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We're continuing our journey in the book of Hebrews and we're at Hebrews chapter 11 this morning. But let me start with a simple Bible trivia if you’ll allow me, a very simple question: who is the greatest stockbroker in the Bible? Who is the greatest stockbroker in the Bible? Noah, but why is it Noah? Well, this is a joke; of course, he floated his stocks while the whole world was in liquidation. But this is a story that is familiar to all of us, Noah and the ark. The world was going to face a massive universal flood that will destroy everything, but Noah, upon instruction from God built an ark, saved his family and the animal species that are found herein. This is a story that is well known by people even if you have not been to church. There has been a recent movie about it, although it’s a perversion of it. Nonetheless, it draws attention to the widespread knowledge of this familiar story in the Bible. This story is also captured in a children's song: Mr. Noah built an ark.  Heard of that before? It goes like this:

Mr. Noah built an ark,
The people thought he's such a lark,
Mr. Noah pleaded so, into the ark they would not go.

Mr. Noah built an ark, the people through he's such a lark, in other words he's such a laugh or such a joke. Mr. Noah pleaded so, but into the ark they would not go. Our children here are familiar with stanza 1 but there's a stanza 2 that goes:

The animals went in two by two,
The elephants, bears and kangaroos
All were safely stored away until that great and awful day.
Down came the rain in torrents
Down came the rain in torrents
Down came the rain in torrents
But only eight were saved.

Who were the eight? Noah and his wife, his three sons and the three daughters-in-law. So eight were saved. In fact this story is even captured in ancient Chinese culture. You know the word, ‘chuan’ (船) which is ship or boat, is a composite of three simpler words, composite of zhou(舟)，ba(八) and kou(口). Zhou is vessel, ba is eight, kou is people. One man one mouth. So this word, ‘chuan’ reminds us of the story in Noah's time.

This is the story that the author of Hebrews picks up on. The author says,
“By faith, Noah, Being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household.  By this he condemned the world and  became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”  (Hebrews 11:7 ESV)

What is Noah's story about? What spiritual lesson do you learn? Well, I think you can learn many things from Noah's story but the author here pitches the angle of faith. He mentions it two times in this one verse and this story is set in the context of faith in Hebrews 11.

So this morning from Noah's story we're going to learn about faith. We're going to learn the reason or the basis for faith, we're going to look at the response or the outcome of faith, and then we're going to look at the reward or the result of faith.

First up, the reason or the basis of faith. What is faith based on? Well, it's very clear here, it's based on the Word of God. Noah acted the way he acted because he heard the warning by God. It was not his own imagination, it was not his creative thinking, he did what he did because he heard the word of God.

God said to Noah in Genesis 6,
“And God said to Noah, I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them.  Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”  (Genesis 6:13 ESV)

Make yourself an ark of gopher wood, make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.  (Genesis 6:14)

It's kind of bitumen, kind of a waterproof material.

For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh upon which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.  (Genesis 6:17 ESV)

But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife and your son's wives with you.  (Genesis 6:18 ESV)

Now when Noah heard these things, he had not seen any of these things, right? He had not seen flood. In fact there are scholars who believe they may not even have seen rain. Subjective, or rather there are different views to it; certainly there was no rain before the Fall. In the Garden of Eden, the earth or the garden was nourished with mist or dew. It's questionable whether there was rain after the Fall, but in any case, Noah and the inhabitants of the earth had not seen a universal flood like this.

But Noah did what he was supposed to do because he had faith. He heard from God and he acted upon God's Word. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So the basis of faith is not because he saw these things coming with his eyes, but he believed God. He heard His word and trusted Him. The response then, was one of active obedience.

By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and  became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. (Hebrews 11:7ESV)

We see, in reverent fear, Noah constructed the ark. Reverent fear. The world in contrast did not fear God. They probably lived as if there is no God, and according to the words of the Bible, there was no fear of God before their eyes. But for Noah, he feared God. He knew who God is, he regarded Him, he was in awe of God and he constructed an ark.

