Do you know what a ‘social media influencer’ is? It’s a relatively new term used to describe a growing number of people who make a pretty good living as an …’influencer’. In short, people can attract large numbers of ‘followers’ on their social media accounts like Instagram or TikTok by things they are constantly doing, saying, or talking about, and when I say large numbers, we are talking up in the millions of people. In turn, they start collecting decent sums of income from an assortment of marketers who sell products for businesses. It might be make-up or camera gear or just about anything that people are willing to purchase because…the person they ‘follow’ pitches it on one of their clips or postings. It really is a ‘thing’… hence the term ‘influencer’.

If Noah were alive today and doing ‘his thing’ that he is best known for, (built an ark) it would be laughable to even give a fleeting thought that he might be considered an ‘influencer’. Best we can tell from all we read in our Bibles is that he influenced nobody.

Noah we are told, was a ‘just man, perfect in his generations…a man who walked with God.’ (Gen. 6:9). But Noah lived in corrupt times where the wickedness of man was ‘great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (6:5). Things had gotten so out of hand that God Himself was grieved and even regretted ever creating man.(6:6) So God brought Noah in to inform him of His plans. God does that with those who walk with Him we are told. (John 15:15;16:4; Matt. 24:25; Amos 3:7)

I’m sure you are familiar with that story though and how God gave Noah a plan to build an ark with all the specifications. The best estimates we have on how long it took Noah and his family to complete this job ranges from 55-75 years, if not longer. The point is…there was plenty of time to get the job done along with getting the message out to all who were the least bit curious of what they were witnessing. We are also told by Peter that Noah was a ‘preacher of righteousness’. (2 Peter 2:5)

It's unclear as to how long Noah did this ‘preaching’ or what that message actually contained, as far as content goes; but it’s safe to say that this ark project would have given him a broader platform for sure to expound upon his message of righteousness.

And yet…outside his family, he influenced nobody; not one person it would seem. I stand to be corrected here but based on what we are told in the Genesis account( and Peter’s), only 8 folks entered the ark before the door was shut. Just eight, and that was Noah’s family and himself. Can you let that sink in for a moment?

Nobody today would have accused Noah of being an ‘influencer’, and yet, he did the job God had assigned him. As a result of his obedience, he and his family were saved from the wrath and judgement of God that came upon the earth in dramatic fashion. a.k.a. ‘the flood’.

I recognize that the story of Noah and the ark, (among other stories in the book of Genesis) are problematic for a lot of people. I would go as far to say that there are many professing believers today who struggle to embrace all we read in Genesis. They would prefer to see it is poetic language or a metaphor of sorts and dismiss the literal interpretation of the scriptures. (And I’m not going to take on the creation story in relationship to the ‘age of the earth’ so don’t ask…I got nothing on that one). 

Yet Peter has no problem citing Noah in his letter as an example for us to take to heart. Do you know who else pointed to Noah as an example? Jesus did. When asked about signs of the end of the age and His imminent return, Jesus gave quite a list of things to expect when He answered His disciples. And while Jesus purposely avoided pinning down the exact day and hour as to when things would wrap up, He did offer this morsel of thought: “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matt. 24:37) He then goes on to explain the mindset and activities that people were busy with and how unsuspecting they all were until the flood came and ‘took them all away’…so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (39)

So just to recap what we know about Noah here, we read where he was ‘just, perfect in his generation and he walked with God’. (Gen. 6:9). Sounds to me like Noah had learned to ‘abide’ with God. We also learn in vs. 8 that “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord”. Can I just tell you now that ‘grace’ and ‘abiding’ go hand in hand? You cannot abide in Christ outside of His grace. In fact you can do nothing outside of His grace and no fruit can ever be produced according to what Jesus taught in John 15:4-5. I mean, think about it…how could anyone ever ‘walk like Jesus walked’ and ‘sin no more’ which is clearly the ‘fruit’ or evidence of one who abides in Him, outside of His grace that empowers us to do so? (1 John 2:6; 3:6; Titus 2:11-14)

The past two days, we have been talking about what it means to be ‘ready’. So many man-made doctrines and teachings have so muddied the waters of understanding and yet, the Holy Spirit wants to shed light and make it so clear to whoever has ‘ears to hear’. There really is more to being ‘ready’ than just saying or confessing that you believe Jesus is the Son of God. And it’s not about you ‘working harder to do better to earn your salvation’ either.

It's about surrendering your entire heart to Him so that He can begin to do a new work In you, conforming you to His image and likeness as you are transformed into a new creation. (Rom. 8:29; John 3:30; 2 Cor. 5:17). And here’s a ‘news flash’: You are not made a new creation because you got dunked in a baptistry. This becoming a ‘new creation’ is not something that happens ‘automatically’ because put on a T-shirt that says you are just that- a ‘new creation’. You become a new creation and are transformed by His grace as you follow and obey Him in this walk of salvation. If you are not following and obeying…you are not being transformed. I hate to break the news to you if you were taught otherwise.

No doubt Noah, upon hearing this news from God as to what was going to come upon the earth was probably a sobering message to receive. But Noah obviously ‘believed’. Do you know how I know this? Because Noah picked up a hammer and saw and got to work building an ark, which during that time, became the vehicles of his ‘salvation’. It would be foolish to think that salvation would have come simply because Noah gathered weekly to sing about the goodness of God as he rehearsed all that God had told him, but then never got about to building that boat. And do you think he’d had a chance if he got ¾’s of the way through and decided that was ‘good enough’ based on his perception of what it means to be ‘finished’?

So when Jesus warned that church at Sardis that their ‘work was lacking’ or ‘not complete’ (Rev. 3:1-2), that should give any sincere believer pause and want to ask what more could they have possibly done outside the ‘finished work of Christ at Calvary’.

Again, given the fact that Peter cites Noah as an example of what a dramatic ending might look like, and how we should “be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets’ (2 Pet. 3:2), we might want to slow down and take in where Peter is going with this.

For example, Peter writes: “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God…beloved…looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.” (2 Pet. 3:11-14) Paul admonishes us: “Having these promises beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Cor. 7:1)

Friends…the writers and believers of the NT had a much different mindset and understanding back then, than what is found today in so many of our circles. We have grown accustomed to ‘remaining a sinner’ and ‘being a saint who sins’ because ‘nobody is perfect, just forgiven’. Our idea of what ‘spotless and blameless’ is must differ greatly than what God’s idea is. And this is where we have ‘fallen asleep’. Hence the relevancy of the message of the ten virgins in Matt. 25 and how even though they ‘all fell asleep’ is profound, there was still time for the ‘wise virgins’ to ‘get ready’. And they were the ones who went in to the wedding…just before the ‘door was shut’. (Matt. 25:10). Once again…we see the dramatic act of a ‘door’ being shut’, just as it was in the days of Noah.

So…what does it mean to be ‘ready’?