1 00:00:00,500 --> 00:00:07,000 because today I'm kicking off a new series called New Beginnings. Everyone say New Beginnings. 2 00:00:08,500 --> 00:00:15,000 And this new series is going to be looking at Noah's faith. 3 00:00:16,500 --> 00:00:23,000 Book of Genesis chapter 8. We're going to be, for the next few weeks, looking at Noah's 4 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:30,000 life mostly after the flood. Look a little bit prior to the flood today, but mostly after 5 00:00:31,500 --> 00:00:38,500 the flood and what it tells us about new seasons and new life and new beginnings in Christ. 6 00:00:39,500 --> 00:00:46,500 Amen. How many of you know that God's a God of new beginnings? Amen. God's a God of new 7 00:00:46,500 --> 00:00:53,500 beginnings. No matter where you're at in your faith, in your life, no matter where you are, 8 00:00:54,500 --> 00:01:00,500 it's never too late to start over. It's never too late for a new beginning. And it's never too 9 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:08,000 late to receive what God wants to do in your life. Genesis chapter 8 and verse 13, I'll 10 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:15,000 be reading from the new living translation. It says Noah was now 100, excuse me, 601 years 11 00:01:17,500 --> 00:01:23,500 old. Makes a big difference, right? On the first day of the new year, 10 and a half months 12 00:01:23,500 --> 00:01:30,500 later, after the flood began, the floodwaters had almost dried up from the earth. Noah lifted 13 00:01:30,500 --> 00:01:37,500 back the covering of the boat and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. Two more 14 00:01:38,500 --> 00:01:45,500 months went by and at last the earth was dry. Then God said to Noah, leave the boat. Everyone 15 00:01:48,500 --> 00:01:55,500 say, leave the boat. All of you, you and your wife and your sons and their wives with the 16 00:01:55,500 --> 00:02:00,500 help of the Holy Ghost. I'm going to speak today on this thought. Leave the boat. Leave 17 00:02:00,500 --> 00:02:06,500 the boat. You may be seated in the presence of God. There's been an age old question in 18 00:02:06,500 --> 00:02:11,500 my mind for years now. I'm going to bring you into my personal struggle. Here it is. 19 00:02:11,500 --> 00:02:18,500 The question is this, to cruise or not to cruise? That is the question. Amen. I've been 20 00:02:18,500 --> 00:02:25,500 stuck on this question for years, much to the confusion of some of my friends who, who 21 00:02:25,500 --> 00:02:30,500 maybe you have some friends like this who swear that I am missing out on the adventure of 22 00:02:30,500 --> 00:02:37,500 a lifetime. They rave about the endless buffet, the dazzling entertainment, the breathtaking 23 00:02:37,500 --> 00:02:48,500 views and I've remained very steadfast in my refusal to go on a cruise. And you might ask, 24 00:02:48,500 --> 00:02:53,500 why? Why is that? I may got some, some cruise believers here today. But why pastor, you're 25 00:02:53,500 --> 00:02:58,500 missing out? Well, let me tell you why. The thought of being trapped, excuse my cynicism 26 00:02:58,500 --> 00:03:04,500 here on a floating city with thousands of strangers in the middle of an ocean sleeping 27 00:03:04,500 --> 00:03:11,500 in a cell block doesn't sound like paradise. It sounds like punishment. It sounds like 28 00:03:12,500 --> 00:03:17,500 punishment. It doesn't sound like a dream. It's, it sounds, no, no, I'm just giving 29 00:03:17,500 --> 00:03:22,500 my perspective. It sounds more like, like a nightmare. And people tell me, they say, 30 00:03:22,500 --> 00:03:26,500 Jacob, think of the food. And I go, and I respond to them. Well, you know, did you know 31 00:03:26,500 --> 00:03:33,500 there's good food on land as well? They say, but the views are amazing. You're going to 32 00:03:33,500 --> 00:03:37,500 love the views. And I say, yeah, I think the, the views right here from the shore are 33 00:03:37,500 --> 00:03:41,500 also pretty good. I like the view. How many of you like the view from the shore? Huh? 34 00:03:41,500 --> 00:03:46,500 The views from right here are pretty good. I like where I'm standing. But you know, 35 00:03:46,500 --> 00:03:53,500 to each his own, and if you're a crew, a cruise person, God bless you. Amen. Bon voyage. 36 00:03:53,500 --> 00:03:58,500 Amen. Hallelujah. Happy sailing, Captain Cook. You know, you go and sail the ocean blue 37 00:03:58,500 --> 00:04:04,500 if you'd like to, but can I just tell you, I know myself and I know that no matter how 38 00:04:04,500 --> 00:04:09,500 lavish the boat is, how great and how wonderful it is, the moment that I step foot on that 39 00:04:09,500 --> 00:04:14,500 boat, I'm going to be counting down the days until I can get off. That's just me though. 