Walking With God gen.8v1-22 24.3.8 — George Verwer

If you didn't understand spiritual life, that would be a very strange song to hear people singing, wouldn't it? Power in the blood. You know, we talk about power in high octane gasoline, or power in the atom, various sources of power, solar power.

And yet, for the spiritual life, we know that the source of power is the blood of Jesus Christ that never loses its power. It is the eternal blood of Jesus Christ. Only it can cleanse us from sin, and free us up to serve God, and enable us to serve Him.

And so when we claim the power of the blood of Jesus Christ, it is the very life of Jesus Christ, His own eternal life and power, and includes all of Himself. And so, when we sing of the blood of Jesus Christ, we're singing of that which is God's vehicle for giving us the ability to live on the eternal spiritual heavenly plane.

Wonderful hymn, speaking of the blood. The crimson thread that runs all the way through the Bible. We're going to see something of the blood in our passage this morning, as we open our Bibles to Genesis chapter 8.

Genesis chapter 8. Let's bow in prayer. Heavenly Father, whenever we approach your word, we recognize our own inability with our own finite minds to understand it. And yet you have promised that you have given us your Holy Spirit to be our teacher, indwelling every believer.

And so we pray as your word is taught and declared and looked into today, that the teacher of all teachers, the Holy Spirit, might teach and instruct and guide us into the truth, and apply individually to each heart and mind and each need of each person here today.

We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. Have you ever wondered, how can I know what God really wants me to do? Perhaps you've come to the place where you've said, okay, alright, I'm a Christian, I've put my trust in Christ, I'm saved, and I'm willing to live for God.

Walking With God Through Faith and Divine Guidance

And I start the day and I say, God, I want to do your will today. But many times during the day, you end up sort of wondering what it is. Well, you know it's not his will to do sinful things and awful things that you know would be wrong.

But you wonder about decisions and choices that you have to make throughout the day. And not only little choices, but especially those big choices. Which road to take, which way to go. How can we be sure that we are doing God's will?

In an individual basis. How can we learn to listen to his voice more carefully? To tune in, as it were, to his channel and to hear his voice speaking to us. There are many places in the Bible where the basic general principles for knowing the will of God are clearly expressed in doctrinal forms, such as in Romans 12, 1 and 2.

That if we want to experience or prove the perfect will of God, that we must offer ourselves as living sacrifices, not being conformed to this world, but being transformed by the renewing of our mind.

And then we will prove and we'll know what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And perhaps we understand somewhat of the principles of yielding our life to God and generally following the teachings of the Bible.

But what about the particular guidance of God in our lives? I'm sure you've heard people say, Well, God just really showed me that this was what I had to do, that I had to go to Albuquerque on Tuesday, or I had to marry not this woman, but that woman, or I had to marry this, you know, or I went to this college instead of this college, or I took this job instead of the other one, even though the other one paid more, because God showed me that this is what he wanted me to do.

And you're saying, No, I'm sort of making my own decisions and hoping God will bless. But does God particularly guide people? Especially we sometimes hear of evangelists and pastors who say, God called me to the ministry.

You say, well, I'm doing what I know how to do, but I don't really sense that God has particularly called me in any particular kind of a way. How does the individual particular will of God work out in a real life case study?

I believe one person in the Bible, or many, but one person in the Bible who was very tuned in to God's individual will for his life was Noah. Now, it may have been that the fact that the flood was coming, the flood was there and all those other things particularly motivated him to listen carefully.

But he did listen carefully and he did follow God's commands. He did walk with God, as it says here in Genesis. He was a man who completely obeyed God in his commandments. When God told him to do it a certain way, he did it and he knew what God wanted him to do.

And he followed through on those details. How sad it would be to come to the end of one's life and to realize that although you did many good things, that you didn't do exactly what God wanted you to do.

You see, God has made us all differently. He didn't cookie cutter us out as all stamped out of one mold. We don't even look alike. We look different. We have different abilities and different strengths and different weaknesses and different skills and talents and many other things.

And God has uniquely designed you and I for a particular task in this world. I meet so many people today who don't know why they're alive. I talked to a man just recently and I said, we talked for quite a while and I felt that I could ask this question.

