1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,840 And you may be seated. Amen. 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:06,000 Well, I mentioned this on Sunday, but it's been good 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:10,840 having brother Justin here with us this summer and has done a 4 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:13,520 lot of work around the church and just worked with a lot of 5 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:16,640 you all in the different ministries that you've that you 6 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:19,880 do. And just a great opportunity for 7 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:21,720 him, but a big help to us as well. 8 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:27,880 And he's, he's, he's on trial tonight to see if he's going to 9 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:31,040 have a fiance by the time he finishes up. 10 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:33,840 So we'll see how well he does, I guess. 11 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:36,440 But anyway, it's been good to have him here. 12 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:39,120 And he's coming with us to camp. Of course, he'll be here on 13 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,680 Sunday going with us to camp. And then I think he goes back 14 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:47,120 the Saturday after that, right? So Sunday will be the last, last 15 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:50,640 service that he's here with us. And but it's been good to have 16 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:52,880 him here and he's going to preach for us tonight. 17 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:56,240 So get your Bibles out and kids, get your notes out. 18 00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:58,880 And Brother Justin, you come preach for us, please. 19 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:07,640 Well, it's great to be in God's house tonight and I'm thankful 20 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:09,600 for the opportunity I have to preach tonight. 21 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:12,960 And I just was telling pastor earlier, I was joking with him 22 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:15,320 that this is probably the most pressure I've ever had put on me 23 00:01:15,320 --> 00:01:18,400 for a message. I told Ashley on the way here, I 24 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,120 gave her a pen and a pen, a pen and a piece of paper. 25 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:23,200 And I said grade me and let me know how I do so. 26 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:26,520 But anyways, take your Bibles and turn with me to Genesis 27 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:29,440 chapter 6. We're going to be in Genesis 28 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:31,520 chapter 6 tonight. Familiar story. 29 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:33,520 We're going to be looking at the story of Noah and the ark. 30 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:36,720 And this is something that's been in my heart for a while 31 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:38,840 now. We visited the ark a few months 32 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:40,920 ago, and I was just thinking and reading through this portion of 33 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,480 my Bible after I went and I saw some great things. 34 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:45,840 So I just want to share those with you tonight. 35 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:49,480 So we'll start reading in Genesis chapter 6 and verse #5 36 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:53,960 The Bible says, and God saw that the wickedness of man was great 37 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:56,680 in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of 38 00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:59,240 his heart was only evil continually. 39 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:02,760 And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and 40 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:05,840 it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will 41 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:08,600 destroy man who might have created from the face of the 42 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:12,640 earth, both man and beast, and the creeping thing in the fowls 43 00:02:12,640 --> 00:02:15,080 of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them. 44 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:17,760 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. 45 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:19,560 These are the generations of Noah. 46 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,520 Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah 47 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:27,720 walked with God, and Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and 48 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:29,920 Japheth. The earth also was corrupt 49 00:02:29,920 --> 00:02:32,400 before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 50 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:36,080 And God looked upon the earth and behold it was corrupt, for 51 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:38,280 all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 52 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:42,040 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh has come before me, 53 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:44,880 for the earth is filled with violence through them, and 54 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:47,560 behold I will destroy them with the earth. 55 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:51,120 Make thee an ark of Gopher wood. Room shall thou make in the ark, 56 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,320 and shall pitch it within, and with within and without with 57 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:56,760 pitch, And this is the fashion which thou shalt make of it. 58 00:02:56,920 --> 00:03:00,640 The length of the ark shall be 300 cubits, the breadth of it 50 59 00:03:00,640 --> 00:03:02,800 cubits, and the height of it 30 cubits. 60 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:06,400 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou 61 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,400 finish it above, and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the 62 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,440 side thereof. With lower, second and third 63 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:16,400 story shalt thou make it. And behold, I, even I do, bring 64 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:20,440 a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh wherein is 65 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:22,040 the breath of life from under heaven. 66 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:24,680 And everything that is in the earth shall die. 67 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:27,040 But with thee will I establish my covenant. 