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Introduction:
Are you aware the Bible only speaks of two men who walked with
God? The Bible repeatedly speaks of walking before God (cf. Genesis
17:1), walking after God (cf. Deuteronomy
13:4), God walking among His people (cf. Leviticus
26:12), walking in His statutes (cf. Leviticus
18:4), walking in God’s way (cf. Deuteronomy
8:6); walking in the fear of the Lord (cf. Nehemiah 5:9), walking in His law (cf. Nehemiah 10:29), walking by his rule (Galatians 6:16) and walking in a manner worthy of the Lord (cf. Colossians
1:10; I Thessalonians 2:12). However, only twice does it speak
of someone walking with God. I’m not saying they were the only
two who ever did; I just find it interesting that they are the
only two ever described that way. In Genesis
5:22, 24, the Bible says Enoch walked with God, therefore he
did not die as everyone else in the genealogy, but was simply
taken to be with God. Regrettably, nothing else is said of Enoch,
so we cannot learn much about what it means to actually walk with
God from him. However, the other example is Genesis
6:9. Noah walked with God. Because he did, he and his family
were saved from the flood. Our entire focus this month is on
walking with God. If we are really serious about walking with God
and receiving the blessings God offers those who walk with Him, we
need to examine Noah’s life and see what it means to actually
walk with God. Discussion: I.
Noah found grace/favor. A.
The very first point we need to understand is that we do
not have to be sinlessly perfect to walk with God. This should be
a relief to us. If sinless perfection were necessary, we have
already blown it (Romans
3:23). However, even Noah did not receive a reward because he
had earned or merited it. Rather, Noah received grace in the eyes
of the Lord (Genesis 6:8).
If his reward was by grace, that meant he did not earn it. B.
Having established that, however, Noah is the perfect case
study showing that salvation was unmerited but was, in fact,
conditional. Noah was chosen out of the entire world of sinful
people because he met certain conditions. He was not owed
salvation from the flood. He had not earned it. He had sinned and
would sin again (Genesis
9:21-22). C.
This gives us hope. We have messed up. We have sinned,
however we can still walk with God. II.
Noah was righteous. A.
According to Genesis
6:9, Noah was a righteous man. The men of the world were
wicked (Genesis 6:5).
Noah, however, strived to do what is right. So great was his
righteousness that Ezekiel used him as one of the three great
examples of righteousness in Ezekiel
14:14, 20. B.
Hebrews
11:7
says Noah moved with reverent or godly fear. The men of the world
did not fear God. They could care less about God or God’s will,
but Noah feared God. Noah understood judgment would come and,
therefore, Noah worked to do what was right. C.
If we want to walk with God, we must pursue righteousness
as well (I Timothy 6:11; II
Timothy 2:22). II
Timothy 3:16-17 explains that training in righteousness comes
through the word of God. If we wish to be righteous, we do not
gain our guidance from the world. We do not gain our guidance from
our friends. We do not gain our guidance even from the religious.
We gain our guidance from the word of God. If we want to walk with
God, we must be people of the Book, not just people who carry the
Book, talk about the Book and honor the Book. We need to be people
who are in the Book and living the Book. Only then will we walk
with God. III.
Noah stood out in his generation. A.
According to Genesis
6:9, Noah was blameless in his generation or in his time. I
have often struggled with the passages that talk about
blamelessness. After all, we have already pointed out there was
some blame on Noah’s account. He needed grace just as we all do.
He was not sinlessly perfect, yet the text describes him as
blameless in his generation. I think that phrase “in his
generation” is the key to God’s point. Within the midst of a
generation that was utterly wicked, whose every thought was only
evil continually, Noah stood out. He was different. B.
Romans
12:2
explains we are supposed to be different from the world. However,
let us not think we have accomplished this goal when we are simply
slightly different from the world. Too often we are happy to
maintain an arm’s length from the world, but then move with the
world so that where the world was ten years ago, we are today.
Noah was different because Noah though differently and therefore
acted differently. Did he mess up sometimes? Of course. Yet that
was the exception for him. The world thought evil continually,
Noah, as we have already seen, thought with Godly fear (Hebrews
11:7). His outlook was different, his desires were different,
his actions were different. If we were transported back in time to
view the world at Noah’s time, we would be able to pick him out
from the crowd after watching him live for a day. C.
If we want to walk with God, we have to be willing to stand
out from the world. We must look at life differently, make
decisions differently, be entertained differently, set goals
differently, act differently. We must be willing to endure all
that goes along with that. As I
Peter 4:4-5 explains we will be maligned by the worldly when
they see our differences. As John
15:19 says, the world will hate us for being different.
However, if we want to walk with God, we have to be different. We
have to stand out. We must not fit in. IV.
