I would like to read the first eight verses tonight, beginning in verse one. What a joy it is to recognize that we who belong to the Lord belong to the family of the faithful. In other words, everyone who knows the Lord Jesus is his and her Savior and is a child of God. is in the family of Abraham. He is called the father of the faithful. And God gave him a great promise, if you may remember, in the sixteenth chapter of the book of Genesis, or the twentieth, yes, in the sixteenth chapter, it promised him he would be an instrument of blessing to all nations. And he has been. And in the book of Galatians, Paul mentions that even we, in this age, we belong to the family of Abraham. He's called the father of the faithful. And what a record we have here of some of the faithful servants of God long ago, from which and by which you and I can learn much. I read the first eight verses, chapter eleven of Hebrews. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, for by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the world were trained by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts, and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death, and was not found, because God had translated him. For before his translation, He had this testimony that he pleads God. But without faith it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 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 I became heir of the righteousness which is by faith may God bless the reading of this little section and I'm sure that every one of us who have ever read the chapter may have noticed that virtually it well everyone that is mentioned in the chapter is introduced to us by this statement by faith. And thus they lived by faith, they walked by faith, they believed on the Lord in his word. We have touched upon this fact, if I may suggest him by briefly reviewing. Abel is a wonderful representation of how you and I began the walk of faith. He pleased God by bringing the acceptable sacrifice, a lamb, as God required it, in approaching God and getting right with Him. And He still speaks today by what He has done. And so He represents so beautifully that you and I came to God through our Lord Jesus Christ, how? By faith. We put our faith in the sacrifice of his own atoning death upon the cross. Then we had the joy of going on and reading of another representation of a man of faith by the name of Enoch. And we touched upon the fact he represented the continuation of the believer on the path of faith. He walked three hundred years with God from the time of his conversion at the age of sixty-five. And God took him home to be with himself without ever dying. The first one that was ever taken into heaven without passing through the article of death. Elijah was another one and the only other one who likewise went to heaven without passing through the article of death. But what a lesson Enoch is for you and for me. He continued, I wonder if you have ever noticed the words of Paul when he wrote to Timothy in the second epistle of that epiphany. And how appropriate for you and for me to realize it. that epistle touches upon the last days of Christianity their difficulties their perplexities and their perils but in that epistle Paul said to Timothy continue thou continue thou I think of a dear brother that often made this statement he wanted to keep keeping on and may I suggest again what a lesson We have not only found the Lord Jesus as our Savior, but thank God we can keep on. And what a joy to know. He sustains it. But please remember how we go on. We go on by faith. I think of the words that Peter wrote in his second epistle. And through your faith. And he explains something that could be done and should be done to increase our faith. Now we would like to come to verse seven and eight and look upon the third representation of the path of faith. This time it is a man by the name of Noah. I'm sure we all know him well from the word of God. Let me read verses seven and eight again. By faith, Noah being warned of God, of things not seen as yet, moved with fear. prepare enough to the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. Noah. What a joy to read the account of Noah's testimony, as we may remember it from the book of Genesis, chapter five and six, particularly, chapter six, seven, eight and nine. And when did Noah live? As in the days of Enoch. May I be reminded with you that Enoch walked with God in the days of most terrible wickedness and lawlessness and violence in the whole world at that present time. So did Noah. He was brought up in those same circumstances of the world. And when you read the sixth chapter of the fifth chapter rather, and the sixth chapter particularly of Genesis, God was so displeased with the wickedness of the world, he repented that he had ever created man. And we know from what happened, he destroyed the whole world with the exception of Noah. But let's look at the example of Noah. What example does he meet and give to you and to me? No, first of all, he was warned of God of things, not seen as yet. God told him something that was going to happen. And he listened carefully. And if you remember what he told him, God told Noah, I'm going to destroy the whole world because of its wickedness. You know how long ago it took before the world was destroyed back then? After God told him? A hundred and twenty years before the event actually happened. And the then known world was destroyed by the Great Flood. But God told him ahead of time what was going to happen. My beloved believer in the Lord Jesus, do you know what's going to happen ahead of time to this world? Have you ever heard it from the Bible? I'm sure most if not all of you have. My beloved, I read from the Word of God very plainly. The world is coming into judgment. We mentioned even last week some of the things that God prophesied in the Old Testament. And let me give you one quotation from the book of Psalms, chapter two. When the Lord prophetically, we can read in that Psalm, said, The Lord said unto me, Ask of me, I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance. Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces as a father's vessel. And if you were with us on the past Lord's day morning, we spoke of the fact that the Lord Jesus, when he preached his first sermon in the hometown of Nazareth, he stopped the reading of the scriptures that he was quoting and reading from the book of Isaiah, where you and I would never stop reading at a comma. And he closed the book. For following that expression, after saying that this is the acceptable year of the Lord, He shut the book and shut the scriptures up. And the next words say, And the day of vengeance of our God. Let me just repeat again. I say it faithfully to my heart as well as to your own heart, fellow believer. You and I who have listened to the word of God, read it or heard it as the case may have been. We have known there's a future coming. And I think of the words of Paul when he was preaching in the city of Athens, when he said, God commandeth all men to repent. Paul, he has ordained a day in which he will judge the world. And I'm a believer. Like Noah, you and I have been warned. What are you doing about it? Well, let's see what Noah did. Read on. As we read by faith, Noah being warned of God, if things not seen as yet, look the next three words. He moved with fear. Meaning reverential fear. Not afraid of God. No, no. Or I read in the book of Genesis. that Noah, like Enoch, walks with God. But when he heard these news, he moves with fear. My beloved, I'm sure that you and I should suddenly show reverential fear that we serve a God who, as Paul wanders, the world's coming to an end. The nations are to be destroyed. Now please, my beloved, don't let me forget, it means our own nation too. We're not accepted. Ask of me and I will give thee, God said to his son, the nations for thine inheritance. Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a bottle's vessel. No one believed what God said. And he not only believed what God said, he also obeyed what God told him to do. Know what follows right away. He prepared enough to the saving of his house. My beloved, let me go back again to the reference. was a hundred and twenty years before that ark was finished you may read of it in Genesis chapter six God gave him the dimensions the instructions how to build it what to use in building it and Noah I think upon the truth that God had revealed to him was more occupied not with the world but with the object of safety. The Ark, together with his family without question of doubt. And one wonderful fact, like a true father, I believe he shared the news with his children, his sons and their wives. But may I mark out all the time he was building that ark he was preaching. You read in second Peter chapter three that in the last days scoffers shall come saying where is the promise of the Lord's coming. For since the fathers fall asleep all things continue as they are from the beginning of creation. Wait a minute. God has said in his word that's going to be an end of this present world as we know it. And the present governments as we know them. What are we occupied with? The world? You'll find in our eleventh chapter of Hebrews many references to many of these faithful ones of old. They were occupied more as to what was coming than what was here. By faith they believed the word of God. So did Noah. And he worked on the building of the ark. And don't forget the conditions that he worked among. There is no question of doubt. As Peter called him in chapter three of his second epistle, a preacher of righteousness. You may wonder, how much, what did he, well, I'll tell you what he preached. There is no question of doubt he was called the biggest fool. It's a building an ark. Why? He told the people it's going to rain. Well, what was wrong with that? It had never rained before. Do you know your Bible? From Genesis chapter two, I think it's verse six. The earth was watered with a mist in those early days of the creation, not with rain. And there's no question they laughed at him. They mocked him, just as they have meant today, mocking the fact, you and I believe the Lord Jesus is coming. This is coming an end to the nations. You better believe it, but best of all and most important, be occupied with the ark. You say, what do you mean? Your Savior. Your Savior. Be it the prayer meaning. Be it the Bible study. Be it the worship meaning. Be it the preachings. Whenever you have the... I think of the words of Paul as he wrote to the Hebrews in chapter ten. not forsaken the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is. No one didn't get any company. No one joined him. I tell you one thing. How did he be preaching for a hundred and twenty years and never get a soul saved except your own family? Well, one sure thing, he got his family saved. And then as you read on, I want you to notice And this is a great testimony that this should shine before us in this example. By which he condemned the world. His very actions, his very manner of life condemned the world. Does your life and mine Let the world know it's condemned. My beloved, one thing is sure. Everything down here is going down. And if I may say it humbly, most people in this world are occupied with the things that are going down. But the believer should be occupied with the things that are coming up. Did not fall right in the Colossian epistles. Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. For your life is hid with Christ in God. And when Christ you shall appear, then ye shall also appear with him in glory. Look, my beloved fellow believer, I'll tell you very frankly, Your future in Christ is a lot better than your future in this world. I dare you to oppose that and contradict it. Your future in glory is a lot better than your future in this world. And may I add, I know that there's a lot of Christians, their future in this life right now, my own too, runs into trouble sometimes. and physical trouble. I notice in a prayer meeting there's many people that are mentioned for prayer because of their physical disability. Look, you're not going to have that in heaven. And I say again that your future and mine in glory far better than you'll ever have one in this world. Please let me remind you what John wrote. And this is what Noah obeyed. Though he didn't know about it. Of course, John the Apostle wrote this thousands of years later. Love not the world. Neither the things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. And then he goes on to say what's in the world. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, is none of the world, and the world passeth away, and the loss thereof. But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. And may I repeat again, Noah condemned the world by the way he lived, and the work he was occupied with. Beloved, I notice in prayer tonight, and how true We should be praying for the unsaved around us. The unsaved of our fellow believers. And thank God we can and we do it. But beloved, please remember, by the character of our testimony, it should be a testimony that condemns the world. I often wonder, when you and I go into places of business, or any place, of publicity around us. Do we think of these people around us as facing the danger of a destroyed world? Noah did. And I am sure that every time he hit a nail in the off and put it together, he was preaching a sermon. For he was occupied with what God said he would provide for his safety. My beloved And when you and I can testify to others around us who know not the Lord, we're telling them that by the action of the words that we're doing and the testimony we gave, we're condemning the world. Tell it is unsafe. There's a day of judgment coming. And Noah faithfully did that. The condemnation of the world by the action of his life and the testimony of his word. And by the same time at the end of the verse he became heir of the righteousness which is what? By faith. It proved by faith alone he was saved. The righteousness that is by faith. Someone you may remember that not many Lord's days passed, our brother Cozan was over here from the community chapel, and he preached on the faith of Abraham, from Romans, rather, chapter four. And by faith, Abraham was saved. He believed God, and God counted it to him for what? Righteousness. And, beloved, you know and I know to. There's only by faith in the sacrificial work of the Lord Jesus. Can we be assured of salvation? As the old hymn writer has well written it, my faith has found a resting place, not in device nor creed. I trust the ever-living one. His wounds for me shall plead. I need no other argument. I need no other plead. It is enough. that Jesus died and that he died for me. I believe what he said. He that believeth should not perish but have everlasting life. Now here we are as we close our study tonight. We have had three examples that you and I should indeed realize we can follow. Abel. the sacrifice of salvation by faith in the Lamb of God who shed his blood upon Calvary. And Abel, though he's dead, is yet talking about it from the Scriptures here. And then thank God from Enoch, we can learn another lesson, a necessary one. Keep going on. Continue as Enoch continued for three hundred years. walking with God. My beloved, thank God you and I won't have to live down here that long. And then thank God for the testimony of Noah by which he condemned the world. We may raise our hearts in question, Lord, is my testimony truly to the world showing I'm trusting the precious blood of Jesus for my salvation. He's my ark of safety. As long ago in the Sunday school we used to sing a chorus. I'm in the ark, hallelujah. I'm in the ark to stay. I'm in the ark, hallelujah. I'm in the ark to stay. And the Lord Jesus is the ark. What a blessed type. But let us ask the question. Let me repeat it again. As we have enabled, we see our beginnings in the path of faith. As we have seen in Enoch, our continuation on the same path we should keep keeping on. And then in the example of Noah, he condemned the world by his testimony. He didn't go along with it. that the testimony of his life and the testimony of his service and the testimony of his work and of his family was a condemnation upon all the unsaved of that day. May God up you and me to keep on in the path of faith, shall we pray. Our dearly beloved Father, First of all, we want to thank Him. We ever began the pathway of faith. How we thank Him for that beginning, when by faith, for the first time, we appropriated the Lord Jesus as our Savior. We believed in Him and put our faith in His precious blood. As we sang that lovely hymn tonight, we could say, Hallelujah, tis done. I believe on the Son. I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one. We thank thee for that, Father. But we continue on, asking thee to help us to be like Enoch. Continue on the path of faith faithfully. Now we pray thee to ask us also to be like Noah in our testimony. Showing to the world by our clean testimony we're not occupied with the world. We have been told what the future is. A far better future than the world can ever give us. And not only that, Lord, is an eternal future. Never shall perish but have everlasting life. And there's eternal glory. And we thus pray, Lord. Help us to be a good testimony like Noah. We ask it as we commend ourselves as we separate. Fighting together for being gathered as we have. And praying again. Please remember the dear saints that are not here. Or who could be here but did not come. And those who... Would be here, but we're not able. Remember them where they are. And, God, Lord, you'll bring your people together more often until Jesus comes. And then when he comes, we'll be gathered together forever in our Saviour's precious and worthy name. Amen. Well, God asks us to keep on.