68 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,920 And thou shalt make, and with thee will I establish my 69 00:03:30,920 --> 00:03:32,480 covenant. Thou shalt come into the ark, 70 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:36,520 thou and thy sons, and thy wife and thy sons wives with thee. 71 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:38,440 Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, I think 72 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:40,440 we're for this opportunity that we have to be in your house 73 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:41,880 tonight. I prayer with you, bless the 74 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:44,120 preaching of your word, prayer with you, be with me, help me or 75 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:46,880 not to say anything that wouldn't be pleasing to you and 76 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:48,400 just give us a great rest of the service tonight. 77 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:52,680 In Jesus name I pray, Amen. Now we look at Noah and no doubt 78 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:55,360 we all have this picture of Noah in our minds is the the guy who 79 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:59,160 built the ark, the guy who was in the ark for 40 days and 40 80 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:00,960 nights. And you know, we really pictured 81 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:03,160 that's all he did. But I want to take a few 82 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:04,720 examples from the life of Noah tonight. 83 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:07,520 And I've simply titled this message lessons from Noah. 84 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:10,440 But before we get into any lessons from Noah's personal 85 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:12,200 life, I just want to ask you this question. 86 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:14,560 Make sure you have a spot in the ark. 87 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:17,360 That was more of a statement, but I would say make sure you 88 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:20,040 have a spot in the ark. Judgement is coming to this 89 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:22,880 planet, no doubt. There's too much sin, there's 90 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:24,360 too much wickedness on the earth. 91 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:27,160 God is going to judge this planet for the sin that we have 92 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:29,720 committed. I got some statistics for you 93 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,680 tonight that I looked up. He said in 2024, just in the 94 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:35,400 United States. This is not even across the 95 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:37,000 whole world, just in the United States. 96 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:41,520 There was 1.14 million abortions in the United States of America. 97 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:46,600 Gay marriage and homosexuality are not only being tolerated, 98 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:50,600 but they're being normalized. 40 to 50% of our marriages are 99 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:52,200 ending in divorce in the world today. 100 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:55,160 I mean, there is great wickedness upon the earth today, 101 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:57,320 just as there was back in the days of Noah. 102 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,080 And the Bible says when Jesus comes back, it's going to be 103 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:03,280 like it was in the days of Noah. And are we there yet? 104 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:05,600 Obviously not. We might be because Jesus could 105 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:08,920 come back tonight, but I don't believe it's as bad as it was in 106 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:12,040 the days of Noah. Now we could be there, but I 107 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:14,000 just want you to think about this in your head. 108 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:16,800 If Jesus was to come back tonight, where would you be? 109 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:19,360 Would you be in heaven with him or would you still be here on 110 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:21,880 this earth? God is going to judge this world 111 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:23,640 for the sins we commit every single day. 112 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:27,080 However, not everyone on the earth back then had to go 113 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:30,320 through the judgment though, only those who were covered by 114 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:32,720 the grace of God. We're saved from the flood, 115 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:35,680 we're saved from the judgment of God, and the same is true for us 116 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:37,480 today. Only those that are saved and 117 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:40,240 covered by the grace of God in the blood that he shed, in the 118 00:05:40,280 --> 00:05:43,120 in the blood that Jesus Christ shed on the cross for us, only 119 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:45,600 those people will be taken to heaven for the rest of eternity. 120 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:48,200 You can't get to heaven any other way but salvation. 121 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:50,920 There's no other way but by through the blood that Jesus 122 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:53,600 Christ shed on the cross for us. So I encourage you tonight, if 123 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:56,240 you don't know for sure you're saved, if you've never gotten 124 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:59,160 that taken care of, if you've never gotten that nailed down in 125 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:02,080 your heart and in your mind, if you don't know for sure you're 126 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:04,880 on your way to heaven, make sure that you would be there by the 127 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:06,360 time you walk out of the doors tonight. 128 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:08,200 I want you to look back at that clock. 129 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:10,640 Everybody in the auditorium, look back at that clock. 130 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:13,680 It says 740. If Jesus Christ came back 131 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:16,000 tonight at 7:42, where would you be? 132 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:19,640 Would you be on your way to meet the Lord in the air and forever 133 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:21,880 be with Him and in heaven for all of eternity? 