Welcome to the Lansdale Life Church podcast.
If you're seeking a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, this podcast is for you.
Thank you for joining us today.
So we're looking at Hebrews chapter 11.
And as we continue in the Hall of Faith, particularly this morning,
we're going to talk about how faith is exhibited by sacrifice, words and actions.
You know, faith has to be demonstrated.
You know, we can say we believe something.
In James, James says that, you know, even the demons believe there's one God and
they actually tremble.
That's more to say than most people, right?
They believe, and yet faith without works is dead.
Faith has to be exercised.
It has to be demonstrated.
It has to be applied, right?
And so as we look at these first three patriarchs of faith in the Hall of Faith
here, we're going to be looking at how three patriarchs of faith exhibited their
faith in God.
And here it is recorded for us in history.
So we could certainly glean from this and apply it to our own lives.
We're going to be looking at Abel, how he demonstrated his faith through sacrifice.
We're going to be looking at Enoch, how he demonstrated his faith through words,
through testimony, through warnings.
And finally, Noah, he demonstrated his faith through some of those things too,
but especially through works, building an arc.
And we're going to talk a little bit about that.
But like I said, faith really has to be exhibited.
This pulpit right here, or podium, whatever you want to call it,
a good friend of ours, Nate Grandia, I don't know where he is these days,
but long ago, he made this for us.
And it's cool because it's light.
You can just move it anywhere you want.
And I could look at this when he first made it.
I'm thinking, wow, it's kind of lean.
And I could say, well, but it's good enough to hold up my Bible
and good enough to hold up people when they start leaning on it
and putting some pressure on it.
But until I put my Bible down, I haven't exhibited faith
that this pulpit can hold anything up, right?
You've heard the analogy of his chair.
You could say, well, that chair looks pretty sturdy,
but I'm not going to sit in it.
I mean, until you sit in the chair, you're not really exhibiting faith
that it will hold you.
But all of you right now are trusting and having faith in that chair
that it was made well, and it's going to hold you up, right?
Because faith has to be exhibited somehow.
And these first three patriarchs in this Hall of Faith
are exhibiting it through sacrifice, words, and actions.
So let's dive in.
We're only looking at four verses today.
But of course, we're going to cross-reference
with tremendous resources in the Word
that is going to bring all these concepts clear.
So let's pray.
Father God, we thank you as we're singing about you,
your name, and how worthy you are of praise,
and how we can believe.
And you are a miracle worker, like Liana was saying.
Lord, I know you want to do something in here today
to break people free from addiction,
to break people free from this treadmill of thought process
that always gets nowhere, it always leads to a trajectory
that isn't healthy.
Lord, I know that you want to heal our minds, our hearts.
You want to take away the things that are blocking us
from running the race that you have set before us.
So Father God, we ask your Spirit
to just come through this place today
and move in a powerful way, Lord God,
to just burn away any dross in our thinking,
any dross in our hearts,
any dross in our flesh,
that you would actually bring healing here today.
Whatever is happening in this place right now
that needs to be corrected or rearranged,
realigned with your will, Lord God,
we ask you in your Spirit
to come and have your way in this place right now
because Lord, we are hungry for you.
Are you guys hungry?
Don't you want more from God?
I want more.
Father God, we want more from you, Lord God,
and you want us to want more.
So Lord God, we ask you to just download
whatever spiritual gifts you want to give us today
that you would just send an avalanche
of blessings in this house
so that when we walk out there, Lord God,
we light up this town.
We light up our workplaces, our schools.
We light up our neighborhood.
We light up our house, Lord God.
We are your lights in this world.
So Father God, we ask you to light us up today
in your word.
We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.
Father God, thank you, yes.
So let's dive right in in Hebrews chapter 11
and verse four, by faith Abel
offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain
through which he obtained a witness
that he was righteous.
God testifying of his gifts
and through it, he being dead still speaks.
So here, Abel offered a sacrifice to the Lord
that still speaks, that's been recorded
and still speaks out of his sacrifice.
So let's do a little flashback
and read a little bit on the overhead
in Genesis chapter four,
a little bit about this sacrifice.
And in the process of time it came to pass
that Cain brought an offering
of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.
And Abel also brought the firstborn of his flock
and of their fat.
And the Lord respected Abel and his offering
but he did not respect Cain and his offering.
And Cain was very angry
and his countenance fell.
So this idea, why did he respect Abel and his sacrifice
but he didn't respect Cain and his sacrifice?
