House Rule #10 Beware of Apostasy (1 Timothy 4:1-5)

Kootenai Church

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January 31, 2022

House Rule #10 Beware of Apostasy (1 Timothy 4:1-5)

01:55: Yes, he's not in the council, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is there at a changed day.
03:06: He yields its fruit in its season.
03:50: He is righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
05:42: Preserve me, O God, for in You I take refuge.
05:49: I say to the Lord, You are my Lord. I have the saints in the land.
06:13: They are the excellent ones in whom is all mine.
06:22: The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply.
06:37: Conference of blood, I will not pour out. The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup.
06:53: You hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.
06:59: Indeed, I have beautiful inheritance. Bless the
07:17: Lord who gives me counsel. In the night also my heart instructs me.
07:28: I have set the Lord always before me because He is in my right hand.
07:37: I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices.
07:52: My flesh also dwells secure for You, will not abandon.
07:58: My soul, does she hope, O let Your only
09:40: Refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
09:51: Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way.
09:57: Though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea.
10:03: Though its waters roar and foam.
10:10: Though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
10:20: There is earth, streams make glad the city of God.
10:28: Habitation of the most high. God is in the midst of her.
10:37: She shall not be moved. God will help her when the nations reign.
10:48: The kingdom's daughter, He utters His voice.
11:11: Most is with us. Works of the
11:34: Lord, how He has brought desolation. On the earth,
11:43: He breaks the bow and shatters the spear.
11:49: He burns the chariots with fire. Most is with us, is our force.
12:33: Be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.
12:44: I will be exalted among the nations.
12:51: I will be exalted in the earth. Most is with us.
13:05: The God of Jacob is our fortress. The Lord of Hosts is with us.
13:15: The God of Jacob is our fortress. The Lord of Hosts is with us.
13:27: Is our fortress. Is your name.
13:57: Your name and all have made
15:23: Him a little Lord. Majestic is your name.
17:17: Your name and all have extolled you,
17:39: O Lord. And have not let my foes rejoice.
17:52: O God, I sing for Him.
18:11: And you have healed me, O Lord. My soul from Sheol.
18:22: Restore those who go down to the pier.
18:33: Sing praises to the Lord, O you His saints.
18:38: And give thanks to His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment.
18:48: And His fever's for a lifetime. Weeping, we tarry for the night.
18:56: But joy comes with the morn. As for me,
19:08: I sin in my prosperity. I shall never be.
19:15: By your favor, O Lord, strong.
19:42: Enter the Lord and plead for mercy. What profit is there in my death.
19:52: If I go down merciful to me.
20:14: O Lord, be into dancing.
20:39: You have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me. You have turned for me my morning stream.
20:56: You have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me. With gladness that my glory may sing your praise.
21:06: And I be silent. As the
22:08: Lord builds the house.
22:15: Those who build it labor in vain.
22:23: As the Lord watches over the city.
22:32: The watchman stays awake in vain.
22:40: It is in vain that you rise up early.
22:47: And go late to rest. Eating the bread of anxious toil.
23:00: For He gives to His beloved sleep.
23:07: Unless the Lord builds the house.
23:15: Those who build it labor in vain.
23:23: As the Lord watches over the city.
23:32: The watchman stays awake in vain.
23:39: Behold children are a heritage from the
23:46: Lord. Arrows in the hand of a warrior.
24:01: Children of one's youth. As the
24:09: Lord builds the house.
24:16: Those who build it labor in vain. As the
24:24: Lord watches over the city.
24:31: The watchman stays awake in vain.
24:44: His quiver with him. He shall not be put to shame.
24:51: When he speaks with his enemies in the game.
27:10: And good morning and welcome to Kootenai Church.
28:01: We're glad that you're here this morning. Would you please stand as we sing Standing on the Promises. Standing on the promises of Christ my
28:20: King. Through eternal ages let His praises ring.
28:26: Glory in the highest I will shout and sing. Standing on the promises of God.
28:35: Standing on the promises that cannot fail. When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail.
28:45: By the living word of God I shall prevail. Standing on the promises of God.
28:54: Standing, standing. Standing on the promises of God my
29:02: Savior. Standing, standing. I'm standing on the promises of God.
29:13: What a fellowship, what a joy divine. Leaning on the everlasting arms.
29:22: What a blessedness, what a peace divine. Leaning on the everlasting arms.
29:31: Leaning, leaning. Safe and secure from all alarms.
29:40: Leaning, leaning. Leaning on the everlasting arms.
29:49: Are you washed in the blood? In the soul -cleansing blood of the
29:57: Lamb. Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?
30:03: Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? I'm standing, standing.
30:13: Standing on the promises of God my Savior. Standing, standing.
30:21: I'm standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing.
30:32: I'm standing on the promises of God. I'm standing on the promises of God my
31:08: Savior. I'm standing on the promises of God my Savior. I'm standing on the promises of God my
31:16: Savior. I'm standing on the promises of God my Savior. I'm standing on the promises of God my Savior. I'm standing on the promises of God my
31:44: Savior. of the cross
31:54: Righteousness was there revealed That sets the guilty free
31:59: That justifies ungodly men And calls the filthy clean
32:06: A righteousness that's proved to all Your justice has been made
32:13: And holy wrath is satisfied Through unatoning death
32:21: And oh, the glory of the cross That you would send your
32:30: Son for us I gladly count my life as lost
32:38: That I might come to know The glory of, the glory of the cross
32:54: What mercy now has been proclaimed For those who would leave
33:00: A love incomprehensible Our minds could not conceive
33:06: A mercy that forgives my sin And makes me like your
33:12: Son And now I'm loved forevermore
33:18: Because of what you've done And oh, the glory of the cross
33:28: That you would send your Son for us
33:34: I gladly count my life as lost That I might come to know
33:43: The glory of, the glory of the cross
33:53: And oh, the glory of the cross
34:01: That you would send your Son for us
34:07: I gladly count my life as lost
34:12: That I might come to know The glory of, the glory of the cross