134 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:24,160 Or would you still be in here in this auditorium? 135 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:26,960 Would you be sitting here with your Bible in your hand and your 136 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:30,440 pen in your lap and piece of paper, taking notes from the 137 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:32,440 message that I'm preaching? I wouldn't even be here. 138 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:34,600 I would be on my way to meet the Lord in the air. 139 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:37,160 And I hope every single one of you would be in here too. 140 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:39,760 But if you don't know for sure that that's where you'd be if 141 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:43,040 Jesus Christ came back at 742, get that taken care of. 142 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:45,880 Get it taken care of tonight before you walk out of the door. 143 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:49,640 So #1 make sure you have a spot in the ark number two. 144 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:52,880 Well, first of all, I want to ask you this question. 145 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:55,520 Why Noah? Why would God choose Noah? 146 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:58,240 Obviously, he was the only one living righteously. 147 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:00,440 He was the only one, him and his family that were saved from the 148 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:03,320 judgment of God. But why would God look upon Noah 149 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:06,160 and say, you know what Noah's doing right? 150 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:08,600 He's living right. He's the guy that I want to 151 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,520 build the ark and I'm going to continue humanity basically 152 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:14,720 through Noah. Why Noah noble #2 Noah was right 153 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:17,720 with God. Let's read verse 6 through 9 of 154 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:21,600 Genesis chapter 6. The Bible says, and it repented 155 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:23,960 the Lord, that he hath made man in the earth, and it grieved him 156 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:26,040 in his heart. And the Lord said, I will 157 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:28,720 destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both 158 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:32,000 man and beast, and the creeping thing and the fouls of the air, 159 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:34,240 for it repenteth that I made them. 160 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:36,360 Now if it's not there, that's pretty depressing, right? 161 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:39,720 I mean, if you were to read that, that is no more humanity. 162 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:43,080 Everybody's gone, and that's it. God could have easily just said, 163 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:44,720 I'm done. No more humanity. 164 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:48,120 I gave it a shot, we're done. You had your chance, you ruined 165 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:49,600 it. But what does it say in verse 166 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:52,040 #8? But Noah found grace in the eyes 167 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:54,160 of the Lord. These are the generations of 168 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:57,000 Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect 169 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:00,120 in his generations, and Noah walked with God. 170 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:02,600 Noah's walk with God was where it was supposed to be. 171 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:03,920 I want to ask you this question tonight. 172 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:07,440 How's your walk with God doing? Are you waking up every morning 173 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:09,720 and reading your Bible or are you going to Instagram? 174 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:13,080 Are you waking up every morning and opening your Bible, doing 175 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:14,800 your devotions, praying to the Lord? 176 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:16,680 Are you going about your daily routine? 177 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,800 The devil would love nothing more than to wreck everyone in 178 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:23,880 here's walk with God. He's doing it everywhere. 179 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:26,680 You see it all the time. It makes me sick to my stomach, 180 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:30,400 like pastors are just quitting. You see it all the time. 181 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:33,320 Youth pastors are quitting. They're getting tired of it. 182 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,360 They they say at one point when they were young, they say, oh, I 183 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:38,960 was called to the ministry. But then 10 years from now, 184 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:41,320 they'll, they'll quit, they'll walk away. 185 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:42,880 They won't do it anymore. Why? 186 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:46,080 It's because the devil at one point or another ruined their 187 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:48,040 walk with God. Don't let him do it. 188 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:50,160 He wants to discourage you from reading your Bible. 189 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:52,680 I remember one time when I was in college, I live in a dorm 190 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:55,640 full of guys. And those of you that have done 191 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:58,000 that before, it's not the most pleasurable experience you'll 192 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:00,240 ever have. I mean, it stinks in there. 