I said to him, what is your purpose for living? Do you have a purpose for being alive and living? And he thought about it. He said, well, no, not really. How sad to be just existing, to be just going to work, coming home, doing what you're reading, doing the things that everybody does and somehow surviving and yet not really living.

God wants every believer to fulfill a particular task that he has laid out for us to do. We must find what it is and do it and be tuned in to God's direction along the way to walk with God. God does not just send us out into the world to do something in a general kind of a way.

He wants us to walk with him in this world to do his will, to go where he's going and to do what he is doing. Now, sometimes we think of people like Noah as colossal figures. You know, I think somehow in our minds, if Noah walked in, we would expect him to be 20 feet tall or something.

You know, just a colossal figure, not any. It's very hard to identify with some of these colossal figures in the Bible. Men like David and Moses and Elijah and others. And yet in regard to Elijah, God says he was a man of like passions as we are.

He got discouraged. He got upset. He got angry. He was a sinner just like you and I. He was made of flesh. He was a human being. He didn't always know automatically what he was supposed to do. He had to get his directions just like you and I do.

I believe we have to realize that the people of the Bible were people just like you and I. The same kind of problems and strengths and weaknesses, generally speaking. And yet somehow God communicated to them and they received that communication.

They did his will and they stand before us as examples. Not examples that cannot in any way be imitated by us because they are so great. But examples that can be imitated and followed. Of course, the great example is Jesus Christ himself.

Who was completely human except for having sin, which is not essential to our humanness. It came in the fall. But we can look at these examples and learn. And that's why God has given us the Old Testament that we might learn by its examples.

And I believe that we see five areas in which Noah trusted God. And I believe that's the key to walking with God. Without faith, it is impossible to please him. For him that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

God says faith is the essential function of the human heart in regard to God. And there are five areas in which I see in chapter 8 Noah exerting faith in God. The first key to walking with God by faith is found in verse 1.

Trusting God to Remember His People

And that is that we must trust God to never forget us. Have you ever felt like there was a situation in your life that God had forgotten about? That it just didn't seem like anything was happening? A desperate situation perhaps?

The deadlines have been passed many times and yet nothing seemed to be happening. And you started to wonder. That little seed of doubt began to grow. Has God forgotten me in this? Always helping others.

And I hear wonderful stories. But has he forgotten me? Look at verse 1. And God remembered Noah and every living thing and all the cattle that was with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth and the waters of Swathe.

God remembered Noah. He said, well, does that mean that God forgot him? And then he remembered him? Well, if God were like us, that might be true. But God is not like us. Our computer breaks down. We have memory lapses.

If you're like me, this is your memory. You know? If you don't write it down, you have trouble remembering it. And I praise God for papers and pencil and that helps my memory a lot. But God has no problem.

His computer never breaks down. He has more K than you can imagine for you that are into computers. He has it all together. He can remember every little detail of every little thing. He remembered. That word remembered means that an impression was made.

In those days, they had writing on clay tablets. It was the way they wrote. They made an impression on the soft clay. They would mark it with a stick and they would make letters in that way. We still have a lot of them today because they're made on clay.

They wrote on stone, as it said. And they wrote on the clay. They made an impression. It was like it was written on God's heart. God remembered Noah. What it literally means here is that God, in regard to Noah, is now ready to show that he hasn't forgotten him.

Even though it might look like he has. When it says God remembered, it just means that now God is ready to act on that which he has remembered. In Genesis 19 .29, it says,. And God remembered Abraham.

And it's talking here about the situation where God came to Abraham and told him that he was going to bring down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah, those two evil cities. And Abraham says,. But my nephew Lot, he lives down there, and won't you spare the city?

And all the negotiations and prayer there is as Abraham intercedes on behalf of Lot. And the intercession of Abraham is successful. And on the basis of prayer, it says, God remembered Abraham and spared Lot.

Somebody prayed and God acted. And this is God remembered. In Genesis 30 .22, Rachel wanted to have a baby. Her womb was closed and she prayed and prayed. And it seemed like she would never have a child.

