Faith Origins: Noah found Rest in Faith
By Apostle Aje Pelser
Preached at Harvester Reformational Church, Cape Town

Introduction
Noah overcame by faith, endured persecution and received the reward of life. Pathways to perfection in faith
Noah rested in God – a key for overcoming in the end-time is entering into the rest of
faith in God. (Hebr 4:11) MBTC Faith Series Subject Manual, available as a course from www.miraclebibletc.org

Pathways to perfection in faith
1. Overcome your history.
Noah was the son of Lamech – Lamech’s name means overthrower, strong young man,
who is stuck. Lamech’s character is one of pride, self confidence, disregard for human life,
absence of reverence for God. In Gen 4:18, 19, 23, 24 his address to his wives is that of
one who glories in his self-strength and vigour.

2. Overcome your circumstances of corruption
Noah there against is a man who lived in a time where men were universally corrupt but
God deemed Noah to be perfect in His generation. Despite who his father was – Noah was
a man of God – many of the end time overcomers will have no “good history” to fall back
upon – they will be righteous by faith only and give God the full glory for their abundant
life.

3. Walk with God in purpose.
We only meet Noah at the age of 500 – he is not mentioned before that. Noah walked
with God and had learned the purpose of his life (Heb 11:7). Ps 25:14 – the secret of the
Lord is with those who fear Him – those who fear God will know their destiny, even in a
perverse and crooked generation.
Gen 6:6-8 – God was tired of contending with the wickedness of man – He put out a
judgement that would destroy all mankind and told Noah to build the ark as a means of
escape for him and his family. When God brings judgement – it is to compel us to repent
so that mercy can triumph over judgement (Ez 33:11). It took Noah 120 years to
complete the ark – God gave the people 120 years to repent – and after that another 7
days – (Gen 7:4) – judgement comes in the fullness of time. The wicked didn’t heed Noah
– instead they mocked him.

4. Become a person of faith.
Noah was a great man of faith – in the time when God told him to build this vessel for
rescue there had never been rain from the heavens – it rained from the ground(Gen
2:5&6). So here was this mighty man of God – Noah – believing a thing that had never
happened before – rain from the skies – then spending 120 years building a “strange”
looking vessel in which two (and seven of some) of all the animals of the earth had to go
in – this took great faith.

5. Find employment in God’s plans.
God could have secured Noah from judgement without putting him through the care,
pains and trouble of building this ark – but God employed him in the making of the thing
that would preserve him. The thing that will preserve you will be used as a trial for your
faith and obedience.

6. Endure the mocking and ridicule of a faithless and perverse generation.
Noah suffered daily ridicule and rejection for 120 years. He worked hard and warned
people of judgement. Not sitting back waiting for the rain but staying occupied until the
flood came. Jesus says the same to us – “Occupy till I come”. In Noah’s obedience he got
saved, he was diligent and obedient – we work out our own salvation in fear and
trembling.

7. Download God’s blueprints and plans for your life
God gave him the specifics on how to make the ark – if he didn’t obey the specifics the
ark would not have saved him. You only have the benefit of what you choose to obey.
This is a picture of grace and faith working together – God’s grace was to save Noah – but only through faith could Noah attain the grace – it is through much tribulation that we
enter into the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22).

8. Do the work required to enter into the rest of faith, in this case the ark!
Noah had to labour, find feeding for all the animals despite the seemingly ridiculous thing
he was doing as far as the world was concerned. Noah feared God more than man.

9. See the church as the ark today, to escape the final judgment of God
The ark is a shadow of salvation – the number of people that entered the ark is 8 – the
number of new beginnings. It is also a shadow of kingdom existence – the ark was a
vessel of protection that took people above circumstances. We daily have the choice to
build our ark of faith that will keep us above circumstances.

Patterns for the remnant
Patterns for the remnant of the end time to be gleaned from Noah’s life
• Obedience despite the difficulty of the task. Noah was obedient when appointed to a
• difficult task (Gen 6:14-21; 7:5)
• Single-mindedness to walk with God. Noah walked with God despite the surrounding
• iniquity (Gen 6:8-12)
• Trust in God. Noah was remembered by God and delivered from death. Gen 8:1.
• Work out your salvation in fear and trembling. Noah by faith worked out his salvation,
• Heb11:7; Phil 2:12
• Your life must set a standard for others to follow. Noah warned his neighbours of
• impending judgement and lived in the fear of God – 11 Pet 2:5
• Living a life of worshiping God in spirit and truth. Noah built the first recorded altar – Gen
• 8:20
• Understand and appropriate your inheritance in Jesus. Noah was honoured by God with
• an everlasting covenant, Gen 9:12-17; Heb 9:15

God shut the door of the ark to secure Noah and keep others out – the same waters that
caused the death of the wicked bore the righteous up. That thing which to the wicked is a
token of death can become a token of life to the faithful. Who can stand before the Lord
when He is angry! After the destruction God sent His wind to dry up the waters – we see
that this took time – as the earth was not drowned in one day, so it was not dried in one
day. God usually works deliverance gradually so that the day of small beginnings may not
be despised and the day of great things will not be despaired of.

