“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
One day in the presence of Mark Twain someone said, “This world is coming to an end.” And with a gleam in his eye, Twain said, “Don’t worry, we can get along quite well without it.”
As we look at our world, our world is a sinking world, and we wonder if we can do without it. But God promises that a new world is coming, a better world is coming, and that world is the world of His kingdom and of His glory.
Noah learned how to rise above a sinking world. His faith produced good works. He believed God and built an ark. He believed God and obeyed God.
And so because of a faith that worked, Noah was able to rise above a sinking world, and so can you. How did Noah do it? How do we do it?
God spoke to Noah! And when God spoke above the clamoring voices of his times, Noah listened to the voice of God and obeyed the voice of God.
In the midst of all the voices that are clamoring for our attention just as in Noah’s day, we must hear the voice of God! Beyond the rabble noise of the crowd, beyond the call and the cry of the crowd we must hear the voice of God.
GOD IS SPEAKING AND WANTS YOU TO LISTEN
Thursday, March 14, 2019
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;”
Philippians 1:27–29
A few years ago, my wife Terrie and I were in a park near the beach. We saw they had tandem bikes for rent and thought that would be fun to try. So we went over and paid our money and set off. I was in the front, pedaling away. But it seemed like we weren’t going as fast as we should have been. When I looked back over my shoulder, I realized that Terrie wasn’t pedaling! That was a humorous moment for us, but sadly it is all too common in churches. A few people are doing most of the work while many others are coasting.
This is not a new phenomenon. Nearly 150 years ago Charles Spurgeon said, “I was taken aback the other day when I heard a minister of large experience, who has been for many years a pastor of a very useful church, say that he did not think that more than 5 percent of the members of our churches were actually serving God by direct Christian effort. I have reason to believe that it is sadly near the truth as to many churches; for while a large number of workers would be reckoned up in our statistics, it would be found that the same persons are filling several posts of service, and so are counted several times over.”
Today's Growth Principle:
Success in God’s work comes when we join hands and work together for His glory.
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