1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:15,860 Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. How do we know where to find answers to the toughest 2 00:00:15,860 --> 00:00:21,080 questions in life? While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search 3 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:27,800 and how do we discover this truth? Today, in this teaching podcast, John Metter, lead pastor 4 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:32,800 of Cross City Church, takes a specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth for the 5 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:41,200 life we're searching for. We are so glad that you're with us this morning and if you have your 6 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:48,040 Bibles, please take them and turn to Genesis chapter 8, Finding God in the Dark. So some of 7 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:53,240 you, that's when we began this Genesis series that we called Origins way back when. This was 8 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:59,880 back in the fall and how many of you remember walking through Genesis 1, 2, 3, and 4 together? 9 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:03,520 And what a journey it's been as we've walked through the first eight chapters, at least 10 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:07,840 we will have today, and we'll be concluding through chapter 11 in these next couple of 11 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:13,040 three weeks. This series is called Finding God in Chaos because we really do live in 12 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:20,320 a world filled with chaos, just like the world all those years ago was in chaos. You know, 13 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:24,440 before we read the scripture today, I want you to come imagine for just a moment if you 14 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:31,840 will being in Noah's shoes. Imagine being in an ark filled with eight people and thousands 15 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:39,360 of animals for more than a year's time, 370 days that are in this ark. I want you to imagine 16 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:45,840 how dark it is with the rain that is constant the first 40 days and imagine how damp it 17 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:51,400 is in that ark. Imagine what it smells like in that ark. Imagine what it must feel like 18 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:57,160 to wonder after you've heard the cries of those that have died in judgment and in the 19 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:02,600 silence of the seas that are there. Imagine what that must have felt like. In chapter 20 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:07,760 7, verse 23, the scripture says that only Noah was left along with those that were with 21 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:13,040 him. So a year into the journey, the rains have stopped and you wonder will we hear from 22 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:21,040 God again, ever? Does God know who we are? Does God, is He able to give us the next steps 23 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:25,920 that we need in life? All those questions could have been happening in Noah's life and 24 00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:30,480 chapter 8 begins to address some of those. Let's stand together as I read chapter 8, 25 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:41,640 the first 14 verses of the book of Genesis. But God remembered Noah and all the beasts 26 00:02:41,640 --> 00:02:46,400 and all the cattle that were with him in the ark. And God caused a wind to pass over the 27 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:51,360 earth and the water subsided. Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky 28 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:56,480 were closed and the rain from the sky was restrained and the water receded steadily 29 00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:02,280 from the earth. And at the end of 150 days the water decreased. In the seventh month, 30 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:07,840 on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat. The water 31 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:11,800 decreased steadily until the tenth month. And the tenth month, on the first day of the 32 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:16,680 month, the tops of the mountains became visible. Then it came about at the end of 40 days that 33 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:21,480 Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made and sent out a raven and it flew 34 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:26,320 here and there until the water was dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove from 35 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:31,360 him to see if the water was abated from the face of the land. But the dove found no resting 36 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:36,280 place for the sole of her foot so she returned to him into the ark for the ark was on the 37 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:40,840 surface of all the earth. The water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put 38 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:45,180 out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark to himself. So he waited yet 39 00:03:45,180 --> 00:03:50,760 another seven days and again he sent out the dove from the ark. The dove came towards him 40 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:57,360 towards evening and behold in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew 41 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:01,800 that the water was abated from the earth. Then he waited yet another seven days and 42 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:08,520 sent out the dove but she did not return to him. Now it came about in the 601st year, 43 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:13,360 the first month, the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth and Noah 44 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:17,520 removed the covering of the ark and looked and behold the surface of the ground was dried 45 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:24,200 up. In the second month, on the 27th day of the month, the earth was dry. So those 14 46 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:31,480 days describe the length of time, 370 days and the abating of the waters and now the 47 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:36,840 ark is about to be opened. It's a climactic moment in human history that we all come from 48 00:04:36,840 --> 00:04:42,040 in reality. Father in Jesus' name my prayer is that