Noah proclaimed righteousness. A.
According to II
Peter 2:5, Noah was more than personally righteous. He was a
herald of righteousness. He proclaimed righteousness. He taught
righteousness. In other words, he attempted to persuade others to
be righteous, fear God and walk in His ways. Noah did not want to
be alone on the ark, he wanted others to be with him. Thus, he
taught others. B.
If we wish to walk with God, we must also proclaim
righteousness. We must strive to teach others. As II
Corinthians 5:11 says, “Knowing the fear of the Lord, we
persuade others” (ESV). If we fear God as Noah did, we will talk
to others about the righteousness that comes from God by faith in
Jesus. We will talk about the gospel, about Jesus, about Jesus’
church. We will strive to convince others to follow our lead in
Christ. C.
However, there is another aspect of this we need to note.
Noah taught, possibly for the entire 120 years mentioned in Genesis
6:3, and only ever impacted his family. Only his wife, his
sons and his sons’ wives were allowed on the ark with him (Genesis 6:18). Yet, he continued to be a herald of righteousness. He
continued to teach the righteousness of God even when no one
listened. Further, He did not change his message simply because
his generation did not like it. Jesus warned us that few would
ever follow the path of righteousness (Matthew
7:13-14). Our job is not to broaden the way so that more
people will be willing to walk with us. Our job is to proclaim the
narrow way so that those few who choose to walk with us will be on
the way to life. We must not, as some today do, soften our
teaching on God’s plan of salvation, worship, morality, the
permanence of marriage and sin of divorce, modesty or
righteousness. Our job is not to attract people to the church by
letting the church be more like the world, our job is to call
people to repentance that they might walk on God’s narrow way
and receive salvation. We can soften the message, but that will
not bring more people to heaven, rather it will take us off
heaven’s path. D.
If we want to walk with God, we must be heralds of God’s
righteousness. V.
Noah followed God’s pattern. A.
In Genesis 6:22,
the Bible says, “Noah did this; he did all that God commanded
him” (ESV). God had told Noah about the ark and exactly how it
was to be built and how it was to be used. Noah did not merely
obey God where it pleased him. He obeyed God completely following
the pattern God had established to save Noah and his family. B.
If we wish to walk with God, we cannot pick and choose the
means by which we will walk with Him. Rather, we need to learn the
pattern He has established for our lives and our salvation,
following it completely. II Timothy 3:16-17 says the Scriptures have been given to teach us,
reprove us, correct us and train us in righteousness, equipping us
for every good work. Our job is to learn how the Scripture equips
us and to follow its equipping and authorized pattern for our
lives. Please understand what this means. We often talk about
Bible authority and usually refer to the work of the congregation.
However, first and foremost, the issue of Bible authority is about
our lives as Christians. Colossians
3:17 explains that everything we do in word or deed must be
done in Jesus’ name, that is by His authority. Authority is not
just about the congregation but about our lives from day to day. C.
If we wish to walk with God, we must follow His pattern
obeying all He has commanded us. VI.
Noah saw beyond this life. A.
Why did Noah do all of this? Why did Noah walk in
righteousness, stand out from his generation, proclaim
righteousness and follow God’s pattern? I think the answer is
actually seen in Matthew
24:38 and Luke 17:27,
passages that aren’t really about Noah at all. Rather, they talk
about the people in Noah’s day. The flood was coming, Noah was
building the ark, Noah was proclaiming righteousness, but the
people continued on with life as usual. They ate and drank, were
married and given in marriage. These people were so enamored with
this life and the things of this world, they couldn’t see the
judgment that was to come despite its clear proclamation. B.
Noah was different. Noah could see more than this life.
Noah saw God. Noah saw God’s will. Noah saw God’s coming
judgment. Noah saw there was more to this life than this life. As Hebrews
11:13 says of all those mentioned in the list of the faithful,
Noah was able to see the unseen. He did not get distracted by the
things of this world but focused on the things of God. C.
If we wish to walk with God, we must learn to get our focus
off of this life. As Colossians
3:2 says, we must focus on the things from above and not what
is on the earth. Instead of being focused on material gain,
popularity, earthly influence and power, we need to be focused on
the spiritual treasures. If we wish to walk with God, we have to
see beyond this life. Conclusion: Noah walked with God and was saved from the flood. Just as the flood was coming in his day, judgment is coming in ours as well (II Peter 3:10). If we wish to be saved from the wrath of God, we need to walk with Him as Noah did. Rely on God’s grace, pursue righteousness, stand out from the world, proclaim righteousness whether or not anyone ever listens, follow God’s pattern and look beyond this life. When we do that, we are walking with God and we will be able to walk with Him through the judgment into heaven for eternity.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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