193 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,960 Sometimes it does. It's bad, but I want to tell 194 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:06,080 you, I skip. I didn't skip it. 195 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,240 I something happened in the morning, I think an emergency, 196 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:11,800 something, somebody was injured. I had to take him to the doctor 197 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:13,960 that maybe they were sick. But I wasn't able to read my 198 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:17,080 Bible in the morning. And so I said, OK, I'll do it at 199 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:18,840 night. And so after my basketball 200 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:21,840 practice ended, I got back to the dorm and I showered and I 201 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:25,680 sat down to read my Bible, but I hadn't gotten a text all day. 202 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:28,280 And like literally, it was one of those days where it's like 203 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:31,880 nobody was bothering me. Nobody was really reaching out. 204 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:34,400 It was just kind of quiet. This was before I was even 205 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:36,880 dating Ashley, so she wasn't calling me or texting me, 206 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:39,800 nothing like that. But I was sitting there and as 207 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:43,080 soon as I opened the word of God, I remember I opened the 208 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,120 book of Psalms. And as soon as I did that group 209 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:48,840 chat started. As soon as I did that, calls 210 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:53,400 came in from the Dean of men. As soon as I open God's Word, I 211 00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:55,520 was getting texts from this person, from that person. 212 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:58,160 I was getting calls. Why I believe is because Satan 213 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:00,080 was trying to discourage my walk. 214 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:02,520 I believe he was trying to keep me from reading my Bible. 215 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:04,320 Now you say, Justin, how do you know that? 216 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:07,240 I can't tell you that for sure. But I do think it's ironic that 217 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:10,360 the one point that I get to my room to read my Bible, the only 218 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:13,480 time of day I had a chance to do that is when the phone started. 219 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:16,080 Don't let it happen. When you read your Bible, put 220 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:19,120 your phone in the next room. I mean, is your phone more 221 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:20,600 important than your Bible? It's not. 222 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:22,960 Is your phone more important than your walk with God? 223 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:25,040 I can tell you that it's not your phone. 224 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:27,600 If Jesus was come back tonight, like I just said, your phone 225 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:30,080 would still be here. Would you still be here with 226 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:31,960 your phone or would you be in heaven with God? 227 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:35,120 You know your phone is no more important than your walk with 228 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:37,840 God. And if you're doing your best to 229 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:39,680 be right with the Lord, you have a target in your bag. 230 00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:41,600 Did you know that? If you're doing your best to 231 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:44,200 walk with God, if you're doing your best to live for him, the 232 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:45,600 devil's got a target in your bag. 233 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:49,080 And he says, I want to destroy you, Young people, the devil 234 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:50,760 wants nothing more than to destroy you. 235 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:53,240 He wants to get you out of church. 236 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:56,640 He wants to get you from living like a terrible life. 237 00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:57,760 That's where he wants to get you. 238 00:10:57,800 --> 00:10:59,960 He wants to get you to the life of drugs. 239 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:01,840 He wants to get you to the life of alcohol. 240 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:05,160 He wants to get you to divorce. That's where he wants you. 241 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:07,280 Don't do it. Stay in church. 242 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:09,600 Stay faithful to your Bible. Stay. 243 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:12,080 This goes for the adults, too. Stay faithful to your prayer 244 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:14,560 life, everything. Stay faithful to God. 245 00:11:14,560 --> 00:11:16,680 Keep your walk with God where it's supposed to be. 246 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:20,040 And when I was riding out this point, I remember in 3rd grade, 247 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:22,480 I read Pilgrim's Progress. Anybody in here read Pilgrim's 248 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:23,920 Progress? Yeah, a good amount of you. 249 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:25,080 So you don't know what I'm talking about. 250 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:29,000 But when Christian was in the Valley of Humiliation, he was 251 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:33,200 attacked by Apollyon, and as he was attacked by Apollyon, he was 252 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:35,920 wounded. Apollyon was shooting darts at 253 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:39,320 Christian and he wounded him. Sure, he probably discouraged 254 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:41,680 him a little bit, but he did not stop Christian. 255 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:43,520 Why? Because when those darts were 256 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:45,720 being fired at Christian as he was walking through the Valley 257 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:48,120 of Humiliation, he puts up his shield. 258 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:51,200 He put up the shield that was supposed to represent his faith. 259 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:53,040 Are you putting up the shield tonight? 260 00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:56,080 Can I ask you that question? Are you putting up the shield? 261 00:11:56,120 --> 00:11:59,000 This is our shield. Prayer life is our shield. 262 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:02,960 Like if you just, you cannot expect to go to war without 263 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:06,400 carrying any type of a weapon. And that's how many Christians 264 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:08,360 are doing that today. They're going out into the 265 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:11,880 battlefield, They're going out to war, but they didn't start 266 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:13,040 their day with their Bible reading. 