Walking in the Favor of God – Part 3

♪♪ In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. Next on In Touch, Walking in the Favor of God, Part Three. Somebody might ask, well, why would God destroy the world after He took such pains to make it so beautiful to begin with? In the book of Genesis, God's description of what He created was awesome. But, think about this, ten generations after that, Noah came along. So, ten generations have gone by since the creation, since Adam and Eve. Well, what happened in all of those ten generations? Well, I look back, for example, and think, well, I've lived through two, a little over two, and I can see what's happened in this country in two generations. If a generation is forty years, that's what we sort of consider. Look what's happened in this country. It is unbelievable. No one would have imagined we'd be where we are today from where we were eighty years ago. And then, of course, go back further than that. And so, let's go back to sixteen hundred and twenty. That would be compared to where Noah was for the creation, thereabouts, all the way back to sixteen hundred. Think about all the changes that have been made. All the advancements we've made, but also all the things that have happened that have not been good. So, let's say ten generations have gone by. I can look back and see what a difference in America today than it was as a kid growing up.

Because I remember on Sunday you didn't do anything. You didn't play ball. You didn't go swimming. You reverenced the Lord's Day. And people took care of each other. They didn't have everything we have today. And there was more respect for one another. People were more considerate of each other. A lot of things were different. So, look at that and then look at today. And so, we say, well, why would God destroy such a beautiful earth? And here's the reason. Because the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thought of his heart was only evil continually. Well, you watch the television, listen to the radio, and listen to the people talk. Does that sound a lot like this? Every intent of the thoughts and of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. That is, God was brokenhearted. The Lord said, I will blood out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals, to creeping things, and to the birds of the sky, for I am sorry that I have made them. And so, that's very dismal, very discouraging. God said, I've created all of this, now I'm sorry. Let me ask you a question.

Have you ever felt like when you were praying or maybe something that you were praying about and God said, I'm sorry you've done that. I'm sorry you've done that. Because God doesn't like to chastise anybody. And so, in spite of all the evil going on, the next verse says, But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. And these are the records of the generation of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time, and walked with God. Righteous, blameless, and walked with God. Somebody says, Well, does blameless mean he never sinned? No. There are two Hebrew words for sin, one of which indicates that a person sins occasionally. The other one indicates that a person is just a sinner, just lives that kind of life. And so, the Scripture says, The earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. God looked on the earth, and, behold, was corrupt of all the flesh, and corrupted their way upon the earth. Then God said to Noah, The end of all flesh is come. So, one family, one man in all the earth. So, think about this for a moment. Suppose you and your family were the only family in Atlanta. And God said to you, I'm going to destroy everybody in this city and in the surrounding counties, everybody. You and your family are going to be the only ones left. What would you think? What do you think, first of all, of your friends?

your family, and you think, well, why would God do such a thing? Well, the reason God did what He did is because the Scripture says, the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thought of his heart was only evil continually. That is how bad it got. Now, let's think about this for a moment. Suppose we, in this country and around the world, suppose we continue to move in the direction we're moving, away from God, with the intent of our heart, seeking pleasure at any cost, mistreating each other, killing each other, all kinds of atrocities that go on. Let's suppose we keep doing that for a couple of generations. Where will we be? We can't even imagine it. But that was what was happening in the days in which the Bible says that Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. That is, he looked at Noah and he saw a man who was absolutely different. And God reached down and spoke to his heart and gave him a command, which he, of course, followed. So, I ask you this question. If God were looking for righteous people today, would you fall in that category? Could you say that you are living a godly life, a holy life, a righteous life? Or would you be caught up with a crowd that Noah was having to deal with? While he was a blameless man, the days in which he lived were

full of sin and wickedness, to the point that God said, I'm sorry I made them. And therefore, here's what I'm going to do as a result of it. So, when I think about Noah and think about how long he lived, and then God said, can't put up with any more of it. But he found one man. That man had three characteristics that all of us should have in our life. And that is that we do what? We listen to him. We what? Trust him and we obey him. So, think about this. If I listen to him, I'll know what to do. If I trust him, that means I know it's going to work out right. And if I obey him, I'm going to be blessed. If I don't listen to him, I am not going to trust him and I'm not going to obey him. So, what does that tell you about people around us today? They're not listening to God. They're listening to all kind of stuff, but not to God. Now, people say, well, I don't believe the Bible. Well, if you look around you and read the Word of God, you'll start believing it. Because God's already pictured for us what evil and wickedness and sin is all about and the kind of effect that it has. And so, God said, there's one family that I'm going to save, and that's Noah and his family. So, I want us to think about that for a moment.

