Subject: How long did Noah preach |
Bible Note: Hello iktoose, Yes, it is also interesting - or notable- that Noah was commended for his faith in Heb. 11:7! As C. H. Spurgeon observed in his sermon on this text about Noah: "Note well, that Noah believed alone, and preached on though none followed him. There were no other believers, if you except his wife and his sons and daughters. There were eight in all; but I am afraid that some of these rather believed in father Noah than in the living God. Noah shone as a lone star. He stood like yonder solitary column in the midst of a ruined temple. He believed with an unbuttressed faith. How pleasant it is to associate with our fellow-believers! It is a great refreshment for a solitary Christian to get into a large congregation, and to feel in unison with the child’s hymn — “Lord, how delightful ‘tis to see A great assembly worship thee! At once they sing, at once they pray, They hear of heaven and learn the way. I have been there, and still would go, ‘Tis like a little heaven below.” But how would you fare if you were alone, or were surrounded by those who called you a fool for believing in the Lord? To dwell where everybody is sceptical is as injurious to faith as for a man to live where the yellow fever is raging. To have your faith pulled to pieces, and held up to ridicule, is an ordeal which some cannot stand. What if you should be like Noah, a preacher of righteousness; how stern the duty of being a solitary witness! He preached for one hundred and twenty years, and at the end of it not one person was ready to go with him into the ark. His own family was saved, but nobody else — not a solitary one. What a trial! How it has made my heart glad, during the month of May, to see and propose for churchfellowship no less than sixty-nine! But if I had to preach for a year with no converts, what should I do? I hope I should persevere, in the name of the Lord God; but what a trial! What if life were prolonged for one hundred and twenty years, and after all that preaching nobody believed your word! That would be an infliction indeed." Speaking the Truth in Love, BradK |