you'll let this text speak to us in 49 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:49,520 a powerful but at the same time personal way. In the same way you are personal with Noah. 50 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:53,960 You want to be personal with each one of us and we ask you to make it so today in Jesus' 51 00:04:53,960 --> 00:05:01,400 name. In our God's people's name. Amen. Please be seated if you would. Now I'm going to cover 52 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:06,080 some sensational events here in Genesis chapter 8. In fact the earth as we know it today, 53 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:13,280 we know it because of what happened in Genesis chapter 8. The pre-flood earth was different 54 00:05:13,280 --> 00:05:20,280 from the post-flood earth in many different ways. Genesis 8 details that. But in spite 55 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:24,760 of all the sensational things that we'll look at as we walk through Genesis 8, there's 56 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:28,040 something even more important that I want you to carry away with you. Whenever God is 57 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:34,040 at work in nature, whenever he's at work in his powerful intervention into nature, the 58 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:40,280 most climactic things that we read in the passage is what God does and what God says 59 00:05:40,280 --> 00:05:46,680 to the people. And what God does and what God says to Noah and his family, God also 60 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:52,600 does and God also says in your life. Every passage that you study you should ask the 61 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:57,440 question what does this tell me about God? Not just what does it say about the earth 62 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:01,880 or what does it say about creation or the flood or the animals, but what does this say 63 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:07,560 about God and what does it say about how God interacts with me? As we walk through this 64 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:13,240 text the most dominant things that come to the surface in chapter 8 are the places in 65 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:18,440 the scripture that talk about what God does. And those four points I'm going to give you 66 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:23,400 today that focused on what God does. First of all in verse 1 you can see it very easily. 67 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:29,840 The Bible says God remembered. God remembered. Look at verse 1. But God remembered Noah and 68 00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:35,040 all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark. Now when I read these 69 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:39,480 accounts and I do some background studies to everything we know about the ark, I mean 70 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:44,600 it's just amazing. It's mesmerizing to me. These are incredible things that God has done. 71 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:49,680 And getting Noah to build the ark and having that ark house Noah, his family and all these 72 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:54,960 animals to have it lift up above the floods of judgment and the floods of the waters. 73 00:06:54,960 --> 00:07:00,080 And all kinds of questions come into my mind like how did Noah finish the ark? How did 74 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:06,880 the animals migrate to the ark? How did God do that? How did he arrange that? Though the 75 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:11,200 water was plentiful, how did they deal with all the food needs and the waste needs? I 76 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:15,960 want to know what did they do with their waste needs on that ark? And how did they wait patiently 77 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:22,960 for God to move the way he was moving this whole long year? But this piece right here, 78 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:28,840 God remembers, strikes me as a great, great statement. Because we all know this, God did 79 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:34,880 not forget Noah and his family. But here is a particular emphasis. God remembered the 80 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:40,000 phrase itself as a benevolent phrase. It's a tender phrase. It's a phrase that has a 81 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:47,000 great deal of love behind it. It means that God has his eyes focused on Noah and Noah 82 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:53,280 is endeared towards God. And God loves him with a purpose and God gifts him with a purpose 83 00:07:53,280 --> 00:08:00,280 and has given him grace with a purpose. God remembered them, Noah and his family. We know 84 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:05,560 that there was only one family on the earth at that point, right? And it was Noah. It's 85 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:08,660 not like Papa's going to forget Noah. It's not like he was going to get him confused 86 00:08:08,660 --> 00:08:15,120 with anybody else on the planet at that time. So there's only one family and God is thinking 87 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:20,720 clearly about how he's going to bless them. And it comes just as the ark is about to open, 88 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:27,720 just as he's about to be allowed to walk on that freshly cleansed planet. Okay, I'm being 89 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:34,720 told we're going to switch microphones on now, okay? From this point on, the message 90 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:50,480 will get much better now. Well, I don't know how much you picked up, but let me just start 91 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:55,520 at the first point there, alright? It's amazing that God remembers Noah. That's really the 92 00:08:55,520 --> 00:09:00,760 point of this whole first verse that God remembers him. He's about to move in his life. And even 93 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:06,280 though there's only one family, God has focused on him in a powerful, powerful way. And I 94 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:12,840 also want you to realize this, that the third 370 days on the earth, or rather in the ark, 95 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:17,480 is really a time of waiting for Noah. It's really a time when he wonders, will I ever 96 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:22,960 hear God's voice again? I've heard the voices of people crying out around this boat as they 97 