34:54: Be thou my vision,
35:04: O Lord of my heart Not be all else to me, save that thou art
35:15: Thou my best thought, by day or by night
35:23: Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light
35:37: Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true word
35:44: I ever with thee, and thou with me,
35:50: Lord Thou my great Father, I thy true son
35:59: Thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one
36:14: Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise
36:20: Thou mine inheritance, now and always
36:27: Thou and thou only, first in my heart
36:35: High King of heaven, my treasure thou art
36:49: High King of heaven, my victory won
36:56: May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's sun
37:03: Heart of my own heart, whatever befall
37:11: Still be my vision, O ruler of all
37:47: During that Sunday sometime between church and the potluck Jason is going to set up a studio back here to take pictures for the church directory
37:56: So if you'd like to have your family included in that Please make sure that you plan to do so There'll be pictures being taken
38:03: If you don't have your picture in the directory This is your last chance to do it on your own Because after that I'm going to do it
38:10: And you're not going to like what I put in there So get your picture in the directory You can do it yourself or I can do it
38:17: Those are your two options One of those is far better for you than the other And then there's a young adult fellowship this next
38:23: Saturday And if you would like to join either one of those adult fellowships The sign -up is on the table out in the foyer
38:29: I just want to bring that to your attention So you can do that today before you leave Now sort of a longer, more extensive announcement
38:35: And this concerns our spring conference that we have coming up June 3rd and 4th
38:42: Last year at last year's conference I asked everybody I told you who was coming Virgil Walker and Daryl Harrison Talking about black liberation theology
38:51: Social justice issues, Marxism And all those good subjects And I asked the attendees at the conference last year
38:57: How many of you would be willing to pay a little bit extra To bring in both of those speakers As opposed to just one of them
39:03: And almost everybody here raised their hand Said they would be willing to do so So our conference set up And what we're doing is changing
39:11: In comparison to what we've done in years past So this year we have two speakers instead of one
39:17: Which means that it's double an honorarium Double the lodging, double the airfare, double the food And we're also going to double the fun
39:23: Because we're going to do it for two full days Instead of just one and a half days So this will be all day Friday and all day
39:29: Saturday We're going to serve two meals, two lunch meals So that's double the food that we're providing
39:34: As part of the conference registration Lunch on Friday and lunch on Saturday And then of course we have the morning snacks
39:42: And snacks throughout the day that will be available as well Friday evening for dinner time We have some sessions after dinner
39:48: But for Friday evening We're not going to be providing a meal for that We're going to have about an hour and a half Where people will be able to either go to a local restaurant
39:55: Or bring your own food here and eat it Or Messi's food truck is going to put up a food truck
40:03: Out in the parking lot or out in the lawn here And Jesse's going to cook burgers That'll be a little add -on, like $10 extra per person
40:10: For a burger and drink and everything You'll have to register for that before the conference So he knows how many to expect for that So that's what we have going just in terms of the schedule
40:20: Now, how many of you by show of hands Know who Daryl Harrison is and Virgil Walker are? A good number
40:27: Okay, I told Virgil that on the phone this week I said, I think we have a good number of people Who know who you guys are Daryl Harrison is the
40:32: Dean of Social Media for Grace to You When Phil Johnson was here last year He said to us and to me
40:39: That Daryl Harrison is one of the best hires he's made at Grace to You And Virgil Walker runs
40:45: G3 Ministries down in Atlanta, Georgia Together they produce the Just Thinking podcast And they deal with some of the issues that I'm going to read to you
40:51: Are part of our conference schedule here in just a moment These two guys are probably the two best equipped speakers
40:58: On these subjects And the way that they handle them Strictly biblical, strictly exegetical
41:03: From the text of scripture They are phenomenal So here is what we're going to be addressing
41:09: I'm going to give you the session titles Session 1 is a Biblical Theology of Man, Racism, and the
41:15: Church A Biblical Theology of Government, Culture, and Economics Session 3 is
41:21: Capitalism, Marxism, Socialism, and BLM Session 4 is the
41:26: Christ of Black Liberation Theology Session 5 is the Cultural Fruit of Black Liberation Theology Session 6 is
41:34: Critical Race Theory in the Church Session 7 is Wokeness, Whiteness, and the New Racism Session 8 is
41:41: CRT and Human Sexuality Session 9 is Marxism and Social Justice in the
41:47: Church And then the 10th session is Guarding the Flock from Woke Christianity And then we have three questions and answers on top
41:54: So 10 sessions, three questions and answers And we're dealing with everything that is threatening the church and our culture right now
42:01: This is the pressing issue Our country is in the middle of a Marxist revolution We're not waiting for a
42:08: Marxist revolution It's taking place in front of us Fortunately it is a cold Marxist revolution
42:13: And not a bloody civil war at this point But the Marxists have seized control of the levers of power in the government
42:19: In the culture, in entertainment, in business, in finance, everywhere It is a cultural, social, economic, and political
42:28: Marxist revolution that is going on And it's creeping into the church and it threatens the gospel I think it's one of the most pressing issues that the church is facing in our day
42:36: Is understanding how to think about these things, how to answer them biblically And how to articulate a defense of the gospel in the midst of it
42:43: So that is our spring conference, June 3rd and 4th And then on June 5th, which is a
42:49: Sunday morning Daryl Harrison is going to be teaching Sunday School, Adult Sunday School And Virgil Walker is going to be preaching for us
42:55: So even if you're not at the conference, you'll get to see those guys here I would encourage you to come to the conference Plan to take that extra day off on Friday and be here for the whole thing
43:03: One of the questions that we get often is If I'm just here on Saturday or just here for two sessions, what's the cost of that?