267 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:15,000 They didn't start the day in prayer. 268 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:17,640 So how can you expect to go fight the devil if you're not 269 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:19,400 even equipped yourself to go do it? 270 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:21,840 And Satan's going to be firing those darts at you. 271 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:25,160 But if when he does keep holding up the shield, you can't defeat 272 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:26,800 Satan on your own. You can't do it. 273 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:30,920 It's impossible, and even me at 21 years old knows that you 274 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:32,920 can't. Like we're not powerful enough 275 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:35,680 to defeat Satan on our own, but with God, we can. 276 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:39,720 God is more powerful than any of Satan's tactics, any of Satan's 277 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:41,720 distractions. He tries to get us from reading 278 00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:44,160 our Bible. God's more powerful than it all. 279 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:47,400 And So what we need to do is we need to keep just holding up the 280 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:49,160 shield. We need to keep praying. 281 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:50,480 We need to keep walking with God. 282 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:52,320 Noah did. And that's the only reason you 283 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:55,520 and me are sitting here tonight. It's because Noah was holding up 284 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:58,040 the shield. Noah was doing it day in and day 285 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:00,080 out. And that leads me into point #3 286 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:03,080 Noah was a faithful and obedient servant. 287 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:05,040 Again, we asked the question, why Noah? 288 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:08,160 Why would God get Noah? Everybody else was living wrong. 289 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:10,120 But why was Noah the one that was chosen by the ark? 290 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:12,400 He was a faithful and obedient servant. 291 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:15,560 Noah worked in the ark for a long time that he worked on the 292 00:13:15,560 --> 00:13:19,360 heart for 120 years. Can you imagine none of us in 293 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:22,840 here are going to live till 120 years And if you do like, I want 294 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:24,280 to know you because you're probably going to be pretty 295 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:28,720 famous, but Can you imagine working on the same project day 296 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:31,800 after day, year after year for 120 years? 297 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:34,040 He followed God's exact instruction. 298 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:36,000 Let's look at verses 14 through 16. 299 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:39,560 Make thee an ark of Gopher wood room. 300 00:13:39,560 --> 00:13:42,280 Shall thou make in the ark. This is God speaking, and shall 301 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:45,920 pitch it within and without with pitch, And this is the fashion 302 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:48,040 which thou shalt make of it. The length of the arc shall be 303 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:51,320 300 cubits, the breadth of it 50 cubits, the height of it 30 304 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:53,400 cubits. A window shalt thou make to the 305 00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:56,600 arc, and then a cubit shall thou finish it above, and the door of 306 00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:58,680 the arc shall thou set in the side thereof, with the lower 307 00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:00,360 second and third story shall thou make of it. 308 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:02,840 And behold, I even I do bring a flop. 309 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:05,280 Actually that was 16. I went on the 17. 310 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:08,280 Sorry about that, But he was obedient. 311 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:11,640 He knew what God had told him to do and he did those exact and 312 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:14,280 God gave him the exact measurements for the ark. 313 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:16,160 He gave him the exact things that were going to go in the 314 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:18,360 ark. He gave him the everything about 315 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:19,640 it. God laid it out and said do it 316 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:22,280 like that. And Noah did it exactly how God 317 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:25,440 said it would be done. How often do we not do that? 318 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:28,760 We say, OK, God, I'll do what you want me to do. 319 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:31,240 I'll be faithful what you want me to do even, but I'm going to 320 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:34,640 do it my way. I mean, if we do anything our 321 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:38,280 way, it's not going to work. If we do it opposite to what God 322 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:41,640 says or if we don't do what God says or exactly what God says, 323 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:43,400 we're not going to be successful. 324 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:47,400 God says go and give the gospel to every creature, doesn't he? 325 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:49,240 God says give the gospel to everyone. 326 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:51,520 If we say man, that person looks pretty scary. 327 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:53,840 That person looks, I don't want to go talk to him. 328 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:56,120 They look weird. That's not giving the gospel to 329 00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:57,960 every creature. That's not fulfilling the Great 330 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:00,480 Commission if we're not doing. How can we expect to be 331 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:03,440 successful if we're not doing exactly what God says? 332 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:06,880 Noah remained faithful and obedient in spite of opposition 333 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:10,800 even. How often do you see that the 334 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:12,920 opposition Christians are facing nowadays? 