The Church in Noah's Day, Genesis 6:7-7:1

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you consider the days of Noah before the flood? It is probably wickedness. Wickedness and sin and pleasure seeking and rebellion everywhere one might look. The church was confined to a single family, and while we have no explicit information, we can reasonably suppose that family was only preserved from murderous destruction by the grace of God.

Similarities to our day

We can be thankful that our society, as bad as it is, and the church as imperfect as it is, are not in the same degree as distant from God as mankind became just before the flood. Nonetheless, there are similarities.

The nature of the local churches

Even though there are many churches around us, there is none in our vicinity that really welcomes our distinctives. At best we can expect to be tolerated, and many important biblical aspects of our faith are looked down on, both in worship and in morals. That’s not to say there are no true churches, but to define ourselves according to the least common denominator of what constitutes a true church is not what we are aiming at.

Irregular situation

The church in the antediluvian patriarchal period seems to have been irregular by default, meaning there was no organizing principle to the church outside of individual families. That was not all bad. It did mean that each family that set itself to follow the Lord had a very direct relationship with God. They were forced to do for themselves everything that pertained to their worship. That’s not the ideal pattern because God ultimately wants us to worship him publicly, but that’s what they had in that day. While we are not in that position ourselves, we’re not far from it. What we are far from is a local church that believes the things we do. We have transportation and can drive to places where worship is faithfully maintained, but it limits our participation in the church body during the week.

How can we take encouragement from Noah’s situation?

1. God has always had a people, even in dark days

Noah is commended personally. Genesis 6:9, "Noah walked with God." If we don’t have this much, there is no hope whatever that we will have a sound church. Each of us as individuals must faithfully follow the Lord.

We see the nature of his walk in Hebrews 11:7 “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.”

For Noah, it involved 1) faith (“things not seen as yet”), 2) fear of God ("moved with fear"), and 3) labor (“prepared an ark”). If we have little faith, little fear of God, and put no labor into our mission, we don’t meet even the prerequisites for ever founding a church.

2. Even though we labor, we remember that God is orchestrating all (even the miseries we encounter)

Genesis 6:17, “And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and everything that is in the earth shall die.”

It is an emphatic statement: “I, even I.” God is doing it. God is in control of providence, and God brings judgment on man for his sins. And God raises up people like Noah to build his church. If we grow discouraged, let's remember that God is sovereign. Nothing happens to us outside of God's providence and loving care.

3. God is with us

John Newton lived to be a very old man. Toward the end of his life people began recording conversations with him, believing he would not be around much longer. He did last longer than anyone thought he would, but two years before he died, he mentioned this verse in Genesis 7:1 to one of his visitors to describe his assurance that God would always be with us. Newton said, “God did not say to Noah and his family, 'Go into the Ark,' but 'Come into the Ark.' He was there before them.”

We are not alone in this work of trying to start a church, building an ark where the people of God and their children will be safe from the flood of wickedness and preserving a seed to worship God in the generations to come. God is there before us, he is with us as we build, and he will not forsake us.