43:09: There's no partial registration, third of a registration, half of a registration, nothing like that It's just the conference registration, plan to be here for two full days
43:17: You will get your money's worth, I promise you that I think that's it
43:23: Conference registration will open up this week sometime Hopefully before next Sunday, that's the goal
43:29: And it's going to be available to our congregation here first Because we will have a limit on capacity
43:35: And then after that, it will go out to everybody who's been registered before from other churches And after that, Daryl and Virgil will push it out on their social media platforms
43:43: And I expect that we're going to have a full house So plan to get in early There will be a registration code for Kootenai people who attend
43:51: That will give you a bit of a discount off of the conference price And we will announce that next Sunday at the annual meeting
43:57: And there we've come back full circle to the annual meeting You want to make sure that you are here for that So that you can get the registration conference code
44:03: Alright? Please turn to 2 Peter chapter 3 2
44:14: Peter chapter 3 And we're going to read a good portion of this chapter together 2
44:22: Peter chapter 3 This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you In which
44:27: I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder That you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets
44:34: And the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles Know this, first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking
44:43: Following after their own lusts And saying, where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep
44:49: All continues just as it was from the beginning of creation For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice
44:56: That by the word of God the heavens existed long ago And the earth was formed out of water and by water
45:02: Through which the world at that time was destroyed Being flooded with water But by his word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire
45:12: Kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved
45:19: That with the Lord one day is like a thousand years And a thousand years like one day The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness
45:28: But is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish But for all to come to repentance But the day of the
45:34: Lord will come like a thief In which the heavens will pass away with a roar And the elements will be destroyed with intense heat
45:41: And the earth and its works will be burned up Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way
45:47: What sort of people ought you to be In holy conduct and godliness Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God Because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning
45:57: And the elements will melt with intense heat But according to his promise We are looking for the new heavens and a new earth
46:04: In which righteousness dwells Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things Be diligent to be found by him in peace
46:12: Spotless and blameless And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation Just as also our beloved brother
46:18: Paul According to the wisdom given him Wrote to you As also in all his letters Speaking in them of these things
46:24: In which are some things hard to understand Which the untaught and unstable distort As they do also the rest of the scriptures
46:30: To their own destruction You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand
46:35: Be on your guard So that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men And fall from your own steadfastness
46:42: But grow in the grace and knowledge Of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ To him be the glory both now
46:48: And to the day of eternity Amen Will you stand with me as we pray? Let's bow our heads
47:00: Father, you are the author of our great and blessed hope We are among those who look forward to a new heavens and a new earth
47:08: Because that is what you have promised All who are made righteous in and through the work of your
47:14: Son The Lord Jesus Christ And we can just thank you for the forgiveness of our sins That we have been made heirs
47:20: According to that hope and that promise Heirs by faith of that righteousness Which comes from Christ We thank you that having forgiven our sins
47:28: That you have promised us That you will carry us securely through To that eternal day when we will stand before you
47:33: And we will see all of our inheritance That you have promised to all the righteous From the beginning of time
47:40: We thank you for your mercy And your great grace Which has made this ours in Jesus Christ We pray that you would fix our minds
47:48: And our hearts and our hope Upon that blessed hope And upon that reality, that truth
47:54: That we may by faith see them Treat them as they are Treat them as the substance which they are
48:00: Even though they are not yet seen and realized We pray that you would strengthen our hearts And our resolve and our courage
48:06: In these days Unite our hearts by your gospel and in your truth For the glory of Christ our
48:11: Lord In whose name we pray, amen Our great will is known
48:42: Our traditions shift like sand While his truth forever stands
48:50: We will live by faith alone Clothed in merit, not our own
48:59: All we claim is Jesus Christ And his finished sacrifice
49:09: Glory be, glory be to God alone
49:17: Through the church that he redeemed And made his own
49:25: He has freed us, he will keep us Till we're safely home
49:33: Glory be, glory be to God alone
49:40: We are saved by grace alone
49:46: Undeserved yet freely shown No accomplishment on earth
49:54: Can achieve the second birth We will stand on Christ alone
50:02: The unyielding cornerstone Nations rage and devils roar
50:10: Still he reigns forevermore
50:16: Glory be, glory be to God alone
50:24: Through the church that he redeemed And made his own
50:32: He has freed us, he will keep us Till we're safely home
50:41: Glory be, glory be to God alone
50:48: Glory be, glory be to God alone
50:56: Through the church that he redeemed
51:01: And made his own He has freed us, he will keep us
51:10: Till we're safely home Glory be, glory be to God alone
51:23: In 1 Thessalonians 4 verses 13 -18 it says But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.
51:37: For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
51:45: For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the
51:51: Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
52:05: Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
52:11: Lord in the air. And so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words.
52:19: We're going to end our set this morning by singing It Is Well. Peace like a river attendeth my way
52:44: When sorrows like sea billows roll
52:54: Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say
53:03: It is well, it is well with my soul
53:12: It is well, it is well with my soul
53:20: It is well, it is well with my soul
53:32: Though Satan should buff him, though trial should come
53:42: Let this blest assurance control
53:51: That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate
54:00: And hath shed his own blood for my soul
54:09: It is well, it is well with my soul
54:19: It is well, it is well with my soul
54:28: My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought
54:39: My sin not in part, but the whole
54:48: Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more
54:57: Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul
55:07: It is well, it is well with my soul
55:14: It is well, it is well with my soul
55:25: And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sighed
55:35: The clouds be rolled back as a scroll
55:44: The trump shall resound, and the
55:50: Lord shall descend Even so, it is well with my soul
56:02: It is well, it is well with my soul
56:11: It is well, it is well with my soul
56:20: It is well, it is well with my soul
56:30: It is well, it is well with my soul
56:41: Amen. You may be seated. Turn now please to Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 7.
57:02: Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 7. We'll read the verse together before we pray.
57:10: By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
57:24: Our Father, it is our desire and the longing of our heart that we may understand your word in its context and the author's intended meaning, the spirit's intended meaning.
57:33: We pray that you would help us to see the benefit and blessing of faith and how faith lays hold of your promises and the blessings that await the righteous, the ones that are yet to come.
57:45: Fix our minds and our hearts upon the truths of your word here today and may our time here be profitable and productive to the end that we may give honor and glory to the
57:54: Lord Jesus Christ for all that he has done to secure for us the righteousness we need. We ask this in his name.
58:01: Amen. Any faithful and biblical presentation of the gospel must contain with it, alongside of it, the truth about the judgment that is to come.
58:10: Because the good news is only good news if it has the backdrop of the bad news. You understand that, most people here.
58:15: You have heard the gospel presented from this pulpit enough times that you understand how the bad news precedes the good news.
58:22: The bad news is what makes the good news make sense. And if there is no bad news, if there's nothing from which we are saved, it is very difficult to convince men and women that they need to flee to a
58:32: Savior if you don't first convince them that there is something from which they need to be saved.
58:37: And so the bad news is part of the gospel. And any attempt to downplay the bad news, to sort of avoid the subject of sin, to downplay the severity of God's wrath and eternal damnation, all that ends up doing is hiding from the sinner the very thing that should motivate them to seek refuge in the
58:57: Son. And all you do then is contribute to their own self -deception. Sinners are deceived, they are self -deceived, into thinking that they are okay.
59:06: And if we never confront them with the reality that they are not okay, that there is something from which they need to be saved, namely sin and the wrath of God that will be poured out because of that sin, if we hold that from them and refuse to give them that truth, then we're actually encouraging them in that self -deception.
59:23: In a way, we are agreeing with them. And we don't want to do that if we're going to be faithful in the proclaiming of the gospel.
59:30: The unbeliever will hate that message, of course. The minute we begin to talk about the wrath of God and judgment to come and the realities of that, the unbeliever is going to hate that.
59:37: They don't have time to abide that. It goes against everything that they believe, everything that they want to believe, everything that makes them comfortable.
59:44: And so they will mock that message. This is what Peter was describing in the Scripture reference that we read earlier, 2
59:50: Peter 3, verses 3 and 4. Peter says, In the last days mockers will come in their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying,
59:59: Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues as it was from the beginning of creation.
01:00:07: The coming of Jesus Christ, that second coming of Christ, is going to be accompanied by all kinds of earthly judgments that will precede it and be part of his coming.
01:00:17: It will also include an eternal judgment of fire. And this unbelievers mock. They hate that message.
01:00:23: They don't want to hear it. They mock it. They mock the truth. They mock righteousness. They mock those who preach the truth.
01:00:29: And they mock those who preach righteousness because they mock the word of God. And they mock the gospel.
01:00:35: And they mock the testimony of Scripture. And they deny and ridicule the idea that Christ is going to return when you suggest to them that judgment is going to come.
01:00:45: Their reasoning is that because judgment is not here now, judgment has never been part of creation.