Now these few words ͞constructed an ark͟ are said very quickly right here, but it takes a very difficult process to build an ark. I could imagine when he first said to his wife, Mrs. Noah: Hey dear, I think I'm going to stop whatever I've been doing all this life and I'm going to build a giant ark.͟ The wife must be saying: ͞What is an ark? ͟ Well, an ark is a giant flotation device. ͞What is it for? ͟ Well, God told me that there will come a flood that will destroy the whole earth. ͞So Noah, how long are you going to take to build this ark? ͟ I don't know, maybe hundred over years? And Mrs. Noah must be shaking her head and saying: ͞You must be nuts! You must be crazy! How could you do that? Don't you think your friends are going to laugh at you? Our parents are going to laugh at us. Everybody's going to laugh at us. There's no flood! We've never seen one, or at least not seen one in the scale that you're talking about.͟ But dear, God spoke to me. I believe Him and I will obey.

So Noah now embarks on this really ambitious project to build the ark. The ark is a giant structure. Some people think it's like a ship. Some pictures draw it as if it's a ship. It's not really a ship. Actually it's more like a coffin. (Pastor laughs). It's a rectangular block, alright. It's a huge thing. The measurements are given in the Bible. In modern day context, it would measure about a hundred and sixty meters long, about twenty-six meters wide, and about sixteen meters tall. Doesn't make a lot of sense to you, right? 160, 26, 16, well what does it mean?

Well, let me try to put it in a simpler way.  160m by 26m gives you about 4000 over square meters. Okay still doesn't make sense. Let's look at what we have here, right in this ballroom. How big is this ballroom? Some of you, buy property expert one, walk in, wah this place very big, wah this place very big. You know the size or square footage. What's the size of this ballroom that you are in? Well, the answer is, this is larger than a HDB flat surface area for sure. This place, I checked it out, is 528sq meters. This hall itself, 528sq meters. Noah's ark surface area is slightly above 4000sq meters. 160 times 26, do your Math, is slightly above 4000sq meters. In other words, one floor in Noah's ark, surface area-wise, is 8 times Venus ballroom. Now that makes it formidable, don't you think, to be built by one man. This is scary, this is huge, and Noah's ark was not just one floor, it was made up of three decks. So this was a massive project by Noah.

By the way, according to engineers, this is the best ratio for flotation. And it is also relatively short with a low centre of gravity, so this was truly the unsinkable vessel, not like the Titanic. So, the original design by God is the best. The measurements, the proportions are perfect, but this is a flotation device in that there is no sail, no rudder, you can't control where it goes. So Noah must have felt, wow, if I'm in this ark, I’ve to trust God entirely because where it floats is totally beyond my control. So here it is, the unsinkable vessel.

You say, how long did it take for Noah to build? Most people think that he took about a hundred and twenty years, based on this warning that is given by God,

Then the Lord said,  "My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years." (Genesis 6:3)

that his days or man's continual living on this earth will just be for another 120 years, meaning at the end of it, the flood will come. So you could picture Noah. In the beginning at least, he would be doing this by himself, maybe with the help of Mrs. Noah. His sons are probably not born yet, because the flood came when the sons were about a hundred years old. And people all around would probably be laughing at Noah. I mean, what is this about? What God spoke to you? We've always been having a good life. We're eating, we're drinking, we're having fun. There's no judgment to come, Noah you're just wasting your time.

So Noah embarked on this, chopped the first tree, hammered the planks together all by himself. But his construction project gathered pace. And soon enough, there is a visible structure that would be seen, I'm sure. And now, people from all over the world would probably come and visit this tourist sight. Last time don't have the Seven Wonders of the World yet. This is the first wonder of the world, the wonder of a crazy man called Noah, a nutcase named Noah. Who is this crazy guy that is building this flotation device in the middle of nowhere? No flood, no waters, go and build this giant thing? And he's going to waste the rest of his life doing so. So people would come, people would point at him and laugh at him and say what's this crazy follow doing?

And when they come, and when they ask, Noah, for what reason do you do this? Noah, I believe, would tell them, God will judge the earth. You have to repent and believe in our God.

I say this because the Bible tells us in Peter

“If he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.” (2 Peter 2:5 ESV)

that he was a herald of righteousness. He was a preacher. Yes, we all know that he built an ark, but he was also a preacher. The word there is translated preacher two times in the New Testament. This word only occurs three times in the New Testament, translated herald here, but translated preacher in 1 Timothy and in Titus. So Noah was a preacher. He warned people when they came, he taught them, he told them what God had said to them. But of course, none of them believed in him. Only his family did, but they all mocked him.