And the Scripture says that Noah walked with God and he listened to God. And therefore, God saved civilization through one family, and that is through the family of Noah. Not because he was perfect, but because he listened to God, he trusted God, and he obeyed God. So, I think about what Noah was confronted with. Living in a civilization, in a time when everything around him was wicked and vile, disobedient, and reckless. And God said to him, Noah, I'm going to destroy the whole earth, but you and your family I'm going to save. Don't you think Noah would have said, well now, why me? And God said to him, because I see in you what I'm looking for and I am going to save you out of all of this. So, let me just ask you this question. Could you say, and could it be said of you, that according to the way you're living your life now, whether it's in your family or the people you work with or play with, would they think of you and say, one thing I know about him or about her, they listen to God? So, think about this for a moment. Who do you know that knows you, who would say of you, he listens to God? She listens to God. Who among your friends or people who know you would say of you, they listen to God because they talk about prayer and I think they're listening to God. Who would say about you that we listen, we trust, we obey, that those three simple characteristics, that's what people think about when they know you.

You have a family, so people know you. You work with them. so they know you. You have friends, and so they know you pretty good. When they think about you, do they think about you in terms of godly qualities, or the rest of the world? She dresses well, he drives well, they live well, he makes this, that, and so forth. Or do they think of you in terms of someone who listens to God, trusts God, and obeys God? Could they say that about you? Or do you want people to say how well you dress and how good you look and how rich you are and where you live and what you drive, and you just have, you got class about you? I'd rather be a holy person than a classy person, because class doesn't mean anything spiritual. It fits the features of the world. But can they say of you, I know that that person listens to God, they trust God because I've watched how they've reacted in situations and circumstances, and I know that they obey God. Isn't it interesting that sometimes the people who are supposedly our closest friends, when they are living in sin, they don't like our company? And they don't know why, because I'll tell you why. When those three characteristics are characteristic of you, watch this, people who are living in sin and disobedience to God are not going to be all that happy being around you or working with you or being called your friend. Why? Because you're walking on two levels.

One's walking in darkness, one's walking in light. And the problem Noah had was he was walking in light, obeying the living God, and all of a sudden God said, here's what I want you to do. So, I want us to think for just a moment about what went on in Noah's heart and mind and life when God told him what He wanted him to do. And we've talked about the whole issue of building the ark and all the things that took place with that. And I think about what he had to deal with personally. Knowing what God said to him, I'm going to destroy everything that you see. I'm going to save you and your family because you've listened to me, you've trusted me, and you've obeyed me. But everybody else is gone. Wonder what they were thinking about this man who was totally different morally, spiritually, than all the rest of them. So, think about it for a moment, what he was thinking. Think about the mental conflict he had, and yet God said, here's what I'm going to do, and he knew it was the truth. How do you live in that kind of a society for that period of time? It took him a while to build this ark, four hundred and fifty feet long and fifty feet wide and three stories high and so forth. You don't know how long it took him. But what I want you to see is this, he had to live with this in his heart, in his mind, in his emotion, they are all going to be destroyed and my family and I are going to be the only ones left.

And you see, there wasn't any question in his mind about it because he learned to listen to God and to trust God and to obey God. So, it wasn't a matter of maybe it's going to happen, maybe God will change his mind. It was a settled issue, is what God was going to do. And so, you and I live in a time when we see wickedness on the increase. And we think, well, yes, but this is the United States of America. Yes, it is. And so, while we rest in our sense of security, watch this carefully, the only security you and I have is our personal relationship with God. That's the only thing we have. And then I think about, for example, they get all these animals in. I don't know how God did that. Somebody says, well, how could that have happened? I don't have an answer and I'm going to give you some answer I don't know. But somehow God, over a period of time, He got all the animals in there and ark was finally finished and it's going to start raining and it's not going to stop for forty days and forty nights. Now, when we have a little spell of something for about three days, we have a fit. And the Bible says not only did it come down, it came up. Noah was locked in by the grace of God because, listen carefully, because he listened to God, because he trusted God,

because he obeyed God. Listen carefully. Those three things can save you from heartache, troubles, trials, difficulties, cost your life. Listen to Him, trust Him, and obey Him. Do what He says. It was not enough. enough for Noah to listen to God or to trust Him, but obey Him. And oftentimes, many people say, Well, I'm living a Christian life, I'm doing what God wants me to do. Is that right? Well, the issue is not what you know, but the issue is are you obeying what God's told you to do? Watch this, obedience has sharp edges, very sharp edges. I do or I not do. I do what He says, I don't do it. I can't obey God and sort of cut off the side. I can't obey God and just compromise this area. Well, I did almost everything you said, Noah. Obedience is obedience, and people don't even like to think about it. But obedience is, should be a part of our daily life, and it should be a priority in our life. You never know when God's going to close your door, when you're going to be called home, when you'll have to turn your back upon everybody. And so, there he was. Can you imagine what they must have felt when they heard the cries and the calls of their friends? And it rained and kept on raining.