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:29,120 drown. I hear the sounds of the cattle and all the animals inside the boat, but will 98 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:34,040 I ever hear the voice of God again? Of course, the answer is going to be yes, God will speak 99 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:41,040 again. But until then, Noah is waiting for God and God is remembering Noah. And again, 100 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:47,600 it's just before the ark's door is opened and Noah begins to walk into this freshly 101 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:53,080 cleaned earth. I just want you to pick up for just a moment that phrase and I want you 102 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:57,920 to be reminded that no matter what kind of situation you're in in life, God will remember 103 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:03,160 you just like he remembers Noah. Even in the dark times, even in the times that are not 104 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:08,480 comfortable, times when judgment is going on around you, even in times like the flood 105 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:14,360 or lonely times or difficult times, confusing times, trials, frustrations, everything else 106 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:20,360 that was going on, inside of that ark, God is reminding us that he always remembers his 107 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:25,960 people and that's going to be helpful to you one day. The same way that God remembered 108 00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:30,560 Noah, he remembers you. You know, I want to make this statement because it's so important. 109 00:10:30,560 --> 00:10:37,320 Sometimes the wait is long, but God will always remember you. How many of you have been through 110 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:41,800 long waiting periods in your life just wondering if God was ever going to come through or not? 111 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:46,120 Would you raise your hand? And you just wonder, God, do you know where I am? Do you know what's 112 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:50,920 going on around me? Do you know how difficult this is? Do you realize how hard this is for 113 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:56,440 me and those around me? But I want you to be remembering the fact that God has not forgotten 114 00:10:56,440 --> 00:11:01,520 you. I want you to know that God will remember you. When you look for God, remember that 115 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:10,040 he has known where you are all along. God remembered. But the second line is in that 116 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:17,440 same verse. It says, and God caused the wind to pass over the earth and the water subsided. 117 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:24,000 Now this to me is a fascinating scene because there is a lot of water on the planet at this 118 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:30,440 point. The water has come out of the fountains underneath the earth, it's come out of the 119 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:36,360 skies as God's allowed all this water to take place. There's so much water. Even today, 120 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:40,520 do you realize if the earth was flattened, if the surface of the earth was flattened, 121 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:45,560 no valleys, no mountains, the water that exists on the planet today would cover the earth 122 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:51,560 two miles deep. Do you realize that there's 71% of the earth's surface right now is covered 123 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:57,760 in water? It's hard for us to fathom that, but the water was great on the surface of 124 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:03,760 the earth during those days. And now God is going to cause this wind blow and it's going 125 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:10,600 to dissipate the water creating all kinds of amazing things that result in our present 126 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:17,160 planet earth. In the first 15 verses of Genesis chapter 8, you see the subsiding of the water. 127 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:22,680 And in verses 2 and 3, it's summarized. Look at what that verse says. It says, and also 128 00:12:22,680 --> 00:12:31,680 the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed and the rain from the 129 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:37,760 sky was restrained. This whole sentence starts with God caused. So God closes the fountains 130 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:44,200 of the deep. God causes the floodgates of the sky to be closed and the rain itself was 131 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:50,760 restrained. And then it says, and the water receded steadily from the earth. Now let's 132 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:55,120 get a timeline of what's going on here. This is important as well. As you read through 133 00:12:55,120 --> 00:13:00,360 verse 3, all the way through verse 14 or 15, you can see those days begin to add up. Verse 134 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:09,000 3 tells us at the end of 150 days, the water was decreased. Verse 5 adds 74 days. Verse 135 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:15,800 6 adds another 40 days. Then from verses 6 through 12, if you're looking at your Bible, 136 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:24,360 another 21 days. And then in verse 13, another 29 days. And finally in verse 14, 56 more 137 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:31,480 days are detailed. And if you added all those up, you have 370 days that Noah and his family 138 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:38,120 are in the ark. Now watch what happens here. The Lord is forcefully moving all this water 139 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:45,400 across the surface of the earth. And as He does so, He creates massive canyons and huge 140 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:51,240 mountains that we know today. Now we know that they were mountains that existed in the 141 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:58,000 pre-flood world, but this movement creates even deeper canyons and even higher mountains 142 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:04,200 as God moves all this water towards what we know today as the oceans and the seas. God 143 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:08,800 is causing the earth to be moved into the present condition as it is. And while this 144 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:15,320 takes place, think about