335 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:17,680 It's actually crazy and I can imagine Noah day in and day out. 336 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:20,440 We're not giving any specific example in the Bible where Noah 337 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:24,040 was actually laughed at or ridiculed as like Nehemiah was 338 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:27,160 or maybe even Daniel for praying three times a day. 339 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:30,360 We're not giving anything like that to where Noah faced extreme 340 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:32,200 opposition. But you can imagine. 341 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:35,760 I mean, he's the only man living righteously in the face of the 342 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:38,080 planet. He's doing it day in and day out 343 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:41,160 for 120 years. So I mean, it wasn't like it was 344 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:43,560 a weak project. He's doing it for a long time. 345 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:45,400 So Can you imagine people walking by and saying, oh, 346 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:47,480 there's that Noah guy, He doesn't know what he's talking 347 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:48,520 about. He's a lunatic. 348 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:51,080 He's out of his mind, He's insane. 349 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:55,160 I can imagine just the constant day in and day out pressure. 350 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:59,520 Noah had to say, OK, I'm done. The pressure Noah had from the 351 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:02,800 outside probably telling him you need to stop, you're wasting 352 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:05,720 your time, you're throwing your life away like this is useless. 353 00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:08,200 We've never seen rain a day in our life and you're telling us 354 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:10,680 that it's going to start raining and the floodwaters are going to 355 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:12,360 come. We haven't seen it one day. 356 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:14,560 So how can you say this? You're wasting your life. 357 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:18,760 Noah remained faithful, he remained consistent and he was 358 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:21,320 obedient. Many of you know, I grew up over 359 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:25,240 at Gil Grove and I was back there the other day on Wednesday 360 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:28,200 and then on Sunday morning. And it was so encouraging to me 361 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:32,960 to see men and women who've I've known for my whole life that 362 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:35,920 have been doing it day in and day out, consistently, every 363 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:39,320 single day, every single Sunday, every single Saturday on 364 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:42,440 visitation that they have it. I mean, it's so like there was a 365 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:45,640 man, Mr. Charles. I mean, he's there on the bus 366 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:47,720 every single week. I don't remember the last time I 367 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:51,320 didn't see that man on the bus and he's there day in and day 368 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:53,480 out for years. Ever since he's been saved, ever 369 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:55,640 since he's been coming there. And it's so encouraging to me to 370 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:59,640 see people that remain faithful and obedient to what is God has 371 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:02,360 called them to do. Young people, God has might have 372 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:04,440 called you tonight to be a pastor. 373 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:06,440 He might call you to be a missionary. 374 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:08,119 He could call you to be a school teacher. 375 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:12,400 Whatever he calls you to do, be faithful, be consistent, be 376 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:14,319 obedient to what God calls you to do. 377 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:16,119 He's not going to call you to do something. 378 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:18,119 Pastor was talking about this when we were on the youth trip. 379 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:21,079 He's not going to call you to do something if he already knows 380 00:17:21,079 --> 00:17:24,079 you're not going to do it. If you say no, I'm not going to 381 00:17:24,079 --> 00:17:28,079 serve God if you already have it in your heart that says, oh, if 382 00:17:28,079 --> 00:17:31,240 God wants me to be a pastor, I don't know if I can speak really 383 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:33,520 well. I mean, that's what Moses said. 384 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:35,640 Moses said, I can't even speak God. 385 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:38,280 I can't lead these people out of Egypt. 386 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:41,200 I can't do it. And how often do we throw up 387 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:42,440 excuses like that? All the time. 388 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:44,960 Well, I can't do this because I'm not outgoing. 389 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:47,320 I can't do this because I don't know how to give the gospel to 390 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:49,880 somebody. I can't do this because I don't 391 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:52,080 know. There's no opportunities for me 392 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:54,000 to serve in the ministry. That's not true. 393 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:57,080 Now, you can't, you can't walk around here without finding some 394 00:17:57,080 --> 00:17:59,680 opportunity to serve in. But whatever God has called you 395 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:02,640 to do, whatever He's called you to serve in, do it to the best 396 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:05,400 of your ability. Be faithful and obedient, just 397 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:07,840 as Noah was. So let's review the points #1 398 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:15,160 make sure you have a spot in the ark #2 sorry #2 be right with 399 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:18,520 God just as Noah was #3 be a faithful and obedient servant 400 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:21,360 just as Noah was. And #4 in our final point this 401 00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:24,200 evening, be thankful Noah was thankful. 