01:00:51: Judgment has never been part of this world. They look back and they say, Well, there's no judgment now. Therefore, there has never been a judgment.
01:00:58: And if there has never been a judgment, then there can never be a judgment. It is easier for them to deny a judgment that is to come if they can convince themselves that there has been no judgments in the presence and certainly no judgment in the past.
01:01:11: They would say that just as it is today, so it has always been, and just as it has always been, so it will ever be.
01:01:18: That's what they convince themselves of. And they have to believe this. They want to believe this because, as Peter says, he gives us the motivation for this belief.
01:01:27: They're following after their own lusts. The denial of the judgment that is to come and the reckoning for sin is motivated by a thirst for iniquity and by the sinner's own lusts.
01:01:39: Paul says in Romans 1, they suppress the truth and unrighteousness. It is unrighteousness that motivates their denial of what is patently obvious.
01:01:47: And so the scoffer mocks the idea of coming judgment because he wants to cling to his lusts. He convinces himself that judgment has never happened so that he can convince himself that judgment will never happen.
01:01:58: And by convincing himself that judgment will never happen, he can muffle the voice of his conscience, and it is a lot easier to sleep next to your crying conscience every night if you can convince yourself that there is no judgment that will come for your sin.
01:02:13: Because that conscience screams at them. But they have to convince themselves that judgment will never come.
01:02:19: And Peter says in that passage that we read, he says, when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the
01:02:24: Word of God, the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.
01:02:33: It escapes their notice. That is a very gentle and easy and a far more positive way to say something that the original language actually carries a little bit of a different tone there.
01:02:43: The original language is far more negative. And the King James offers a better translation at that point.
01:02:49: The King James says they are willingly ignorant of. Not just that it escapes their notice.
01:02:55: It escapes their notice is something that you might say kind of positively when somebody pulls out in front of you into traffic.
01:03:02: Oh, did it just escape your notice that I was here? But when you say that somebody is willingly ignorant of something, you're suggesting that there is a motive behind the willing ignorance that they willingly, deliberately forget.
01:03:16: That's how the NIV translates it. They deliberately forget these things. The ESV, they deliberately overlook the fact that the world was flooded.
01:03:23: And the testimony to that flood is all over the world. The Grand Canyon was either created by a little bit of water over a long period of time or a whole lot of water over a little period of time.
01:03:35: It was created by a whole lot of water over a little period of time. The canyons, the geographical sedimentary layers that we see, the mountain ranges, the tectonic plates, the fossil beds, you burned on your way to church here today in your vehicle the evidence of a global flood.
01:03:54: They're fossil fuels. You know how fossils are made? When entire civilizations, entire beds of organic material are buried under pressure, that's how fossil fuels are made.
01:04:05: The evidence of a global flood is everywhere around us because we live on a monument to a global destruction.
01:04:11: But they willingly are ignorant of that fact that there has been a judgment. Why? Because they're suppressing the truth in unrighteousness.
01:04:19: And the scoffers of our day are no different by nature than the scoffers that existed in Noah's day. And Noah was a faithful man, a righteous man and a preacher of righteousness and he faithfully proclaimed to the people of his day that there was a judgment that was to come.
01:04:32: And in faith he obediently did what the Lord told him to do and by that act of obedience he saved his family, condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
01:04:43: And that brings us to Hebrews chapter 11. The last time we were together we looked at the nature of Noah's faith, the nature of his faith, that it was a faith that took
01:04:50: God at his word, it was based upon God's revelation. He was warned about things that had not yet been seen. And yet Noah, like the definition of faith in Hebrews 11 verse 1, he was convinced of things he had never seen and he treated as substance those things which had not yet come into reality, namely a global cataclysmic destruction.
01:05:09: But it was a faith that was based upon God's word. God said it, God said something to Noah that he had never seen, warned him of something that was to come, that Noah had no physical, no scientific, no rational, no observational reason to believe whatever happened, but God said it and Noah believed it.
01:05:25: And then he built an ark and it was an obedient faith. So not only a faith based upon God's revelation, but it was an obedient faith.
01:05:32: Noah meticulously did all that the Lord commanded him to do. Genesis 6 says everything that God said for him to do, thus
01:05:39: Noah did. He was meticulous in his obedience. These are the marks of genuine saving faith.
01:05:44: Faith takes God at his word and meticulously obeys what the Lord says. That's biblical saving faith. Today we're looking at the results of Noah's faith and there are three phrases at the end of verse 7.
01:05:55: These three statements, his faith results in the salvation of his household, the condemnation of the world, and he became an heir of righteousness.
01:06:01: We will get through all three of these today because this is our last look at Noah as an example of faith and next week we'll begin to look at Abraham, mentioned in verse 8.
01:06:11: First, the salvation of his household. In reverence he prepared an ark for the salvation of his household. Now this is not spiritual salvation that's being described here.
01:06:17: The word salvation, we typically use that word to describe forgiveness of sins, deliverance from wrath, deliverance from hell, being redeemed and forgiven and justified, etc.
01:06:26: And the word can use that. But the word salvation simply means a deliverance or a preservation. So it would depend upon its context in terms of what we are talking about being saved or delivered or preserved from.
01:06:38: If we're talking about a physical danger, then one could be saved and have salvation from a physical danger. But if we're talking about a spiritual peril, then one could be saved and have deliverance from a spiritual peril.
01:06:48: It is not spiritual salvation or deliverance that's being described here. In the context, this is physical salvation.
01:06:55: Noah's faith in the building of the ark preserved his family through the global flood. Noah was saved by faith before he ever built the ark.
01:07:02: The ark was not the means of their spiritual salvation. Otherwise, there would be eight people who would be justified and forgiven because of a piece of wood.
01:07:10: That doesn't happen. All men are justified by faith. Noah and his family would have been the same.
01:07:16: Noah was justified and declared righteous by his faith. Not because he built an ark. That would be salvation by works. The building of the ark was the evidence of his faith.
01:07:24: The faith was manifest in the fact that he obeyed the Lord. That showed to everybody. It justified in the eyes of men that this was a faithful man.
01:07:32: But the ark didn't spiritually save his family. Noah was saved because of his faith, by his faith.
01:07:38: Through faith, he was justified. Through faith, he became an heir of the righteousness, which is according to faith.
01:07:45: There is a connection between the ark and the Lord Jesus Christ that you and I should not miss. This discussion of salvation here and what is described here gives us an opportunity to make this connection.
01:07:56: Peter does this in 1 Peter 3. Not the epistle that we read at the beginning of the service, but the first epistle.
01:08:02: Chapter 3, verse 20. Peter speaks of those who were once disobedient when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is eight persons, were brought safely through the water.
01:08:14: Then Peter makes this connection to salvation. He says, corresponding to that, baptism now saves you.
01:08:21: Listen, not water baptism, because Peter says, it is not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven after angels and authorities and powers have been subjected to him.