Well, this word respect, the Hebrew word is Sha'a,
you know, and it really means to gaze upon
and to like look at, see, like in other words,
like wow, Sha'a, I can't like give a comparison in English
but it's like Shazam or something like that.
But it's like the Lord just see it saying,
you know, look at that sacrifice of Abel, okay?
I mean, that is magnificent.
He noticed it, he took notice.
It's kind of like the idea
where the Lord respected and honored,
remember the centurion?
When the centurion reached out, you know,
he's a Roman soldier, commander of troops.
He reached out to Jesus,
come please, my servant is paralyzed
and he's near death, please come and heal him.
And the Lord started going, he goes,
well, no, you don't have to come, he sent messages.
No, no, you don't have to come to the house, okay?
Because I know you have so much authority,
you just say it and it's done.
Look, I have authority
and I could command this to be done
and that to be done.
I don't have to be there personally.
You could just say the word and my servant shall be healed.
And that very moment, Jesus said,
it is done, it is finished or he is healed.
And as they left that very moment,
the servant was healed.
But after he heard the centurion say,
no, don't come to my house, you don't have to.
He marveled at the centurion's faith
because he's a Gentile.
He says, I wish my fellow Israelites
had as much faith as this centurion.
That's the idea.
It's like a sha'a, like, wow, look at that in a respect.
So he actually respected Abel's offering.
But we saw that Cain was angry
and we see the next verse that the Lord warns.
He warns Cain.
He says, so the Lord said to Cain,
why are you angry and why has your countenance fallen?
You know, that's in the Lord's word, his face fell.
You can ever see when somebody's just upset
or they're down and they just look down,
they just can't even look Abel or God in the eye.
He's just like, you know, like down.
Why is your countenance falling?
If you do well, will not you be accepted?
And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door
and its desire is for you.
But you should rule over it.
Have you ever been there?
You know, you just suddenly said,
you know, I just don't know what God wants.
I just can't, I just can't please him in my,
I just can't, I just feel like he's just so displeased with me.
I give up and your countenance falls.
I'll tell you, that's a dangerous place to be.
It's not gonna get better.
You're not gonna guilt God into doing more for you.
He's already done so much for you, right?
And the Lord is saying to you and I,
what's going on here?
Lift your face up, look me in the eye.
I am your Lord and savior.
I know where I'm taking you.
Don't suddenly look away and start to drift away.
And that's what happens.
Once we look away from God, you know,
it never turns out well for us, okay?
And it didn't turn out well for Cain.
And that word, it's really kind of insidious in a sense
because it says, you know, sin lies at the door
and its desire, that's almost like a sexual thing.
It's like the enemy wants to rape you with sin.
It's like a disgusting vision and picture.
It's like, but Satan wants to defile us.
Do you know that?
He really does.
And tarnish our identity in Christ.
He can't, but he's trying, you know?
And yet the Lord tries to talk Cain.
It's almost like he knows what's coming
because he knows all things
and he's trying to talk him out
from what he's about to do.
And you know what happens, of course?
Cain ends up killing Abel and burying him in the ground.
And so what was so good about Abel's sacrifice,
but what was so bad about Cain's?
Well, think about this, you know,
there was a curse.
Do you remember Adam and Eve
when they ate from the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil
and they were cast down?
But there was this curse on the ground
that was placed, we read,
in Genesis chapter three, verses 17 and 18.
And he said to Adam,
because you heated the voice of your wife
and have eaten from the tree
of which I commanded you saying,
you shall eat of it.
Cursed is the ground for your sake.
In toil you shall eat of it
all the days of your life.
Both thorns and thistles
it shall bring forth for you
and you shall eat the herb of the field.
So the ground was cursed, okay?
And where did Cain get his sacrifice
from the ground, right?
In other words,
he's harvesting something
that's already tainted and cursed
and he's offering that to the Lord, right?
It's almost like it reminds me
of these like mobsters
like I read about Al Capone.
How, you know his name, right?
Bad, bad guy.
And he was probably one of the most
notorious mobsters
and ordered killings and everything else.
Apparently he was very generous
to orphanages and Catholic schools in Chicago.
So here he is like being like a benefactor
and just giving money away
while he's ordering hits on people's lives.
Like it's almost like trying to buy
like mercy from God, you know?
You know, it's cursed.
You can't redeem yourself
by giving to God
what you've already done wrong, you know?