402 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:28,280 Let's turn over in our Bibles to Genesis chapter 8, verse #20 403 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:33,960 Genesis chapter 8, verse 20. I find this funny because I 404 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:36,400 mean, how many of us, if we would have built the ark 405 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:38,320 ourselves, we would have done it. 406 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:40,040 We would have gotten off the boat. 407 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:42,840 I know I probably would have. And we I would have started 408 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:45,280 patting myself in the back. I would have said good job, 409 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:48,920 Justin, you did it like you saved humanity, all these 410 00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:51,400 animals. You spared your family's life. 411 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:52,800 Good. You did a good job. 412 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:54,760 Like man, look at this ark that I built. 413 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:56,120 That's probably what I would have done. 414 00:18:56,240 --> 00:19:00,880 But let's look at what Noah did. Genesis chapter 8, verse #20 It 415 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:04,960 says, and Noah builded an altar unto the Lord, and took of every 416 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:08,360 clean beast and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt 417 00:19:08,360 --> 00:19:12,000 offerings on the altar. Noah built an altar as an act of 418 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:14,400 thanks for God's deliverance from the great flood. 419 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:18,240 He didn't get off the ark and say, man, I did a really great 420 00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:19,880 job. All the credit goes to me. 421 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:22,600 Everybody worship me. I'm the one that did it. 422 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:25,440 No, he built an altar to God and said, thank you Lord for 423 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:28,080 delivering me from this flood. Thank you, Lord, for delivering 424 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:31,080 me from that judgement. And how many of us tonight, we 425 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:33,120 don't even thank God for the fact that we're saved. 426 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:35,480 If you're saved tonight, you should be thanking God that 427 00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:37,320 you're saved from the tribulation. 428 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:40,160 You're saved from the judgement to come and all the wicked and 429 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:41,680 evil things that are going to happen on this planet. 430 00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:44,600 Be thankful that He saved you. I mean, there's so many things 431 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:47,760 we have to be thankful of God. What has God delivered you out 432 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:49,720 of tonight? He could have delivered you out 433 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:53,120 of a wicked lifestyle. There's got to be somebody in 434 00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:56,080 this church that was at one point or another living for the 435 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:59,160 world, living for Satan, doing the things of the world, doing 436 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:02,120 the things that Satan had control of you, no doubt. 437 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:04,400 But God delivered you from a wicked lifestyle. 438 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:06,800 How many of you, God's delivered you from sickness? 439 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:12,000 You see it over and over again. My aunt had cancer and God 440 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:15,680 delivered the cancer. He got rid of the cancer. 441 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:17,920 It was amazing actually, and that's amazing. 442 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:20,080 God can deliver you from sickness and I'm sure He's done 443 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:22,680 that to some of you tonight. God can deliver you out of a 444 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:25,520 financial situation. Now, somebody my age with 445 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:29,120 absolutely no money has quite a few financial situation, but you 446 00:20:29,120 --> 00:20:30,640 know what? We need to trust God. 447 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:33,240 Me and Ashley need to trust God that He can deliver us from 448 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:36,680 those financial situations. And the same thing of you, you 449 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:39,440 can trust God that He'll deliver you from your sickness. 450 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:42,280 He'll deliver you from your financial situation, but you 451 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:43,840 need to be thankful for it. When he does. 452 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:47,200 You need to think him and say God thank you, Ward for 453 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:49,280 delivering me out of whatever it may be. 454 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:53,360 And I don't do that enough. There's often times I pray for 455 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:56,400 what you might think of silly things like when I was in high 456 00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:58,640 school, I would have a test or something like that that I 457 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:00,920 didn't study for. And I know you can't imagine 458 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:04,800 that me not studying for a test, but I would have a test that I 459 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:07,800 would study for and I would be like, God help me on this test. 460 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:10,720 And then he would and I would get a or AB or something like 461 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:12,440 that. And I would just go about my day 462 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:15,640 and I would say, well, I did good on this test. 463 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:19,360 Look at mom, look at this grade that I got, but I would not even 464 00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:22,040 think to say Lord for helping me on this test. 465 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:24,800 I would play in the basketball game and I would pray before the 466 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:26,400 game. Now, did God care about the 467 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:28,680 game? No, probably not. 468 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:31,560 But I like to think that he would help us win those games. 