what's happening in the water. Billions of people have died, 145 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:22,320 along with billions upon billions of animals have died in the flood. And as these animals 146 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:28,040 and their remains are flowing in this water, their remains are embedded into the strata 147 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:34,320 of the soil and the rock at every level. Did you know that scientists have actually found 148 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:38,880 marine fossils in the Himalayan mountains? Did you know that? And did you know that you 149 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:47,360 can find some fish fossils on Mount Everest? Scientists struggle to explain how those fossils 150 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:51,480 that are marine fossils ended up on the top of mountains. And the very simple explanation 151 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:57,920 is read the Bible. It took place during the great flood of Noah's day. In fact, the 152 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:03,320 Bible actually goes so far as to describe this in Psalm 104. Here's what the psalmist 153 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:09,200 declared. He said, you covered it with the deep as with a garment. The waters were standing 154 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:13,920 above the mountains as your rebuke they fled. At the sound of your thunder they hurried 155 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:20,400 away. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place where you established them. 156 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:25,560 That actually explains how the earth came to be in its present form. God rearranged 157 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:31,280 it all with these waters and causing those waters to move so that we see the beauty today 158 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:37,040 that we have today because of the result of that flood. By the way, have you looked at 159 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:42,680 the earth lately and seen how beautiful it is? Have you seen the majestic mountain peaks 160 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:49,080 like Mount Denali in Alaska? And remember that God caused it to be that way? I remember 161 00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:53,480 seeing that for the first time. A hundred and fifty miles away from Mount Denali in 162 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:59,160 Alaska and saying, I cannot believe a mountain's that big, that massive, that beautiful. Well, 163 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:04,320 have you been to the Grand Canyons? And have you noticed how deep they are and how wide 164 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:10,240 they are? And remember that God caused this when He caused the waters to abate during 165 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:15,160 the time of the flood. Or look at the fields of harvest and look at the deserts and remember 166 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:20,840 God caused this. Or look at the mountain valleys or the river valleys and the sloping mountains 167 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:24,920 like in the state of Tennessee where I used to live. What a beautiful picture. And thank 168 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:29,720 God it caused this. Or you look at the depth of the ocean and you realize just how deep 169 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:37,440 the sea is and realize God caused this. I mean everything God does, even in judgment, 170 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:41,920 brings about something greater than it ever could have been before. God caused all these 171 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:47,160 things to happen. What an amazing picture. I mean when I look at the world, I see God 172 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:53,500 everywhere. There's a great song we've sung in years past and still sing and it goes something 173 00:16:53,500 --> 00:17:00,560 like this, Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds thy hands have 174 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:05,840 made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, thy power throughout the universe 175 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:12,960 displays, then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee. How great thou art. How great thou 176 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:17,360 art. When you look at the world, you think about Genesis 1 and 2, but when you look at 177 00:17:17,360 --> 00:17:22,480 the world, you look at Genesis chapter 8 as well because the world in its present condition 178 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:29,240 has been created through God's work through the flood. So now Noah is about to open the 179 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:34,400 door and repopulate the earth. By the way, before we move more into Noah's life and 180 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:38,600 what he did, let me just remind you that not everybody in the world believes in a great 181 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:44,280 flood. I think you're aware that many have tried to explain the earth and the world and 182 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:50,840 its existence by natural explanation apart from God. And they try to make it seem as 183 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:55,920 though the earth came about, the Grand Canyon, the mountains, the fossils over millions and 184 00:17:55,920 --> 00:18:00,880 millions and even billions of years. And they'll spend every waking moment trying to prove 185 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:05,260 it from natural causes because they don't want God to be in the picture. That's the 186 00:18:05,260 --> 00:18:12,400 reason why all these other explanations exist. But even in Bible times, the apostle Peter 187 00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:19,720 said that will happen. People will mock. As a matter of fact, in 2 Peter chapter 3, you 188 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:26,000 find this passage, the mockers are saying, where is the promise of his coming? For ever 189 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:31,720 since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation. 190 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:36,080 And then Peter says, for when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the 191 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:41,000 word of God, the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of the water 192 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:48,480 and by water through which the world at that time was destroyed by being flooded with water. 