And so in the same way,
Cain is giving something
that has been harvest
from the cursed ground.
Now, the Lord removed that curse.
Remember after the flood
and he said to Noah,
I have removed in Genesis chapter eight.
We don't have it,
but he did remove that curse on the ground.
Okay, so that's what was wrong.
With Cain's sacrifice,
but more than that,
Cain was wrong.
You know, a sacrifice to the Lord
is really a posture
of where your heart is, isn't it?
Like if you're not loving God,
not enjoying God,
not in communion with God,
are you giving them
too much of your life?
You're not giving them much at all.
You're being pretty stingy
with God, right?
Sometimes we got to remind it,
hey, I haven't like given
to God my life.
You know, I haven't really
surrendered more of my life to him,
right?
But really a sacrifice
is really the posture of our heart.
So it wasn't just that he gave
from the cursed ground.
It was that he was living a cursed life.
We could just see this
because of all this.
If you could turn like that
on a dime and kill your brother,
right, because you're upset
and angry and envious,
that's bad, right?
So it was really the sacrificer
that the Lord was displeased with
and didn't respect.
But Abel, Abel gave of the firstborn
of his herd, right?
And what's that all about?
Well, first of all,
why are you raising flocks
when you're not going to eat them,
right?
Because mankind was not permitted
to eat flesh yet.
In fact, it wasn't until after the flood
that the Lord actually gave
the instruction to Noah,
now you can eat meat, right?
But before that,
it was just plants
that we were supposed to eat, right?
So he's raising a flock
that he's not going to eat.
You know, it could be
that he was going to drink their milk,
but I don't think that's it either
because we're supposed to be eating.
We were vegans back then, right?
No offense to you vegans
that are still holding on to that, right?
I feel sorry for you.
You're missing out.
Another missing out, but no.
But, you know, back then,
we weren't supposed to be eating
anything from an animal.
So I doubt Abel was raising sheep
to milk and have cows
to drink milk, right?
But what else was he?
Clothing, right?
You know, shearing the sheep,
making wool clothes, okay?
Skinning the animals
to make clothing, right?
He saw his mom and dad
clothed with the skins in the garden.
Hey, this works.
But most of all,
he was raising a flock
to offer to God.
You know, I mean, the Lord saw,
look at this,
Abel is raising a flock
just to be able to give me
the firstborn, like, shah!
You know, that's respect.
He respected his offering.
As I was thinking about this,
what can we give to the Lord
that represents our faith in Him?
One, of course, is money.
I know you were dreading me
saying that word, money, right?
We don't talk about money
very much here, okay?
Because Calvary Chapel is,
it's one of our distinctives.
We don't ask for money.
You know, we use money properly
and we're good stores.
But we don't ask for money.
We don't guilt trip you into giving.
Have you ever been there
for like an offering
and someone special comes up?
You go, oh no, here we go, okay?
And they're like,
and this long story,
well, you just,
just pass the bucket, okay?
Can we skip?
But it's almost like I'm a manipulation.
And I'm sorry, Lord, if that's,
but sometimes you feel that way, don't you?
You're being like,
you're being massaged into,
you know, I remember this one joke
I once heard.
He said, you know,
now listen, folks,
this isn't a lean back offering.
It's a lean forward offering.
I'm like, what does that mean?
It's like, when you lean back,
you're grabbing the change in your pocket.
When you're leaning forward,
you're grabbing your wallet.
That's the kind of offering
we want today, you know?
But no, we don't do that, you know?
And because, you know,
we believe the Lord provides, right?
But money is one thing.
And a lot of times,
people are cheap with God
and they don't realize
why they never have any money left.
It's because they're wasting it
on foolishness, silly things, right?
But beyond money, you know,
and really, when we think about
how many people actually give 10%
of their gross earnings, you know,
much less their net earnings, right?
But in the Bible,
we see that's a biblical principle of a tent.
But let's move past money.
Do you want me to move past money?
Let's move on.
I heard somebody say, amen.
You know, but how about time?
How about time?
You know, we have 10,080 minutes in a week.
You know that?
10,080 minutes.
How many minutes per day
are you dedicating to God?
Isn't that like,
wow, I have that much?
Yeah, we do.
So that would mean if we gave
like 10% of our minutes,
we'd be like on our knees
and in our room praying
and reading the Bible,
like 17 hours a week, you know?
I don't know about you,
but I don't quite spend that many, you know?
