AGCC Sun. a.m. 7/19/98

#5

"SHUTTING THE DOOR OF JUDGMENT"

TEXT: Gen. 7:1-8:22

INTRO: Imagine a world where so much sin existed that God decided it was time to end all human existence! Such a time existed during Noah's day. Can the world become so evil that God's judgment will come? The Bible teaches that there will be another day of judgment coming, and just as in Noah's day, only those who have clothed themselves with Christ's righteousness will be saved.

Noah and his family were the only light in a dark world!

ILLUS: In a tenement district in New York City, a boy in ragged clothes was seen with a small piece of broken mirror in his hand. Holding it high in the air he moved it slowly back and forth, watching the narrow slit of a window above him as he did so. "What are you doing?" a man suddenly demanded as he shook the youngster roughly by the shoulder. "Like most boys in this neighborhood, you're probably up to some mischief, aren't you?" The boy looked up into the stern face of his accuser and said, "See that window up there? Well, I have a little brother who has a room on that floor. He's a cripple. The only sunlight he ever sees is what I shine up to him with my mirror!" Do we reflect the light of the Son so that someone in darkness may see?

PROP. SENT: The Bible teaches us that the door of judgment can be shut if we accept Christ's righteousness in our lives.

I. A GREAT RIGHTEOUSNESS 7:1-5

A. Testimony 7:1

1. In the entire world there was only one righteous family, Noah's!

2. Though only one family served God, it was enough to warrant God's love to save them all when judgment came.

3. While Noah was a member of the society around him, and while it was evil, he and his family maintained their walk with God.

4. It is possible to serve the Lord even in a wicked world!

a. Noah's first identity is his relationship to God

b. His role model served as an influence on his family.

ILLUS: By blood and origin, I am all Albanian. My citizenship is Indian. I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the whole world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to Jesus. -- Mother Teresa, quoted by Ruth A. Tucker in Guardians of the Great Commission. Christianity Today, Vol. 33, no. 17.

5. We cannot go wrong if we live for the Lord no matter how society lives!

B. Test 7:2-5

1. God now shares with Noah his plans to send judgment on the earth, in only 7 days!

2. Noah had spent over 100 years preaching to the world about this coming judgment.

3. During that time NO ONE accepted Noah's message and warning!

a. It is tragic that the message of salvation was so ignored.

b. No doubt the world mocked Noah about this coming judgment since God allowed such a long time of grace!

c. This is the tragedy of sin, that good is mocked because evil is so "normal"!

ILLUS: There was a funny scene in the series All in the Family a few years ago when Edith was still part of Archie's household. Edith, in her own way, was kind of a saintly person. Archie is complaining, as Archie commonly did. He says to her, "That's you all right. Edith, the Good. You'll stoop to anything to be good. You never make nobody mad. You think it's easy living with a saint? Even when you cheat you don't cheat to win. You cheat to lose. Edith you ain't human." Edith says, "That's a terrible thing to say, Archie Bunker. I am just as human as you are." Archie retorts, "Oh, yeah? Then prove you're just as human as me. Do something rotten."

4. Noah now had 7 days to get ready for judgment

a. Some see in this a parallel to the future when there will be 7 years of tribulation before God's coming judgment at the second coming of Christ.

b. Noah being warned passes the test, he obediently prepares for his family and God's command to receive the animals.

(1. It is interesting to note that God has the animals COME TO Noah, it would have been impossible to gather them all in 7 days otherwise.

(2. God's desire to save Noah included saving part of creation.

(3. One man's righteousness can also impact the world positively in many ways!

II. A GREAT REVELATION 7:6-24

A. Treasured! 7:6-9

1. As God had stated, 7 days later the rains came…God's warnings had been ignored and now the day of grace had ended!

a. As surely as God kept His word back then, He will surely keep His word in the future with judgment too!

b. Noah and his family were in the "ark of safety" … a reference that applies to Christ too!

2. The "treasure chest" was full of righteous people and a testimony of God's grace on saving creation.

3. Noah had endeavored to reach as many as he could, but without results.

4. Noah was so busy living for God that he didn't have time to turn against Him!

ILLUS: The person who rows the boat usually doesn't have time to rock it. --James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 11.

B. Tragedy! 7:10-24

1. The great tragedy of the story is that so many people died that didn't have to!

a. God had opened up a window of opportunity for over 100 years!

b. Even at the end there was a 7 day notice.

2. That people scoffed at Noah's message demonstrated their hard heartedness.

3. When the people saw the animals coming to Noah they should have seen in this a miracle by itself and thought that perhaps the message was true, but still they ignored God and His message!

a. Yet how many today ignore the message of salvation and the coming judgement of God too?

b. Perhaps people had seen for so long through the eyes of sin that they could no longer hear from God!

4. The wicked were so used to being wicked that they did not see their need for salvation, they thought they were ok and that Noah was weird!