And then it says God remembered Rachel and she conceived in her womb. And she had a child. First Samuel 1 .19. By the way, Rachel had prayed also. It says that God remembered Hannah each time. It's the same Hebrew word.

God remembered Hannah. Remember how Hannah prayed? Again, a two wife situation. And the other wife had all these children and Hannah wasn't having any children. And so she prayed and prayed and she went to the tabernacle before Eli and she prayed.

And then it says God remembered Hannah. And she had a son. That was Samuel. God remembered her. Had God forgotten her? No. God had never forgotten her. But he chose then to act on the basis of faith and prayer.

Trust God to never forget you. You notice he not only remembered Noah but he remembered every living thing and all the cattle. God says, Jesus said this. He said that God takes note of every sparrow that falls.

Keeps track of all the sparrows. He's got one part of his computer that just keeps track of sparrows. And then he's got another part of his computer, if we could say that, of his mind, his intelligence, that keeps track of hairs.

Every hair on your head is numbered. And he's got a little, you just see it all down through there. How many hairs? And he's constantly updating his computer as the hairs fall. God keeps track of everything.

He knows it all and he remembers everything. He remembers you. He hasn't forgotten you. It might not be his time to act yet. Perhaps he has not brought you to the place of faith and trust and prayer where he can act as a result of that.

But he hasn't forgotten you. Don't ever forget that God doesn't forget. Trust God to never forget you. No matter what it may be, no matter how long it may seem that you're waiting, God has not forgotten.

And he will act on your behalf. Then secondly, we see trust God to make your trial temporary. Look at verses 2 through 5. They spend a total of 371 days in the ark. And it must have seemed like it was going to be forever.

But it wasn't forever because God remembered them and he began working on their behalf. Verse 2, the fountains also the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped. Remember we talked about the subterranean waters and the ocean water that came up and flooded the continents?

And then how that great vapor canopy around the earth, the shield came and inundated the earth with water and God said, okay, that's the end. That's the stop of that and he closed them up. The waters returned from off the earth continually.

That is the continents were now draining back into the oceans. The oceans apparently deepened and the continents were thrust up. The waters returned from off the earth continually and after the end of the 150 days, the waters were abated.

And the ark rested in the 7th month, in the 17th day of the month upon the mountains of Ararat, Armenia, present day Turkey. And the waters decreased continually until the 10th month. In the 10th month on the first day of the month were the tops of the mountains seen.

That must have been a big day. What a big day that must have been. He said, wow, it's still there. The tops of the mountains seen. Look at Psalm 104 verse 6 with me, which is a description I believe of this particular event.

Psalm 104 verse 6. The first few verses of this chapter, he's praising God for his creation and here he is praising God for his abating of the flood. Thou coverest it with a deep as with a garment. The water stood above the mountains.

At thy rebuke, they fled. At the voice of thy thunder, they hasted away. They go up by the mountains. They go down by the valleys. Literally, the mountains go up and the valleys go down. Apparently it was a shifting of some things up and some things down to take care of that water.

Unto the place that thou hast founded for them, thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over, that they turn not again to cover the earth. He sent the springs into the valleys which run among the hills and give drink to every beast of the field.

And it goes on and describes the water cycle that we experience today. God said, all right, water, go back to your place. And the water all obeys God. You say, could that happen? Well, Jesus demonstrated on a small scale out on that great storm on the Sea of Galilee where he said, peace be still.

And all of a sudden, whoosh, peace, it was still. And God said to send that water back where it belonged. He didn't need it to be judging the earth and cleansing it anymore. And it went. And that flood must have seemed to be eternal to them over that year and they probably wondered what was going to happen.

But God kept his promise and brought them through and drained that water out. I imagine they could have been sitting in that flood figuring and figuring, how is he going to get rid of all this water? Number one, we didn't know where it all came from.

And number two, where is it going to go? How is he going to dump it? The whole earth is covered with it. Where is he going to put it? God had it all figured out and he took care of it. This is true of our own trials.

Look with me at 2nd Corinthians 4. What about that physical trial that you're going through? Perhaps you have some disease, some illness that is chronic and it just seems to go on and on and on and on.