But that did not deter this man of faith. Noah's faith was astonishing, was remarkable because the Bible remarks that

“Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.”  (Genesis 6:22 ESV)

Noah did all that God commanded him. This is obedience to the max. No shortcuts, no wasting of time, he did exactly what God told him to do, and God saw it fit not just to mention it once, but again in Genesis 7,
“Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.”  (Genesis 6:22 ESV)

And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him. (Genesis 7:5 ESV)

Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him. What do you see here about faith? Now faith is not just a feeling. Faith is seen and expressed in our works and in our obedience. Therefore we come back to our original definition of faith.

Faith is: Confidence in God's Word regardless of circumstances and consequences that results in our obedience.

Faith is confidence in God's Word regardless of circumstances and consequences. Circumstances, why this is crazy?

No flood, no rain, maybe, and yet you build an ark. But he was so confident in God's Word, and that will result in our obedience.  So, this is the response of faith. You will obey, even if it seems ridiculous to you and to the world. Now what is the reward of his faith? What did he get? Well, he got the saving of his household.

By faith, Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household.  By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.  (Hebrews 11:7 ESV)

Can you imagine on that day, rain started to fall, thunder roared and lightning just split the skies, and the deep waters were breaking up from the bottom and they knew it is time? The flood is coming. And I can imagine the animals coming in, the family coming in and now the door is shut. As they hear the pitter patter and the pouring of the rain, I think they would gather together with all the animals and they would cry tears of gratitude and joy: I'm so glad we followed God. We're so glad that you listened to God, and whilst the whole world laughed at us, you're right, God is right. And we praise God  for His mercy upon our family.  And I think Noah just have felt an immense dose of relief. Their faith saved his family. God is proven right. But not only was this the result of his faith, we also see that by this, the author says

By faith, Noah, Being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, In reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household.  By this he condemned the world and  Became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.  (Hebrews 11:7 ESV)

he condemned the world. The world was to be condemned, was to be sent for judgment and punishment. And it's not because God is unfair or unkind, no, but the holiness and the righteousness demands a judgment upon sin. And this was a wicked world, no doubt about it. Genesis tells us,

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  (Genesis 6:5 ESV)

So, it was as if a massive spiritual infestation is going on and it has to be wiped out. Now, God judges sin. Peter takes this example, in 2 Peter, and he says, look at the way God deals with sin. He is very consistent. It's not as if he dealt with Noah's generation out of a whim and fancy. No, he is very consistent. He deals with the angels who sinned against Him.

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; (2 Peter 2:4-6 ESV)

He deals with the ancient world; He deals with Sodom and Gomorrah. It's always been like this, nothing special, nothing different, and He does that as an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly.

So the way God dealt with sin in the past is not going to be very different from how He's going to deal with people today who reject Him. And the scary part is that while we think, wah, it's very scary to be in a flood to drown, it's very scary to be burnt up like in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, these are merely appetizers, because, Peter goes on to say,

Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the Day of Judgment.  (2 Peter 2:9 ESV)

So the Sodom and Gomorrah experiences, the flood experiences are just a little appetizer of what the real judgment will be in the final day. And in that day, it will be absolutely horrific, when man will burn in hell forever for their sins, where there is absolutely no relief or escape, and when they're separated from all that is good, that is found in God.

You see, God must and will judge all sin. That's what's happening right there. The people left outside the ark must be regretting their decision. For 120 years, they knew about the message from God and Noah. They knew that Noah was doing something extraordinary. They knew that Noah was staking his life and this must be something special, but they would not listen. And when the rains came, the floods came; they were too far and too late to get into the ark. The door is shut and they literally missed the boat. It's too late.

When my son saw this picture, Matthias, he saw this picture, he said: Oh, these are bad people. Somehow he knew these are the bad people. These are the people who sinned and refused to believe God's Word and now they're shut out of the ark.

Can you imagine the torment of what happened to them that day? They didn't listen. That crazy guy, Noah whom we have been laughing at, you know what, he's actually right. And now we're doomed. So Noah,

By faith, Noah,
Being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household.  By this he condemned the world and  became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.  (Hebrews 11:7 ESV)

with the construction of the ark condemned the world. The ark was supposed to be a picture, a symbol, an instrument of salvation. But now, because the time is over, stands as a picture of condemnation against the world.