And then all of a sudden, that big old boat moved, just a little bit, because there was enough water now to move it. Forty days, forty nights, it was not a drizzle, but it was pouring rain from above and coming out of the earth, until finally, there was not a sound. The only sound was on the inside of that boat. The days went by, the weeks went by, the months went by, and finally, after God had accomplished what He set out to accomplish, the ark landed. God told him when, He sent out a bird, you remember, and see what was going on. The bird came back. Finally, one came back with a leaf. God said, Now you can go out. And one of the first things Noah did was to build an altar. Don't you know that was some altar? Big altar. Thanking God for what has happened. The Scripture says he built an altar to the Lord and took up every clean animal and so forth. And Scripture says that God said to him, I will never again destroy every living thing as I have done. While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease. That is, it'll never happen again that way. But he didn't say he wouldn't do it by fire, which when you come to the New Testament, that's God's view. And so, when I think about that and think about what God said, He said, I establish My covenant with you and all the flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood.

He didn't say not fire. Neither shall there be again a flood to destroy the earth. God said, This is the sign of the covenant which I'm making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you for all successive generations. And then here's what He did to remind them forever. He showed them a rainbow. And when I think about the rainbow, I don't know what you think about it. I think about it in two ways, how beautiful it is. But I think about what God said. By this sign, you'll know that I will never do it again. Let me ask you this. Do you listen to God? Do you trust Him? Do you obey Him? Life isn't like it was then. But on the other hand, it's just like it. I either obey God or I don't. Whatever you're doing, whoever you are, wherever you are, God requires that we obey Him. That means we must trust Him. And God has offered salvation to every person. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, you shall be saved. If you're willing to confess and repent of your sins, you'll be saved. You say, Well, I've got plenty of time.

No, you don't. You don't know how much time you have. You don't have as much time as you think you do. God put the rainbow in the sky to remind not only Noah and his family, but all of us. Watch this. Whatever God promises, that's what He'll do. Has there ever been a flood like that since? No, why, because God said it wouldn't happen. I want you to think about this. You have professed to be a child of God, following the Lord Jesus Christ. Having professed that, everybody who knows you, everybody you work with, live with, everybody around you has a legitimate right to expect you to be different. Not perfect, different. But not just different, but spiritual, because you have professed to be a Christian, a follower of Jesus. So, the world has a right to expect us to be different. Watch this. And when we're not, we're a disappointment even to people who don't even think about God, because they know what we say the standard is, obey God. If God's people would make it a habit of listening, trusting, and obeying, I'll tell you what would happen. The churches would be full of people, because they would see the difference, that there's something within us that's different. And therefore, they would want who we have or what we have. And God gave Noah an awesome promise, and then He put it in

the sky to say, you can count on it. He's given us something better than a rainbow. And according to this, I can trust Him in life and trust Him in death. According to this, I can trust Him every day. According to this, I don't have, I don't ever have to be disappointed with God. Maybe disappointed in myself, not God. I read this, I know my name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and that means that no matter what happens, I'm going to heaven when I die. And nothing can change that. Nothing, nothing, nothing on earth can change your relationship with God. I think about how many people who own one of these. This is the Bible. How many people own them and never open them? Own one and never open it to find out what God's thinking? What He wants to say to you? Listen, I don't know many times in my life when I've opened the Word of God that He didn't say something to me. It may have been something I didn't want to hear, something I wanted to hear, or something I was elated to hear. But listen, listen carefully. God wants to speak to you because God loves you. And proof of that is, look at the cross. In other words, God's demonstrated His love to us. Not only with a rainbow thousands of years ago, but at the cross just a couple of thousand years ago or so. To say what?

I love you. I'll save you. I'll bring you home to spend eternity with Me. Could you give me, give God, any excuse for not beginning this day, whoever you are and wherever you are? Give me an excuse acceptable for not listening to Him, trusting Him, or obeying Him. What do you teach your children? Same thing. What about God? Have you learned to trust Him? Have you learned to obey Him? Not until you learn, first of all, to take time to listen to Him. Is that asking too much? But I ask you, is that your lifestyle? If it is not, ask yourself the question, why? Amen? Father, we pray the Holy Spirit would speak to every person seated here who is unsaved. They've been too busy to talk to You and listen to You. They're sinning their life, they don't want to give up. Speak to every person, Father, to remind them that as it was in the days of Noah, so it shall be in all of us, all of our days, all of us will one day die and face You. And I pray that the person seated here who's never trusted Jesus as Savior, heard about Him, thought about Him, believed about Him, saw Him, but never trusted You as Savior, that today, this morning, they will make that decision to ask for your forgiveness and to surrender their life to You.

Lord, most of all, we want to be able to answer this in the Affirmative. Am I listening? Yes. Am I trusting? Yes. Am I obeying? Yes. And Father, impress upon each of our hearts, there is no other correct answer. Not maybe, not sometimes, yes. And I pray that You'll sink this simple message into all of our hearts because it's a daily message and we need to hear it daily because You're speaking to us daily. We bless You. We praise You. We thank You for the Word of God that gives us direction for our life. In Jesus' name, Amen.