ILLUS: Recent experiments have been made in which people were fitted with special prismatic glasses. These devices greatly distort the vision so that straight lines appeared to be curved, and sharp outlines seemed fringed with color. Within just a few days, however, the unnatural shapes, tinted edges, and inverted landscapes gradually disappeared, and the world began to be normal again, even though they still wore their optical fittings. The brain was finally able to overcome the false data that came through the prismatic lenses. This adaptability in the physical realm is indeed a blessing. In the area of the spiritual, however, the human mind does not function very well. In fact, man is a sinner whose deepest imaginations are evil, and his thought life produces a world of illusions. He thinks of himself as pure when in reality he is guilty before God.

5. We need to guard our hearts against becoming so used to sin in this world that we fail to sense the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

6. It must have been difficult for Noah and his family to hear the screams outside as the waters rose, but by then the door had been sealed shut by God Himself and there was no opportunity!

a. God gives during this lifetime an opportunity to come to Him, after this the door is sealed shut and no opportunity will exist.

b. Today is the day of salvation, don't put Him off!

III. A GREAT RENEWAL 8:1-22

A. Transformation 8:1-14

1. During all the judgment God had not forgotten his grace, He begins the transformation of the world in preparation of those He had saved!

a. The world would not be the same again, it would be cleansed and made whole again.

b. Noah and his family would emerge into a new world, one free of the wickedness of unrepentant man!

(1. However, this does not mean that all sin was gone, for it was still in the heart of man, even Noah and his family!

(2. This fresh start was helpful, but someone greater than Noah would have to come to solve the problem once and for all!

2. Noah could not stand on his own righteousness, only on God's!

3. Nothing can take the guilt of sin away except Christ living in our lives, all efforts on our part will fail if we try it any other way than God's!

a. Surely those who lived during Noah's day had ways of getting rid of their guilt over sin, either by ignoring it or through some other means.

b. They obviously didn't FEEL guilty over their sins or they would have repented - the world no doubt gave them some way of resolving their guilt, but it was not the right way!

ILLUS: A new product called "Disposable Guilt Bags" appeared in the marketplace. It consisted of a set of ten ordinary brown bags on which were printed the following instructions: "Place the bag securely over your mouth, take a deep breath and blow all your guilt out, then dispose of the bag immediately." The wonder of this is that the Associated Press reported that 2500 kits had been quickly sold at $2.50 per kit. Would that we could dispose of our guilt so easily. There is nothing on this earth powerful enough in itself to dispose of our guilt. We cannot fix ourselves, which is what many of us are trying to do. That which makes it possible to be forgiven, to be cleansed, to be healed, that which makes it possible for us to receive our life back again, fresh and clean and new, is the power of God's Grace in the Cross of Jesus Christ.

4. So many people are willing to use all kinds of worldly ways to resolve their guilt of sins, but the only right way to deal with guilt is to come to Christ and seek forgiveness…then not only is the guilt gone, but so is the sin!

5. Only God can transform a world…and a heart!

B. Thanksgiving! 8:15-22

1. God invites Noah and his family out of the ark of safety and back into a cleansed world.

a. As they come forth, Noah immediately sets about building an altar and sacrificing to God as a way of showing thanks!

b. To Noah, God always came first, even after being cooped up in an ark for about a year, Noah's first thoughts are about God and being grateful rather than just being free!

2. God is very pleased with Noah's heart, before, during, and now after the flood!

a. He is very pleased in the thanksgiving offering Noah makes.

b. What a great way to start the world over!

3. Though there had been "rough waters" to go through, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord!

4. Sometimes we will not see His grace until we get to the other side, but it will proven to be there!

ILLUS: In one of the German art galleries a painting called "Cloud Lane" hangs at the end of a long dark hall. At first glance it appears to be a huge, ugly mass of confused color that is unattractive and foreboding. But when you look closer, you see portrayed on the canvas an innumerable company of angels.

How tempted we are to run in despair when clouds of trials and temptations come our way. If we would look closely at our situation through the eyes of faith, we would also see God's angels of mercy coming to our aid.

5. As a sign of God's grace, He gives them a rainbow.

a. God would not destroy the earth again with water, next time it is fire!

b. God promises continuity of seasons from now on until the final judgment day comes.

6. Can you rejoice today in knowing that you are saved, or does the prospects of coming judgment grip your heart?

a. Noah was not afraid because he walked with God

b. We do not have to be afraid either if we are walking with God.

c. The door to the "ark of safety" (Jesus Christ") is still open, why not get on board and be safe!

7. We can shut the door of judgment on our soul by receiving Christ as Lord, wherever Christ is there is freedom from judgment because He has already taken it for us!

CONCLUSION: Jesus said that the last days would be like Noah's day. People lived any way that they wanted, but Noah walked with God. There is a certain judgment coming on this world and only those inside the "ark of safety" will be delivered. Jesus is the ark, are you on board?