Finally what else did this faith get?  By faith, Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen,

in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household.  By this he condemned the world and  became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.  (Hebrews 11:7 ESV)

This faith begot for Noah the status of an heir. He's an heir. An heir is someone who's going to inherit. So, Noah got something there and then. He got the saving of his household. He was vindicated but there was more to come. He has not yet received, and the heir here, I think, refers to the glories he will inherit, it refers to the heavenly city that God is building, it refers to eternal communion with God forever more. He's going to get all these things because he's an heir of righteousness. He's seen as someone pure and righteous and sinless. Is it because Noah was so good that he was righteous? No, this righteousness comes by faith. This righteousness is received, not achieved. This righteousness is found in the Messiah, the promised Savior. Nonetheless, he is now seen as someone righteous and he will inherit all these blessings.

The point the author is making, I believe, in Hebrews 11:7 is that God

And without faith it is impossible to please him for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.  (Hebrews 11:7 ESV)

rewards those who seek Him. So this is the story of Noah. We see that he responded to God's Word even though it goes contrary to reason and human reason. We see that the proper result of that is that you will be someone who obeys, that's what faith is all about, it's not just feelings, there's practical works and obedience. We see that his faith got for him the saving of his household, condemnation of the world and he will inherit the heavenly city that is to come.

But you know, it all sounds so Noah. It sounds so far away. What has it got to do with you?

(Picture flashed of orangutan deep in thought, with caption "What does this mean for me?)

So I'd like you to sit down like an orangutan here, think about this. Hey, Jason, what does this mean for you? Hey, John, what does this mean for you? Hey, Mary, what does this mean for you? Does the story of Noah have any relevance to your life or my life? Or is this Pastor just telling us about the Sunday school story?

I want to share with you some simple applications for your life.

Number one, I think this means that you and I must be saved! You must be saved. Why? Because there is going to come a judgment. Now if there's no judgment to come, if God is never going to judge this world, if God is just going to let sin go on and on and on and on and on, then you say maybe you don't need to be saved. You don't feel the need to be saved. But if I were to tell you that God says, there will come a judgment, then I say you better be saved. Otherwise it may just be too far too late.

I didn't say this, Jesus said this. He said there will come a day of judgment because

As were the days of Noah, so will the coming of the Son of Man.  (Matthew 24:37-39 ESV)

The Son of Man is a term that refers to Jesus Christ. We learned that in Daniel. And Jesus is saying: I will come again. And he will come not just to save those who've believed in Him, but He'll come to judge the world living in sin, just like in the days of Noah. And how will He come?

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 giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept then all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.  (Matthew 24:37-39 ESV)

In those days before the flood, the people there were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, and they were unaware that the flood came.  In other words, there was such a deep complacency in humanity then, even though they were living in great sin. I mean God said that there was only wickedness in their hearts continually, but it didn't matter to the people. They thought life is going to be good, God is not going to come, we're going to get off scot-free. They were totally unaware. And it was too late for them because they were all swept away.

That scene in the days of Noah is going to be repeated when Jesus comes again. Jesus is going to come in a day when there's great wickedness in this world. Jesus is going to come in a day where everyone of us, or the world is going to think, He's not going to come, it's going to be alright, it's not in my lifetime, we can carry on as per normal. Unaware. And indeed there're people who even promote this idea he's not going to come,

Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. " (2 Peter 3:3-7 ESV)

knowing this first of all, that scoffers, people who mock and laugh at God and His Word, will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers died, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation." What judgment? Hasn't this world survived thousands of years and it's still the same? He's not going to come. There's no need to repent. There's no need to get ready. There's nothing to be ready for.

For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.  But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the Day of Judgment and destruction of the ungodly.  (2 Peter 3:3-7 ESV)

Peter is very, very crystal clear about this. There will come a judgment. Yes, God is not going to judge the world by a flood anymore, He promised it via the means, or via the remembrance of the rainbow. But God is still going to judge the world, not with water but with fire.

The point is this; the point is God is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness. The fact that God has not come, Jesus has not returned, is not because He's slack or He's lazy or He forgot about this, no, the reason is because He's patient. He waited 969 years from the day Methuselah was born. He waited another 120 years because He wanted to give people the opportunity to return. And today Jesus had not returned for the past 2000 years, not that He was slack, not that He forgot, but He's patient toward us,

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2Peter 3:9-10 ESV)

in not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance, turn from our sin and trust in Jesus. And if you don't, and if you say I'm going to wait, I'm going to wait till the day I'm lao kok kok (colloquial for very old), I stay in a hospital bed, when I'm going to die, on the very last day then I believe Jesus. You know what? Who is to tell you He's not going to come before that?

