As he concludes his series on “Walking in the Favor of God,” Dr. Stanley uses both the story of Noah’s obedience to God and examples from his own life to help us discover how we can listen to, trust, and obey the Lord. When we make wise decisions that honor and bring glory to God, we’ll find His favor in our own lives. For more messages from Charles Stanley, including this week’s broadcast, go to www.intouch.org/watch

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somebody might ask well why would god

destroy

the world after he took such pains to

make it so beautiful to begin with

and in the book of genesis god’s

description of what he created was

awesome

but think about this 10 generations

after that

noah came along so 10 generations have

gone by since the creation

since adam and eve well what happened in

all of those 10 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 40 years that’s what

we sort of consider

look what’s happened in this country

it isn’t unbelievable no one would have

imagined we’d be where we are

today from where we were

80 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 10 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

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

that’s just 80 years but go back

400 years

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 will you watch

the television listen to the radio and

listen to 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 his god was

brokenhearted

the lord said i will blot 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 walk with god

righteous blameless and walk with god

somebody says well

does blameless mean he never sinned no

that two hebrew

words for uh sin and one of

which indicates that a person sins

occasionally

the other one indicates that a person is

just a sinner just

this 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 it corrupted

their way

upon the earth then god said to noah the

end of all flesh has come

so one family one man and 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 well 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 he 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 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 civil 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 violent 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

would you 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 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 serve you

they 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 people 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 all the rest of the

world she dresses well

he drives well they live well he makes

this that and so forth although 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’re driving

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

can you give me any three other

characteristics that you can replace

one of these no why did god make it so

simple because

that’s the way he wants us to live a

deep

intimate relationship with him that

we’re listening

and not only listening but we’re

trusting him

not only trusting but we’re obeying him

what would your children say about you

as parents

what would your

people do you work with would they do

they do they see any of that in you

when jesus talked about our testimony

and that witness think about this

does not the unbelieving world have a

right

and whether they understand it and

that’s not the issue

don’t they have a right to expect from

us who talk about being a christian

followers of jesus

that we are the kind of person who

listens to god

do you live the kind of life that they

would say of you i tell you one thing

about that person

don’t know everything about them but i

can tell you i believe

he or she listens to god and they

certainly trust god

they’re walking with him they’re obeying

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 gonna

i’m gonna 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

i 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 and kept that kind of a

society for that period of time

it took him a while to build this ark

450 feet long and 50 feet wide

three stories high and so forth 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 and

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 was 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 subtle issue here’s 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 the scare but 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 40 days and 40 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 he 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

for noah to listen to god

or to trust him but obey him and

oftentimes many people say well i’m

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’m 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 no

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 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

40 days 40 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

and then for almost a year that’s why

almost a year

they lived in that boat how many times

do you think they woke up at night

wondering

what about so and so but they knew what

happened to so and so

they were all destroyed because they

sinned

against god and that sin had to be so

definite and deliberate

that it wasn’t a matter of them just not

being very good it was wicked

in the evil and god said it was so bad

that he was sorry he made the earth

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’d

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 of 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 see 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 in that

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

whoever 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 will 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

and the question is this don’t you think

it’s time you got honest with him

about the fact that your lifestyle is

one of sin

disobedience rebellion against god it

can be sophisticated rebellion

or just pure evil rebellion but you’ve

turned your back on god

you don’t need god you don’t need the

church you’re not even interested in

anything spiritual whatsoever

and you think that somehow some way

you’re going to get through the judgment

of god

and somehow you’re going to sneak

through no you’re not

there’s no escape of god’s judgment

and there is nothing to keep you from

rejoicing when you have christ in your

life you don’t have to be afraid of

anything

god put the rainbow in the sky to remind

not only noah knowing his family but all

of us watch this

whatever god promises that’s what he’ll

do

has 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 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

ever have to be disappointed with god

maybe discipline 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 owned

them

and never opened them

own one and never opened 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

it didn’t say something to me it may

have been something i didn’t want to

hear something i wanted to hear was

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

oh it’s 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 wherever you are give me

an excuse

acceptable for not listening to him

trusting him

or obeying what 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

do you listen to him

do you listen to him expecting him to

speak to you

trusting him i’ll tell you how we know

whether you trust him or not

whether you’re obey him or not then that

tells you

whether you’re trusting him or not

somebody said oh i trust god

no doubt in my mind well why do you live

the way you live because you’re not

trusting him

when i think about a portion of the

scripture

where a lesson is so descriptive

so imaginable so true

so characteristic of how god works

and what god desires for us right up

front in the bible

with noah threefold lesson

i want you to listen to me i want you to

trust me

and i want you to obey me

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 sending 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 sort of 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 him 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 will sink this

simple message into all of our hearts

[Music]

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

[Music]