By Faith Noah Worked

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. Greetings tonight in the name of Jesus. True Christianity and true faith moves us to action. In fact, tonight we'd like to talk about a man and look at a man whose faith caused him to work for God in his kingdom. [00:00:33] You'll recall that Wednesday night we said that, as we looked at Hebrews chapter 12, the first three verses, that this great cloud of witnesses is giving a report to you and I. They're giving a testimony as to how they lived, and the question is not do they see us, but the question is tonight, do we see them? Do we see and view their lives and what they are teaching us? [00:01:05] I invite you to open your Bibles again to Hebrews chapter 11. And we'll be looking at one verse tonight. We're looking at some other scriptures maybe a bit later, but primarily confining ourselves to this one verse for a text. Verse 7, we're going to be looking at the life of Noah. Last night we looked at the life of Enoch. And we titled the message, By Faith Enoch Walked. By faith tonight Noah worked. His faith moved him to action, and he did something. [00:01:41] Will you stand, please, for the reading of the word? Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 7. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by which he condemned the world and became heir of righteousness, Jesus, which is by faith. Let's pray. Father, tonight I pray a blessing upon your word again. Your word is quick, sharp, it's powerful, and we trust tonight that you're going to speak to us again. [00:02:24] Thank you, Lord, for the example of Noah. He is one of that great cloud of witnesses who has went on before us. But hundreds and even a few thousand years later, his life and his report is still speaking. Oh, God, help us to listen to the report that he gives. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. [00:02:55] Someone has said that of the great examples of men, of heroes of faith, the man we're talking about tonight is one that would nearly surpass all of them. When you consider the work that God had called him to and how he faithfully and persistently continued in that work. You can think of Moses. That was 40 years that he was leading those stubborn children of Israel. [00:03:30] We can think of Solomon, his building of the temple. It took him seven years. But the man we're talking about tonight spent approximately 100 years on his job and his responsibilities that God had called him to. And that was to build the ark. According to the New Testament writers, there are basically primarily two different responsibilities that Noah had. God had called him to. It doesn't say anything about it here in Hebrews 11 about the second responsibility. [00:04:05] Maybe we won't touch much on that tonight, just briefly. But God had primarily called him to prepare an ark, first of all. And then secondly, according to the writing of Peter, he was to be a preacher of righteousness. Prepare an ark and preach righteousness. That was his calling. I don't know if you noticed or not, but according to verse 7 here, the second word and the last word are the words faith. The word faith. The word faith. [00:04:39] So, number one, the ingredient of this man's life was that of faith. He was a man of faith. That was the driving force in his life. That was what brought action, as it were, at least in part, because he was a man of faith. And, as has already been said tonight, when we have faith, that means we believe what God says. Genesis chapter 6, when God called Noah to build the ark, it says, [00:05:13] And God said, Genesis 6 and verse 17, And behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life from under heaven, and everything that is in the earth shall die. God said that, and Noah's faith caused him to believe that. If God says it, then it must be true. Now, Noah, in reality, he believed that and he exercised his faith. [00:05:46] Because, what does it say in verse 7? It says, being warned of God of things not yet seen. That's what faith does for us. Those things that have not yet been seen, but my faith reaches out and believes and accepts just that. Noah had never seen a flood. It had never happened. In fact, it hadn't even rained. Now, why was Noah going to believe God and do what he said? [00:06:18] It was because of his faith that he believed God. And brothers and sisters, in a similar way tonight, You and I must exercise faith if we really believe in the end time judgment. We've never seen it. Peter says in 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 10, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt, and the earth shall be burned up, and all its works, something like that. [00:06:52] So what he's saying is that this earth is going to melt down. Now, we've seen fire, forced fires, huge fires, but we've never seen a global fire where the entire world and everything that's therein was melting down. We've never seen it. Do you believe it could happen? Yes. That's an exercise of faith. And that's exactly where Noah was. God said, you build an ark. [00:07:25] And in Noah's day, there were those that said any natural phenomena of such kind, scientists can prove it could never happen. Faith goes beyond what the scientist says, moves beyond that point. It did happen. Faith demonstrates to the eye and the mind those things that we cannot see. That's what our faith does for us. Interestingly enough, though, in verse 7, [00:07:59] sandwiched in the middle of this verse between the two words, or the word faith, the first part of the verse, the last part of the verse, we