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any  should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (2Peter 3:9-10 ESV)

Because He's going to come like a thief in the night. When do thieves come to your house? The day you tell them to? ͞Eh please come to visit my house on this day and steal all that you want.͟ No, no thief comes in the day you know. Every thief comes in the day you don't know. Probably earlier than you expect. Jesus is going to come in a day you do not expect. And then, it will be too late. The heavens will pass away with a roar, the heavenly bodies, the planets, will be burned up and dissolved. The earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. I must be saved because there is a judgment that is sure and certain. You say, ͞Pastor I’ve never seen this judgment.͟ I tell you what: faith is not operating on what you see. It is operating on what God has said.

You know the ark is a picture of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the one who keeps us safe through the storm of the judgment. And if you enter Jesus, if you believe in Jesus, He is your Savior. But if you don't and when He comes, then now He does not stand as your Savior, He stands as your condemnation at that time and then you'd be like one of those in the picture that my son will say, bad people because you did not believe in Him. Too far, too late, you’ve missed the boat. Horrific fate.

So my friends, if you're here today, I say to you, you must be saved because there is a judgment that is to come, like in Noah's days. Noah's story is not just a history lesson. It is a picture of the future that is to come. Be warned and be sure.

Number two I say to you; Noah's story reminds me I must be steadfast. Something remarkable about Enoch and Noah is that they both trusted God the rest of their lives. They steadfastly believed, and I think that's the whole point why the author writes about Hebrews 11. He gives examples of people who in spite of great difficulties kept trusting God. So I remind you, of the original context in Hebrews 10:37-38,

For, ͞Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.͟ (Hebrews 10:37-38 ESV)

if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. The righteous one shall live by faith, or the just shall live by faith. Day by day. Not just the day I raised my hand and said a sinner's prayer.

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. (Hebrews 10:39 ESV)

And he says,
Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. (Hebrews 10:35-36 ESV)

Keep on believing. Some of you today have this assumption, ͞Ah, I raise my hand, I believe in Jesus, Pastor prayed for me, I must be saved. And so it doesn't matter even if I drop out of the faith, right? ͟No, no, no. If you're really saved, you must be saved by real faith. And let me say something about real faith. Real faith endures. You will keep on believing. So that's the point I think the author is trying to make and we need to reconnect to the original context.

But I want to say something about steadfastness too and I see this in Noah as a preacher. I think this is an absolutely difficult preaching assignment. To be able to preach in one place and have zero convert, well, you say, have lah, seven. Ya but the seven all from the same family one you know. Can you imagine a preacher who preaches for twelve years and nobody gets saved. You know what you'd say to the pastor? ͞Pastor, please, close shop la. I think we'll all go to another church. Please, after so long, nobody comes to know the Lord, you better close shop.͟ Noah probably was facing the same question. I preach for twelve months, nobody comes to know the Lord. Nobody believes – so many visitor, so many tourists come to see my shop, nobody wants to listen. After twelve months, he might be tempted to give up. Certainly after twelve years, he might be tempted to give up. But he kept on for twelve decades. 120 years.

Something I learned about preachers. It is very tempting to be led by numerical results, very tempting to be led by what people feedback to you about. ͞Eh, Pastor, you should talk more about those things because they really encourage our hearts.͟ There's a subtle danger to that because now, you are led by what people want and not always necessarily what God has said. Noah did not flinch. He never budged from the very clear preaching against their sin and the need for them to repent, like his ancestor Enoch.