And the prospects are only for it to get worse. Perhaps other problems in your life, pressures that you might have, emotional problems, financial problems, and you say, I don't think it'll ever be over with.

I've been fighting the same problem for years and it seems like it's going to get over with and then it isn't. And I'm just under this pressure constantly and it seems like it'll never be over. Perhaps in your family with your children, problems that keep recurring time after time after time.

Or in your marriage, perhaps you're tempted to give up and to think that, well, this is just the way it's always going to be. I'll always be miserable. Many people are taking their lives today because they figure that things cannot get better.

They're only going to get worse. But what does God have to say to us here in 2nd Corinthians 4 .16? For which cause we faint not. In other words, we don't give up. We don't lose heart, literally, that word faint means.

It doesn't mean just to physically faint, but it means to faint in the inner man. But though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day for our light affliction, which is but for a moment.

Look at that phrase. But for a moment. An Atomos, an indivisible amount of time, the same amount of time that it's going to take for the rapture to occur, he says, in a moment. Very short amount of time.

Worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. He says in comparison to eternity and heaven and blessing, the trials of this present life are like a split second of time. Indivisible in time.

You know, you can put up with most anything if you know it's temporary and you know it will be over with soon. Because you still have hope. But if you lose hope and do not see the light at the end of the tunnel, then even the slightest thing, having the flu, can make you feel like you want to die.

If you lose sight of the fact that people usually do get over the flu and don't always feel like that. Trust God to make your trial temporary. You know, whatever trial you have today, if you're a Christian, it's someday going to be over with.

No matter what sickness or disease or problem or weakness or pressure or difficulty you have, someday it's going to be over. Live for that day. Be faithful in it. But there is going to be an escape. There's going to be the light at the end of the tunnel and that light will last forever.

Light is in sight. And so he says in verse 9 of chapter 5. Wherefore we labor, in 2 Corinthians, we labor that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him because I know that he says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

Someday my number is going to be up so I'm going to live for God now. We persuade men, verse 11, we live for God because we know that the trials are only temporary. It may seem like forever to us, but in terms of eternity, a very short time.

Reading Circumstances While Waiting for God's Direction

The third area in which Noah trusted God and we need to trust him is in the area of trusting him to give us indications of his will. Indications of his will in verses 6 through 14. This is where we have the sending out of the raven and of the dove.

He opened the window in verse 6. It took a lot of faith to open the window. If he'd opened the window a little while before, he would have been drowned probably. Then he sent out a raven, verse 7, a dirty bird.

Not a clean animal, but one that lives on dead things. Probably sent that out first, figured it had the best chance of surviving. Probably the world was just floating masses of vegetables and dead animals floating all over the place.

Perhaps the raven could have found a place to land there. He sent forth the raven, which went to and fro. It commuted, went back and forth between the ark and other things it was into apparently. Then he sent forth the dove, probably the cleanest of the birds and symbolic of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament.

A symbol even today of peace with the olive branch in its mouth. Symbolized here, taken from this reference. Symbolizing the peace now that had come upon the earth. The rest, as Noah's name implies. So he sent out the dove.

The dove couldn't find rest at first, returned to the ark. And then eventually he sends out the dove. And the dove comes back with the olive leaf plucked off in its mouth. And then Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

How did he know God's will? One of the things was he just thought about things and did a little scientific experimentation. He didn't just wait around and just wait for God to speak to him directly. But he did a little checking out.

Nothing wrong with that. We don't have to leave our brains at the door when we come to Christ. God has given us brains to use for Him. We ought to study and observe and experiment and learn. And put our minds to work.

As God has told us to have dominion over this world. And we see Him doing that. Doing a scientific experiment. One interesting word is in verse 12. And he stayed yet another seven days. What patience he showed.

The word stayed means to expect or to hope for something. With expectation, to wait with expectation. In Psalm 119 .74, the psalmist says, I have hoped in thy word. In Job 13 .15, he uses the same word.

