The Faith That Saved Noah

Introduction

1. Text: Heb. 11:7.
2. The building of the ark that saved Noah was an accomplishment made possible “by faith.”
3. What were the characteristics of the faith that saved Noah?

I. Faith Caused Noah to Accept a Future Reality as a Fact

1. A thing is not unreal just because it is unseen — indeed, the most important parts of reality are unseen. Cf. 2 Cor. 4:18.
2. Faith is the mental faculty by which we deal with realities that are “not seen” (Heb. 11:1).
3. Noah had the faith to accept as real a future happening that had never happened before! Cf. 2 Pt. 3:1–7. (Uniformitarianism — the idea that what is happening today is what always has happened and always will happen — is not true.)

II. Faith Caused the Future Reality to Have a Practical Impact on Noah’s Life

1. Most of us have a tendency to postpone action on matters of great importance, waiting until later to act on questions that should be acted on immediately.
2. But saving faith calls for decisive action in the present — Jas. 2:14–26.
3. Faith is not merely something we think about — it is something we act on!

III. Faith Caused Noah to Endure Scoffing

1. When we obey God, reproach from other people ought to be the least of our worries. Cf. Mt. 10:28.
2. Like Noah — and like the Lord Himself — we must patiently endure scoffing. Cf. Heb. 12:3.

IV. Faith Caused Noah to Do Exactly What God Instructed, Without Modification

1. It’s important for us to do all things “according to the pattern” (Heb. 8:5).
2. Would Noah have been saved from the flood if he had built the ark 301 cubits long? (God nowhere said not to do so.)
3. God’s silence is significant and must be respected — Heb. 7:14.

V. Faith Saved Noah from Destruction

1. The quality of faith exhibited by Noah is the only kind that saves.
2. Concerning Noah’s obedience of faith, Peter wrote: “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Pt. 3:21).

Conclusion

1. Are we, as Christians, guilty of acting as if we believed salvation were “by faith only”?
2. Noah’s faith was an obedient trust in God.
3. Does our own faith have the characteristics of the faith that saved Noah?