01:08:35: So Peter is saying, it is our identification, that's what the idea of baptism is there. The identification is not a wet baptism, but a dry baptism.
01:08:43: And it's not a baptism in the physical realm, it's a baptism or an immersion in the spiritual realm that Peter is talking about.
01:08:49: Just as Noah was carried safely through the waters of judgment, so it is, because he was in the ark and safe on board that, so it is that you are carried safely through the fires of God's judgment because of your identification with the
01:09:04: Lord Jesus Christ in His work, His death, His burial, and His resurrection. Just as Noah was physically saved from physical judgment, so you and I are spiritually saved through spiritual judgment.
01:09:15: And just as there was one ark and one door on the ark, so there is one way and one
01:09:21: Savior for all of mankind. And just as all those who were on board the ark were preserved and saved, so all those in Jesus Christ will be preserved and saved.
01:09:31: And just as everybody outside of the ark perished in the judgment, so all those who are outside of Jesus Christ and have never repented of their sin and placed their faith in Him will perish in eternal judgment.
01:09:42: See, this is the parallel. The ark of God is salvation from temporal judgment of water, and the ark of God, which is the
01:09:50: Lord Jesus Christ, is salvation from eternal judgment of fire. That's the parallel.
01:09:56: So the flood of Noah's day stands as a reminder to all people for all time that God is a just God, that He judges sin, and yet God graciously offers a way of salvation to any and all who will avail themselves of God's grace during the days of grace.
01:10:13: And the one who will not surrender his rebellion and his sin and persists in it in impenitence will stand before God, will be judged for their sin, and will be completely without excuse.
01:10:26: Noah's faith moved him to build an ark. This resulted in the salvation of his family.
01:10:32: I think the word is intentional because it is intended to connect in our minds, that word salvation, to connect in our minds the safety of the ark as God's means of saving a few with the
01:10:46: Lord Jesus Christ who is our safety and God's means of saving a few compared to the damnation and judgment of the whole world.
01:10:54: Noah saved his family. Not a spiritual salvation, a physical salvation, which was itself a picture of a higher and heavenly and later reality.
01:11:01: Second, by this he condemned the world. Look at verse 7. In reverence he prepared an ark for the salvation of his household by which he condemned the world.
01:11:08: Now, here's the question. By what did he condemn the world? There's two possible answers to that question.
01:11:13: This is a bit of an interpretive issue that we kind of have to address, but by what did Noah condemn the world? Was it by his faith that he condemned the world or by the building of the ark that he condemned the world?
01:11:23: See, by faith, Noah being warned by God about things not yet seen in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his family by which, by the preparation of the ark or by his faith by which he prepared the ark.
01:11:37: The phrase by which could refer to either one of those things. Either Noah's faith condemned the world or the ark condemned the world.
01:11:45: Which one is it? Now, at this point you say this is where Jim says it's both.
01:11:51: Well, it may very well be both. I don't think that we can separate them very distinctly at this point.
01:11:57: Noah's faith was evidenced in the fact that he built an ark. These two things go together in our passage and in the life of Noah.
01:12:05: He was warned by God about things that were not yet seen and his faith moved him to build an ark. So really we could say,
01:12:11: I think, in the mind of the author that what is in view here is that the world was condemned by Noah's faith which produced the ark itself so that the ark and his faith both work together as an act and a testimony of condemnation to an unbelieving world.
01:12:28: Now I'll give you a few statements as to why this is. I mean, how is it that his faith condemned the world? How is it that the ark condemned the world?
01:12:35: How is it that the faith building the ark would condemn the world? And what is meant by condemnation? Let me give you a few sentences or a few statements.
01:12:44: First, saving faith is itself a condemnation of unrepentant unbelief. Saving faith is itself a condemnation.
01:12:50: It doesn't have to say anything. Just the existence of a man of faith is itself a condemnation to the world.
01:12:57: In order to condemn the world, we don't have to argue with unbelievers. We don't have to strive with unbelievers. We don't have to mock them.
01:13:03: We don't have to speak ill of them. We don't have to point out the lunacy of their worldview. We don't have to do any of that. Just the existence of a righteous man or woman, even the existence of one righteous man or woman like Noah, is enough to condemn the entire world because the existence of faith means that there is someone standing in a world of darkness who says,
01:13:22: I trust God and His Word, and I'm willing to stand on that because I know that that is true.
01:13:28: Just that act, just the existence of faith itself, by contrast with the world around it, shows the lunacy and the inexcusability of unbelief in the world.
01:13:38: So the world remains in their unbelief, and they're inexcusable in their unbelief, and all that is necessary for the world to feel condemned is just the presence of a godly person.
01:13:48: Just the presence of one righteous person is enough to make the world feel condemned. In this sense, it is nothing that Noah said.
01:13:54: We'll get to what he said here in just a moment. But in this sense, it is nothing that Noah said that condemned the world. It was just the fact that Noah was that condemns the world, just the fact that he exists.
01:14:07: The world hates believers, and if there were only one believer on the face of the planet, the world would still hate that one believer because just the presence of faith condemns unbelief because the presence of faith says there is something that we are to believe in that you are not believing, and this thing will save you if you will turn to it.
01:14:29: Just the existence of faith is condemnation to the world. Second, the life of saving faith condemns the world.
01:14:36: It's the living of your faith that also condemns the world. Those who have faith live righteous lives, and they are obedient, and that faith condemns the disobedience of the disobedient.
01:14:46: The darkness and the sin of unbelievers' life is magnified by the obedience and the light of even one believer.
01:14:53: Just the living out of your faith and the reality of walking in truth and according to the faith itself shines a light into the darkness, and nobody really realizes how dark it is until the light shines because the light makes people realize, wow, it really was dark.
01:15:09: Just the existence of light makes people realize how much darkness they were in. This is what
01:15:15: Peter is mentioning in 1 Peter 4 when he says, For the time already past is sufficient for you, this is verse 3, to have carried out the desire of the
01:15:22: Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality and lust, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.
01:15:30: Listen to what Peter says, In all this they, that is the unbelievers, are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you.
01:15:40: Unbelievers are shocked. The time past is sufficient for you have lived out all the immoralities of your past life.
01:15:46: Now you have come to faith in Christ. And the unbelieving world looks at that, and they're shocked that you don't run with them into drunkenness and excesses and dissipation.
01:15:53: And then what do they do, Peter says? They malign you. They speak ill of you. They hate you.
01:15:59: They blaspheme you. They speak horrible things about you. But, Peter says, they will give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
01:16:08: For the gospel has for this purpose been preached, even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the
01:16:14: Spirit according to the will of God. You have undoubtedly run across people in your life who are offended and feel condemned and feel guilty and don't want to be around you simply because you don't run with them into the same sin that you once did.