193 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:54,720 So keep in mind, you live around a world and in a world that tries to explain everything 194 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:59,480 naturally and fails to be able to do that. We can't even explain what happened the last 195 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:04,520 two or three years ago, much less the last two or three hundred thousand years ago. It's 196 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:07,840 really important for us to come to the place of saying, maybe someone has the answer and 197 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:15,960 maybe someone is God. And that God gives us that answer in the Bible. As again, atheists 198 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:20,840 try to explain away the flood. They also try to explain away the many other miracles, Moses 199 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:26,480 in the parting of the Red Sea or Jonah in the whale or even trying to explain away Jesus 200 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:32,400 and the resurrection of the dead. And all of it again is trying to deny the existence 201 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:37,520 of a creator God. And what's really disturbing to me is that many Christians will buy into 202 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:44,120 those explanations, not realizing that it is eroding at their faith, as eroding their 203 00:19:44,120 --> 00:19:49,400 trust and confidence in Jesus Christ. What if I told you that Jesus had an opinion about 204 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:55,160 the flood? What if I told you that Jesus had an opinion about creation, about marriage, 205 00:19:55,160 --> 00:20:00,200 about Jonah in the whale? Would you try to align yourself on the other side of that argument 206 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:04,480 or are you going to stand on Jesus' side? My opinion is that when you disagree with 207 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:10,760 Jesus, He'll win every time. Amen? This is Jesus, God the Son, who was an eyewitness 208 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:17,080 to all of creation and all that took place. You remember when God asked Job in the book 209 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:22,600 of Job, where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Of course, He says that because 210 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:31,520 only God was there, Jesus was there, and Jesus has a word. In John chapter 3, Jesus is having 211 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:37,360 an interaction with Nicodemus. And He says this to Nicodemus. He said, if I tell you 212 00:20:37,360 --> 00:20:42,160 earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you of heavenly 213 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:48,080 things? Just keep in mind, Jesus affirmed creation. Jesus affirmed biblical marriage. 214 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:54,680 Jesus affirmed Noah and the flood. Jesus affirmed Jonah and the whale. And in the telling of 215 00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:58,760 the story of the rich man in Lazarus, Jesus made this statement. He said, if they do not 216 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:02,920 listen to Moses, that is the author of the first five books of the Bible, if they don't 217 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:08,760 listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from 218 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:14,880 the dead. You know what my encouragement to you today is? Come to trust Jesus Christ, 219 00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:23,240 the Word made flesh. Come to believe the Bible and cast your confidence on the Word of God. 220 00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:28,160 Because that gives us the greatest explanation, by the greatest eyewitness, you'll ever have 221 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:33,360 Jesus Christ. And I think that's why Jesus gave us those words about what's so controversial 222 00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:43,760 today. God caused. And then God spoke. God spoke. You know, in the midst of all this, 223 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:47,960 God is going to speak to Noah. And in verse 15, here's what it says, and God spoke to 224 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:54,840 Noah saying, go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with 225 00:21:54,840 --> 00:22:01,680 you. You know, the last time we hear God speak in this text is 370 days ago. And now He's 226 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:07,440 speaking to Noah again. Would you agree with me that sometimes God goes a long distance 227 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:12,800 between the last time He spoke and the next time He speaks to us? Sometimes that seems 228 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:18,600 like a long, long period of time. But here's my experience with God. If I just obey God 229 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:22,440 the last time I heard Him, then I'm still on the right track until He says something 230 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:28,360 to me that's new. So God is about to speak to Noah, and He's about to tell him what 231 00:22:28,360 --> 00:22:34,680 to do, and basically it is go out of the ark. Go into this new world that I've placed in 232 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:41,840 front of you. Everything is new. All of creation is given the command to be fruitful and to 233 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:48,520 multiply. God is affirming again His design that He gave in Genesis chapter 1 and 2 and 234 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:56,040 3. Go out two by two, repopulate the globe. But notice the first thing Noah does. The 235 00:22:56,040 --> 00:23:04,280 first thing Noah does after God speaks to him is Noah worships. Now by now Noah's 236 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:10,840 got a great resume for building. He's built an ark. He's built this massive boat that 237 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:15,640 has transported he and his eight members of his family and all the animals left on the 238 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:21,080 earth. He's got all kinds of abilities. He could go and build a home for his family so 239 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:24,920 that they could be on solid ground. You ever been on a boat before? And have you ever been 240 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:28,880 on a