesus laid down his life.
[00:29:36] Noah and his family were safe in the boat. Jesus invites you to be safe in him.
[00:29:42] He says, believe in God, Believe also in me.
[00:29:48] The wonderful News of John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him would not perish, but would have eternal, eternal life. Isn't that wonderful? Like there's coming a day of judgment by which God is gonna say, enough of the evil, enough of the wickedness, enough of the oppression, enough of all of the violence. I'm done with it. I'm gonna judge it and condemn it forever and those who participate in it. But for all who take refuge in the Son, you'll be safe.
[00:30:22] The wrath of God will not touch you because all of it has been taken away and put upon Christ the Son on the cross once for. And the invitation is open to every single one of you.
[00:30:36] You don't have to be a church going person. You don't have to be a good person. You don't have to have it all together. The invitation is open to you today. If you're breathing, take refuge in the sun while there's time, because we don't know the day or the hour.
[00:30:56] Kids, can you look at me one more time?
[00:31:02] Being a Christian is not about being primarily about being a good person.
[00:31:08] Being a Christian is about turning from your sin and trusting in Jesus and what Jesus did for you. You'll never live a good enough life.
[00:31:19] Jesus alone, perfectly pleased the Father.
[00:31:22] He lived the perfect life that you could not live. And he died on the cross for your sin. And he's alive. Can you guys say, jesus is alive?
[00:31:32] So when Jesus says, let the little children come to me, that's for you.
[00:31:38] That's for you to come to Jesus and believe upon him.
[00:31:44] And so, as we close, I want to just say two things to you, okay, Two questions. Number one, have you taken refuge in the true ark? Who is Jesus?
[00:32:01] Heed the preaching of Noah, turn from your evil ways and get in the boat.
[00:32:08] Have you heeded the invitation?
[00:32:11] Are you still trying to live your life as if one of these days you're going to be good enough?
[00:32:17] Have you heeded the invitation to come in, to believe upon Jesus and enter in?
[00:32:24] And if you haven't talked to us today, any of the Christians in the room would be just absolutely delighted and honored to talk to you about what it means to enter in, to put your faith in Jesus, enter into a relationship with God and be saved.
[00:32:42] Be set free from your strongholds and your sin and your suffering.
[00:32:47] Enter into a relationship with God.
[00:32:50] Have you taken refuge in the true ark, who is Jesus? And then the last thing, and this is for the followers of Jesus in the room. And then I'll pray.
[00:32:58] Where are you finding your means of assurance today?
[00:33:02] So when you think about assurance in the Christian life and this joy that, this freedom that you and I want to experience on a day by day basis by which you can wake up in the morning, and no matter what's happening in your day and what's going on in your life, you can know deep within your soul that you're loved by the Father, a beloved child of God, forgiven of all of your sin, cleansed of all your unrighteousness, clothed in his righteousness. How do you know that? Where are you finding your means of assurance? And I think there's really only two options for us. We can either find it in us by looking internally, trying to find some good in there, and I think you know where that's going to lead, or we can look externally. I want you to consider Noah's family for just a moment.
[00:33:46] Noah's family were in the boat. The floodwaters were raging, people were dying, chaos was happening outside the boat.
[00:33:55] I would assume, though I could be wrong, that there were lots of moments of doubt within that boat and struggle and lack of assurance and oh my gosh, what's going to happen to us? Are we going to Live? Are we going to die? Is God going to come through all of those kinds of things?
[00:34:10] But what was the hope ultimately that those people in the boat had?
[00:34:14] Was it in their faith or was it in the providence of God? Who provided the boat?
[00:34:22] The one who provided the shelter, the one who was in control of the storm, who was going to see them all the way through to the end? Their hope did not lie in themselves at all. Their hope was in the boat and the God of the boat.
[00:34:35] And for you and I, who are Christians, Colossians 3 gives you that hope today, even more so than they had through a wooden structure.
[00:34:43] If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died. And listen to this. Your life is hidden with Christ in God.
[00:35:01] You're in.
[00:35:03] And no matter how much you doubt and how much you worry and how fickle your faith is and mine is on a day by day basis, your hope does not lie in your faith. You're in.
[00:35:13] You're in Christ, the truer ark. And no matter what happens in our life, he's going to see us through the end.
[00:35:23] The beautiful song says. When I fear my faith will fail Christ will hold me fast.
[00:35:30] When the tempter would prevail Christ will hold me fast. I could never keep my hold through life's fearful path for my love is often cold he must hold me fast those he saves are his delight. Christ will hold me fast Precious in His holy sight he will hold me fast he'll not let my soul be lost his promises shall last bought by him at such a cost he will hold me fast for my life he bled and died Christ will hold me fast. Justice has been satisfied. He will hold me fast Raised with Him to endless life he will hold me fast Till our faith is turned to sight. When he comes at last Our hope is not in ourselves at all, friends. It's in Christ, the truer ark. So take refuge in Him. Let's pray.