01:16:29: Because the minute you walk out of that, you are condemning their lifestyle, aren't you? You don't have to say anything, do you?
01:16:38: You don't have to say anything about their immorality. You don't have to say anything about their worldview. You don't have to say anything about their sin.
01:16:44: All you have to do is say, No, thanks. I'm done with that. And what are you, more righteous than me?
01:16:50: Are you a pious, self -righteous Christian? Who are you to condemn me? You don't have to say anything, and that's exactly what goes through their mind, and sometimes even out of their mouths.
01:16:59: It is an irritant to the world because the light condemns the darkness, and the righteousness of the believer's life just shows just how unrighteous an unbeliever's life is.
01:17:08: Obedience to the Lord condemns their disobedience. Our belief damns their unbelief, and our faithfulness damns their treachery.
01:17:15: That's why the world hates it. The world doesn't hate you for your political views. The world doesn't hate you because you give a portion of your money to religious causes.
01:17:25: The world doesn't hate you because you sing Christian songs. The world hates you because you remind them of Christ.
01:17:32: That's why the world hates you. If the world doesn't hate you, well, you make the connection there.
01:17:39: Noah's belief was a testimony that there was a way to escape judgment, and if there is a way to escape judgment, then there must be a judgment coming.
01:17:47: And if there is a judgment coming, and I don't escape judgment, then what? I'm condemned.
01:17:53: So it's not just the presence of belief. It's just not the fact of faith that condemns the world.
01:17:59: It's also a life that has lived in faith. Third, it's the preaching of faith condemns the world. This is really,
01:18:04: I think, where the rub was for Noah. It was not so much just the fact that he existed, though that was sufficient, and it wasn't the fact that he lived a righteous life, though that would have been sufficient.
01:18:13: But 2 Peter 2, verse 5 says, Noah was a preacher of righteousness, and you cannot preach righteousness, and you cannot preach
01:18:19: God's righteousness without revealing to men and making manifest to them that they are unrighteous and that they need that righteousness.
01:18:28: So if we are to preach of righteousness and we are to speak of God's righteousness, then we must, in the course of doing that, demonstrate to men and women that they are unrighteous and that they need righteousness.
01:18:39: The necessity of righteousness imputed to them is what we preach. The necessity that they be righteous, that's our message.
01:18:46: And you cannot show men that they are unrighteous without, in a sense, condemning them even by what you say.
01:18:53: Because you have to warn them of the judgment that is to come. Faithful preaching will always mention
01:18:58: God's righteousness, and the faith preaching of God's righteousness will always condemn the world. Because what you are saying is, here's the standard, and all of us fall short.
01:19:08: And if all of us fall short and condemnation comes to everybody who falls short, then you are condemned.
01:19:13: That's the message that we have to preach, to be faithful. And the only way to avoid preaching that message is to become unfaithful in the way that we explain the gospel.
01:19:23: So we have to choose between being faithful or being unfaithful, between offending
01:19:30: God and offending the unbeliever. Those are our two choices. There are churches and ministries and philosophies of evangelism, and their whole premise is to say, we don't want to make anybody feel condemned.
01:19:43: We don't want to make anybody feel uncomfortable. We're just here to talk about love. We just want to bring people to Jesus. That's all we want to do. We're not going to condemn anyone.
01:19:50: I've got news for you. The unbelievers are condemned already. You don't have to condemn them.
01:19:55: They're already condemned. It's unloving and ungracious for us not to tell them that. John 3, verse 18,
01:20:02: He who believes in Him is not judged, but he who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten
01:20:07: Son of God. This is the judgment, that light has come into the world, and men love the darkness rather than light, for their deeds were evil.
01:20:13: They are condemned already. They are judged already. What condemned the world was not
01:20:18: Noah speaking ill of them. It wasn't Noah mocking them or ridiculing them or calling them names.
01:20:25: That was not the condemnation. The condemnation was in what Noah said. That was the condemnation.
01:20:32: They would face God's wrath someday, not Noah's. They would stand before God's standards someday, not Noah's. So if Noah was to be faithful and explain to the world that there's a judgment to come and what that coming judgment was for and why all men deserved it in order to convince people to get on board the ark and be saved, that by necessity, he would have to demonstrate their unrighteousness, and by necessity, he would have to condemn the world.
01:20:54: So did Noah himself condemn the world? Yes, he did in what he said, in what he said by his faith, in what he said by his preaching, in what he said by his lifestyle.
01:21:02: But even in condemning the world and in saying the words, there is a judgment that is coming for your sin, and you will be judged and damned for that sin if you do not repent.
01:21:12: Even in making that statement, Noah was condemning the world, but only as God's proxy. It wasn't
01:21:18: Noah's condemnation or wrath that they would face. It was God's wrath that they would face. So Noah did condemn the world, but only as a proxy, a mouthpiece, a spokesman for God, who was faithful in doing what
01:21:28: God called him to do. But the ark also condemned the world.
01:21:34: It wasn't just the existence of faith and the living of faith and the preaching of faith, but also the work of Noah's faith. The building of the ark would have condemned the world.
01:21:42: For 120 years, he was building that boat. That's a long time.
01:21:50: That's a long time. That's half of the time that our country has been a country. That's a long time. 120 years he built that boat.
01:21:58: I can only imagine that there were thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people who over the course of that more than a century would have heard about the ark, maybe gone, made trips to go look at the ark, meet
01:22:12: Noah. People would have walked by it. I do not believe for a moment that Noah went and he built this ark out in the middle of some desert somewhere where nobody would see it.
01:22:22: I believe it was right where he was at in the middle of civilization. Thousands of people would have seen that.
01:22:28: They would have walked by it. For 120 years, he built a monument, a promise of their coming judgment.
01:22:33: Just the sight of that ark itself was enough to condemn them and to make them feel condemned. Because every time they saw the ark, they would be reminded that he's talking about a judgment that is to come.
01:22:43: If I don't get on board that ark, I'm going to perish in that judgment. Just the sight of the ark itself would remind them of their unbelief and of their sinfulness and of the judgment that was to come.
01:22:52: In that way, the ark did condemn them. You can well imagine that everybody in Noah's neighborhood would get up every weekday morning and ride on their camel on the way to the office past the ark.
01:23:03: They would see it there and then they would all gather around a water cooler and they would talk about nutty Noah and being out there and still building that ark.
01:23:09: Mothers would take their boys to football practice, sat down at the field and they would walk over there and they would sit up in the stands and do their knitting and talk about nutty
01:23:17: Noah out there in the plains building his ark far away from any water. What a crazy man he must have been.
01:23:22: Do you realize that when the flood came, there were people who could have been 120 years old who would have said, that thing's been being built for as long as I've been alive.
01:23:29: He started that the month before I was born and all I can remember is the time when that ark was being built out there.
01:23:36: For a century and a half, that ark condemned the world because it was the sign and the symbol and it was the promise of their judgment.
