We're resuming our periodic study in Hebrews this morning and the text before us Hebrews 11:4-7 is part of this famous so-called "Hall of Faith" passage in Hebrews. Hebrews 11 is sometimes referred to as the "Hall of Faith" passage because it walks through the history of the Old Testament Church. It highlights along the way the various figures of faith found throughout the Old Testament in order to show us as the church today what faith looks like.

Now this morning, we're only going to look at the first three examples that the author of Hebrews gives to us, but we'll see in them what an enduring and long suffering faith looks like in the context of a hostile and sinful world. So hear now the word of the Lord Hebrews, 11:4-7. I'll be reading out of the ESV.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken, he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 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 4:4-7, ESV

Friends, this is the word of the Lord. In any organization or nonprofit or even in the church, one of the great dangers that leaders have to guard against with vigilance is something known as mission drift. Now, many authors have written about this danger, and there was even a book published a few years ago all about the frequency of this danger, specifically in Christian organizations.

Now, as the name suggests, Mission Drift refers to how organizations over time may gradually lose some of their original convictions and unintentionally drift from their founding purposes. Perhaps one of the most startling examples of mission drift that I've heard cited a few times over the years in various contexts is what has happened over the years to a well-known university in America.

At the founding of this university in 1636, one of its founding purposes was stated as follows, "Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well that the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life. Therefore to lay Christ in the bottom as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. Seeing the Lord only giveth wisdom let everyone seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seek it of him." `Now, this university that was apparently at one time so committed to forming disciples was Harvard. That's a direct quote from what Harvard wrote of their founding purposes in 1636, and you can still find that on their website to this day.

While Harvard is in the eyes of many a world renowned university, even they would admit that they have certainly drifted over the years from that original purpose. Now, mission drift often happens slowly, and it happens when an organization's founding principles are progressively hijacked by other concerns. Unfortunately, there are a number of examples where churches or denominations or Christian organizations, we could explore, have over the years drifted accordingly.

While that sadly happens at an organizational level, the consistent exhortation of our author in Hebrews is that as Christians, we would not drift from the faith that we profess. Earlier in Hebrews our author uses this kind of imagery when he exhorted the church and Hebrews 2:1 saying, "Therefore, we must pay closer attention to what we have heard lest we drift from it."

Understand that there are a number of persuasions in this world that would seek to hijack our confession of faith and replace it with something else. Any number of pressures that could so easily derail us from running the Christian life well.

So to encourage us not to drift, to stay the course in the Christian life. Well, the author of Hebrews and Hebrews 11 begins to marshal a number of examples of believers who, throughout the history of redemption, stayed the course. Who were fixed by faith on the God who promises so that we, as the church today, might learn from their example.

Now, today, we're not going to study every example our author gives us in Hebrews 11 for today, our focus is only on the so-called antediluvian. Now that's a big word antediluvian that refers to those who lived before the flood. Ante means before and diluvian is another word for flood, hence antediluvian. As we study these three examples in verses four through seven, the examples of Able and then Enoch and then Noah, we'll hear how by God's sustaining grace, these men didn't drift from an enduring faith, even when they were immersed in a world of sin and wickedness. In seeing what faith looked like in their day and age, well, we're also going to consider what faith looks like as we live our lives in this world of sin that would persuade us in any number of ways to drift from our original confession.

So our big idea this morning is this very simple stay the course of faith. As we explore the examples of faith that are given to us here in Abel and Enoch and Noah, we're going to see that the entirety of the Christian life in whatever context were immersed in has to be a life that's lived by faith. Three point outline for us as we work through this text.
1. By Faith We Approach God
2. By Faith We Commune with God
3. By Faith We Obey God.

By Faith We Approach God

Let's start off with a first point. Now again throughout the so-called "Hall of Faith" in Hebrews 11, our author is moving chronologically through the history of God's people one after another, after another in order to highlight the faith of various Old Testament figures. The first individual he comes to, right after he gives us this great definition of faith in verses one through three, is one of the sons of Adam and Eve, a man named Abel.

Again, if you're looking at your text in verse four, we read this, "By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks."

Now the story our author reflects upon here comes out of Genesis chapter four. In that chapter, we learn that Adam and Eve, after they were expelled out of the garden because of their sins, had two boys, one named Abel and another named Cain. Abel, we learn in Genesis four grew up to be a keeper of the sheep, that was his occupation. Cain grew up to be a worker of the ground, that was his occupation.