Maybe close sometimes, but in different ways.
But really, I mean, that's the idea
of just like we have so much time
on our hands.
You think, no, you don't understand.
I am busy, man.
I am so busy.
I got this job.
I got that job.
I can't, you know, I don't have time.
And I just might listen to a devotional
on the way into work.
But, you know, if I get a phone call,
even that's getting turned down.
You know, like how many minutes
can you sacrifice to the Lord?
Because that's really what it is.
It's basically relinquishing your time
to God and say,
here, God, have my time, you know?
I mean, we can give our money.
We can give our time.
You know, we can give our relationships.
You say, well, what does that mean?
You know, well, I know when I got saved,
the first thing I did was sacrifice
relationships that I didn't belong in anymore.
Like people that I knew were going to drag me down,
people that had no interest in God.
I'm like, I'm not strong enough
to be anywhere near these types of people.
I have to relinquish them to God.
I have to sacrifice relationships
so I can run that race, you know?
I mean, if you're running a race
with somebody very slow,
then you're doing it for other reasons
than winning a race, right?
But how about if the person
doesn't want any part of that race?
How are you running a race, right?
So a lot of times we do have
to sacrifice relationships that are bad,
but how about good ones, good relationships?
How do you sacrifice
or offer to God relationships?
Well, we could see a picture of it
in the Bible when Abraham offered up Isaac,
you know, his only son,
the other one, you know,
he already sent away, okay,
and Ishmael and he wasn't the promised son.
And so here he goes up
and he was willing to offer to God
the really only heir of his household,
you know, willing to give that up.
How about Hannah
when she couldn't have children
and then finally she says,
that's it, Lord.
If you give me a child,
that son belongs to you.
And Samuel was born.
That's what we do
when we do dedications.
Don't we baby dedications?
We're saying, Lord,
when I raise this child,
you are inevitably his father,
okay, or her father, not me.
I'm a steward.
I'm a fill in for the real thing.
And that's always,
after I got saved,
that's always how I pictured
my role in my kid's life.
I really did.
It's like, I'm not,
they're not going to follow
in my footsteps.
They're not going to follow
in Jill's footsteps.
They might track along,
but eventually you want them
following in God's footsteps, right?
Because he's the one,
we're merely just handing them off
to God and say, Lord,
they're yours now.
Take care of them.
I know you will.
And that's the idea.
You're surrendering.
You're sacrificing them to the Lord
in a sense that they're not mine.
They're yours.
And those relationships are so valuable
to just offer up to the Lord.
That's the idea
of we demonstrate our faith
by saying, this child
doesn't really belong to me.
They belong to you, Lord.
And we had to learn that
so many times, you know,
realizing like what's more important
than to go on tournaments
for different types of sports
on Sunday mornings
and miss church all the time
or to be in some other activity
and miss youth group at night.
Like, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Because if we start to
show our children
how little God means to us,
what do you think is going to happen to them?
Their faith is just going to be
watered down.
By the time they reach adulthood,
they're going to say,
yeah, mom and dad.
Yeah, they were Christian,
you know, but we went to church sometimes.
I'm telling you, they learn, you know,
they, you know, more things
are caught than taught.
You know, you can say a lot of things,
but it's actually demonstrating
your faith.
And Abel did that,
and we do that
when we just sacrifice our lives.
You know, how about possessions?
You know, things that we have
saying, you know what?
I don't need this anymore.
I remember one time
I had this really expensive
nevermind, it doesn't matter.
But I just, all right,
I had this really expensive wrestling mat
and we, you know, we used it.
And I remember it was the toughest thing
to give it away.
But I knew these other people
were, you know, doing jiu-jitsu
and everything.
And I'm just kind of like,
thinking like, yeah,
but I might get back into it.
Sure, my kids might use it
or just give it away.
Just what are you hanging on for?
I'm so glad I did.
There's so many times
that I just was holding on like,
what are you holding?
Just get rid of it.
Give it to God, right?
Possession.
It reminds me one time
when David was in a battle
and he was kind of conquered down
in this like stronghold
and the Philistines were on the other side
and they're in Bethlehem
and they had control of Bethlehem.
And he's there, he goes,
man, what I could do for a drink
from the well of Bethlehem.
Man, I would love a drink
from Bethlehem as well, you know?
And the three mighty men
heard him say that.
And they're like,
I don't know what they said
because it doesn't record it.
But I can only imagine,
let's surprise them.