find another little word. It's the word fear. Now, do those two words fit together? Are they in harmony with each other? Faith on the one side, fear on the other side. Does a man of faith in God, is there any reason to have fear? Well, yes, I believe they do harmonize. [00:08:33] It is a team. They do work together. It is not a paradox. Faith and fear, yes, fit together. They harmonize. It says that moved with fear. The fear of God, along with the faith of God, moved Noah to do something about what God had said he was going to do. The word moved simply means to set into motion, to set into motion, to bring to action. [00:09:11] So here Noah moves to action. He does something. Maybe that's one of the reasons that far, far too many Christians today say they have faith in God, but it's not mixed with the fear of God. There needs to be a mixture of God's holiness, His reverence, mixed with His faith. Faith and fear go together hand in hand. As we've been saying, faith is that vehicle which connects us to God, and we trust God and what He says to be truth. [00:09:48] And that then is teamed up with godly fear, and it moved Noah to action, and it will cause us to be active in our faith as well. Does it mean that because Noah had fear that he was afraid of the flood? Not necessarily, no. No, it just means that he had reverence to what God said and it was going to happen. We need not fear the end time judgment. The fear of God doesn't create or cause me to be afraid of that, but it just helps me to understand that it's going to happen. [00:10:27] And God is going to judge in the way that he said he will. A quote, no truth of God stored in the mind will ever meet our need until that truth gives birth to faith and faith gives birth to deed. Faith must give birth to deed if it is genuine faith. Now, Noah could have tried to reason with God. But God, the task you've called me to is too enormous. [00:11:01] How could it ever be accomplished? And how will it ever be done? I don't know. The Bible doesn't tell us if he reasoned in that way or not. Is it really worth, he may have said, building an ark? Wouldn't there be some other way that we could escape this judgment that's about to come? Four times in Genesis' account it says that Noah did that which God commanded him to do. [00:11:35] He did it. When God said it, he moved ahead and he did that. Yes, I believe the principles of faith and fear still run side by side, hand in hand. It produced in Noah a desire to please God. He wanted to please God. Not just that he had to do this, but I believe his faith caused him to have a love relationship with God, his Father. And so he wanted to please God. [00:12:07] And he wanted to do that not just to escape the condemnation or damnation which was to come, but out of response of love in his heart, he wanted to obey God. Mixed with fear. I find it interesting that Peter says that in 2 Peter 2, verse 5, where it talks about Noah being a preacher of righteousness, but several verses later, it also talks about another man, and it says he was righteous. [00:12:41] He talks about a lot. And it says that his righteous soul was vexed from day to day with all the ungodliness around him. I pondered on that a bit. And what might have been a difference between Lot and Noah? You see, it's not enough for you and I to be vexed and to be grieved about all the wickedness and the evil around us. [00:13:12] But fear of God moves us to do something about that At least in our power, what we can And that's what Noah did Maybe that was part of the difference Lot did not have a fear of God in the way that Noah did And the outcome is quite different, isn't it? When you consider the outcome of their families and their homes Lot, maybe lacked fear of God. [00:13:44] Let's consider now his task and what he was called to do. First of all, we're going to spend most of our time considering his task and responsibility of building the ark, because that's what our text verse talks about in verse 7 here. And then we might talk just briefly about him being as a preacher of righteousness. But what an enormous job, what a task that he was called to fulfill when God said, I want you to build the ark. [00:14:17] And God had given some clear, detailed instructions as to how he was to do that. Consider with me just for a moment as it relates, and I mentioned already, the time spent to do that. According to Genesis chapter 6 and verse 3, God, when He first talked to Noah, He said, There's 120 years left for man to live on the earth, and then the end will be. Judgment will come. [00:14:51] Genesis chapter 5 and verse 32 says that Noah was 500 years old, and then is when God called him. And I don't know what all is meant here. Does it mean that that's when he began to build the ark or not? I don't know. But then Genesis 7 and verse 6 says that he was 600 years old when the flood started. So there you have a century. That's the amount of time that this man was working and employed at building the ark. [00:15:23] Now, there's hardly any of us that have ever, well, no, there's no one of us that has ever stuck to a job for a hundred years. Of course not. There's not too many people that would stick to one job for even, what, fifty years. And some hardly for twenty years, some not even for ten years. Just as a sideline, I remember a number of years ago, when our children were a bit smaller, And we had a milk hauler who had been collecting our milk for, I'm sorry, picking up our milk, that's an Irish term, picking up our milk for about, at that time it was about 40 years. [00:16:08] And we as a family were