Now, we're not given in Genesis four any kind of biography of either of the sons, nor are we given very much at all about their background. Instead, the first thing we hear in Genesis chapter four is that one day both sons approach the Lord in worship. As they approach the Lord in worship, they bring with them sacrificial offerings that correspond with what they do for a living. So, for example, Abel draws near to the Lord in worship, and he brings with him the firstborn of his flock as a sacrificial offering. After all, he's a keeper of the sheep, we might expect that. Whereas Cain, on the other hand, draws near with, "An offering of the fruit of the ground."

While each brother is approaching the Lord and worship, each brother is bringing with them an offering. We quickly learn, in Genesis four, that one of their offerings is far better than the other. We read in Genesis 4:4-5 that, "The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering, he had no regard." The Lord, in other word, accepts Abel's offering, but he rejects Cain's offering. Now, in the context of Genesis, we're not explicitly told why that is. We're not explicitly told why Abel's offering was accepted, whereas Cain's was not.

There's good reason to believe that Abel's offering was accepted because his involved the shedding of blood, whereas Cain's did not. Understand that in a post sin world, the world in which Abel and Cain lived, and the world in which you and I live even to this day, no one can draw near to God as sinners apart from sacrifice. The author of Hebrews, after all, has labored over and over and over again to make this very point. If you recall, back in Hebrews 9:22, he told us explicitly that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of since we just can't approach God as sinners. As sinners upon whom the judgment of God rightly falls unless someone else stands in the gap. Unless someone else takes our sin upon himself along with the corresponding judgment of God.

This is where the sacrifices of Abel and Cain differed. In short, Abel approaches God with a bloody sacrifice, which ultimately foreshadows the sacrifice of Christ that would come thousands of years later. According to the author of Hebrews, Abel approaches God by faith in the sacrifice that would one day be offered in the person of Jesus Christ. He knew that he couldn't approach God on his own merits. He knew what the author of Hebrews declares that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. According to our author in Hebrews, it was through Abel's faith that he was counted righteous before God. He was, in other words, put in a right relationship with God through faith in the sacrifice that would one day arise out of Judah in the person of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

What about Cain? Well, Cain, on the other hand, approaches God with a bloodless offering, and it's not even the first fruit of that bloodless offering. In short, Cain is approaching God without a requisite understanding of who he is or who God is. One commentator, R. Kent Hughes writes that quote, "Cain's offering was a monument to pride and self-righteousness. Because Cain is bringing with him not something that foreshadows the sacrifice of Christ, but something that represents his own toil and labor and it's not even the best of that." In short, Cain approaches God by works, whereas Abel approaches God by faith.

The narrative of Genesis four after Cain's offering is subsequently rejected, well, we find that Cain gets pretty angry, he's pretty upset. Even though the Lord graciously enters into his anger and tenderly calls him back to the way of faith, we find very quickly that it doesn't penetrate Cain's heart. One day the opportunity presents itself, and we find that Cain rises up in anger and murders his brother, Abel.

You see, Cain is so offended by the idea that his works count for nothing. He's so offended by the fact that he can't approach God in any way that he wants, that his anger towards any assault against human autonomy breaks loose in a murder. Though Cain may have wished he could silence his brother, what we find is that the testimony of faith still speaks. Again, the author of Hebrews tells us that quote, "Through Abel's faith, though he died, he still speaks." The point isn't that Abel's voice is being heard right now, rather, the point is that the testimony of faith in Christ as the only way to approach God, which was represented in Abel, still speaks today in the Scriptures.

It's still true. Although he tries, Cain can't silence the testimony of faith. A testimony that's going to continue, as we'll find, to speak in men like Enoch and Noah and Abraham and Moses, and a testimony that continues to be proclaimed and followed today as the only way to approach God until the end of the days. Understand that although human autonomy represented in Cain always competes with and challenges the way of faith, the way of faith will not be silenced, and the way of faith does not change.

When I was in high school, I can distinctly remember the first time someone in my school tried to evangelize me, tried to share the gospel with me. One afternoon I was sitting in gym class. I remember with a fellow classmate, somebody who people in the school generally knew as the evangelical Christian around. During our conversation, we started talking about faith. Although I can't remember exactly what I said, nor do I remember exactly what he said, I do recall that I told him faith in Christ is great. I told him that I also believed in Christ. But at the end of the day, I told him, it doesn't matter, you know what you believe or anything like that. Your ethics are what really matter. It matters how you live out your life and whether you believe in Christ or somebody else, that's really not important.