40 00:04:14,500 --> 00:04:19,500 And I think that there are many that might feel the same way. Now, I know, I know you're 41 00:04:19,500 --> 00:04:24,500 safe, but you don't have any problem getting on an airplane. And I don't, but I'm not staying 42 00:04:24,500 --> 00:04:29,500 on an airplane for seven days and seven nights. I'm focused on my destination and that's it. 43 00:04:29,500 --> 00:04:35,500 But there's something about being out there floating in the vast expanse of the ocean 44 00:04:35,500 --> 00:04:46,500 that doesn't cause me peace, but anxiety. And upon weeks and months in the Ark, Noah 45 00:04:46,500 --> 00:04:53,500 may have also been counting down the days. You see, after his boat served its main purpose 46 00:04:53,500 --> 00:04:59,500 of saving his family, his faith would have been tested in a whole different way. 47 00:04:59,500 --> 00:05:05,500 See, we always talk about the faith that Noah had before he entered the Ark, building the 48 00:05:05,500 --> 00:05:10,500 Ark and all of that. And that's, that's great. But, but how about the faith that Noah had 49 00:05:10,500 --> 00:05:17,500 to have in the days and the months after he entered the Ark? How about the faith that he 50 00:05:17,500 --> 00:05:25,500 had to have after the fact that this Ark served its initial purpose and he continued to sort 51 00:05:25,500 --> 00:05:32,500 of float around in the vast expanse of the ocean. I think that in those moments after 52 00:05:32,500 --> 00:05:40,500 the storm tested him in ways that possibly he never imagined as his faith was tested, 53 00:05:40,500 --> 00:05:46,500 waiting for the storm to end. You see, you not only need faith to enter the Ark, but 54 00:05:46,500 --> 00:05:54,500 also to exit the Ark, to step out into new things. And some Christians, I hate to tell 55 00:05:54,500 --> 00:06:00,500 you today, spend their whole lives in the Ark, spend all of their time in the Ark. 56 00:06:00,500 --> 00:06:05,500 And it's wonderful. Thank God for the Ark and I'm going to preach about that Ark today, 57 00:06:05,500 --> 00:06:13,500 but forgetting that the Ark is not the finish line. The Ark is the starting point. 58 00:06:13,500 --> 00:06:19,500 Amen. The Ark is not the end of the story. It's somewhere in the middle, but there's 59 00:06:19,500 --> 00:06:27,500 still more chapters to be written in this story of faith. And so for the sake of context, 60 00:06:27,500 --> 00:06:33,500 we'll go back a little bit to when Noah entered the Ark, the world that we read about in 61 00:06:33,500 --> 00:06:40,500 Genesis chapter six was in utter chaos. It was filled with corruption, violence, and 62 00:06:40,500 --> 00:06:48,500 sexual immorality, self-indulgence, and wickedness. And the earth was so evil. It was so bad, 63 00:06:48,500 --> 00:06:53,500 the condition of man, the state of the world that the Bible says in Genesis six, six, that 64 00:06:53,500 --> 00:06:59,500 the Lord only two times in scripture, we read these types of words that he was sorry. 65 00:06:59,500 --> 00:07:05,500 The Lord was sorry that he made man from the earth and he was grieved in his heart. 66 00:07:05,500 --> 00:07:11,500 Only twice in all of scripture did God ever regret or was sorry that he did something. 67 00:07:11,500 --> 00:07:16,500 One was this occasion and the other is when he made Saul, king of Israel, he regretted 68 00:07:16,500 --> 00:07:22,500 that he did that. And so this ought to tell you the state of God's heart when he looked 69 00:07:22,500 --> 00:07:27,500 upon the condition of his creation and God's summation of man not only shows us how 70 00:07:27,500 --> 00:07:32,500 depraved the world was in Noah's day, but I want you to understand that it also mirrors 71 00:07:32,500 --> 00:07:36,500 the madness of the present day that we live in right now. 72 00:07:36,500 --> 00:07:40,500 From the physical wars that are breaking out as I speak in the Middle East and the 73 00:07:40,500 --> 00:07:46,500 spiritual wars and the moral wars that are raging here in the West, the signs of the 74 00:07:46,500 --> 00:07:51,500 time are all around us. Can I get an amen on that? The world is going from bad to worse. 75 00:07:51,500 --> 00:07:55,500 If you thought that it couldn't get any worse, well, you better buckle your seat belt 76 00:07:55,500 --> 00:08:00,500 because until Jesus comes, it's not going to get any better. It's going to get worse. 77 00:08:00,500 --> 00:08:04,500 And we can look up these signs and they're unfolding. They've been unfolding now. 78 00:08:04,500 --> 00:08:09,500 You got to understand that even from Jesus' day, the first century church believed that 79 00:08:09,500 --> 00:08:14,500 they were the rapture generation. They talked as if though the coming of Christ was imminent 80 00:08:14,500 --> 00:08:19,500 and that Jesus could come at any moment and at any time. They believed they were living 81 00:08:19,500 --> 00:08:23,500 in the last days. And it's important for you to understand that from the time of the 82 00:08:23,500 --> 00:08:29,500 early church until now, we have been living in the last days. Amen. 83 00:08:29,500 --> 00:08:34,500 So the last days didn't just start over the last couple of weeks. The last days have been 84 00:08:34,500 --> 00:08:40,500 going on for the past 2000 years. But one could argue that we are living at the end of the last 85 00:08:40,500 --> 00:08:46,500 days or the last of the last days as we see the signs of the times all around us and the 86 00:08:46,500 --> 00:08:50,500 earth is groaning and there are wars and rumors of wars. Amen. 87 00:08:50,500 --> 00:08:56,500 Somebody and there are perilous times that we are living in now, nation rising against 88 00:08:56,500 --> 00:09:03,500 nation and signs in the earth and signs in the heavens and signs with regard to the financial 89 00:09:03,500 --> 00:09:10,500 condition of our world, the moral condition of our world. These