talking about it one day at the table and the children were just awed at this man and how he had been doing the same job for 40 years. You mean, Dad, he drove around to these farms every day for the last 40 years since he graduated from high school? I said, yeah. Then they said, one of the boys said, well, how can he still be whistling? In other words, if you were spent 40 years at one task, you couldn't enjoy it anymore. [00:16:39] It would become boring, monotonous. That's what we think. But not for Noah. He continued day after day at the same task. Day after day for a hundred years. He was preparing an ark. Think of the toil, the kind of toil that went into that building of that ark. [00:17:11] Tremendous structure. It's length, possibly 500 feet long, 75 feet high, 45 feet wide Someone has calculated, I don't know if this is correct or not But someone said if you fill it just with sheep, nothing else, just fill the ark with sheep You'd put 125,000 sheep in that boat, that ark That's a lot of sheep That's the kind of structure he was building I don't know if they had the modern kind of convenience of cranes and things, probably not like we do, [00:17:44] but somehow there was a lot of labor went into that ark. Not only that, think of the kind of wealth and finances that might have went into that ark. Where did that all come from? Did Noah just build as he had the finances to do so? I don't know. But the Bible says he was a just man. He was a perfect man. So he didn't do anything shady. He did it honestly and justly. Tremendous amount of wealth that would have went into that structure. [00:18:20] He was preparing an ark. This brings me to the heart and the burden of the message, brothers and sisters. Noah was preparing an ark. And why was he preparing an ark? It tells us in verse 7, look, to the saving of his house. That's why he was preparing an ark. That's why he could toil and labor for a hundred years to do so. Well, that's why he didn't care how much wealth went into this structure, because he was doing it to save his house. [00:18:56] Fathers, tonight, the challenge is, what am I doing for the saving of my house? That's sobering. Noah's house, Noah's family, his posterity depended on him. Was he going to do what God had told him to do? Was he going to be faithful in working for the kingdom? Being employed in faith? [00:19:28] Faith caused him to get busy and to work as a father. Maybe there's a principle here. God called Noah to the saving of his house and also called him to be a preacher of righteousness. But if you follow through in the preacher of righteousness, you'd say he wasn't very successful, right? He preached and he preached. No one went into the ark outside of his family. [00:20:02] He saved his house. Was he a successful preacher? I don't know. I'll allow you to make that judgment. I believe he was faithful in his responsibilities as a preacher of righteousness, But he was also faithful in building and preparing an ark to the saving of his house. The Bible tells us that as he was building that ark, God gave him clear instructions that he was to pitch it on the outside and on the inside. [00:20:38] He was to seal that structure so that judgment that was on the outside and those who are experiencing that judgment on the outside wouldn't seep in through the walls of that structure and destroy him. Pitch it on the inside and the outside. The word pitch simply means to cover and to cancel, to cleanse and to atone. Fathers, are we building arks for our house? Arcs that will atone, will cleanse, arcs that are pitched for protection on the inside and the outside. [00:21:21] Fathers, we're talking about a faith, a working faith that is strong enough to save a house. And consider with me for a moment, brothers, the day that Noah lived. And we say that it's difficult today. It was difficult in his day. It was only his family that went into that ark. Brethren, tonight we have each other, I trust still, to encourage and to support each other in the building of an ark. [00:22:00] And I want to be understood tonight some of the things that I'm going to be saying now as it relates to our responsibilities as fathers. I know that all of our children make their own choices. And my sons and daughters are coming to that age when they're making some of their own decisions. I pray God that they'll choose to stay on the ark. I pray God that I've pitched the inside and the outside that will protect them from judgment that's on the outside. [00:22:31] But I also know they have power of choice. I know that. And I know there are godly fathers who have poured themselves into pitching the ark inside and outside, who have done all they can for the safety of their sons and daughters, and they've still chosen to go the wrong direction. But I'm thankful tonight also that the Word of God gives you and I some instructions as to how we are to pitch the structure for protection of the outside and the inside. [00:23:09] Fathers, we cannot afford, we cannot afford to relax and to become complacent in art building. It's too serious. We cannot afford to relax. It's too dangerous. There's destruction coming. There's judgment coming. We said that we believe what Peter said is truth, that we must act upon it. If my faith is going to work like Noah's faith worked, if my faith is precious to me, then it must cause me to move to action somehow. [00:23:48] Somehow, somehow, Noah had such a testimony, such a faith that was so convincing to his sons and his daughter-in-laws that they got on that ark probably against the counsel of his daughter-in-law's parents. Because