Matthew 24: 36 – 44; 2^{nd Peter 2: 1 – 10; Genesis 6: 9 - 22 (Sermon)}

Most of the people in the world have little or no knowledge of the Bible. However, nearly everyone is familiar with Noah’s Ark. In fact, there are movies, toys, clothing, and games depicting Noah’s Ark. Most cultures have an account of an ancient catastrophic widespread flood. We also have geological formations that prove there was a widespread flood. Kids enjoy reading about the animals and the rainbow but the story of Noah is much more than a children’s story. The story of Noah is for everybody because the story of Noah has some valuable lessons for all of us today.

First we need to look at the reason for the flood. Look at verses 11 and 12 again. "The earth was corrupt and full of violence." "All the people had corrupted their ways." This should get our attention because when we think about it, things are not much different today than they were in Noah’s day.

While God is love and compassionate God also punishes sin! Noah knew God was a holy God and Noah knew that God expects His children to be holy. Romans 3:23 tells us that "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." And in Romans 6:23, we are warned that, "The wages of sin is death." Exodus 34:7 reminds us that God does not leave the guilty unpunished. God punishes the children and their children for the sins of their fathers to the third and fourth generation.

People often ask how could a loving God send anyone to hell? We need to remember that God does not send anyone to hell. The only people who will end up in hell are the ones who reject Jesus as their Savior and the people who neglect to claim Jesus as their personal Savior.

Remember the Good News recorded in John 3:16 and 17. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

In verse 9 we read that Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people, and he walked with God. This does not mean that Noah was sinless, but it does mean that Noah had an excellent relationship with God and Noah had an excellent relationship with the people around him. This is remarkable because all the people around Noah were godless, violent, and corrupt.

I like the way The New Living Translation translates verse 9: "Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless man living on earth at the time. He consistently followed God’s will and enjoyed a close relationship with him".

In addition in verse 22 we read that Noah obeyed God. "Noah did everything just as God commanded Him." This is remarkable because God asked Noah to build an enormous boat in the desert before one drop of rain fell.

We are so familiar with the story of Noah that we tend to skip over some details. The ark was huge! It was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. It had three interior levels and an 18-inch open space at the top for ventilation. The had a capacity of 522 standard railroad box cars. There was 101,250 square feet of deck space. For comparison the average American house is less than1500 square feet. The ark had to be big to carry over 35,000 pairs of animals, 8 people, and food for all of them for one year and 10 days.

While Noah’s lifestyle was exemplary and Noah’s obedience was unquestionable. Noah did more than build an ark. Noah warned the people to repent and turn to God so God could save them. God gave the people in Noah’s day ample warning. Remember in 2nd Peter 2:5 we read that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. God gave the people in Noah’s day 120 years of opportunity to respond to His great love. It took Noah 120 years to construct the ark God told him to. Each time the people asked Noah what he was doing, Noah warned the people to repent of their sins because God was going to destroy the earth with a flood, but also that God was going to save the people in the ark. The people in Noah’s day had to make a decision. Either there is a Creator God that they were accountable to and who is worthy of their worship or Noah was a crazy man and there was no God who was going to destroy the earth. Today people have the same choice. We can believe or we can reject God’s Word. You see, the ark was a graphic illustration of God’s message of salvation. The ark had only one door and in the New Testament Jesus said, "I am the door." "No man can come to the Father except through me." Jesus is the only way into God’s covenant of grace. If we are in Christ we will be saved from God’s judgment of the world just like Noah’s family was in the arc and were saved from death.

We do not want to focus on God’s punishment of sin, but rather we want to focus on God’s promise of saving us. In verses 13 and 17 God told Noah what He was going to do and Noah believed God.

In our lesson from Matthew, Jesus tells us that when He comes again, everybody will be going about their business as in the days of Noah. Jesus was telling all of disciples to be prepared. Jesus’ faithful disciples will never live in fear of destruction but rather they will always be ready and anxiously awaiting the return of our Lord! This morning if you are not 100% sure where you are going to spend eternity I beg you to see me before you leave here today. You see it is not a question of "if" Jesus will come again … the only question is "when" Jesus will come again. You can only be saved by claiming Jesus as your personal savior.

Today we have the privilege of celebrating the Sacrament of Baptism. In verse 18 we read about the covenant. Notice the Bible only tells us about Noah’s righteousness, Noah’s obedience, and Noah’s faith. The Bible says nothing about the righteousness, obedience, and/or faith of Noah’s sons. But we see Noah’s family was saved because of Noah’s faith. So in infant baptism we bring our children and we trust God to protect, provide, and to bless them until they are old enough to make their own profession of faith. The Apostle Peter compares the ark to baptism. (1st Peter 3:21) The ark is a picture of salvation. Jesus is our only hope of life. Jesus rescues us from eternal death. Simply knowing there was an ark saved no one in Noah’s day; it is being in the ark that counted. Today you will only be saved if you are in Christ! You can know about Jesus, but to be saved you must claim Jesus as our personal Savior and you must make Him the Lord of your life.

Noah exemplified the way we are to live in an evil broken world. We are to live with the knowledge that God knows the future. We are to live with the assurance that God alone controls the future! We are to live knowing God will judge sin and God will destroy all evil! We are to live knowing that God provides, protects, and preserves the people that turn to Him and put their trust in Him!

Noah believed God and Noah proceeded with the job God had given him even though Noah was the laughing stock of the town. God used Noah in a mighty way. God used Noah to preserve mankind through the Great Worldwide Flood. Did you know God wants to use each of you in mighty way today? God has provided, protected, and preserved Mt Paran for over 292 years. God has a plan and a purpose for Mt Paran and you should be excited about being a part of God’s plan for Mt Paran.

So I ask you "are you faithful in doing the jobs God has asked you to do"? Have you told your family and friends about the saving grace of Jesus Christ? Are you ready for Jesus’ return? Are you ready to give an account to your master? You see being ready also means being open to any and all possibilities that God has in store for you each day. Are you watching expectantly for those opportunities to serve The Lord each day? AMEN