boat long enough where you want to get on solid ground? Some people have been known 241 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:34,160 to kiss the ground when they get off of a boat. He could have built a boat. He could 242 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:39,200 have pursued a dream that he might have had during those 370 days. Moses could have done, 243 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:44,600 I know Noah could have done almost anything he wanted to do, but instead of anything else, 244 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:51,680 when he hears God's voice, here's what he does. He worships God. He pauses and worships 245 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:59,440 God. In verse 20 you see it. It said that Noah built an ark for the Lord and took every 246 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:05,840 clean animal and every clean bird and offered a burnt offering to the author of the Lord. 247 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:10,680 You know as I was reading this text I was wondering what do you talk about for 370 days 248 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:16,960 in the ark? I mean there's no Netflix. There's no Amazon Prime. There's nothing there. You 249 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:22,680 can't exactly look out the windows because the delusion is happening. So they're conversing. 250 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:28,480 They're talking. It wouldn't surprise me for Noah to do what God would have wanted 251 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:33,360 him to do and that is to talk about the God of creation. Noah probably shared with his 252 00:24:33,360 --> 00:24:38,880 sons and daughters everything he knew about God, everything he knew about life, everything 253 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:43,160 he knew about resting and worshiping God on the seventh day which was something that they 254 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:50,160 had learned from Adam and Eve. Probably everything they knew about sacrifice and worshiping God 255 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:56,640 Noah passed on to his sons and their wives. Basically he's following the pattern of Genesis 256 00:24:56,640 --> 00:25:02,360 chapter 3 verse 21 where he offers a sacrifice to the Lord. That's where the Lord took 257 00:25:02,360 --> 00:25:08,080 animals of skin and clothes, the naked Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness. He's basically 258 00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:13,560 following what Cain did in the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis chapter 4 verse 4 but 259 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:18,600 he's leading them to worship. I mean I think this is a great moment for us to pause for 260 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:24,800 just a second and say Noah is that guy who had an opportunity to lead his family well 261 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:31,200 on day one after the ark and the first thing he does is lead his family to worship. Did 262 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:35,600 you lead those around you well the way Noah did at that moment in time? Well Noah didn't 263 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:39,960 do everything right but he did that one right. He came before the God of creation, the one 264 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:44,320 who held his life in his hands and said, God I'm going to worship you. I'm going to lead 265 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:48,720 my family to worship you. I'm going to make sure that I put you in the first place of 266 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:57,560 my life. Now the Bible says here that the Lord smelled the soothing aroma. He smelled 267 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:02,840 the aroma of worship. He was pleased with Noah. Now you consider that from the perspective 268 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:08,840 of God. From God's perspective billions that he has created and allowed to have life have 269 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:16,360 ignored God their creator and you've seen them reject your plans and you've seen them 270 00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:21,800 reject your love and your warnings. Billions have ignored you but here is one man Noah. 271 00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:26,240 The Bible says he found grace in the eyes of God and he's going to obey Noah. He's 272 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:30,740 going to obey God. These eight people with Noah they've loved their creator, they've 273 00:26:30,740 --> 00:26:35,280 trusted their creator, they've cried out to their creator, they've seen him come through 274 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:40,680 on their behalf and now they're worshiping him and is God pleased? Absolutely. God is 275 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:46,320 pleased because of their worship. Keep this in mind the first priority of our life is 276 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:52,280 always going to be to listen to God and to worship God. And when you listen to God you 277 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:58,080 have all kinds of reasons to worship God because the God of creation will speak to you and 278 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:04,560 lead you and guide you. You know the truth is that so many believe Jesus but they don't 279 00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:09,800 place him in the first place of their thoughts or their lives or their priorities but Noah 280 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:13,520 has this part right when it comes to worshiping God and we need to have this right when it 281 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:20,400 comes to worshiping God. In Matthew chapter 6 Jesus made this statement that's kind of 282 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:24,600 one of those statements that have stuck with me over the years. In Matthew 6 Jesus says 283 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:30,400 but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. 284 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:35,040 The context is the context of worry. People are worried about life and things and their 285 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:40,840 future and everything else and Jesus says but seek first the kingdom of God. Seek first 286 00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:45,280 his righteousness and everything you're now worried about it'll all be taken care of in 287 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:51,640 good time. And that says to me worship comes first. Worship comes first and that's what 288 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:57,400 Noah is doing. That first act of worship that Noah and his family are doing moves my heart. 