they weren't there. They didn't get on that ark. But somehow, Noah's faith in God was at work and so convincing that they said, his daughter-in-laws, I support you, my husband, and I'm going with you on that ark. I believe God. [00:24:37] Faith must be passed on to the next generation. And if it's going to be passed on to the next generation, it must be a faith that's at work in my heart as daddy. It must be alive. Dun Brody Castle, not too far from Cork City, an old castle some six, seven hundred years old, a restored castle, at least in part. And some of the furniture is still the original furniture in that castle. And one of the rooms you'll find a table, a large table, where the royal family would sit down to eat, where the lords and whoever dwelled in the castle. [00:25:17] On the one side of the table, the legs of the table, you'll find engraven a big anchor. On the other side of the table, you'll find engraven in that leg of the table, a woman holding a child. The side of the table where you find the anchor, that represents hope. On the other side of the table, where the woman holds the child, that represents love. [00:25:51] And then you immediately ask, but where's faith? Hope on the one side, love on the other side, where's faith? They tell you that the reason they did that was because those who sat around the table, on either side of the table, So, as they exchanged with each other, as they had a meal together, faith was being transmitted from father to son, from one to the other. [00:26:28] There's where faith is. Fathers, do you realize how much faith we pass on to the next generation when we sit down to eat with our sons and daughters? I'm sorry to tell you, but we're living in a world where not a lot of that is happening anymore. In fact, not so long ago, there was a man sitting across the table from Brother Dan Yoder to myself. And he said, what can you do for us, brethren? We said, we need help. This particular man has about 13 children. [00:27:02] His brother has 17 children. And I'm not sure how many one of his other brothers have, but they have large families. And it seems like every one of those children, invariably, they get about 16, 17. There they go. Away the world. And he pled with us. He said, what can you do to help us? They're from Germany. And they're begging for help, for someone to be an example to them. [00:27:35] Someone to encourage them. Someone to give them teaching as to what their responsibility is as fathers. But I sat down with some of their sons and daughters and they were in our community last summer. We had a Bible camp for some of them. And we asked them, how often do you sit down at a table to gather as a family and eat together? And one of them said, maybe one time a week. Faith that's going to work. [00:28:08] And if we're going to build an ark, it's going to take time. It took Noah a hundred years. And it's going to take time. If our faith is going to be transmitted to our sons and daughters and encouraged in them, it has to be alive in us, and it's going to take time to do it. We can't just recklessly go through it. It will take some time. Let's turn to Psalm 144. We're talking about building an ark. We're talking about our responsibility as fathers. And I've turned to this scripture a number of times, and maybe some of you have heard me refer to this scripture before. [00:28:49] But I don't think repetition hurts us, especially in something as serious a matter as we're talking about tonight. Psalm 144 gives us a beautiful picture as it relates to our responsibilities, our responsibility as a father. Psalm 144 is written in the context of war, where David is at war with the enemy. But David's prayer was that they would be delivered from that enemy [00:29:19] And that the fathers would come back home And assume their responsibilities at home where they belong God's design, where they ought to be So that Israel could flourish and be prosperous He mentions seven things here from verse 11 through 15 as it relates to daddy's responsibility, father's responsibility. Verse 11, you find that term rid me. [00:29:51] In other words, David is saying deliver me. I want to be freed from the enemy so that my men can come back home and be daddies. Verse 12, number one, that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth. Plants grown up in their youth. The word plants there means to establish. Fathers, we want sons that are going to be established in their faith. We want sons that are going to develop to be strong, godly young men, don't we? [00:30:30] Then we need to take time with our sons. Build relationships with them so that they can become plants. Plants, plants grown up in their youth, strong young men for God Number two, that our daughters may be as cornerstones polished after the similitude of a palace Our daughters, polished daughters It simply means carved [00:31:04] Daughters that are carved. When you carve something, you shape it in the form that you want it to be, don't you? Daughters that are polished. Daughters that are carved into godly young women. And again, that's going to take time. We cannot just haphazardly and recklessly try to relate to our daughters. And I'll confess to you, brethren, tonight that I am not a good example. [00:31:38] I have failed my children desperately as it relates to spending quality time with them. But may I share with you probably some of the best times that I had with my daughter. My oldest daughter is now 24, was that hour and a half, five mornings in a week. In that pit in the dairy barn, we were pretty close to each other, and there was a lot of