By faith Noah PREPARED

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By faith Abraham OBEYED.

(To be continued).

#50. (concluded).  Noah.

The faith that inherits (11: 7).

pp. 152, 153

Saved . . . . . . . condemned.

Noah's faith moved him to prepare an ark "to the saving of his house, by the which he

condemned the world". While from one point of view Christian charity knows no

bounds, from another point of view it is very drastic and provoking. This is not limited to

the Christian faith. It belongs to all propositions, and to all issues. The man who is

convinced that the Teetotaller is right, cannot avoid the alternative that the Drinker is

wrong. The man who sees in Socialism the panacea for all evils, cannot avoid

condemning Conservatism and Capitalism by his very conviction. The church by its very

constitution condemns the world. There is no justification for bitterness, for wrangling,

for strife, but even among professing Christians it is not possible to hold certain vital

doctrines without condemning those who deny them. Christian charity is a lovely thing,

but it does not enable us to hunt with the hounds and run with the hare.

The inheritance.

All that we have seen concerning Noah has been leading to this last clause, "He

became the HEIR of the righteousness which is by faith". The warning, the preparing,

the saving of his house had one thing in view--the inheritance. Noah was not moved to

construct an ark either to demonstrate his own prowess, or even his faith, but as a means

to an end.

Redemption is for a purpose; it is not an end in itself.

So marvelous is that redemption, that we have spoken of it as though it was the end of

itself of the purpose of God. Eph. 1: 1-14 shows as clearly as any passage the

intermediate position of redemption, with the will of God stated first, the inheritance

reached at the last, and the "mystery of His will" coming between. This has been touched

upon more fully in articles dealing with redemption, and cannot be developed here.

The blessing of God upon Noah, when he stood upon the restored earth with his saved

house, was practically a repetition of the dominion given to Adam, modified by the