are perilous times. Amen. 90 00:09:10,500 --> 00:09:17,500 Somebody, we are living in the last days and Jesus is coming soon. Somebody give God some 91 00:09:17,500 --> 00:09:23,500 praise this afternoon. Amen. I said he's coming soon. He's coming soon. 92 00:09:23,500 --> 00:09:29,500 But sometimes I have noticed that while we are looking on the other side of the world, we are 93 00:09:29,500 --> 00:09:34,500 looking in signs and space and signs and medicine and signs and all the things that are happening 94 00:09:34,500 --> 00:09:40,500 around us. We are missing the most blatant and obvious signs that Jesus is coming soon. 95 00:09:40,500 --> 00:09:44,500 And it's not the troubles that are happening on the other side of the world. It's the troubles 96 00:09:44,500 --> 00:09:51,500 that are happening in our own lives. I'm asking you today to open up your eyes to the signs 97 00:09:51,500 --> 00:09:56,500 and the times and things that God, because it's one thing for signs to be breaking out on the 98 00:09:56,500 --> 00:10:01,500 other side of the world, but I wonder what kinds of things God is allowing in your life to 99 00:10:01,500 --> 00:10:07,500 awaken you to the fact that he wants to do something new in you. That God wants to do 100 00:10:07,500 --> 00:10:12,500 something new within your life. More importantly, there may be signs in your own life that it 101 00:10:12,500 --> 00:10:18,500 is time, high time to get serious with God and to take your spiritual journey more seriously. 102 00:10:18,500 --> 00:10:24,500 There may be signs right now in your life that God is wanting to shift things around and draw you 103 00:10:24,500 --> 00:10:30,500 closer to him and do a new work in your life and in your ministry and in your home. 104 00:10:30,500 --> 00:10:35,500 I'm not trying to downplay the signs that are happening in the earth, but sometimes we can get 105 00:10:35,500 --> 00:10:39,500 our heads stuck in the clouds and looking and reading all the news reports that are happening. 106 00:10:39,500 --> 00:10:44,500 And I'm asking you, have you looked at the news report in your own life to say what kinds of 107 00:10:44,500 --> 00:10:49,500 things that God been trying to tell me about what I need to do to get saved? 108 00:10:49,500 --> 00:10:54,500 And before I can tell you today about leaving the boat, before I can preach to you about 109 00:10:54,500 --> 00:10:59,500 exiting the boat into greater things, I need to first tell somebody you better make sure 110 00:10:59,500 --> 00:11:04,500 you don't miss the boat. Somebody say don't miss the boat. 111 00:11:04,500 --> 00:11:08,500 Hallelujah. Come on, can I preach like I want to today? 112 00:11:08,500 --> 00:11:15,500 He goes without saying that you cannot exit the boat if you never fully enter the boat to begin with. 113 00:11:15,500 --> 00:11:21,500 The Bible teaches that no one preach for righteousness for a total of 120 years. 114 00:11:21,500 --> 00:11:27,500 And unfortunately, he did not produce not one convert. Think about that. 115 00:11:27,500 --> 00:11:30,500 Besides his own family, so we'll give him credit for that. 116 00:11:30,500 --> 00:11:36,500 But outside of his family, he did not produce what I bet you know was not getting invited to 117 00:11:36,500 --> 00:11:43,500 any of the church growth conferences. Because in 120 years, brother David, he didn't produce one convert. 118 00:11:43,500 --> 00:11:48,500 But he didn't stop preaching the message. He kept preaching it because whether people accepted 119 00:11:48,500 --> 00:11:52,500 or not doesn't change if it's true. And he kept preaching it. 120 00:11:52,500 --> 00:11:55,500 And he kept preaching it. Oh, he kept warning the people. 121 00:11:55,500 --> 00:12:00,500 He kept telling them that the rain is coming to a group of people who had never seen rain in all their life. 122 00:12:00,500 --> 00:12:05,500 And that's how the message of the gospel sounds to the nonbeliever, sounds to the cynic, sounds to those who are 123 00:12:05,500 --> 00:12:13,500 even in church sometimes when you're telling that Jesus, oh, you've been telling me all of my life that Jesus is coming soon. 124 00:12:13,500 --> 00:12:20,500 And he hasn't come. Thank God, because he's still giving you a chance to turn your life around and get right with him. 125 00:12:20,500 --> 00:12:25,500 But Jesus is still coming soon. 126 00:12:25,500 --> 00:12:30,500 People say, oh, you've been saying that for a, for a, for a, I've been hearing that Jesus is coming back and, and he's still this. 127 00:12:30,500 --> 00:12:37,500 Someone say he still is. Amen. We're not going to change the message. Jesus is still returning. 128 00:12:37,500 --> 00:12:41,500 But it's an unpopular message. It is people dismiss Noah for his warnings. 129 00:12:41,500 --> 00:12:48,500 They thought he was some kind of religious fanatic. They thought he was a spiritual nutcase for, for telling people this, this message. 130 00:12:48,500 --> 00:12:52,500 They labeled him with his unpopular message about a worldwide flood. 