469 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:33,840 And so I would pray before the games in middle school and in 470 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:36,040 high school. And when we would win, I would 471 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:38,520 go about my daily life. I would say, good job, Justin, 472 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:40,360 you scored a lot of points here. Good job. 473 00:21:40,360 --> 00:21:42,520 So and so you did really. And that was a nice pass or that 474 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:44,920 was a nice shot. I wouldn't go to God and say, 475 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:46,560 hey, thank you for helping us win this game. 476 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:49,320 How often do we do that with serious things? 477 00:21:49,360 --> 00:21:52,320 You have loved ones in the hospital, God heals them, He 478 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:54,840 takes them out of the hospital. Do we think to turn to God and 479 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:57,240 say thank the word for getting me out of this, Thank the word 480 00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:00,720 for sparing our life and we have so many things to be thankful 481 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:02,120 for. Turn over to 1st Thessalonians 482 00:22:02,120 --> 00:22:05,640 chapter 5, First Thessalonians 518. 483 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:08,640 You know the Bible commands us to give thanks. 484 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:12,280 First Thessalonians 518 you probably know the verse, a lot 485 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:13,720 of you could probably quote it off memory. 486 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:17,000 It says in everything, give thanks for this is the will of 487 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:19,000 God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 488 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:22,400 It doesn't say in some things to give thanks. 489 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:25,920 It doesn't say in this area of your life, give thanks but not 490 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:28,640 in this area. It says in everything give 491 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:30,200 thanks. And that's exactly what Noah 492 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:33,040 did. Now aren't you thankful that God 493 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:35,960 saved you from sin? Be thankful that He has you in 494 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:37,840 this church. Be thankful that He's given you 495 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:40,480 ministries to serve in. Be thankful that He saved you 496 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:42,920 from lifestyle. We need to be thankful for God 497 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,680 for His provision, for His provision just as Noah was. 498 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:49,400 And so there's many good lessons we could take from the life of 499 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:51,720 Noah. There's many like Noah was a 500 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:54,600 great man. But I hope these remain in your 501 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:56,600 mind and you think about them as you go throughout your daily 502 00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:59,560 life. I'd, I'd encourage you to read 503 00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:02,480 through the life of Noah. It's a very encouraging story, 504 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,480 many great things. I'm sure multiple things besides 505 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:08,200 what I said tonight we can learn from Noah. 506 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:10,400 So I asked you to just take these lessons from the life of 507 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:12,640 Noah and just think about them and make sure you live them out 508 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:15,440 in your daily life. Let's pray, dear my father, I 509 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:17,640 think a word for this time that you've given us in your house 510 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:19,920 thing, a word for the message tonight. 511 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:22,480 I pray with you help, use it to be a help to somebody and just 512 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:24,240 give us great rest of the night. And you say, I pray. 513 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:27,400 Amen. Our seats with our heads bowed 514 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:31,560 and our eyes closed. Good reminder from the life of 515 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:36,400 Noah and would, would, I don't know, I think about that 516 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:39,120 sometimes what I have had enough faith to be the one that got in 517 00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:43,760 the boat. We always like to think that we 518 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:49,000 would be, but that took a lot and there's a lot that went into 519 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:50,000 it. And he mentioned a lot of those 520 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:52,720 points tonight. And are you thankful? 521 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:55,360 You know, we pray and pray and pray and ask God for things and 522 00:23:55,360 --> 00:23:57,640 then he gives us the answer to it and we never even come back 523 00:23:57,640 --> 00:24:02,200 to say thank you. Like those lepers, 10 of them 524 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:06,240 were healed, only one came back. If we would thank God as much as 525 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:10,840 we begged Him for things, I think we'd get a lot more of the 526 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:13,040 things that we asked God for because He realized that we are 527 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:14,960 thankful for it when He gives us the answer. 528 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:18,160 I don't know. I think one of that's one of 529 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:20,120 those things that we can always be more thankful. 530 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:23,400 We can always pray more, we can always do a lot of things 531 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:25,760 better. But maybe God spoke to you hard 532 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:27,120 about something specific tonight. 533 00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:29,960 And if He did, then I want to give you an opportunity as the 534 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:32,000 piano plays to come forward and deal with that tonight.