Shammah Temple Fellowship: Sermon of January 14, 2024
By Pastor Alexis Muzuri
Theme: Genesis 6:1-22 & Hebrew 11:7
Reference scriptures: Characteristics of people who walk with God
Staying long with someone creates some traits from the other fellow that are sometimes adopted by the other partner. Spiritually, people who walked with God (Enock, Noah, Abraham …) stayed so long with God and ended up behaving the way God wanted. Disciples walked with Jesus and later were modeled in a way He had imagined. Let’s see how Noah walked with God and traits similar people have in common.
3 traits of Noah’s life walking with God.
People who walk with God:
- Lead righteous lives in their ‘wicked’ generation
These people create their own models reflecting God’s way and design even when contrary to what everyone around is doing and loving.
“The Lord saw how great the wickedness. Of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil” (Genesis 6:5).
Everyone in his generation was evil. However, Noah, around 6oo years, was a man of his own traits, a man of his own way of living, a man submitted his life to God.
“But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8).
““The Lord then said to Noah,” Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation” (Genesis 7:1).
God asked Abram to leave his people, his father’s home to find Him where he would be separated from the ills of his nation, those of his generation.
The people who walk with God are those who accepted to leave the crowd, to leave the trend, to leave behind the common ‘good’ to join His dwelling place, His shelter with new hearts, new ways of understanding, transformed vision, renewed thinking, the light and salt of the troubled world.
- Lead lives that have faith in Him in all circumstances
Up to that specific day, there was rain yet. However, Noah trusted God just because He had told him it was going to rain. He did what had never been done as he followed God’s direction. Research says the arch was built 120 years. He never gave up or doubted God’s words that it was going to rain. You can imagine people laughed at him as they saw him building for more than a century waiting for the rain to come… He didn’t require signs to believe God, he took His words as the absolute truth that need no one to proof they are true.
People walking with God simply trust He has the perfect plan, they do not even need to question how to reach their destination, they know one single step towards there is a safe and sure one. Those who trust they are going to heaven are going there, those believing in miracles are only waiting for their miracles, not the one who does the miracles.
Do not be afraid, do not stop believing God, do not trust loving your God… keep on the good fight.
- Lead lives that respect His directives
When God told Noah to build the arch with all the small details from the kind of tree to use, measures to follow, … He never disobeyed to questioned a word from what Noah directed him to do. “And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him” (Genesis 7:5).
When Saul was commanded to go and exterminate all the things and the Amalekites, he disobeyed and spared the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat claves and lambs – everything that was good. That day, God regrated to have made Saul king (1 Samuel 15:11).
In short, God is willing to walk with us, to lead us to the promised land. However, as perfect as He is, He requires us to do it a certain way, to follow Him with certain attitudes, to not question His command to us. God wants people who walk with Him to lead righteous lives even in their wicked generation, to trust Him even when things are not clear, and to respect His directives.