131 00:12:52,500 --> 00:12:59,500 What's this guy talking about a worldwide flood? And everyone had the same opportunity, however, to get right with God. 132 00:12:59,500 --> 00:13:06,500 They were all given a chance to respond to the message and punch their ticket onto the, onto the boat. 133 00:13:06,500 --> 00:13:13,500 And, and you know, I have this theory now. It's only a theory. So don't go, you know, telling people that I'm a pre-deaf old doctor here or anything like that. 134 00:13:13,500 --> 00:13:17,500 It's only a theory. You look at the size of boats. I mean, how could the whole world fit? 135 00:13:17,500 --> 00:13:24,500 You know, if, if Noah started getting converts and people started listening to his message, you know what I think he would have done? 136 00:13:24,500 --> 00:13:27,500 He would have just kept adding more rooms to that arc. 137 00:13:27,500 --> 00:13:34,500 He would have made that arc even bigger. So it's not that the arc was only so small and only so many people can, can get in. 138 00:13:34,500 --> 00:13:40,500 If people were coming, he would say, keep, hold on the construction. Let's keep adding another room. Amen. 139 00:13:40,500 --> 00:13:44,500 Let's expand. Someone say, let's expand this thing. Huh? Let's expand. 140 00:13:44,500 --> 00:13:50,500 But no one would take him serious, but he kept preaching it and they were too busy living their lives. 141 00:13:50,500 --> 00:13:55,500 They were too busy going to parties and weddings and getting drunk and doing all kinds and just doing whatever they want. 142 00:13:55,500 --> 00:14:02,500 Going about their merry lives and going to work and coming home and nobody was taking his warning seriously. 143 00:14:02,500 --> 00:14:07,500 And such is the case today. People are just not taking it serious. 144 00:14:07,500 --> 00:14:13,500 Even with the events that have been happening as of very recently, people still are not heeding to the warnings. 145 00:14:13,500 --> 00:14:21,500 But God is sending someone here today a signal both in your, in the world and in your personal life. 146 00:14:21,500 --> 00:14:26,500 Come on, somebody help me today. That is time to enter the arc of salvation. 147 00:14:26,500 --> 00:14:31,500 Can I preach to somebody today that it's time to get in? It's time to get in. Someone say, get in. 148 00:14:31,500 --> 00:14:36,500 It's time to get in the arc. It's time to stop playing games with the arc. 149 00:14:36,500 --> 00:14:41,500 Stop playing games with God. Stop playing games with your face. Stop playing games with eternity. 150 00:14:41,500 --> 00:14:46,500 Stop playing games with sin. The arc is still open, but that thing is about to close real soon. 151 00:14:46,500 --> 00:14:52,500 And so you've got to get my God. I feel like telling somebody today. It's time for you to get in the arc. 152 00:14:52,500 --> 00:15:00,500 It's time for you to say, yes, Lord, whatever it is that you want to do in my life, God, I want to serve you. 153 00:15:00,500 --> 00:15:04,500 I want to get in the arc. I don't want to miss out on what God's going to do. 154 00:15:04,500 --> 00:15:12,500 How many of you are thankful that you're in the arc today? How many of you are thankful that your name's been written in the Lamb's Book of Life? 155 00:15:12,500 --> 00:15:18,500 Come on. I said, how many of you are thankful that your name's been written? 156 00:15:18,500 --> 00:15:27,500 Come on, give God about 30 seconds of glory in this house. Thank you, God, for your grace and your mercy today. 157 00:15:27,500 --> 00:15:33,500 I'm thankful, but here's what I see is that Noah found grace in the eyes of God. 158 00:15:33,500 --> 00:15:42,500 And this tells me that no matter how bad it is, no matter how horrible, how sinful, how evil, wicked this world is, 159 00:15:42,500 --> 00:15:48,500 as long as the church is here, there's still an opportunity. Amen. 160 00:15:48,500 --> 00:15:54,500 As long as there is a restraining force in the earth and it's called the church, there is still grace. 161 00:15:54,500 --> 00:16:00,500 If you're sitting here today and I'm still preaching, I can tell you the rapture has not happened or else I wouldn't be here today. 162 00:16:00,500 --> 00:16:06,500 That's kind of proud. Yes, that is. I'm that confident that if the rapture happened, how many of you believe me? 163 00:16:06,500 --> 00:16:09,500 How many of you are with me on that? I'd be out of here. 164 00:16:09,500 --> 00:16:15,500 Brother Mario, but I'm still here. And you're still here. And grace is still here. 165 00:16:15,500 --> 00:16:21,500 And I'm going to tell you that no matter what condition you're in, the grace of God is greater than your sin. 166 00:16:21,500 --> 00:16:28,500 Oh, I'm going to preach myself happy today. I said the grace of God is greater than your sin. 167 00:16:28,500 --> 00:16:33,500 The grace of God, because we're sin abounded, grace did much more abound. 168 00:16:33,500 --> 00:16:38,500 And if you would simply call on that name of Jesus, he will wash away your sin. 169 00:16:38,500 --> 00:16:42,500 I've come to tell somebody it's time to get baptized in the water. 170 00:16:42,500 --> 00:16:53,500 It's time to get in the ark. It's time to be filled with the baptism of the Holy Ghost and be saved down to the uttermost. 171 00:16:53,500 --> 00:17:02,500 Yes, I know this world is bad, but the grace of God is still available for somebody today. 172 00:17:02,500 --> 00:17:10,500 Oh, my Lord. So Moa is living proof that no matter how bad the world is, God's grace is greater than that. 173 00:17:10,500 --> 00:17:16,500 And he also proves that no matter how bad the world is, it is possible to live for God. 174 00:17:16,500 --> 00:17:19,500 I said living for God is possible. 