communication. [00:32:11] Maybe not so much verbal communication always, but there was interaction. Somehow, we must find time to relate to our sons and daughters if we're going to build an ark that will save our house. Point number three, verse 13, that our garners may be full according to all manner store. And the fourth one is connected very closely to it. [00:32:42] Also, verse 13, that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets. He's simply saying, David is saying, I want my men to come back home and be at home as providers for the home. Fathers, we have a responsibility there to provide for our sons and daughters, yes, spiritually, but also financially. And I'm finding and I'm seeing in where we live, in the country we live, is a very socialistic country. [00:33:16] And there's a sense in which the government is just trying to take that away from fathers. And it doesn't have a good effect. It doesn't. It actually, what it does, it reduces daddy and his responsibility to where he's just controlled. Yes, there's extremes, of course. But we do need to be careful that we provide for our household. Verse 14, point number 5, that our oxen may be strong to labor. [00:33:48] Remember, again, just that of assuming responsibility in the duties that God calls us to, laboring at home. Then, the next one, that there may be no breaking in nor going out. Fathers, we bring to our homes, to our house, a sense of security and protection. All of us remember when we were little children how it was when Daddy was at home. [00:34:20] When Daddy was gone, it just wasn't quite like it was when Daddy was at home. The safety that Daddy brings, security, there's not much fear because Daddy, He's a protector. And if someone would want to come and do something that they shouldn't to me, Daddy would protect me. And that's what it's saying, that there may be no breaking in or going out, a sense of protection. And then the last one, number seven, that there be no complaining in the streets. [00:34:54] And you have to understand that the children of Israel, different than today, played on the streets. That's where they played. That was a playground. And so, you know what happens when daddies aren't around and all the children get together to play. Pretty soon there can be that bickering and complaining. And so daddies need to assume that responsibility of disciplining children and bringing order to the home and to our house. [00:35:25] That becomes our responsibility. And I know, I've been very, very clearly made aware of it just recently. We walked alongside a couple the last number of months who was turned into the social services in Wales because they corrected, lightly disciplined their little three-year-old Down syndrome daughter at a church service. And the church is corrupt enough that they report them to the social services and very nearly they could have lost their five children. [00:36:02] But thank God they were spared and they are free of the case now. But I know it's real. But fathers, it is our responsibility to be of those who bring discipline and correction in our homes. Then verse 15, I like verse 15. It says, Happy is that people that is in such a case. Yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord. Whose God is the Lord. We talk about Solomon's prosperity, Solomon's wealth, and all that he had, and rightfully so, but part of that was because daddies were at home, and daddies were fulfilling their role and responsibilities at home, and so his kingdom could flourish and prosper. [00:36:55] Remember, the same for a church, the same for a nation. When daddies are building arcs for the protection of their sons and daughters, the home can flourish, the church can flourish, and even a country can flourish. Further instruction that relates to our house. Turn to Psalm 101, a beautiful one again. Remember, we're talking about Noah's faith at work and that of building an ark for the saving of his house. [00:37:31] Notice what it says here in Psalm 101 in verse 2. He says, I will walk perfect within my house. Verse 7, it talks about those that will dwell in my house. It's talking about his house. The psalmist David wants to save his house. And tonight we're thinking about saving our house, but he gives us some pretty clear instructions here as to how it's going to take to save that house. Rather clear. Verse 1, I will sing of the mercy and the judgment unto thee, O Lord, will I sing. [00:38:08] The word sing there means tell. I will tell. I will tell of the mercy and the judgment unto thee, O Lord, I will sing. Fathers, are we telling our sons and daughters of God's mercy? How it will save them? John 3.16 How it will save them? And also, God will judge. Are we telling them that? Verse 2 [00:38:38] I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. The word perfect here means with integrity. I will behave myself with integrity. Now, fathers, if we think we can build an ark that will save our sons and daughters and we can be hypocrites, we're fooling ourselves. [00:39:10] We must be men of integrity if faith is going to be passed on to the next generation. If my life on Sunday is not what it is on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and the rest of the week, am I walking perfect? In a perfect way? Am I a man of integrity? And dear brothers, I plead with you, when we begin to undermine the authorities that God placed over us, that's not integrity. [00:39:42] All I'm doing is undermining my own authority. authority. I see several bishop brothers here tonight and I love bishop brothers. And by the grace of God, I want