So they went and snuck in
to the campground of the Philistines
and filled up some water from the well
just to bring it back to David.
And when David saw it, he's like,
are you telling me
that you risked your lives
to bring me this water?
I can't drink this water.
This water belongs to God
and he poured it out to the Lord
as an offering.
Now, most people would look at that
and say, are you crazy?
Like they just risked their lives
to give you water
and you're gonna pour it out to the Lord
because who's greater than me?
God, you know,
it's like just that relinquishing things
to him and saying, yo, he deserves.
Sometimes it doesn't make sense
to other people.
Like, why would you do that?
You know, remember the girl
who came when Simon the leper,
Jesus was over at Simon the leper's house
and he was there
and it's getting very close.
It's the last week, I believe,
when he was about to be crucified
and the woman,
I think we even sang about
the alabaster drawer,
at least maybe it was in my brain.
But anyway,
but anyway, so she had
this expensive perfume.
We're talking like
at least a month income
for an average person,
maybe even a year for some.
And she broke it open.
It was anointing Jesus' body
and even the disciples are saying like,
look at the waste.
I mean, that could have paid a year's weight.
I could have fed the poor.
What are you doing?
Like, that's such a waste.
And you know who was leading that charge?
Judas Iscariot
because he was the treasurer, okay?
Now the Lord did that on purpose,
but it's no instructions for us
to hire a Judas to handle the money.
He did that on purpose, Jesus, right?
But Judas,
because Judas was stealing.
He was skimming right off the top.
He was like saying,
man, I could have bought a Rolls-Royce
with that right now.
Maybe not, but you get the idea.
But she poured it out.
And you remember what Jesus said?
Leave her alone.
What she has just done for me
will be recorded forever.
Like our sacrifices to the Lord
are known by God.
And he looks and says,
Sha'a, look at that.
Look at that.
Sacrifice.
And I'm just saying,
what are we offering up to the Lord?
It's really amazing
because we have so much to offer,
even our health.
I'm going long on the sacrifice.
The others aren't going to be as long.
But I remember this great lady.
She didn't live near here,
but she used to visit sometimes.
And we knew her from our previous church too.
And when the music was playing,
the worship, she would dance with her fingers.
Right?
And I always thought it was very cool.
But she was asked at a previous church
to stop doing that.
And that's so sad, isn't it?
To say, hey, stop doing that.
You're distracting people.
And so she eventually left that church.
And so she would be doing here.
And do you know why she did that?
Because she had a disease
which was causing her
to not be able to move her hands at all.
So now the Lord healed her of that.
So what is she doing?
Dedicating it to the Lord.
Relinquently, Lord, these are your hands.
You know, really praise the Lord.
You know, the Lord has told me
you belong on your knees
because the Lord healed.
I had some bad knee issues
and he healed them.
And man, I just like I love kneeling.
I love it.
You know, in Hebrew,
the word kneel means bless, blessed, Barack.
But I love kneeling.
And that's why because like
these knees belong to the Lord.
He healed them.
And the fact that I can actually kneel
like this forever.
I don't even ever get tired kneeling.
It just feels great.
You know, you want to try it.
I remember saying this one time
that the Lord healed my knees
and I started when I couldn't even kneel.
My knees were just like,
felt like they're gonna rip.
My left knee had surgeries and all this.
I thought it was just gonna rip apart.
It's just like, I just keep doing this.
Keep doing this.
Well, I shared this one time
and somebody told me that
their mother had rheumatoid arthritis
and heard that message
and started kneeling and praying
and she was healed.
Is that amazing?
I mean, praise God.
It's like, wow.
We just got to give it to God.
Just say, Lord, it's yours.
It's yours.
Sacrifice, you know.
Now this next is Enoch.
And let's look at him for a minute.
Verse five.
By faith, Enoch,
by faith, Enoch was taken away
so that he did not see death
and was not found
because God had taken him.
For before he was taken,
he had this testimony
that he pleased God.
But without faith,
it is impossible to please him
for he who comes to God
must believe that he is
and that he is a rewarder
of those who diligently seek him.
That's one of my favorites
right there, that verse.
But back to Enoch.
He's, you know, here he is.
He's, he's giving a testimony.
Now, Enoch, you know, was,
he was a prophet
and he was speaking
and he was warning his generation
that there's going to be hell to pay.
There's wrath coming.
If you don't straight out there,
this is when all the planet earth
was so evil and wicked,
God already knew,
I'm going to have to wipe humanity out.