175 00:17:19,500 --> 00:17:26,500 When you're determined to follow him, Noah did not follow the crowds. Imagine if he did. 176 00:17:26,500 --> 00:17:36,500 He did not follow his feelings. Imagine if he did. Instead, he built that ark according to God's blueprint, and then he entered in before he was too late. 177 00:17:36,500 --> 00:17:42,500 Can I tell you what my job is as a pastor? My job as a pastor is not to make you feel good. 178 00:17:42,500 --> 00:17:48,500 You know how to say nothing if you don't want to. My job is to help you get to heaven. 179 00:17:48,500 --> 00:17:56,500 That's my job. Amen. What's the pastor's job description? You want to read it? Help you get to heaven. That's my job description. 180 00:17:56,500 --> 00:18:03,500 And so every message I preach and everything that we do, it's all in an effort to help you get to heaven. 181 00:18:03,500 --> 00:18:08,500 I'm not interested in helping you make this life more comfortable for you here on earth. 182 00:18:08,500 --> 00:18:17,500 I'm interested in you stepping into those pearly gates. I'm interested in you making heaven your everlasting home. 183 00:18:17,500 --> 00:18:26,500 And so the fight that we are in today, the fight, the spiritual battle that I feel that I've been wrestling with and I've been interceding for, 184 00:18:26,500 --> 00:18:33,500 it's not just my brother. I would love for you to give you a new job. I would love for God to give you a new house and a new car and all that. 185 00:18:33,500 --> 00:18:40,500 Hey, take me for a spin. You know what I'm saying? But my main job is that God, that you would make heaven your home. 186 00:18:40,500 --> 00:18:49,500 Because if you gain the whole world and you lose your soul, what profit a man? Amen. Is this okay today? 187 00:18:49,500 --> 00:18:56,500 Today is the day of salvation. Give your life to Jesus. Be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of your sins. 188 00:18:56,500 --> 00:19:04,500 Can't talk about going to the next level. You haven't even started at the first level. People want to go higher. You haven't even maximized where you're at. 189 00:19:04,500 --> 00:19:16,500 Amen. Pray for new levels. Someone say that when new levels come, new devils. You can't even defeat the devil you've got right now. 190 00:19:16,500 --> 00:19:25,500 You want bigger ones? Oh my God. You want bigger devils? Come on. You got to learn how to fight in your weight class. 191 00:19:25,500 --> 00:19:35,500 You got to knock that booger out now. You got to get that situation, that flesh under control now. I want God to do more. 192 00:19:35,500 --> 00:19:43,500 Why should God give you more if you haven't even done too much as given, much as required? I want to go to new levels. 193 00:19:43,500 --> 00:19:53,500 All right. Here we go. Now Noah was in the ark. Now let's fast forward a little bit. The Bible says that it began to rain. 194 00:19:53,500 --> 00:20:00,500 It started raining. So seven days are in the ark and after seven days it started raining and it did not stop for the next 40 days. 195 00:20:00,500 --> 00:20:10,500 It's just down pouring on them, raining on them day and night, night and day until the whole earth was covered with water. 196 00:20:10,500 --> 00:20:18,500 You know the story. Some people assume that the flood ended right after the 40th day. Keep reading your Bible. It did not end. 197 00:20:18,500 --> 00:20:27,500 The rain ended but the flood didn't end. They were still in a flood. People assume that the flood ended and that the boat just ran aground after it stopped raining. 198 00:20:27,500 --> 00:20:40,500 But Noah and his family lived in the ark. Listen for well over a year, 370 days in the ark. 199 00:20:40,500 --> 00:20:50,500 And you think you get cabin fever being with your family for three days. Oh God, I'm just kidding. Oh God. I want my own bathroom. 200 00:20:50,500 --> 00:20:58,500 I'm tired of sharing. I don't like sharing. Come on now. They all had to share the same bathroom. You know, who took the hot water? 201 00:20:58,500 --> 00:21:06,500 Come on now somebody. Someone took the hot water at cab. That's what happened to me. Let me tell you. You all don't know my testimony. 202 00:21:06,500 --> 00:21:16,500 Let me show you my testimony. I got closer to Jesus. I can't. The cold water will make you get closer to Jesus. 203 00:21:16,500 --> 00:21:25,500 You know, it's okay. Amen. Well imagine being in the boat now for 300, that's well over a year. There they are. 204 00:21:25,500 --> 00:21:32,500 I don't know but I think that after a few days, a few months, Noah's family start looking around. 205 00:21:32,500 --> 00:21:37,500 You know, I don't know if they had watches in there. Probably not but they started, you know, when's this thing supposed to end? 206 00:21:37,500 --> 00:21:48,500 I get the rain. You know, we get all that. But we need to have a family meeting, dad, because it's been a couple of months now and we're still here. 207 00:21:48,500 --> 00:21:58,500 And I think that this is when Noah had to look his children in the eyes knowing that he had a word from God and that God had told him to do this thing 208 00:21:58,500 --> 00:22:03,500 and that God was going to be with them. And I don't know but I think he may have told them this. 209 00:22:03,500 --> 00:22:10,500 What I'm about to tell you now is that floods may last a long time but they do not last forever. 