01:23:43: The ark was either going to be for them the instrument of their salvation or the instrument of their damnation.
01:23:50: The ark, inclusion in it was their salvation and exclusion from it was their condemnation. Salvation or damnation, those were the two options that they had and those were the two things that the ark screamed at them every time they saw the ark for 120 years.
01:24:07: And here is yet another parallel to Jesus Christ. Just the salvation of the ark itself would have screamed condemnation and I can imagine, and I don't mean to be overly graphic here, but I can imagine the sinners who were treading the waters of judgment and watched that ark floating around out there as their time was drawing to a close.
01:24:27: They would have realized as they saw that ark that they were condemned. That was the promise of their judgment.
01:24:33: And this is the parallel to the Lord Jesus Christ again. If one is found in him because you have repented of your sin and trusted him for salvation and you have believed upon Christ and been born again, then
01:24:44: Jesus Christ is for you the instrument of your salvation and your deliverance. But listen, he is also the instrument of damnation and condemnation because there are plenty of sinners who have gone through these days of grace who will stand and stare into his eyes and they will realize that they have spurned his offer of grace during the days of grace and now the days of grace are over.
01:25:05: And that very one standing on that throne, sitting on that throne who offered them salvation for years and decades in this world is now the instrument of their judgment and their damnation.
01:25:15: He is the ark. Any in him will be saved and all who are outside of him will be judged and damned.
01:25:23: That is the promise. The work of Noah's faith, that ark, was itself an instrument of their damnation in that sense.
01:25:31: And third, he became an heir of righteousness. The salvation of his family, the condemnation, the judgment that came upon the world.
01:25:36: And third, he was an heir of righteousness. That's a bit of an interesting phrase, an heir of righteousness, because it kind of suggests that righteousness like an inheritance can be handed down, right?
01:25:45: Like Noah got righteousness from his father or his grandfather, his great -grandfather. Or that maybe Methuselah died and handed all of his righteousness to Noah.
01:25:53: That's the idea. Or it might suggest to us that it is in the building of the ark that Noah ended up inheriting righteousness.
01:26:00: What is meant by an heir of righteousness? Let's deal with the subject of righteousness first, the end of that phrase, the end of that verse.
01:26:09: He became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. I think once we understand what is meant by the righteousness which is according to faith, then the idea of an heir and what it meant for Noah will become a little bit more obvious to us.
01:26:20: There are other kinds of righteousness other than a righteousness which is according to faith. There is a human righteousness.
01:26:26: Human righteousness is really a righteousness in name only. It is a righteousness that is not pure.
01:26:32: It's not undefiled. It's not perfect. It's not glorious in any sense. And it doesn't please God because human righteousness, righteousness by works, is the righteousness that we try to acquire or attain by all the good deeds that we think that we are doing to earn salvation.
01:26:47: The merits, the charitable giving, all the things that we think that we do in righteousness, keeping the law, trying to earn good standing before God.
01:26:56: That is an attempt at righteousness. But it is an attempt at righteousness by a flawed, failing, sinful, corrupt, immoral, wicked, depraved, helplessly lost sinner.
01:27:07: And therefore, that righteousness is a flawed righteousness. It is not pure. It is a righteousness that is like filthy rags.
01:27:14: That's how Isaiah describes it. It's putrid. It's unclean. It's unacceptable. And that human righteousness is the type of righteousness ginned up by a sinner who is unwilling to admit that they have no righteousness.
01:27:28: That they stand before God in all of their sin and all of their tattered clothes of their own self -righteousness.
01:27:33: They're unwilling to admit that that righteousness is not good enough to please God. And so they come to God thinking that all of their good deeds which they have done in righteousness in an attempt to gain that righteousness will be acceptable to God.
01:27:45: And it is a refusal to believe what God says concerning human sin and human inability. Inability to please
01:27:51: God. There is a righteousness then that is according to faith and that is given to the sinner. It is an imputed righteousness.
01:27:58: It is a pure righteousness. It is a perfect righteousness. And it's the righteousness that we need to stand before God on judgment day.
01:28:06: What does God require for those to stand in His presence? A flawless and perfect record of obedience.
01:28:15: Perfection. Moral perfection. A perfect record of obedience. If that's the standard then who can attain it?
01:28:26: None of us can attain that standard. That standard is impossible. Nobody who has ever lived has attained that standard.
01:28:35: Except one. And He gives that righteousness to all who place their faith in Him.
01:28:42: That's the righteousness that we need to stand before God. The tattered robes or our own self -righteousness will never be sufficient.
01:28:49: We can never stand before God. There is a righteousness which comes according to faith. This is the righteousness that Paul said when after listing all of his accomplishments according to the law in Philippians chapter 3, he says in verse 8, so that I may gain
01:29:00: Christ. He said, I count all of those pluses that I had on my account, I count them as rubbish so that I may gain
01:29:07: Christ and be found in Him not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ.
01:29:14: The righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. There is a righteousness which comes from God, a divine righteousness, an alien righteousness.
01:29:22: It's the righteousness of another that is credited to our account, imputed to us. It covers us.
01:29:27: He clothes us with the robes of His righteousness. A righteousness that He earned. That's the righteousness which is according to faith.
01:29:34: So in Genesis chapter 15 when it says that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, what's being described?
01:29:41: What's being described is the judicial act of God whereby God, before Christ was even born, took the righteousness of the
01:29:47: Lord Jesus Christ and credited it to Abraham's account. Noah had a righteousness which was according to faith.
01:29:53: He was an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. Which means that the righteousness that Noah had was a righteousness that he did not earn, he did not merit, he did not work for.
01:30:03: He had no claim on it whatsoever. But in the moment of faith God gave to him the righteousness of Jesus Christ who would be born 2 ,000 years later and live the perfect life.
01:30:13: The perfect life of Jesus Christ was credited to Noah 2 ,000 years before Jesus Christ ever lived.
01:30:19: And it was credited to Abraham 1 ,500 years before Abraham ever lived. It's credited to you and I today 2 ,000 years after Jesus Christ has lived.
01:30:28: But it is the same righteousness because there is only one righteousness which is according to faith. And that is a righteousness that was earned by another.
01:30:35: So we're actually given something that somebody else earned. Isn't that what happens to an heir?
01:30:43: Isn't that what happens to an heir? So when it says that Noah became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith, we would say that Noah, by faith, became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
01:30:57: There is a righteousness which is according to faith and Noah was given that righteousness, righteousness earned by someone else.
01:31:05: And because that person died Noah got his righteousness. That's what an heir is. Have you ever inherited anything?
01:31:12: I mean, barring some weird thing where you get an inheritance before somebody dies, usually you're waiting for them to die and when they die then you get an inheritance, right?