289 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:03,320 I can see them gathered around this very costly sacrifice with grateful hearts commemorating 290 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:09,680 the fact that God has brought them through. Why would we miss those opportunities that 291 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:16,280 we have to worship God? Put him first. And then finally God promised so much here, there's 292 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:22,120 so much here. If you were looking at verse 21 you'll see that the Lord said to himself 293 00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:28,320 I will never again curse the land on account of man. I will never again destroy every living 294 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:34,040 thing as I have done. There's so much more to say about this promise but you need to 295 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:41,280 get at least this. God makes a commitment to himself I will never flood the earth again. 296 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:46,480 When God judges the earth in the final days it won't be by water it will be by fire 297 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:51,760 the scripture tells us. And notice that the judgment of the flood did not change the heart 298 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:56,680 of mankind but in spite of man's wickedness judgment will never again happen this same 299 00:28:56,680 --> 00:29:03,240 way. When someone sees the rains or the waters begin to rise and it looks like a flood is 300 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:08,960 coming I never worry about the fact that God's going to judge the world again by flood because 301 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:13,280 he promised he would never do it again. That's what the rainbow in the sky is all about. 302 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:18,400 We'll look at that more next week but that's what God has promised. But I also want you 303 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:25,520 to remember what God said about Noah. I go all the way back to chapter 6 verse 8. But 304 00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:34,080 Noah found favor or grace in the eyes of the Lord. As you leave today I want you to think 305 00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:42,280 about what that means. And I want you to understand what it doesn't mean. Noah didn't get grace 306 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:47,880 or favor because he built the boat. He hadn't done anything by the time this statement was 307 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:52,880 made. Noah built the boat because he found grace. He didn't get grace because he built 308 00:29:52,880 --> 00:30:00,120 the boat. God's grace picked him out. God's grace enabled him. God's grace drew him to 309 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:05,680 God. It saved him. It sustained him. It empowered him to do everything he needed to do to save 310 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:09,960 his family. It's all by grace. And it all comes on the first end, the front end of your 311 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:15,280 relationship with God. Hundreds and thousands of years later, literally, Ephesians chapter 312 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:20,200 2 verse 8 and 9 says this, for by grace you have been saved through faith and that's not 313 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:26,760 of yourself. It's a gift of God. It's not a result of works so that you can boast. It's 314 00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:31,880 all by grace. Noah found grace in the eyes of God. You need to find grace in the eyes 315 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:36,840 of God. You're not called to build a boat like Noah was, but you're called to know God 316 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:42,880 and you're called to serve God and worship God. You need the grace that Noah had and 317 00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:48,720 God gives you that grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. I love the fact that the art 318 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:52,760 gives us a great picture of the gospel. Remember what we've been talking about when it comes 319 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:57,640 to God's character. God is a loving merciful God who doesn't want to punish us for our 320 00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:03,840 sin, but at the same time a just judge who will by no means let the guilty go unpunished. 321 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:07,960 We talk about the offense of sin and how sin ultimately doesn't just hurt us, but it defends 322 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:13,240 this holy God. And you can certainly see that in the account of the flood and the yard. 323 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:18,840 God's heart was grieved because of the sinfulness of mankind. But when we get to the S of the 324 00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:25,080 gospel, we talk about the sufficiency of Christ or the sacrifice of Christ. And you see that 325 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:31,480 in the ark, at least in a picture, a type of what's to come. That ark was totally adequate 326 00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:37,960 to save Noah and his family and all of the animals. And it points to the one who is alone 327 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:44,120 adequate to save us, and that is Jesus Christ. God always brings the solution to our problems. 328 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:49,280 And he brings that in the ark in Noah's day, but he brings that to us in Jesus Christ. 329 00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:54,360 My question to you today is have you found grace in the eyes of God? Not because of what 330 00:31:54,360 --> 00:32:01,000 you've done, but because you realize though that God loves you, that God desires to walk 331 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:05,520 with you. Now there's one more passage that I want to look at for just a moment, verse 332 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:10,840 22. Jump down to that. It says, while the earth remains, seed time and harvest in cold 333 00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:18,000 and heat and summer and winter and day and night shall not cease. Now the same God that 334 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:23,280 created the heavens and the earth upholds all these things. This passage reminds me 335 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:29,500 that I need to be responsible while on the earth, but sane and logical in my thinking. 