Obedience and God's Promises - Noah

This is from the blog A Word in Season:

“For you have need of patience (endurance),
that having done the will of God
you may obtain the promise.”
Hebrews 10:36 (LITV)

God’s promises come as we persevere in our work of obedience. It is in our “having done” the will of God we obtain His great and precious promises.

Obedience and God’s Promises – Noah

“Just as it was in the days of Noah,
so will it be in the days of the Son of Man”
Luke 17:26 (ESV)

The promise to Noah of salvation for his family was obtained after he had completed the ark. His obedience was required for the promise to be fulfilled.

“God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water…”
1 Peter 3:20

God and His promises waited “while the ark was being prepared”. May we comprehend that His promises concerning us also wait upon our working out of His will in our lives. God’s promise to Noah was inextricably entwined in the work that God gave him to do. So, it is with each of us. The work He has given us to accomplish is directly related to the promises given. Each of us is a participant in the fulfillment of His grace personally and corporately!

“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  (SELAH!)

How did Noah condemn the world? By His obedience in building the ark. It is through our obedience unto Him that we condemn this world.

“In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God,
and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ”
2 Thessalonians 1:8

The judgment of God falls on the disobedient but the fulcrum for His releasing of these judgments on the earth is the obedience of His people. God is not a hypocrite; He cannot freely judge the world in fullness until He has a people who walk in obedience.

“And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience,
when your obedience is fulfilled”
2 Corinthians 10:6

Obedience and God’s Promises – Lot

“Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire, and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed”
Luke 17:28-30 (ESV)

God waited in Noah’s day, as He also waited for Lot to leave Sodom and Gomorrah (Revelation 18:4).

“Escape there quickly,
for I can do nothing till you arrive there”
Genesis 19:22

The Judgment of God was stayed until Lot was out of the city! May we comprehend the righteousness of God concerning His judgments in our day and how closely they are related to our obedience. He is ever watching over us, pressing us, drawing us, and moving us to follow in the footsteps of the Author of our Faith, Jesus Christ.

Noah being moved by faith was the beginning of the end of the world and its violence of that Day. So it is in this final chapter of the world as we now know it. The True Faith of God MOVES His own unto obedience. Faith that does not culminate in obedience is a dead, religious faith that will never move the hand of God.

“But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets,
according to the commandment of the everlasting God,
made known to all nations FOR the obedience of faith”
Romans 16:26

Why is the Gospel to be made known to all the nations? For the obedience of Faith! The modern-day evangelist who preaches salvation from hell while excluding the obedience of faith has failed to present the Lordship of Christ. There is a vast difference between those who know Christ as Savior and those who know Him as Christ the LORD.

The faith that moves the hearts of men
Is the same faith that moves
The hand of God in a responding manner

†

“The safe place lies in obedience to God’s Word,
singleness of heart and holy vigilance”
A.B. Simpson

See Related Post in this Series: Obedience and God’s Promises – Elisha

See related article on overcoming the apathy: Lukewarmness

See related article on Lot leaving Sodom: The Two Voices

Brian Troxel