(Christian Living Sermon) Dumas 88, Hillside 4/96
Filename: Enoch and Noah

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE FAULTS OF BIBLE PEOPLE?

INTRODUCTION-- Genesis 5:21-24

1. Enoch's righteousness is the finest example of a life pleasing to God.
   
   1. There was another Enoch, a son of Cain, who is not counted among the branch of Adam's family called the "Sons of God." Genesis 6:4
      
   2. The Enoch who descended from Seth is honored by being mentioned early in the "Faith Hall of Fame." Hebrews 11:5
      
   3. Enoch was also called a prophet. Jude 14-15
      
2. It is hard to identify ourselves with the perfection of Enoch, having sinned.
   
   1. We won't say Enoch was sinless, like Christ. 1 Kings 8:46, Romans 3:23
      
   2. But, since no sin of Enoch is recorded, we must hold him in the highest regard among the worthies of the Patriarchal Age.
      

LESSON-- Among the Patriarchs, however, there were many who were commended by God, but whose sins are also recorded. We can learn from their foibles, as well as from their righteousness. Such is the case of Noah.

1. The Scripture says he was also a righteous man. Genesis 6:8-9; 2 Peter 2:5
   
2. His righteousness was the sort that could save him, when surrounded by sinners, as in the flood, and God testified to this. Ezekiel 14:12-20
   
3. He, like Enoch, is in the "Hall of Fame." Hebrews 11:7
   
4. But, after being save from the flood (with his righteous family), he sinned.
   
   1. He first offered a sacrifice pleasing to God. Genesis 8:20-22
      
   2. But, in re-establishing his earthly life, Noah was overindulgent in wine, became drunk, and lay immodest in his tent. Genesis 9:20-23
      
      1. Wine softened Noah's inhibitions about nakedness.
         
      2. It is worse when we justify uncovering ourselves by pleading circumstances (too hot, playing sports, peer pressure).
         
      3. Remember--in this case, it was a man looking on another naked man!
         
   3. When he sobered, he put a curse on Ham's son, Canaan. Genesis 9:24-27
      
      1. Was this curse placed on the right person? Was it unfair?
         
         1. Canaan may have shared his father's offense, but we are not told so.
            
         2. Some treat Noah's curse as a divine prophecy, marking black people (descendants of Ham) as worthy to be enslaved, but we are not told that it was. (There are examples of prophecies made by sinful men.)
            
      2. The curse may have been to outgrowth of Noah's guilty conscience, an attempt to shift blame.
         
      3. We are not entitled to preach any presumptions drawn from the facts, but we do know for sure that Noah was restored to righteousness, to his great honor.
         
      4. He is set forth often in the Bible as an example of righteousness.
         

APPLICATION-- When we are earnestly trying to live the Christian life, yet fall in sin, we must not persist in it, or justify it, or compound it with other sins. We must immediately seek the remedy by confessing and repenting. 1 John 1:5-10