Now, after parroting this, this mainstream what I call pluralistic view of faith, he gently informed me that I got it all wrong. Strike one, I hit and missed. That faith in Christ is really the whole ballgame. He gave me Gospel 101, and I recall that after he shared what he shared with me, I was defensive. I remember anger boiling up inside me. I was feeling angry, and I was really annoyed with what he said because he was essentially saying that neither I nor anyone else, regardless of how sincere we are, regardless of how moral we are, could approach God apart from Christ. He was saying that we don't get to decide how we approach God. He was saying that God gets to set the terms for how we approach him. The only way, the only hope we have to approach God or to be right with God is through Jesus Christ and him alone.

Friends, the call of the gospel, namely that faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to approach God and be in the right with God has always been and always will be an affront to our pluralistic world. You see, any time the church has insisted upon a certain ethic, for example, the world shakes its fists and loudly responds, it's 2022. As if simply shouting the year a racist, objective moral ethics. The assumption of our world is that truth is relative. It's ever evolving and changing, and that it's up to each person to determine truth in their own unique contexts. To insist upon one way, it's far too exclusive. Yet, brothers and sisters, truth does not change, the Bible does not change, the gospel doesn't change, the way a faith that proclaims access to God is available only through the sacrifice of Christ. A faith demonstrated so many years ago in Abel, doesn't change either.

For a number of reasons, friends, the exclusive claim of the gospel will always be an offense to a world that craves autonomy. If you're a teenager or college student, understand that you're coming up in a world that is relentless in its attempts to persuade you to drift from the gospel and the many moral and ethical implications that follow. The world proclaims that an exclusive faith like Abel had and that the Bible declares is intolerant at best and dangerous at worst. There have always been until the end of the age there always will be Cains in the world who hate those who follow and Abel's footsteps.

Are you prepared to be hated by the world? You see, truth has a cost. The way of faith has a cost. Of course, it's a cost that's worth bearing. It's a cost that's pittance compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ our Lord. But it is costly and there will always be Cains in this world.

So the exhortation for all of us, then, is that as we live in such a world, is that we wouldn't be persuaded by the irrational claims of plurality. Namely that there are many ways to God and that you can do it on your own. Claims that are as old as we find here, old as Cain. Rather, we're exhorted to hold fast by faith in Jesus Christ as the only way to approach God and be in the right with God. The times may change, and in the process, they may pull us this way and yank us that way, but the essence of truth and the essence of faith never changes.

So we learn in this first example, then in the example of Abel, that it's only through faith that we are invited into fellowship with God. But in the next example, we also learn that it's by this very same faith that we're called to continue in communion with God all the days of our life that the Lord gives us.

By Faith We Commune With God

If verse four emphasize the importance of faith, well, then in verses five through six, we hear about the importance of faith for communing with God. We turn to our next verse, in verse five, we see that our author highlights this important aspect of faith by shining the spotlight on a guy named Enoch. He tells us in verse five, "By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken, he was commended as having pleased God."

Now, Enoch is one of the most mysterious and enigmatic figures, I think, in the entire Old Testament. Maybe next to Melchizedek. The only place we hear anything about Enoch in the Old Testament is in Genesis 5:21-24, and it occurs in the context of this long list of descendants from Adam all the way up until Noah, you see throughout Genesis five.

There's this long list of names, and each of the names follows a certain cadence we hear as the author works. As Moses works through each of the names we hear how each person in this list, how many years they lived. Then we hear that they fathered somebody else. Then we hear that they lived a few more years and then they died. Each person then follows this kind of pattern. When we get to Enoch in that list, we notice that the final part of that pattern is disrupted. We hear how many years Enoch lived. We hear who he fathered. We hear how many years Enoch lived after he fathered who he fathered. But then we don't hear anything about Enoch death. We don't hear anything about Enoch dying. Instead, we read in Genesis 5:24 quote, "Enoch walked with God and he was not for God, took him."