Though he slay me yet will I trust him. I will wait expectantly for him. Even though he kills me. I will wait for him. In Psalm 42. Hope thou in God. Hope thou in God. He was willing to wait. What patience he showed.

I think I would have had enough of that ark a lot earlier. And would have just sort of piled out and gotten out of there. But no, he was waiting for the right time. And he observed what was happening.

Science is not opposed to the Bible. It is not the science versus the Bible. A truly understood Bible with a truly understood science. Always fits together because God made both of them. He made the world and He made the Bible.

The two ways in which He has revealed Himself to mankind. There is a science falsely so called spoken of in 1 Timothy 6 .20. Which often is seen in conflict with the Bible. But true science never conflicts with the Bible.

If there is a conflict between the Bible and science. Either we don't understand our science correctly. Or we don't understand the Bible correctly. Or perhaps both. So the earth was dried up. And scientific research and experiment was in order.

And it gave him some helpful information. And he knew what was happening. But it alone wasn't enough on which to base his decision. Secular knowledge is helpful but it is not enough in itself. We must have a word from God.

And we will see that in the next area. Now Jesus Christ did many signs and wonders and miracles. But it was His word that did the job. It was the word of God that He used to really change people. And cause them to have faith in Him.

Remember the story told about the rich man and Lazarus. While they were both there in hell. And the rich man says. Couldn't you send somebody back and tell them. My brothers about this place so they won't come here.

And he says. If someone came back from the dead. They would listen. Send Lazarus back. And the answer is. Even if someone came back from the dead. They wouldn't believe. They have Moses and the prophets.

Let them hear them. Jesus constantly said. Yes I am doing signs and wonders. But it is my word that is going to do the job. And we need to know God's word. We must have a word from Him. It is not enough to just use our own unaided human reason.

To guide our steps. It is not within man to direct his steps. We do not have enough ability. Even with all of our technological progress. And everything else. We still don't know enough. To run our own lives.

Without a word from God. And that leads us to verses 15 to 17. The fourth area. Not only to trust God to give us indications of His will. By observing the circumstances. But we must have a word from Him on the subject.

Receiving Definite Instructions From God's Word

Verse 15. And God spake unto Noah saying. Finally God actually does give His word in this chapter. Up until now. Noah has been proceeding. On the basis of what is happening around him. And is responding to that properly.

And is tuned into what God is doing. Because he knows God. Now God speaks. In verse 15. And He says. Verse 16. Go forth of the ark. Thou and thy wife and thy sons and thy sons' wives with thee. Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee.

Of all flesh. Both the fowl and cattle. And explains all the things. And then to be fruitful. And multiply. Gives two commands. Go forth. Be fruitful and multiply. God gave His command. He told Him what to do.

It is God's word. That is essential. To knowing God's will. In 2 Timothy 3 .16. We find that all scripture. Is given by inspiration of God. And is profitable. For doctrine. For reproof. For correction.

For instruction in righteousness. That the man of God. May be mature. And equipped. Throughly furnished unto all good works. God has given us His word. In Romans 10 .17. We are told. Faith cometh by hearing.

And hearing by the word of God. It is the word of God. That will guide us. And direct us. That is why we have to be in it every day. Every day. God will communicate definite instructions. From His word to us.

I remember a few years ago. Several years ago. I had been here a couple of years. At Faith Bible Church. As assistant pastor. I enjoyed the ministry here very much. But I began getting. You know the old other side of the fence.

Syndrome I guess. Began thinking that perhaps God. Wanted me to go somewhere else. I began considering that. And I was reading the scriptures. I came across God's promise. Thou shalt hear a voice behind thee saying.

This is the way walking in it. When you turn to the right hand. When you turn to the left. And I said God's going to guide me. As to where He wants me to go. And I began looking around. At the various other possibilities.

Then one day. On the very day. That I had decided. I was going to make a decision. My deadline I had set. I came across a passage. That said this. Turn not to the right hand. Nor to the left. But let thine eyes be straight before thee.

And consider the path of thy feet. I became convicted. I wasn't concentrating on my ministry here. I was thinking about elsewhere. And other things. And God said to me. Concentrate on what you're doing.