210 00:22:10,500 --> 00:22:19,500 I said floods do not last forever. They last longer than what you think but they will not last forever. 211 00:22:19,500 --> 00:22:25,500 370 days is a long time to be on lockdown, huh? To be in transition, to be waiting for your situation to change, 212 00:22:25,500 --> 00:22:30,500 to be waiting for things to get better. You know, the Bible says that Noah found favor. 213 00:22:30,500 --> 00:22:41,500 I think favor found good. It felt good for the first 40 days but I'm not sure how good favor felt, you know, month 3 and month 4 and month 5 and month 6. 214 00:22:41,500 --> 00:22:46,500 I'm sure there were plenty of positive vibes in the first 40 days, in the first couple of months. 215 00:22:46,500 --> 00:22:53,500 But you know how when you get that car and everything looks good and smells good, but you know after about six months the new car smell goes away. 216 00:22:53,500 --> 00:22:59,500 I hate when that happens, right? It's like there's like this point in which man it doesn't smell new anymore. 217 00:22:59,500 --> 00:23:07,500 Now it's just like every other car and it's just like I'm sure that the new arc smell wore off after a few months. 218 00:23:07,500 --> 00:23:12,500 And now it's like man it was good at the beginning but we're still here. 219 00:23:12,500 --> 00:23:19,500 And now it's been 11 months, now it's 12 months. When is this thing going to end? 220 00:23:19,500 --> 00:23:29,500 After a year, oh for sure, cabin fever has settled in and people want their space back and you know, he's got sons that want to get on with their lives. 221 00:23:29,500 --> 00:23:35,500 Everything you got to understand if I can paint this picture for you today was put on hold. 222 00:23:35,500 --> 00:23:42,500 We read the story. Oh, it just sounds like a cute little Bible story. No, understand these are real lives, real families. 223 00:23:42,500 --> 00:23:50,500 There were couples that none of them could start their families. They couldn't start having children. Everything was put on hold. 224 00:23:50,500 --> 00:23:59,500 Life was put on hold. The future was put on hold. They were stuck in this boat together and I'm sure they wanted to get on with life. 225 00:23:59,500 --> 00:24:08,500 And if I were Noah, I might be asking questions after a while like Lord, is this what you saved me for? 226 00:24:08,500 --> 00:24:17,500 We put these spiritual characters, we put these biblical characters on such high pedestals. You got to understand that they were men. 227 00:24:17,500 --> 00:24:24,500 They were human. They were not, you know, they were not divine beings. They were like you and I. And so they had basic questions too. 228 00:24:24,500 --> 00:24:33,500 Like God, is this what you saved me for so I can just float around here in the ocean and be a zookeeper the rest of my life? 229 00:24:33,500 --> 00:24:42,500 Is this how the story ends? You see, the Lord only told, this is why I think Noah may have asked these questions, 230 00:24:42,500 --> 00:24:49,500 because God only told Noah how long it was going to rain. He gave him just a little bit of information. 231 00:24:49,500 --> 00:24:57,500 It's going to rain 40 days, but he never told him, brother, how long the flood was going to last. Read in your Bible. 232 00:24:57,500 --> 00:25:07,500 He didn't tell him how long the flood. He said it's going to rain for this amount of days, but he didn't say how long he was going to have to be in that flood state. 233 00:25:07,500 --> 00:25:14,500 He never told them how long it would take for the waters to recede and for them to get on with their lives. 234 00:25:14,500 --> 00:25:25,500 The flood and the rain were two separate timelines. There were two separate parallel timelines in Moses, excuse me, in Noah's life. 235 00:25:25,500 --> 00:25:33,500 One was the rain and the other was the flood. 40 days after the rain, maybe everyone thinks, all right, cool. 236 00:25:33,500 --> 00:25:39,500 We're going to go back to life as usual, or we're going to start over again and get on with what we need to do. 237 00:25:39,500 --> 00:25:49,500 But as the days went by and as the months went by and as now a year has gone by, I wonder if they were wondering now, what is happening? 238 00:25:49,500 --> 00:25:57,500 What are this? What is this flood? And when is it going to end? And there may be somebody here today that's asking the same question. 239 00:25:57,500 --> 00:26:06,500 When is this flood going to end in my life? When am I going to get out of this situation that I've been in? 240 00:26:06,500 --> 00:26:14,500 Let me tell you what floods are. Floods are challenges that remain after a storm. 241 00:26:14,500 --> 00:26:25,500 Can I tell you that there are trials after our trials? There is a trial after the trial. The flood is the trial after the trial. 242 00:26:25,500 --> 00:26:34,500 It's the space between victories. It's the time and the space between destinations, between miracles, between mounts and tops. 243 00:26:34,500 --> 00:26:47,500 When we think possibly that our problems will be over when the storm passes and the rain stops. But that is often when that real work begins. 