Along with Elijah, the Prophet Elijah, who would come much later in the history of the Bible, Enoch doesn't taste death. He's one of two people who was, as we say, translated or taken directly to heaven without dying. Now, for all that we don't know about Enoch's life or how that worked for him, we do know from Genesis, as we heard a moment ago, that before he was taken up in heaven, he walked with God. We know that at least three hundred years of his life were characterized by this deep and intimate communion and fellowship with the Lord.

Now, as our author of Hebrews reflects upon Enoch life as it's narrated for us in Genesis chapter five, well, he taps into this. He interprets Enoch Walk in two ways. You can see in our text in Hebrews that first he tells us that Enoch was a man of faith, by faith Enoch did these things. Then after that, he tells us afterwards he tells us that as a result, Enoch pleased God. You see, Enoch demonstrated an enduring faith in the promises of God during a time when sin and wickedness was running amuck in the world, a time right before Noah and the Flood. Calvin, interestingly, suggests that that the reason Enoch was uniquely taken up to heaven by faith was as a wakeup call to a world gone mad by sin.

Nevertheless, though, Enoch deathless translation into heaven was certainly unique, something that we would be misplaced to expect for ourselves today. What we learn about Enoch life of faith, like Abel's blood, still speaks today. Understand that faith isn't about just how you get through the door of the Christian life. It's also at the heart of how we live the Christian life.

In what follows our author's very brief reflection on Enoch's faith in verse five of our passage. Well, he tells us in verse six two really important implications of that faith that follow. First, he tells us that Enoch faith and for that matter faith in general, has an object. He tells us in verse six that, "Whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists." Now literally the Greek here is, "whoever would draw near to God must believe that God is."

Now, this doesn't mean that in order to walk all of our lives with the same kind of faith that Enoch had, that we just have to believe in some kind of vague notion of the divine or anything like that, as if having some kind of vague notion captures what the Bible means when it talks about faith. Rather, the object in view is nothing other than the God who reveals himself throughout the Bible as the great I am. The Lord, the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Understand that a faith like Enoch's is a faith that steadfastly fixes itself to the right object. It's a faith that, though perhaps shaken occasionally in this world and subject to a little bit of drift every now and then, is nevertheless pointed constantly in the right direction and looks in all things to the one proclaimed in the scriptures who is the great I am.

Second implication of faith that follows is that this same kind of faith trusts that the God who we look to by faith also rewards those who seek him. Now this was true of Enoch, even as Enoch lived in a world descending deeper and deeper into wickedness. He was never drawn away by the allure of the world. He was fixed on the proper object, and as he basked in the light of God's presence presumably, he also grew in confidence that the rewards of heaven far surpassed the mud pies that this present evil world could offer.

Friends understand that a life of faith like Enoch's, a life that pleases God, is a life that's convinced that God and his kingdom are worth it. A life that is convinced that God and his kingdom are better than any privileges that might be gained on this Earth. A life that trusts treasures in heaven await the one who sojourns by faith on Earth. A life that above everything else desires the pleasures of God and his kingdom.

Is that the kind of faith that you have, the kind of faith that Enoch had? Is that the kind of faith that animates your life right now? Understand that this is the kind of faith that the author of Hebrews holds out for us as the only way to walk and live in this world as the people of God.

Back in the second century A.D., there was a well-known church leader by the name of Polycarp. His full title was Polycarp Bishop of Smyrna. Polycarp had the unique privilege, I think, of being a disciple by the Apostle John. Just as John lived to a ripe old age, so did Polycarp. It's reported that Polycarp lived to the age of 86 years old.

Now, throughout his life and ministry, Polycarp was quite bold. He was a bold and powerful minister of the Gospel. So much so that he gained a reputation among the largely pagan environment in which he ministered as being a destroyer of the gods. He wasn't just a firebrand; he was also incredibly humble. One author comment that Polycarp life was a case study in humility.

Nevertheless, around the year, 156 A.D., a big persecution arose against Christians and Polycarp in the course of that was arrested by the authorities, and he was threatened that if you do not proclaim Caesar as Lord, we're going to burn you alive. The magistrate is purported to have said to Polycarp on trial, he said, "Swear the oath and I will release you. Revile Christ." Yet, even in the face of death, as recorded, that Polycarp responded as follows, "For eighty-six years, I have been his servant and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme the king who has saved me?" And then as a final approach to persuade him that the proconsul steps in and threatens Polycarp saying, "I will have you consumed by fire unless you change your mind." Then Polycarp responds boldly and steadfastly, "You threatened with a fire that burns only briefly and after just a little while is extinguished. For you are ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and eternal punishment, which is reserved for the ungodly. Why do you delay? Come do what you wish."

