Hebrews 11:7
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 the which he condemned the world, and became
heir of righteousness which is by faith.
If we make a simple outline of this verse, we get something like this:
By faith ...prepared ...saving
Condemned the World
By faith ...become heir ...righteous
Faith is something that is active. If it is not active, then it is dead. It is no longer faith. Faith is a process. It is believing God and acting upon that belief. This means that one must first of all know what God has said. You cannot make this first step with a closed Bible. Just imagine, for a moment, what would have happened if Noah had not believed God! Then imagine what would happen if you did not believe God.
Because of his faith, Noah was occupied. Real faith brings forth works. The thing he was occupied with saved his house. But there is something remarkable about this; the occupation by which he saved his house condemned the world!
In this modern day, that is still true. The man who is occupied in the saving of his house is going to condemn the world. Think that over.
Why will it condemn the world? In the first place, it will be contrary to the wisdom of the world. The best wisdom the world can produce is only foolishness in the sight of God. Spiritual things are foolishness to the natural man, the man of the world. The man of the world does not like to be rebuked by any wisdom that is from above. Could the men of Noah's time see any sense in building a huge boat far from water and in a country where it had never rained? But God had told Noah things that were not seen as yet. God, by His Word, still tells man of things not seen as yet. These things are foolishness to those of the world. And finally, these very things condemn the world. Provision for the future is not the style.
His neighbors questioned no doubt Noah's sanity. Our walk today will condemn the world because we have made provision to escape the wrath to come. They are not prepared.
Our walk will condemn the world because we lay up in store the invisible things that abide. They lay up treasures that are subject to corruption and which cannot be taken from this world.
Finally, our walk will condemn the world because we lean upon and put our trust in a mighty power, a power that was able to raise our Lord from the dead and seat Him at the right hand of the Father in The Glory as Head of The Church which is His Body. They trust in their own strength.
It is not necessary for us to do the things which the world will approve. We are to show ourselves approved unto God. We are to walk in the good works which were before ordained that we should walk in them. That will keep us occupied. By faith, we also can inherit righteousness, condemn the world, and gain a crown. Let us be faithful.
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1 John 3:1
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,
that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world
knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
The most wonderful thing in the world is the love of God. It made it possible for us to be related to God. And the term Fatherhood of God applies only to those who have been saved. Eph 2:1-8. Each child of God is a new creation because of the new nature within. But like birth itself, this is just the beginning of life and its relationships. Let us consider a few:
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Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
The saints and faithful, who have become members of The Church, which is The Body of Christ, are blessed. They are blessed with all spiritual blessings or every blessing that is spiritual. They are blessed in Heavenly Places, not on the earth. And they are blessed with or in Christ, not with Abraham.
When we go back to Genesis 12:1-3 and see the promise made to Abraham and the blessings attached, we see nothing of these blessings here in Ephesians. The blessings of Abraham are confined to the earth and the nations thereof, not the heavens. It is in connection with a promised land, not The Heavenly Places. And the blessings are not all spiritual; some are earthly or carnal blessings. Riches and honor were the accompaniment of faith in Jehovah. Even the Lord, when speaking of the promises in connection with Abraham and The Kingdom, said that one should first of all seek The Kingdom of Heaven, and all these things would be added. We have no such promise today. Today, you cannot measure a man's spiritual condition by his wealth and honor among men.
There was the promise made to Abraham that all the nations of the earth were to be blessed through him. This has its fullest fulfillment yet to come in the Millennium when the 12 Apostles leading the 12 tribes of Israel will evangelize the nations as commissioned in Matthew 28:19-20. Then Israel will be fulfilling the purpose for which they were chosen and led out of Egypt.
But during Acts, there was a foreshadowing of this great time to come: Israel did not repent and bring forth fruit as was expected of them. So the Lord added some of the blessings of Israel to the Gentiles so that it would bring Israel to jealousy and bear fruit, the fruit of repentance and faith.
About eight years after Pentecost (where Peter spoke to Jews and proselytes only), Peter went up by revelation to Caesarea to the house of Cornelius and gave the Gentiles the invitation to sit at Israel's table and partake of their blessings. Before this, a Gentile could only eat crumbs that fell from the children's table. At the time of Acts 13:46-48, Paul began outside the land what Peter had begun, and he too invited the Gentile believers to partake of the blessings of Israel.
But we must keep in mind that in all this, the promise made to Abraham was still in force. These Gentile believers received no more than Israel did. There was nothing above and beyond the promise made to Abraham. And so, by faith, these Gentile believers became the children of Abraham.
One of the seldom-mentioned passages along this line is found in the parenthesis of Romans Chapters 9 to 11. The Gentile believer is properly put in his place. He is made to understand that he had a position like that of a wild olive branch grafted into a good olive tree. He partakes of its fatness (blessings). He has the root of the olive tree sustaining him, and he is not the root. He is not to boast in any way against the tree (Israel), for just as he had been grafted in, so could he be cut out. He is there for Israel's sake.
What a glorious gospel the Gentile received after Israel was set aside! No longer partaking of the promises, but blessed in Christ Jesus.
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Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
The usual opinion of blessings and being blessed is that gifts are given. But in looking through the concordances and lexicon, we were unable to find that specific meaning attached to these words.
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