Okay.
And with a great flood.
And so Enoch was warning people
and we know this.
Let's look at Enoch for a minute
in Jude chapter one,
verse 14 and 15.
Now, Enoch, the seventh from Adam
prophesied about these men,
the evil and wickedness on the earth,
that is, saying,
behold, the Lord comes
with 10,000s of the saints
to execute judgment on all,
to convict all
who are unGodly among them
of all their unGodly deeds
and which they have committed
in an unGodly way.
There's a theme here.
And of all the harsh things
which unGodly sinners
have spoken against him.
So there's four unGodlies there.
So Enoch was assigned the role
of speaking against the unGodliness
in his generation and warning them
that there's going,
there's something about to happen.
And he was warning them
and warning them.
He was using his,
he was demonstrating his faith
by his words,
by his words.
You know, his words were harsh.
He's speaking to the unGodly.
You know, we were having
a conversation yesterday
on the best way for us these days
to share the gospel.
And you know, a lot of people chuckle
or not chuckle,
but they frown on the fire
and brimstone and you know,
you're going to hell.
Well, that's true, isn't it?
I don't think we should like mock
any way of sharing the gospel.
If someone is assigned
with a bullhorn on the corner saying,
if you don't put your faith
in Jesus Christ,
you're going to hell.
It's harsh.
But is it true?
It's true, right?
I mean, it's the truth.
Like, who am I to say,
you're doing this wrong.
Let me just tell you,
you're being too harsh.
Well, and maybe it's not my style,
but who am I to call another servant,
you know, that they're doing
something wrong or incorrect.
You know, I think Christian's
got to stop the finger
pointing at each other.
You know, we're like cannibals.
Sometimes we just eat one another,
you know, but like,
but like there may be other ways
that maybe aren't so harsh,
you know, you unGodly,
you know, that's like,
wow, they don't even believe.
Like, you know,
they don't even believe
that there is a God.
They don't even believe
that there's a hell and a heaven.
They don't believe like anything.
So telling them they're going
to go to a place
they don't even believe in
sometimes isn't the most profitable
way to share the gospel.
You know, that's why it's important
for us to to be able
to be prepared and ready.
I love what Peter says
when he said in 1 Peter 3 15,
he said,
sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.
Remember what sanctify means?
To set apart,
to honor,
to treat as holy,
sanctify or honor the Lord
in your hearts
and always be ready
to give a defense
to everyone who asks you
a reason for the hope
that is in you
with meekness and fear.
He's saying be prepared.
How can you be prepared all the time
for every possible situation?
I mean, things just happen.
Sometimes I was getting
I was in the dermatologist
getting my skin looked at
and and this lady just says,
so what are you doing?
I want my pastor.
She said, Oh, I went the other way.
That doesn't sound
what do you mean by
it went the other way?
Well, I turn I became Jewish.
I went to Judaism
and she said,
my husband is you know,
in the end,
it doesn't really matter
as long as we're a good person.
And meanwhile,
it's like, you know,
I could tell she was in a hurry.
There's two other people
there with her
because they were training.
So there's three people
in the room and I'm like,
I wasn't ready for this.
Like, what am I supposed to say
to this, you know,
because it's just I was
caught flat footed.
Do you know what I mean?
When I just wasn't ready.
I wasn't prayed up.
I didn't have the armor on.
I didn't like,
but at least I shared something.
I said, well,
you're good.
As long as you know,
God, you're fine.
And that's that's all
I could muster up at the moment,
you know,
and you're probably saying
and he's a pastor.
Hey, is that all you got?
You know, you know,
but really,
and I did,
I kind of walked out of there
saying I should have been more ready.
What a could have should I ever
just wish you said something
at the moment
and you leave and you're like,
oh, just should I just
oh man, I missed it.
You know, but this is saying
if we set apart or honor Christ
in our hearts,
we don't have to really be quickwitted.
We don't have to really be like,
aha, gotcha, you know,
or anything.
It's like the Lord lives in you.
Like, Lord, what should I say right now?
Like, I don't feel ready at the moment
and the Lord just rises up in us
and he like speaks.
Yeah, we could just like
our life,
our life is identified in Jesus Christ.
We have no life apart from him.
Think about that.
So do we have to worry
if somebody just said,
hey, you know, I noticed
I noticed something about you,
you know, yeah, yeah, it's me.
Well, yep, that's who I am.