See, Polycarp might not have lived the 365 years that Enoch lived, but like Enoch, he was a man who walked with God. He was a humble man of prayer who clung to Christ by faith throughout the entirety of his life. Even when the wood was collected and the fire was ready to be lit, Polycarp, we learn, held fast to his confession because he was convinced, to paraphrase the Apostle Paul in w Corinthians 4:17, that his light momentary affliction would usher in an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison?

Now, none of us may be called to walk the road of Polycarp. Yet like Polycarp and Enoch before him, the question stands before us. Do our hearts beat for the gospel, even if it means suffering loss? Are you eager to please God by faithfully walking with him in the present? Or on the flip side are you more concerned with finding acceptance in this world and making sure that above everything else, the world loves you? And if your answer is above everything else, I want to grow in that kind of faith that Polycarp had, well, then what does it look like for you to do that when the rubber meets the road?

So at the end of the day, the exhortation of this passage is to walk by faith in the promises of God for as many years as God gives us on this Earth. It's to keep fixed on Christ and his gospel, regardless of how politics or culture or anything else in this world ebbs and flows. The promise of our passage is that if we do that, it isn't that we might avoid a death like Enoch, too. Rather, the promise is that through a life of faith in the present, like Enoch and like Polycarp who followed him, we have the promise of resurrection life one day in the future.

So we've heard then that through Abel, that we approach God only through faith. We've heard that through the example of Enoch that the only way to commune with God throughout the entirety of our lives is by faith. In the final example, we come to, that of Noah, we hear that we also obey the many commands of God only through faith. Now, this leads us to a third point, by the way, the by faith we obey.

By Faith We Obey

Of the three figures mentioned in this passage, I think it's probably fair to say that the final one we come to hear Noah is probably the most well-known of the three. Even if you're here and you've never read the Bible before, I bet that you probably know something about Noah.

In Genesis chapter six, we read that when the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the Earth and that every intention of his heart was evil or continually. We read that the Lord called Noah the one who, amidst all the evil run amuck we learn, found favor in God's eyes. The Lord calls him to build an ark in view of the coming flood that he says is going to come on the world.

Now after the Lord calls Noah in Genesis chapter six, we learn as we follow the narrative in Genesis six, seven and eight that in Genesis seven, Noah does what the Lord commands he builds the ark. Then afterwards, the flood eventually comes. The inhabitants of the Earth are wiped away and the flood, while Noah and his family ride it out in safety on the Ark. Then in Genesis chapter eight, the flood waters subside. In Genesis chapter nine, the Lord establishes a covenant with Noah. You read all about those events in Noah's Life in Genesis six through nine.

When we turn to verse seven in our passage in Hebrews, we notice that our author in Hebrews is particularly concerned with how Noah obeys the Lord before the flood. How Noah obeys the Lord when there was little reason to suggest that that was necessary. Again, we read in verse seven, "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."

Now, earlier in Hebrews chapter 11, when we were given that great definition of faith in verses one through three, we heard that faith is the conviction of things not seen. We see in Noah how that's exemplified. You see, Noah begins building an ark, by most estimates, decades perhaps before the flood. He very likely lived nowhere by the water. As one commentator suggests, the most flooding that Noah had probably ever seen in his life was during the rainy season, when the local streams may have overflowed their banks a little bit. Nothing, though, on the scale of a worldwide flood.

Moreover, one could imagine Noah being subject over the decades to ridicule and insults as he faithfully worked on erecting this ark in the middle of nowhere. With neighbors perhaps wondering has this six hundred year old man lost his mind? Yet, even when it made no earthly sense whatsoever to build an ark, Noah takes God at his word.

Several years ago, a former pastor of mine in Florida shared with me an illustration that he called the music in the dance that I think speaks well to this point. The illustration begins by imagining someone in their home, listening to music on their earbuds or headphones, and then responding to that music by dancing. Dancing in their home. Then a few minutes later, someone else from the house wanders into that room and they see this person moving all around, arms flailing, at least that's how I dance, of feet moving, head swaying. But to the one observing this, well, you can imagine it looks quite strange. Remember that person's not hearing the music they don't have the earbuds in or the headphones on. They have no idea what's prompting this person to move in the crazy ways in which they're moving. So at best, they may reason that this is just an eccentric person and let them be. Or maybe at worst, they conclude that this person needs to be institutionalized.

