Scripture: “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith,” Heb 11:7.
We continue our study of this verse which tells us about the faith of Noah, one of God’s bright and shining lights.
1. He obeyed God and thereby saw his family saved. Noah warned them as he did all around who would listen to him. “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water,” 1 Peter 3:18-20. His family was his chief concern – “Prepared an ark to the saving of his house”. Faith in Christ has not just a personal impact, it touches upon others also. John 1:40-42. Acts 16:31-33.
2.He inherited that which God has promised to believers. He became a ‘son of God’, John 1:12 and thereby an heir, Gal 4:7. Those that believe God have a wonderful inheritance awaiting them. Heed these verses, Matthew 25:34, Acts 26:15-18, 1 Peter 1:3-4, 5:4.
3. His works, born of his faith, condemned the world. His believing God and acting in obedience to Him condemned those who did not, despite the warnings given them, see 1 Pet 3:18-20, quoted already.
This is one of the reasons why Christians are hated by the world. See the Saviour’s words to the unbelieving Jews of His day in Matthew 12:41-42. “The people of Nineveh believed God,” Jonah 3:5.