Well, we are the temples
of the Holy Spirit.
We don't have to stress.
If we honor the Lord in our hearts
as we go out each day,
we can know
that he's going to say
what's meant to be said.
You know, amen.
I love how Jude kind of tells us,
you know, sometimes it's okay
to be harsh when harshness is needed,
you know, but other times,
you know, warm and fuzzy tender words
are what's needed.
Jude 1, 22, 23,
and when some have compassion,
making a distinction,
but others save with fear,
pulling them out of the fire,
hating even the garment
defiled with the flesh.
You know, it's okay.
Sometimes we're going to have
to show tough love.
Come on, man.
You're better than this.
Like, you're saved.
You're born again.
You have a destiny waiting for you
and you're still trapped in this.
I'm telling you,
the Lord wants to pull you out,
but you have to want to get out,
you know,
maybe that's one person.
Another person's like,
if I say even a word,
they're going to be crushed.
It's just like, hey, man,
you know, just a hug, you know.
Yeah, I, you know,
I got nothing.
Just, you know, I'm just here, you know.
In fact, I don't know
if you've ever been through something
where somebody just starts ripping
verses out at you and you're like,
kind of like, I know these verses.
You know, sometimes you have
to paraphrase them
because otherwise,
they're just,
feel like they're being pelted
with scripture
and they don't really want that
right at that moment.
But if we know it in our hearts,
we could just share it
in a more personal level.
You know what I mean?
And so it's important
to be using words.
Now, the final one, Noah,
he built an ark.
I mean, wow,
let's read about him for a minute.
Verse seven,
by faith Noah being divinely warned
of things not yet seen,
moved with Godly fear,
prepared an ark for the saving
of his household
by which he condemned the world
and became heir of the righteousness,
which is according to faith.
So Noah, Noah builds an ark.
Let's read about him
in Genesis six, eight and nine.
But Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord.
And this is the genealogy of Noah.
Noah was a just man,
perfect in his generation.
Noah walked with God.
That said about you,
you know, Doug Miller,
he walked with God.
Like, I just knew
God was with him.
And I could just tell him
God was in the room
because Doug Miller
just radiated the fragrance,
the character of Christ.
You know, don't you want that said about you?
And it's all of you.
We can all,
we are all that.
We can have all that.
We can be the fragrance of Christ
to those who are living
and the fragrance of death
to those who are dying
in a warning saying,
don't go there, you know?
But it's the idea
that like we want to walk with God.
And this was Noah.
And Peter writes quite a bit
about Noah as well.
First Peter 3.20,
he says,
God waited patiently
in the days of Noah
while the ark was being built.
In it, only a few people
ate it all,
were saved through water.
You know, God waited patiently.
You know, the estimates are
the ark took between 100
and 120 years to build,
depending on he was 500 years old
and then he built the ark.
So between 100 to 120 years,
some say 120
because he said,
I'll only put up with humans
for another 120 years.
But anyway, it was a long time
and he's building
and what is he doing?
He's also preaching.
He's preaching
because they're saying,
hey, you know,
Noah, I noticed like the sea
is about 200 miles away from here
or 300
and you're building a yacht,
a big yacht,
a big, big yacht,
450 feet long,
75 feet wide
and 45 feet high.
That's the whole lot of animals, right?
And he's building this thing
and they're probably saying,
there's no water.
Are you crazy?
And you probably saw some of the shows
where they're mocking them
and everything
and that he just keeps building and saying
and he's preaching.
He's preaching at them,
warning them
they better get right
because otherwise you would want
to be on this yacht I'm building, right?
And we read about this
in 2 Peter chapter 2,
verses 4, 5 and 9.
God did not spare the angels who sin
but cast them down to hell
and delivered them into chains of darkness
to be reserved for judgment
and did not spare the ancient world
but saved Noah,
one of the eight people,
a preacher of righteousness
bringing in the flood
on the world of the unGodly.
The Lord knows,
aren't you glad of this?
The Lord knows how to deliver
the Godly out of the temptations
and to reserve the unjust under punishment
for the day of judgment.
I'm not so glad about the other part
but this is God's rules, right?
And he's the one who rules.
We have to surrender to him
because there will be hell to pay
for many people who never receive him.
As the worship team comes up,
we have this one last slide
just to remind us of what we just learned
about in the word,
that faith is proven by our sacrifices
and we could see that by Abel's sacrifice.
Like, what are we surrendering
or relinquishing to God?