244 00:26:47,500 --> 00:26:53,500 The trial is not over when the trial is over. Oh, I might help somebody out right now. 245 00:26:53,500 --> 00:27:08,500 Storms are short term, but floods are long term. Storms, they come and they come hard. They rage. They turn your life upside down. 246 00:27:08,500 --> 00:27:16,500 They come in, they come strong, but usually they pass. But floods, floods don't pass the way that storms do. 247 00:27:16,500 --> 00:27:26,500 Because floods are what remains after the storm is over. Floods are what remains after the storm has passed. 248 00:27:26,500 --> 00:27:33,500 It only took 40 days to submerge the earth, but a whole year for it to dry. 249 00:27:33,500 --> 00:27:43,500 I can tell you from experience today, church, that many people don't give up in the storm. They give up in the flood. 250 00:27:43,500 --> 00:27:53,500 My Lord, they give up in the flood. You see, the storm is the wound, but the flood is the recovery. 251 00:27:53,500 --> 00:28:01,500 The storm is the failure, but the flood is the restoration. Amen. 252 00:28:01,500 --> 00:28:11,500 The storm is the betrayal. And you could even forgive somebody, but the flood is the rebuilding of the trust. 253 00:28:11,500 --> 00:28:18,500 The storm is the argument, but the flood is still having to work with them. 254 00:28:18,500 --> 00:28:26,500 The storm is the loss, but the flood is life after the loss. 255 00:28:26,500 --> 00:28:32,500 But whatever you do today, don't give up in the flood. 256 00:28:32,500 --> 00:28:41,500 The devil is hoping, he's banking that if the storm doesn't take you out, that the flood will. 257 00:28:41,500 --> 00:28:50,500 Because where the storm may be a test of your faith or a test of your belief in what God can do now, 258 00:28:50,500 --> 00:28:55,500 the flood is a test in what God can do tomorrow. 259 00:28:55,500 --> 00:29:07,500 Where the flood is a test of what God has yet to do. The storm might test your faith, but the flood will test your patience. 260 00:29:07,500 --> 00:29:13,500 People don't often give up in the storms. They give up in the floods. 261 00:29:13,500 --> 00:29:21,500 They give up after some time has gone by and they go, why am I still in this condition? 262 00:29:21,500 --> 00:29:29,500 Why am I still facing this problem? Why am I still having this situation? 263 00:29:29,500 --> 00:29:34,500 You see, and those are the situation. Those are the moments in our life. 264 00:29:34,500 --> 00:29:39,500 I'm here to tell you that the storm doesn't necessarily make you or break you. 265 00:29:39,500 --> 00:29:47,500 It just reveals what you're already made of, but the flood has the potential to make or break you. 266 00:29:47,500 --> 00:29:53,500 The flood, someone say the flood. The flood has the potential to make or break you. 267 00:29:53,500 --> 00:29:59,500 Storms don't build your character, they just reveal it, but floods build character. 268 00:29:59,500 --> 00:30:02,500 Oh, I'm going to help somebody out right now. 269 00:30:02,500 --> 00:30:07,500 Storms don't reveal whether you could pray. Storms reveal whether you've been praying. 270 00:30:07,500 --> 00:30:12,500 But floods will teach you how to pray at another level. 271 00:30:12,500 --> 00:30:17,500 And there are some people today that are dealing with the flood, not the storm. 272 00:30:17,500 --> 00:30:24,500 Not all hell is breaking loose in your life, but you still got this flood waters in your life. 273 00:30:24,500 --> 00:30:27,500 And you're wondering, I understood the purpose of the rain. 274 00:30:27,500 --> 00:30:31,500 I get, I had to get in the ark, but why am I still floating around here? 275 00:30:31,500 --> 00:30:35,500 Why am I still trying to find my purpose? Why am I still trying to figure out what God is doing? 276 00:30:35,500 --> 00:30:37,500 Why am I still trying to make sense of why it happened? 277 00:30:37,500 --> 00:30:42,500 Why am I still trying to pick up the pieces? Why am I still in this kind of state of fluidity 278 00:30:42,500 --> 00:30:46,500 where things aren't exactly where I want them to be in my faith? 279 00:30:46,500 --> 00:30:52,500 And I'm here to tell you that God is using the flood to take you to that place that you've been praying 280 00:30:52,500 --> 00:30:56,500 and asking God to take you. Because here's the thing about a flood. 281 00:30:56,500 --> 00:31:04,500 When Noah finally reached the end of his flood and his boat came to its landing place, 282 00:31:04,500 --> 00:31:09,500 do you want to know where it landed? It didn't land at the beach, my friend. 283 00:31:09,500 --> 00:31:18,500 It didn't land in the valley. Where does the Bible says that his boat landed on the mountaintop? 284 00:31:18,500 --> 00:31:23,500 Oh, I'm going to help somebody out right now. I'm going to help somebody out right now. 285 00:31:23,500 --> 00:31:31,500 There is more than one way to reach the top. There's more than one way to reach the summit. 286 00:31:31,500 --> 00:31:37,500 There's more than one way to go to higher levels in God and in your life. 287 00:31:37,500 --> 00:31:45,500 You can climb your way there, but sometimes God will allow a flood to elevate you to a place 288 00:31:45,500 --> 00:31:49,500 that climbing would have never got you there. 289 00:31:49,500 --> 00:31:54,500 Oh, I need some help here today. Hallelujah. Because here's the thing about a flood. 