The ark stopped at a mountain – we can see that although God told Noah exactly how to
build the ark He did not give him the detail of how he would come out of the situation.
Again Noah had to wait on God by faith – there is always something that God conceals so
that our faith and patience can be exercised. The raven never came back because it fed
on the carcasses. The dove went out several times and only when it could find a place of
rest did it return to the ark again – shadow of the faithfulness of the Holy Spirit to lead us
into all truth.

God shut Noah in and he had to wait on God to lead him out. Only in the submission to
God could he stay protected from opening up that door too quickly. The very first thing
Noah does is to build an altar for God – the very first thing he did in the new world was
an act of worship.

God covenanted with Noah through the rainbow – the original meaning of the word is
bow. God lays down His bow with which He had brought the judgement. The bow
without the arrow cannot bring judgement and is a sign of peace. The bow is also
directed upwards, not towards the earth anymore.

Aspects of maturity
Gen 9:20 – in these events we see a test and aspects of maturity regarding the father and
his sons. Noah started farming – he worked the new inheritance – which brought
responsibility which brings maturity.
James 3:2 – “If anyone does not stumble in word he is perfect” – perfect means maturity
– to have come of full age of growth, reaching the age of manhood, to come to
completeness. Remember that stumbling is part of our walk – the more mature you are
the less you will stumble. Maturity brings completeness (entire, not moved) – you lack
nothing. Maturity brings the endurance to count it all joy during trials – you can
persevere even when you feel like giving up. Heaviness comes from the immature mouth
– you attract heaviness when you murmur and complain. Your mouth will determine how

long you stay in a trial. Get your eyes focussed on God – when you decide to do this, you
have reached the point of growth in your trial – it hinges on the right decision – choose
life!

Stages of maturity
1 Jn 2:12, three stages
Children – Need understanding of righteousness – spiritual babies

Young men – Go out to battle, have strength, tackle spiritual things – have overcome
already

Fathers – Know God – Understanding and revelation of the Father, Son and Spirit
1 Cor 13:11 – immaturity manifests in: speech, understanding and thinking. How quick
you want to sort out someone with your mouth shows how immature are. The anger of
man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Keys are to be swift to hear and slow to speak – the tongue must come under spirit
control. Everything around maturity will hinge on your speaking. You cannot skip any
stage, be discerning to know where people are maturity wise and be patient with them –
lead through example. Only mature people can equip the saints – you cannot bring a
person to a higher level of maturity than you have.

1 Cor. 13:13 – Immature people’s love, hope and faith won’t be strong. A sign of maturity
is a consistent lifestyle – a mature person does not change when pressure comes. Your
attitude determines your altitude – every time your attitude changes it is a sign of growth.

Your real attitude is tested when you are under pressure. It is when you have to go
without things that your attitude is tested. God fed the Israelites with manna in the
wilderness to change their appetite – they had fleshly appetites. God will put us on a
spiritual ransom to change our appetite – fasting from the things you used to speak will
bring out your appetite.

Noah got drunk and was uncovered. Gen 9:21 – Success – like wine to some
fathers/leaders – goes to their head and then they become uncovered (“galah” – to be
disgraced, exposed, to stumble – to publish mistake) naked – “ervah” – nudity, disgrace,
blemish which causes shame when exposed – immaturity exposes your nakedness.
Gen 9:22 – Ham handled the situation in an immature way – he looked on the nakedness
of his father and exposed it. Shem and Japheth did not – they covered it – they entered
backwards and put a mantle over him – cover the weaknesses of those in leadership with
a mantle of prayer, love, and blessing, 1 Pet 4:8. Gen 9:18-28 – Noah knew what Ham
had done – and cursed his offspring. They would never have authority – they would
always serve their brothers. If you do not know how to cover those in authority you will
not have authority.

Appeal:
Repent of sin and lawlessness, of mocking others with faith.
Enter the church as the ark God has planned for you and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Change your attitude about God’s ways and His people and reach a new level of maturity.
Repent in any area of life where you are not sober about your measure of faith and actions.

Offering Message
Planting and reaping are God’s unchanging laws.
Gen 8:22 “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.”

2Co 9:6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.