A God of Love and Wrath Keep Building the Boat

Matthew 24: 37-39 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

Can you imagine the scene? You live in near desert conditions. It may have never even rained before; ever. In the midst of this certainty you have quite an uncertain neighbor. And he is building a boat. A huge boat. A boat that is almost the length of a football field and as high as a three story house. Oh, and he is building this with his hands; no power tools or Home Depot. Being neighborly, and concerned for his mental health, you inquire. The answer is that God has warned him that He has had it with the level of iniquity on the earth and will be sending a flood to wipe everything out. The only way to survive the flood is to build the ark as God has instructed him to. I am sure a lot of us would walk away wondering what will happen to our property value and not really be concerned about the Noah of our neighborhood.

Today's key verses draw comparisons to the days of Noah and the days we find ourselves in now. First, let's see how Noah is introduced in Genesis:

The L ord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the L ord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. And the L ord said, "I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing--all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them." But Noah found favor with the L ord . Genesis 6: 5-8 (NLT)

It shouldn't take a Biblical scholar to draw the parallels to the world today. The extent of human wickedness grows with each passing day. Wars, plagues, sin glorified. The imagination of men is consistently evil. Look at the news. Look at world poverty. Look at what passes for entertainment. As in the days of Noah, the heart of God is breaking. But Noah found favor with God:

This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God. Genesis 6: 9 (NLT)

Walking in close fellowship with God. Righteous and blameless in a world that is so depraved. In those days it was Noah and in these, the last days, it is supposed to be the church:

For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God's word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. Ephesians 5: 25-27 (NLT)

And so we too are building on behalf of God. Maybe not an ark to ride out the tempest but we are seeking those who would come in before it is too late. It is not about mega-churches, sinner's prayers, prosperity in earthly riches, abortion, gay rights, the war on Christmas, the ground zero mosque or any other distraction the enemy throws at the body of Christ. It is about heaven and hell. It is about consequences for actions. It is about Christ, not Christianity. It is about holiness versus sin:

Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt. So God said to Noah, "I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth! Genesis 6: 11-13 (NLT)

The earth had become corrupt and full of violence. The parallels once again being drawn by Jesus to our times today. And you know that as there are mockers today, they surely existed in the days of Noah too. In Rabbinic tradition, Noah preached to his neighbors of the coming judgment of God. That tradition records that his neighbors mocked the message and the messenger. And so it still goes today. Even when preparing this message I visited a website where one of the respondents to a Noah question mocked literalists that is people who take the Bible literally as the Word of God. To their finite mind they cannot imagine an infinite God. Because they have lived a world where there was always rain, they cannot imagine a world where it had not rained. So they mock. So they eat and drink despite the impending warnings of the coming wrath of God. So they marry and celebrate their sinful existence and deny the God that created them. The ark is being built all around them but they mock instead of repent. Jesus foretold this in the same chapter of the key verses:

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24: 12-14

The love of most today has grown cold in the face of a harsh world. The Gospel of the kingdom is indeed being preached in the whole world but so many still refuse to hear it. Like a boat being built in a sandstorm, they simply cannot understand. Noah had a word from God and that was all he needed.

And that is all we need today as well. We have been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ for a reason for a purpose. As in the days of Noah there is much wrong in the world and we have been given insight from God that His judgment is coming. I know that is a politically incorrect message today. Today it is all or nothing. Either Jesus is reduced to an ATM machine for our whims or He is wrapped in barbed wire, waiting to cut us to pieces. The truth is that the whole Gospel is both. God is love but He is also jealous. He is good but He is also wrath. The Apostle Paul understood this as his days on earth were winding down:

"Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Acts 20: 25-27

Many within the "church" system have much blood on their hands. They preach a Gospel that presents half of God and not His full counsel. There is a judgment we all must face. As our key verses illustrate many in Noah's time refused to listen and they were swept away by the flood and their own ignorance.

But Noah preached the full counsel of God as Paul did. In examining Noah, we can glean some truths for ourselves today. First of all, he did not waver in what he had heard from God. He had a word and it dictated his life. I am sure there must have been days he wondered what it was all for. It took him 100 years to build the ark! That is 100 long years in the dry heat building a boat. That is 100 years of everyone he knew and many he did not telling him he was a fool. "How can you build that boat?"; "You must be stupid."; "Crazy Noah he'll believe anything!" Yet despite his detractors he always remembered the Word of God not the word of his doubters.

We too will face our doubters in our walks. "How can you believe all the animals fit inside the ark?"; "You must be stupid."; "Only a fool would believe the Bible literally." We need to respond and react the same way Noah did. We do not compromise the word we have been given and we do not waver in what we know is true.

What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness? Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: "So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge." Romans 3: 3-4

We also must walk in close fellowship with God. As indicated above, Noah found favor in God's sight because he was righteous, blameless and walked in close fellowship with God. We are righteous and blameless because of the sacrifice Christ made on Calvary. But the fellowship is a matter of choice. It is a matter of our will.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1John 1: 5-7

It is the fellowship with God that kept Noah on task. It is his relationship with God that kept him building the ark amidst every sane and rational thought of the day he was living in. Noah tried to get through to his neighbors. He preached even though none would hear. But he kept building the boat. No matter how the world tried to distract him, he kept building the boat. For one hundred years there was not a cloud in the sky but he kept building the boat.

Where are we today? Where does this word find us? The days of Noah seem eerily familiar in light of the world around us. What word has God given us today given you today? What boat are you supposed to be building for the Lord? The word disciple means that we are a pupil or an adherent to the doctrines or teachings of another. We are a follower. Yet what are we following today? Are they the doctrines and teachings of Christ or the whisperings of our neighbors telling us we're crazy? What distracts us from building the boat God has assigned us to?

The Book of Nehemiah tells a story how the Prophet Nehemiah had a word from God to go back to the ruined Jerusalem and rebuild the walls. The people in the world came against the word Nehemiah had. He had mockers to deal with too. They made fun of his efforts and tried to marginalize the work God was doing through the Prophet. But Nehemiah stayed on task and kept building his boat. When mocking did not work, the world came against Nehemiah through direct threats. Rabbinic tradition says that Noah also was threatened as he continued to build his boat in the face of all worldly logic. Some would falter in the camp of Nehemiah but the Prophet was steadfast. The Bible tells us that the enemies would then ask for a meeting with Nehemiah. A simple enough request really. Just enough to distract from the work God was doing. Just enough where they could potentially harm Nehemiah and stop the work God was doing. They requested this meeting four times. Each time the answer from the Prophet was the same and it needs to be our answer to the enemy whenever he seeks to have a discussion with us:

So I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?" Nehemiah 6: 3 (NKJV)

When the world seeks to distract you and pull you away you need to say that you are doing a great work and you cannot come down. There is a boat to be finished for the Lord. If you want to hear about this great work I will be happy to share it with you but the work itself cannot stop for you. I know the work doesn't make any sense to you. Why I would build a boat in a desert? Why I would rebuild the walls of a fallen city? Why I would preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in 2010 America? Why I would believe the Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of the Living God? Why indeed beloved.

He is a God of great love and coming judgment. We better be ready for both. Keep building the boat.

Reverend Anthony Wade August 24, 2010