290 00:31:54,500 --> 00:31:58,500 Floods are elevators. Oh, my God. 291 00:31:58,500 --> 00:32:02,500 What the flood did for Noah is what the flood might do for somebody. 292 00:32:02,500 --> 00:32:05,500 I'm almost done. What the flood might do for somebody today. 293 00:32:05,500 --> 00:32:11,500 Your flood is not drowning you. It's elevating you to a place you never thought you would go in God. 294 00:32:11,500 --> 00:32:17,500 Elevating you to a place in the spirit that only trouble could get you there. 295 00:32:17,500 --> 00:32:22,500 Come on, somebody give God some praise here today. Hallelujah. 296 00:32:22,500 --> 00:32:27,500 This is why I thank God for the flood. This is why I thank God for the flood. 297 00:32:27,500 --> 00:32:34,500 Because all the flood is doing is lifting this boat to a level that it never would have got on its own. 298 00:32:34,500 --> 00:32:39,500 So I got bad news for the devil today. You thought the flood was going to kill me, 299 00:32:39,500 --> 00:32:44,500 but the flood doesn't kill the righteous. It only makes him stronger. 300 00:32:44,500 --> 00:32:51,500 My God, the flood doesn't kill the faithful. It only elevates him to a greater place. 301 00:32:51,500 --> 00:32:57,500 God sent me here to remind somebody that the flood in your life was not designed to kill you. 302 00:32:57,500 --> 00:33:04,500 I need some help on the piano right now. The flood in your life was not designed to destroy you. 303 00:33:04,500 --> 00:33:10,500 The flood in your life was designed to elevate you to another level in God. 304 00:33:10,500 --> 00:33:14,500 So I've got news for the devil today. I'm going to lift up my head. 305 00:33:14,500 --> 00:33:19,500 I'm going to open up my mouth. I'm going to lift up my voice. 306 00:33:19,500 --> 00:33:23,500 And I'm going to thank God for the flood in my life. 307 00:33:23,500 --> 00:33:28,500 The one thing the devil doesn't want you to do is praise him in your flood. 308 00:33:28,500 --> 00:33:32,500 It's thank him in your flood. It's bless him in your flood. 309 00:33:32,500 --> 00:33:38,500 But I got news for the devil. I don't just know how to praise him on dry ground. 310 00:33:38,500 --> 00:33:42,500 I know how to praise him in the flood. I know how to thank him in the flood. 311 00:33:42,500 --> 00:33:47,500 The Bible says with the enemy it comes against us like a flood. 312 00:33:47,500 --> 00:33:53,500 The Lord will lift up a standard against him. I got news for the devil. 313 00:33:53,500 --> 00:34:00,500 God's got a standard, my Lord. God's got a way. God's got a plan. God's got a purpose. 314 00:34:00,500 --> 00:34:04,500 God's got an anointing. Somebody ought to give the Lord some praise right now. 315 00:34:04,500 --> 00:34:10,500 Somebody ought to thank him. If I'm preaching to somebody today, you're asking God, 316 00:34:10,500 --> 00:34:14,500 why are you allowing this in my life? Why am I in trouble? 317 00:34:14,500 --> 00:34:20,500 Why I got problems and haters and enemies? And why is there confusion? 318 00:34:20,500 --> 00:34:26,500 Why are there things thinking not strange when things happen to you, my brother? 319 00:34:26,500 --> 00:34:31,500 But that trial is producing endurance and perseverance. 320 00:34:31,500 --> 00:34:37,500 It's teaching you how to go to another level. Somebody give God some praise here today. 321 00:34:37,500 --> 00:34:45,500 Hey, hallelujah. Somebody magnify the Lord. Somebody bless his name. 322 00:34:45,500 --> 00:34:49,500 That's why I say I gotta bless the Lord at all times. 323 00:34:49,500 --> 00:34:54,500 And his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 324 00:34:54,500 --> 00:35:00,500 Oh, you say, pastor, why do I gotta wait till the end of the flood? 325 00:35:00,500 --> 00:35:06,500 Because if you wait till the end of the flood, there's a fresh anointing that God's about to release 326 00:35:06,500 --> 00:35:15,500 in your life. The Bible says that Noah sent out a raven, and the raven never came back. 327 00:35:15,500 --> 00:35:21,500 But then he sent out a dove, and the dove went, and he flew. 328 00:35:21,500 --> 00:35:28,500 He came back with nothing. So he sent him out again to see if there was any dry land. 329 00:35:28,500 --> 00:35:38,500 Oh, the dove is a symbol of the Holy Ghost. It's the Holy Ghost that tells me dry land is on the other side. 330 00:35:38,500 --> 00:35:43,500 Dry land is in my future. Dry land is in my tomorrow. 331 00:35:43,500 --> 00:35:49,500 Don't you judge me by the flood today. Don't you judge me by my flood. 332 00:35:49,500 --> 00:35:54,500 Because I got dry land in my future. I got dry land in my own... 333 00:35:54,500 --> 00:35:59,500 I feel the anointing. I feel the anointing. I'm a priest myself into a fidget. 334 00:35:59,500 --> 00:36:04,500 I feel something on me. And above all your sheikah, above all your... 335 00:36:04,500 --> 00:36:12,500 He sent out the dove, and then when the dove came back, he had an olive branch in his mouth. 336 00:36:12,500 --> 00:36:18,500 That olive branch represents the anointing of the Holy Spirit. 337 00:36:18,500 --> 00:36:24,500 Can I tell somebody the reason why you're going through that flood? 338 00:36:24,500 --> 00:36:32,500 It's because on the other side is a fresh anointing for a fresh beginning that God wants to do in your life. 339 00:36:32,500 --> 00:36:49,500 Somebody give up something.