If I want you somewhere else. I'll show you that. But right now. You concentrate on what you're doing. And what you're doing right here. And God direct me to stay. I'm so glad I did. I praise the Lord.

For the opportunity to minister here. I've seen God direct me. In that kind of a way. Out of His word. That sounds a little mystical. And it always makes me a little nervous. When I say. When people sort of.

You know. This verse right here. And then you go out and do it. I'm not saying that. In some kind of a horoscopish. A superstitious sort of way. But in your reading. And study of God's word. God will direct.

And guide you out of His word. If you want to know His will. Don't spend more time thinking. Or even so much more time praying. But spend more time studying. And thinking. And allowing God to tell you something.

Out of His word. Spend time in the word. And He will lead and direct you. And when He leads and directs you. You'll know it. Somebody says. How do you know when you're in love? You'll know it. You won't need to ask me.

You'll know. There is an inner knowing. That takes place in our spirit. When we know God's will. And no matter what the circumstances. Or facts that come before us. From that point on. We know what God wants us to do.

No one knew what God wanted Him to do. God told Him. You say. Wouldn't it be nice. If God just sort of spoke. An audible voice. Out of the sky. He may do that. I don't deny that He could do that. Of course.

I always wonder. Whether it's the devil or the Lord. But if it comes out of the Bible. I know it's the Lord. You say. My father tells a story. About how he was trying to make a decision. One time. About whether to marry my mother.

He was down at the state house. In Providence, Rhode Island. Nobody else was around. He was walking around the grounds. He was going to Bible school at that time. Didn't know what to do. Was walking around.

And really considering the matter. He didn't have a job. Didn't have any money. He was about to take a church. But he didn't know how things were going to work out. And he didn't know what to do. He was getting cold feet.

He had already promised to marry her. But he was having his last minute questions. And he claims that somebody said. Marry Ruth. He heard a voice. He looked around. He thought maybe it was somebody saying it.

Now I don't know. I think it was the Lord. But usually God doesn't speak that way. And I wouldn't go around seeking for voices. Because the devil can talk to you too. Okay. There's all kinds of strange things going on in this world.

But find him in the word. Let him speak to you out of the word. And if you're spending time in the word. God will direct your paths. He really will. He will guide you. It is his responsibility to do that.

He said I will guide you with my eye. You notice the two commands here are very similar to our commands today. He said go forth into the world out of the ark. And he said be fruitful and multiply. And on a spiritual level.

We as believers have been given those same two commands. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And multiply disciples unto me. Reproduce yourself spiritually in the lives of others by sharing the gospel.

And discipling them to be like me. We've been given the same command. And I believe every major decision in life ought to be considered with those commands for us today. How does this enhance my going forth into the world with the gospel?

How does this enhance my making disciples of all nations? This marriage or whatever decision we're making. My dad heard the director of teen missions. This mission that Laura Custer is going with. Speak over at Hillthorpe Church the other week.

And he said there's two words that keep more people from going to missionary field than any other two words. I do. I do. Marrying a person who is not committed. Many young people come up and they're committed to God.

They believe that God's calling them to go out and to reach the world with the gospel. And to go somewhere and serve him. And they're ready to go anywhere and do anything. And then they meet someone who's very nice, a Christian, very fine.

But is not interested in going to the mission field. It's very rare to find a young person who'll make the kind of choices that I've seen some people make. And say, if you're not going where I'm going, then we can't go together.

If we're not agreed on that, then as much affection and love as we may have for each other, we cannot marry. Because we're not going the same way. Trust God to communicate definite instructions from his word.

And those instructions often are the same ones that he got. Go forth and be fruitful and multiply. God will let you know what he wants you to do. If you are committed to doing it ahead of time. And if you are seeking for his will in his word.

By the way, that's the reason why we called our broadcast Faith from the Word. Because that's what we need is to trust God in a deeper way. And how do we do that? By hearing more of his word. Faith cometh by hearing.

And hearing by the word of God. And then, fifthly, to trust God to keep his promises. And wonderful promises are given to Noah here. In verse 18 through 22. Noah went forth, he obeyed. And his sons and his wife and his son's wives with him.