Well, friends, this is often what the obedience of faith looks like to our neighbors. To maintain in the world, a biblical view of marriage, together with everything that entails or to exercise self-sacrificial generosity or to speak well about people, even people that you sharply disagree with, all of that you understand looks absolutely crazy to this world.

Yet like Noah, who took God at his word and followed accordingly, even when he looked insane, so too, we're called to take God at his word in whatever he calls us to do, regardless of what the world considers acceptable or not. We're called to take God at his word, even when we can't see with our eyes that are reason to obey. Even when we don't see any advantageous outcome. Even when it might be costly to do that. Even still, the Lord calls us to trust by faith that the one who created us also knows what's best for us and that we would act accordingly.

So ask yourself this question, are there areas right now in your life where you know that the Lord is calling you to obedience, but your heels are dug in. You refuse to budge. Maybe you're even knowingly twisting the scriptures to prop up your disobedience? Are there areas in your life where that's the case? Friends, God calls us to obedience because he knows what's best for us. He created us and knows in what situations we best flourish as the people of God. More importantly, it's in our obedience, as imperfect as it is in this life, that we glorify the Lord who purchased us with his blood.

Now, even as this final example stresses what we'll call the obedience of faith, it's always important to remember that neither Noah nor we are made right with God through our obedience. If you look again at what the passage tells us in verse seven, it tells us that by this, he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. Notice that Noah didn't become an heir of righteousness through his obedience or by being a really good and moral person. Rather, his obedience was important. His obedience, though, was evidence of a justified life. Just like our obedience in this life is evidence of a true justifying faith.

Yet His obedience isn't what made him write with God. Rather, Noah became an air of righteousness, by faith. By faith he was made right with God, and he lived out a life of obedience that flowed from that justified faith that he had before God through Christ alone.

Friends understand that the consistent message that we hear through the example of Noah and Enoch and Abel is that it is through faith alone in the crucified and resurrected Christ alone that any of us are made right with God. Among the many promises that we find in this passage, we also discover that through that very same faith, we will be saved when Jesus comes again at the end of the age. We hear in verse seven that by faith, Noah constructed an ark for the saving of his household. As the events of Genesis seven or eight unfold, Noah did just that. The one Noah trusted in by faith is also the one who Noah's life of faith pointed towards, Jesus Christ.

Earlier in Hebrews the author told us that Jesus is the faithful son, not over just Noah's household, but over God's household, the church. Jesus Christ is the one who will come again at the end of the age in an even greater flood, if you will, to deliver his household from the final judgment that will consume the Earth at the end. How we respond to Jesus now in the present determines whether we're part of that household or not. At the end of the day, it's by faith that we access this God. It is by faith that we live in communion with this God. It is by faith that we take God at his word. It is by faith that we will be delivered through Christ at the end of the age.

Application

So to return where we started the sermon as we prepare to close, let me leave us with this do not drift from the moorings of faith. Faith in Jesus Christ is costly, and many around our world, like the first martyr Abel and like later martyrs to follow, such as Polycarp, regularly pay for their faith with blood. Faith in Christ is often at odds with the world, as it was in the days of Abel and in the days of Enoch and Noah. But biblical faith also lays whole of a better object, of a better hope and of a more worthy treasure than anything this world could offer as a substitute.

So therefore, for as many years as we are given in this life under the sun, friends cling to Christ by faith, the one who has first clung to us and do not drift from those moorings.

Let me pray. Father, we thank you for these testimonies of faith, the testimony in the life of Abel and Enoch and Noah and what you would teach us through these various individuals. I pray, Lord, that that the object that they look to, namely you and your Son, would be the same object that we are pointed towards throughout the entirety of our lives. We would also trust that as we do that as we cling to you by faith only because you have first clung to us, that we would also be assured in the promises, the promised treasure, that awaits us at the end of the age. Will you help us not drift from this faith, but to stay rooted in this faith? Would you call us back when we are drifting from this faith? In all things, would you point us constantly every day we live, move and have our beings to Jesus Christ our Lord? We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.