Because, you know, he never forgets.
He chooses to forget your sins
because he doesn't actually forget him.
He remembers them no more.
We talked about that before.
There's a difference.
He remembers them no more.
But he will never forget
what you sacrifice for him,
what you dedicate to him,
what you relinquish to him
and say, Lord, have it.
Have my job.
Lord, don't quit your job.
Let the Lord have your job.
You know, a lot of people misinterpret.
I'm just giving it all to Lord.
I'm not even gonna tell my employer
I'm not showing up today.
I'm leaving.
And never even, like,
it just boggles my mind, you know?
Like how people can think
for getting closer to God
and then leave all responsibilities behind.
That ain't God.
I'm just telling you, God doesn't do that.
God is always responsible.
God, if you start something,
he will never say,
just drop it and leave it
for someone else to do.
At least hand it off.
Even Elijah handed off the mantle
to Elijah, right?
There's always a mantle being passed.
You don't just drop it.
Something that is being built,
like an arc.
Could you imagine?
No, I just built half the arc
and like, yeah, I think we're good on that side.
I'm gonna take a break.
Let's see if the next generation
musters up somebody
who will build the rest of it, you know?
Too late, right?
We have to finish what we start.
I love the verse that says,
he who began a good work
and you will complete it
in Christ Jesus, you know?
We have to be finishers, you know?
So what are we offering up
to the Lord to say,
Lord, finish it.
Lord, help me finish this.
Or words.
Are we using our words?
Are we realizing that our words
in our tongue
is the power of life and death?
And we talk about this a lot,
how the believer has faith
and when we speak,
we even sing songs about this,
that when we speak,
powerful things happen
because the Spirit of God lives in us.
Even at Pentecost,
when the Holy Spirit came
and Peter said,
you know what?
Your sons and daughters,
they will prophesy.
Your servants will prophesy.
Everybody will prophesy
in the Holy Spirit
because when you prophesy,
it doesn't mean you're telling
the future necessarily.
It may just be that you're sharing
the word in the moment, right?
Our words are powerful
and then finally, actions.
If the Lord tells you
to build something, build it.
If the Lord tells you to do a work,
stop putting it off.
I have some works
that I've been putting off.
I'm not going to share them yet
because I'm still putting them off.
But I know the Lord just keeps saying,
you still need to do that.
And I'm like, all right, Lord,
well, I need help.
So give me a hammer.
Give me some nails.
But if he's telling you to do something,
don't put it off.
Just if he's equipping you,
if he guides, he will provide, right?
If he has called you to something,
he will give you everything you need to succeed.
You will complete it.
And if you know you lack something,
the Lord will guide you
to the person who has what you're lacking.
So maybe you should be part of a team.
I fully believe in teams.
I really do because team efforts,
not one of us have everything we need.
When we join a team,
but some of us want to be these pioneers
and like renegades.
No, I don't need anybody.
The Lord sent me.
That's a lonely place to be.
I'm not saying you can't have success
for the kingdom,
but you see Elijah.
How let him rant and rave
and almost a meltdown
because he felt alone.
The Lord said, you're not alone.
I got plenty of people
who are still mine in this kingdom.
So we need to finish what we start, you know?
And maybe the Lord's telling you right now,
you know what you're supposed to be doing.
And I'm not trying to guilt you.
I'm trying to say,
get to work
because this is a work from me.
This is my work that I want you to accomplish.
So let's all stand up.
Father God, we thank you
for what a great God you are, Lord.
And how we can demonstrate our faith to you
through sacrifice words and actions, Lord.
And Lord, if you're calling us
to sacrifice something to you,
Lord, we ask you to help us
let go of it.
Sometimes we just hold on so tight
with white knuckles, Lord.
Not want to let it go, Lord.
Help us let it go, Lord.
We believe, help our unbelief, Lord.
And if there's words
that you need to give us more confidence
and courage to speak out
what you tell us in the private
to stand up on the rooftop
and shout it out, Lord God.
Give us boldness of speech.
Even Paul needed boldness of speech, Lord.
Give us boldness of speech to speak out.
And finally, Lord God,
if there's a work
that you've called us to do, Lord,
help us put our hands in the plow
and never look back.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Thanks for joining us
at Lansdale Life Church
as we praise God
and discuss His word.
Don't forget to join us
for worship live Sunday mornings
at 10 a.m. Eastern on YouTube.
Be blessed and have a great day!