01:31:20: And you get something that you have not earned. Remind my children of this periodically that you're going to eventually get something that you have never earned, a whole bunch of things that you have never earned after I die.
01:31:30: That's what an inheritance is. Noah became an heir of righteousness. He got a righteousness that he did not earn and he inherited it.
01:31:37: Not through anybody in his ancestry but it was given to him by another. But it would be wrong for us to think that all that Noah got as an inheritance, that all that he was an heir of was righteousness and righteousness alone.
01:31:51: I think it's more than that. There is an inheritance. There is an inheritance. We become heirs of something that is yet future.
01:31:58: There are things that Noah has yet to inherit that he was promised that all the righteous are promised. There is an inheritance which is yet future that is more than just righteousness.
01:32:08: We are heirs not just of the righteousness that we need to stand before God but we are heirs of everything that the righteous are promised.
01:32:16: And that takes us into a future reality that Noah was looking forward to, that Abraham was looking forward to, and that all the saints in Hebrews 11 were looking forward to.
01:32:25: This is a future reality that is mentioned throughout the rest of this chapter and we're going to explain this more in the weeks that are to follow.
01:32:31: But I just want you to notice and look down at verse 9. This is Noah receiving with the others and we will receive all of these blessings that are promised here.
01:32:40: Hebrews 11 verse 9, By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise. This is Abraham. As in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise.
01:32:49: What was the promise? He was looking for a city which has foundations whose architect and builder is God. What was the promise?
01:32:56: A city with foundations whose architect and builder is God. Hebrews 11 verse 13,
01:33:02: All these, that is, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, all of his sons, Sarah, Moses, Noah, Enoch, Abel.
01:33:12: Verse 13, All these died in faith without receiving the promises. Will they receive the promise of righteousness, right?
01:33:18: But there is another promise that is yet to come that those who died in faith never received. They never saw these promises.
01:33:24: But having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth, for those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.
01:33:34: And indeed, if they had been thinking of the country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.
01:33:43: Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. Look at that. A country, a heavenly country, a city with foundations whose builder and maker is
01:33:52: God. Verse 39, And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised because God has provided something better for us so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.
01:34:05: You see, they, those saints in Hebrews 11, they did not get everything that they were promised. There is a future inheritance for them and it is an inheritance that comes to them when it comes to us.
01:34:17: Nobody receives the full inheritance until we all receive the full inheritance. So God has prepared something for them, a country, a heavenly one, a city, a kingdom.
01:34:29: Hebrews chapter 12, verse 28, Therefore since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable servants with reverence and awe.
01:34:38: By faith Noah received righteousness and he became an heir of other things that all of the righteous also inherit.
01:34:46: A heavenly country, a heavenly city, a heavenly kingdom. You say, when are these realities going to happen?
01:34:51: It's going to begin in the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's going to continue through the fiery judgment that is to come into the new heavens and the new earth when we will dwell in the land.
01:35:00: This is the promise held out to the righteous all the way through the Old Testament. Psalm 37, verse 9.
01:35:05: Now Psalm 37, I'm going to read to you five verses from Psalm 37. I want you to listen to this. This is sprinkled all the way out through Psalm 37 which describes the promise and the hope and the prosperity that the righteous get to enjoy.
01:35:17: Listen to this. We're going to talk about inheriting the land. Psalm 37, verse 9. For evildoers will be cut off but those who wait for the
01:35:23: Lord, they will inherit the land. Psalm 37, verse 11. The humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.
01:35:31: Psalm 37, verse 22. For those blessed by Him will inherit the land but those cursed by Him will be cut off.
01:35:38: Psalm 37, verse 29. The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.
01:35:45: Pause there for just a moment. Has that happened yet? Have we dwelt in that land yet?
01:35:51: Abraham never did. Noah never did. Isaac, Jacob, none of them. Joseph, none of them. We still have not dwelt in that land.
01:35:57: The righteous have not dwelt in that land. But that's the promise to the righteous. Psalm 37, verse 34.
01:36:03: Wait for the Lord and keep His way and He will exalt you to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
01:36:09: We along with Noah will step into an eternal city in an eternal kingdom in an eternal creation.
01:36:21: The wicked will be cut off. Nothing unrighteous will ever enter into that. And we will receive the full inheritance that belongs to the righteous.
01:36:31: One last and final observation. The parallel between us and Noah. Just as Noah was carried by the ark through a physical judgment safe and sound, untouched.
01:36:43: When he got through the other side of that the door opened up and he and his family, all the righteous on the earth stepped out into the new world.
01:36:51: And it was a new world. It was different. And so it is the case that you and I in Jesus Christ we will be carried safely through all of the judgments that are to come.
01:37:02: We will be untouched. And there will be a new creation and new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells.
01:37:10: And you and I will step out of that ark into the new world. And we will see the wicked cut off.
01:37:16: And we will dwell in the land forever. That is the promise to the righteous. That is what the righteous inherit.
01:37:22: Not just righteousness but everything that is to come. We get the new world.
01:37:28: Let's pray. Father we thank you for your goodness to us in your Son. And the reminders of your grace and your purposes your redeeming intentions.
01:37:39: The future is certain. It is secure. And we are secure in your Son. And so we thank you for that. We know that you are bringing to pass everything that will be according to your will according to your word.
01:37:49: It is all going to unfold exactly as you have promised exactly as you have described. And we thank you that in Jesus Christ we are safe and secure from every judgment that is to come.
01:37:59: And though we may suffer in this world we know that ultimately our soul is what we are to be concerned with. And we know that we will step into the new heavens and the new earth into that new creation because of what
01:38:09: Christ has done. We praise you. We thank you. And we give you glory in the name of your Son.
01:38:15: Amen. Let's close the morning service by standing and singing
01:38:20: He Will Hold Me Fast. When I fear my faith will fail
01:38:36: Christ will hold me fast When the tempter would prevail
01:38:43: He will hold me fast I could never keep my hold
01:38:50: Through life's fearful path For my love is often cold
01:38:57: He must hold me fast He will hold me fast
01:39:07: He will hold me fast For my Savior loves me so He will hold me fast
01:39:24: Those He saves are His delight Christ will hold me fast
01:39:31: Precious in His holy sight He will hold me fast
01:39:38: He'll not let my soul be lost His promises shall last
01:39:46: Bought by Him at such a cost He will hold me fast
01:39:56: He will hold me fast He will hold me fast
01:40:02: For my Savior loves me so He will hold me fast
01:40:16: For my life He bled and died Christ will hold me fast
01:40:24: Justice has been satisfied He will hold me fast
01:40:31: Raised with Him to endless light He will hold me fast
01:40:38: Till our faith is turned to spite When He comes at last
01:40:48: He will hold me fast For my
01:40:56: Savior loves me so He will hold me fast
01:41:04: He will hold me fast For my
01:41:13: Savior loves me so He will hold me fast
01:41:23: To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ, may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.