to come under their authority. If I began to cut down that authority that God has placed me under, that's not integrity. That's not walking in a perfect I began to talk about the school teacher, the authority that God has placed over my sons and daughters when they're in school, and I began to undermine that authority. That's not a perfect way. That's not integrity. And my ark may not be very safe. [00:40:26] David said, and I believe Noah had the same principles, otherwise he could have never encouraged his sons and daughter-in-laws to get on that ark. He says, I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. His father says in verse 3, I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. He says, I hate the work of them that turn aside, it shall not cleave to me. He doesn't say he hates the people, but he hates their work. [00:41:01] He hates the work of those who come into our houses and into our home and the things that they invent and come up with to try to undermine and destroy my house. He says, I hate that work. I won't have it, he says. Fathers, we are living in a time when the enemy of our soul, as it was in the days of Noah, and you know how it was, the Bible says as it was in the days of Noah, the tactic of the enemy was in that day to destroy the home, split the home apart, destroy the house as it were. [00:41:45] Destroy the relationship between mom and daddy Destroy the relationship between son and daughter Destroy the relationships between siblings Tear the home apart That's what he wants to do He uses all kinds of gadgets and things to do it with This electronic age in which we live, brothers, fathers I beg of us We be careful because I believe that's one of the things that he's using in these last days to destroy relationships, [00:42:24] to destroy what happens from one side of the table to the other side of the table where we sit down together and there's interaction with each other and faith is transmitted between father and son, father and daughter. He's come up with a lot of gadgets to see to it that that doesn't happen. So that the ark will not be safe. I've come to appreciate this book, Parents Passing the Torch of Faith. [00:42:58] And he, John Drescher, addresses this very thing we're talking about here tonight. And dear young parents, if you want a book that will encourage you in passing on faith to the next generations, here's a good one. He says in his book that it's not necessarily always the content. And I'll tell you, brothers and sisters, the content on the screen is rubbish. If you don't believe it, fly across the Atlantic about seven or eight hours when the thing's going. It's rubbish. [00:43:30] That's the content. But Drescher says, even beyond that, it robs fathers and mothers of spending time with their sons and daughters Because when the electronic device is clicked on, then the child is turned off towards mom and daddy And his focus is on, you know what, I'm not saying that all these things are evil and wicked But I'm saying, Fathers, we're building an ark, and it's serious. [00:44:02] This ark has to be pitched for protection, or we're going to lose our sons and daughters. Noah was preparing an ark to save his house. Father says, verse 4, 5, and 7, David says, A froward heart shall depart from me. I will not know a wicked person. He's talking about those who would associate with his sons and daughters. [00:44:35] Verse 6, he says, Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me. He that walketh in a perfect way, he that shall serve me. He says, I choose to associate with the godly. I choose to associate with those who will build godly character in my sons and daughters. One of the things, and I say this by the grace of God, but one of the things that's been happening in our church back in Ireland in the last several years is that the growth has come from young families. [00:45:08] We have a lot of small children in our church. Do you know why they've come to us? Partially for this very reason. They'd like to associate with people they feel comfortable with, For the next generation, that they are not going to influence their sons and daughters to go the wrong way. Fathers, it's important. We need to pay attention to who our sons and daughters relate to and who we associate with so that they have good companions and companionship, good relationships. [00:45:45] Someone has said, and I read this prayer, as it relates to a father building an ark for his son. Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid, one who will be proud and unbending in honesty feet and humble and gentle in victory. Build me a son whose wishbone will not be where his backbone should be, [00:46:18] A son who will know thee, and that to know thee is the foundation stone of knowledge. Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenges. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm. Here let him learn compassion for those who fail. Build me a son whose heart will be clean, whose goal will be high, a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men, [00:46:54] one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep, one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past. And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility so that he may always remember the simplicity of greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, and the meekness of true strength. [00:47:28] Then I, his father, will dare whisper, I have not lived in vain Fathers, we're building an ark to the saving of our house We're building an ark that our sons and daughters may escape judgment to come