I say to you today, it doesn't change. The temptation is always to preach what people like, but the call of God is, to the preacher, still the same. Some of you today are preachers, some of you here are Sunday school teachers, some of you here are care group leaders, I say to you, your responsibility remains the same: to preach the Word, to teach the pure Word. Paul says to Timothy, a young pastor:
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2 Timothy 4:1-4 ESV)

I charge you, in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom. You know this is a serious charge when you hear these words, wah, this is dua zhong (colloquial for very serious) one. This is line after line of saying, the gravity of what I'm going to say to you, I invoke the name of God; I invoke the name of Christ. What is the charge? Preach the Word. Not your opinions, but the Word. Exalt with complete patience and teach, not everyone likes what you're going to say.  I guarantee you that. And not everyone is going to respond to what you say. Noah had zero response. Enoch probably had minimal response. Jeremiah had minimal response. Isaiah had minimal response. But your responsibility –

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2 Timothy 4:1-4 ESV)

be faithful to me. Declare the Word, in patience and teaching. And you know what? It's going to get even more difficult because there will come a time when people will not endure sound teaching. Now sometimes sound teaching is not the most pleasant to the ears. They do not want this, but instead they have itching ears. This is such a graphic picture. The ear very itchy. Just want to hear something nice, tickle their ears. And they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.

So they don't want to hear the pure teaching of the Bible. They think going through the Bible is a very boring exercise – give me some encouraging topics, give me some motivational talks, give me some things that promise me what I want like good health and success and financial stability. These are the things I want. So they accumulate for themselves, and by the way there are plenty of teachers who'll suit that purpose for you in this life, for sure. And the danger is this: the danger is that they will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. You say ͞Pastor, I know that church has some problems, but it's ok right? 95 per cent of what he preaches is still correct, and there's only this 5 per cent and I'm very careful with the 5 per cent, I should be alright.͟ No, no, no, no, no...Look at this, you accumulate for yourselves teachers to suit your passions and soon, you do not know how deceitful your heart is folks, you do not know how strong your passions are. You will turn away, and you will wander off. Now, wandering is this process where you didn’t start off wanting to wander. Right? You started off saying ͞I want to go to this place͟ but, you know, this is a little interesting, let me take a little detour, let me take a little detour, and after a while you didn’t even know you are lost and you can’t find your way back.

I think we live in a day that this becomes more relevant than ever before. I’m not sure what’s gonna happen in the future if Jesus doesn’t return, but I think this is as bad as we’ve seen it. The amount of false teaching today is amazing, and to me it’s amazing because the truth of God’s Word is very available today as well. I mean, we’re so connected with the teachings of ancients, of good preachers of time past, and yet the proliferation of falsehood is overwhelming. And I’m not surprised that even people right here right now today, you may be sitting here, but after a while you may say, ͞You know what? It’s boring to go through Hebrews. It’s boring to go through Genesis. It’s no fun reading the Bible – I’ve read all this before, I’m familiar with these things. Well, Pastor, tell me something else. Let us go for more exciting stuff.͟ Ah, itchy ears, wandering hearts – and the charge given by God? ͞Be steadfast, preach the truth, like Noah did.͟ I pray all of you who are Sunday school teachers, CG leaders, discipleship group leaders, stay on the old paths, stay on sound teaching, stay on the Word of God, regardless of circumstances and consequences.

Let me say thirdly, Noah’s life teaches me to be sanctified. This is the application given by Peter, relating to this story of Noah as well.

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these,  be diligent to be found by him without spot of blemish,  and at peace. (2 Peter 3:14 ESV)

Make sure! Because you know Jesus is coming, don’t live carelessly. Don’t live flippantly, sinfully –live holy, godly lives. Some people may say, ͞Oh I’m a Christian already, I’m going to heaven, Jesus loves me, so I can live however I want.͟ Wrong. If you really have faith, if you really believe in Jesus, and you believe that He is coming back for you, you will live holy lives. So today, do you really have faith? Well, your attitude and your life, toward sin and godliness, tell you a lot.

But let me end by saying, ͞I must be serving.͟ Someone who believes in the story of Noah and of future things, live their lives very differently. I tell you something about Noah: he gave up his career. I do not know what his career was. I suspect, maybe quite a successful guy. I mean, he must be quite intelligent to be able to build a ark like that. You give me... I fear that if God tells me to build an ark I’ll say ͞God I really do not know how to do it uh.͟ He probably figured that out, a lot of it engineering stuff and, but he gave up his career, didn’t he? It’s not a weekend job to build an ark of this size. Full-time job. He gave up his career, poured in resources probably? And he did things that people say he’s crazy. Why? Because he believed in the world that is to come.