336 00:32:29,500 --> 00:32:33,560 Man cannot destroy this earth and he will not destroy this earth. Have we not learned 337 00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:38,200 that yet? And yet God says this, he says, there's always going to be the seasons as 338 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:42,400 long as the earth remains. It's a very clear promise. The seasons will always remain. And 339 00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:45,800 when someone says, oh, it's going to be so hot, we're all going to burn up. I'm going 340 00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:50,680 to go to Genesis chapter 8, verse 22 and say, no, the Bible says we're going to have seasons 341 00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:56,200 cool and hot. And when someone says, oh, we're going to have floods that overwhelm the whole 342 00:32:56,200 --> 00:33:01,800 earth, I'm going to go back to the promise of God in Genesis chapter 8 and verse 22. 343 00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:07,320 These things will not cease. We can trust God to keep the earth in good enough condition 344 00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:13,480 for him to finalize his plan on this planet. No one's going to usurp him in that and don't 345 00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:23,000 you be worried about it. But the bottom line is that I want you today to find grace, favor 346 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:28,120 in the eyes of God. I want you to realize he loves you, he cares about you, even though 347 00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:35,240 the rest of the world is in total chaos, God will find you and show you his mercy and show 348 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:42,360 you his grace. You know, ultimately we don't find God in chaos, God finds us in chaos. 349 00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:49,560 And he might be finding you today. Over these next few moments, I'm going to extend three 350 00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:55,360 invitations to you. Number one, I'm going to ask you to consider stopping by a decision 351 00:33:55,360 --> 00:34:01,040 station on the way out today and taking a moment to talk to someone about your relationship 352 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:06,180 with God. It may be today that you came into this room thinking that you had to do something 353 00:34:06,180 --> 00:34:13,680 in order to be right with God, that you had to keep a list of dos and not complete a list 354 00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:18,400 of don'ts. You might have thought you had to be of a certain religion in order to have 355 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:23,800 access to God. But I'm here to tell you that God wants a relationship with you just between 356 00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:29,600 you and him. He wants you to find grace in his sight and the grace he extends to you 357 00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:34,080 is through Jesus Christ. And I want you to know today before you leave that you can have 358 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:38,360 a relationship with God, the God of the universe, the God that created heavens and the earth 359 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:44,680 who preserved Noah and all his family through that time of judgment, he can preserve you. 360 00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:47,840 It's really important that you know that you have that invitation. So I encourage you to 361 00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:54,160 stop by a decision station. They're very clearly marked and well lit on your way out today. 362 00:34:54,160 --> 00:34:57,720 Second invitation is this, I would love to visit with you personally in our guest reception 363 00:34:57,720 --> 00:35:02,360 center. It's just right outside the center exit doors across the hallway. I'd love to 364 00:35:02,360 --> 00:35:07,800 talk to you about what Cross City Church is all about. Thirdly, I want to invite you to 365 00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:13,520 pick up an invite card and invite someone to come back with you next week as we worship 366 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:18,640 and as we go through the Word of God and especially as we prepare for Easter, an amazing Easter 367 00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:24,440 is ahead of us. Can't wait for all those moments. Invite someone to come with you. Those three 368 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:28,760 invitations I extend to you today. Would you please stand with me as I close this in a 369 00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:34,720 word of prayer? Father, today I am so very thankful that you are the God of the universe 370 00:35:34,720 --> 00:35:41,960 and yet at the same time you know each of us personally, intimately. Father, I'm thankful 371 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:48,400 today that there are people in the room that need to know you and they need to know that 372 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:52,920 you're waiting for them to turn to you. I ask that you draw them to yourself, give them 373 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:59,720 the courage and the boldness to look to you, to ask you to be their Lord, to be their Savior, 374 00:35:59,720 --> 00:36:04,280 and to talk to someone about that incredible decision. Father, today I am grateful that 375 00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:11,280 you've also given us a promise that while the whole earth may be in a panic, you're 376 00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:16,560 in complete control and we have confidence in you that we can walk in faith and not in 377 00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:22,000 fear throughout whatever is ahead. So Father, today I pray that you'll give us that confidence 378 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:27,320 as well as we trust you the same way Noah did all those years ago. Thank you so much 379 00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:32,320 for the stories of Scripture that explain so much about the world as we know it. But 380 00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:38,680 more than that, the words of Scripture that point us to you, your character, your love, 381 00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:44,040 your affection for us. I ask that you allow us to experience that personally. In Jesus' 382 00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:52,200 name I pray, amen. God bless you, you're dismissed.