So many of us today live for the world that is going to go. We put all our eggs in this basket, this world. The goal of your life is to have a nice big bungalow. This is my dream, this is my goal. Now, whether you arrive that in Singapore is very hard to tell. It’s very hard to get a bungalow in Singapore. But even if you have it, let me ask you, so what? Now I’m not running down people who have bungalow. If God blesses you with riches, that’s fine. But if that is your driving force, this is the goal; this is your desire and ambition, how sad it will be! Because the Bible say just like in the days of Noah everything will be wiped out with a flood, everything that you build in this world will be dissolved with fire.

And we laugh at the Noahs: ͞He’s crazy to give up his money this way. He’s crazy to give up his career this way!͟ I tell you, who is the crazy guy? The crazy guy is the one who knows that these things will be dissolved and yet he still builds his life on it. Don’t you think that’s crazy? I think so. I really hope I’m a crazy guy like Noah, crazy guy in the eyes of the world. My friends – I hope that when my friends see me they’ll say ͞You’re crazy.͟ I’m not crazy yet, I think. I wish I could be more. Crazy Jason, I wish I could be more. And I hope you want to be crazy too. Crazy in the eyes of the world, crazy in the way you use your finances; crazy in the way you spend your life, that you will build an ark – an incredible feat that speaks of the reality of God and the foolishness of man. You see, this is what it means when you believe Jesus is coming again.

Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. ͞Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? (Matthew 24:44-45 ESV)

I’m coming back. It’s real! No running from it, so in the light of my return what do you do? Be faithful and wise as my servants. I’ve entrusted to you stewardship, you realize it? I’ve given you money, time, effort, strength – how are you using these things? This morning God may be speaking to you. I’d rather be one of the eight who would build an ark than the millions and millions who would waste their life on something that would dissolve away. Wouldn’t you want to do that? Mr. Noah built an ark. Amazing. Because he had faith. I pray today you will ask God to help you to walk in faith like Noah did.

Let’s bow for a word of prayer together. Maybe God is speaking to you about a particular area in your life. Maybe this morning you know you’ve been living by sight, by feeling, by popularity consensus of this world, but you know God wants you today to live by faith. ͞It’s so hard, ͟ you say, ͞people will laugh at me, I’ve to give up so much.͟ Well, you have to. You have to die to yourself, you have to take up the cross, but the promise of God is this: if you lose your life for my sake, you will find it.

Noah today is the real winner. He is. Nobody looks at Noah today and say he’s a fool even though, I’m sure, he was called a fool by millions. But they that trust in God will never be ashamed. My dear brothers and sisters, reality check. Would we be prepared to live radical lives like Noah did? The faith that is spoken of in Hebrews 11 is not faith only for special heroes. It is a faith for every believer. That we will have such supreme confidence in God’s Word, that even though it runs against circumstances and consequences we choose to obey. We obey God in serving Him, not money. We obey God in giving and not stealing. We obey God in making disciples and not making dollars and cents. We obey God by living in purity and not living according to the lust of the flesh. Faith changes everything.

Don’t let this Sunday just be another sermon you sit through, but let Noah’s life challenge you to fresh obedience, repentance. Every plank he nailed, every tree he fell, shouts ͞I believe God! ͟Every dollar you give for the advancement of God’s kingdom, you shout ͞I believe God.͟ Every hour you spend serving His people, you shout ͞I believe God.͟ Every decision you make for His glory you shout ͞I believe God.͟ And God is pleased. This is what faith looks like. It’s not a feeling. It’s not just a sensation. It’s not about some physical healing. It’s about living it out.

And when God calls us to Punggol, my dear friends, my brothers and sisters, will you live by faith? We are not going to Punggol by public transport or by cars, that’s not the question. The question is, will you go to Punggol by faith? Giving it all, leaving it all, there at Punggol – that there as a church we build an ark that glorifies Jesus Christ.

Maybe some of you today are tempted to give up on your faith. I say, please don’t, press on. Maybe some of you are here today and you say ͞I don’t believe there’s a judgment to come.͟ Oh, Jesus will never speak a lie, and whatever He says will surely come to pass. The Son of Man will be coming again. Will you repent? Let Him be your Savior this morning. Father, we thank you for Your Word, would you bless it now to each and every soul. Cause each one of us to respond to You positively by faith. And may You be glorified as we make choices to believe, to serve, to live holy lives. May our lives be faithful unto the end. We pray all this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

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