WEBVTT 00:01.516 --> 00:04.896 Welcome to the Valley Baptist Church sermon podcast. 00:04.896 --> 00:06.396 We're so glad you're here, 00:06.396 --> 00:08.356 and we hope this message inspires you, 00:08.356 --> 00:09.516 builds your faith, 00:09.516 --> 00:12.536 and moves you toward a deep relationship with God. 00:12.536 --> 00:15.616 Today, you'll find great insight into the Bible 00:15.616 --> 00:18.316 and learn how you can apply it straight to your life. 00:18.316 --> 00:21.156 So welcome and enjoy the message. 00:21.156 --> 00:22.115 If you have your Bible, 00:22.116 --> 00:25.676 please open it with me to Genesis chapter eight. 00:26.170 --> 00:33.830 Last week, we looked at the flood of judgment, and today we're looking at the rainbow of grace. 00:34.410 --> 00:40.210 Now, just like last week, we're going to cover a lot of verses today, so many that my wife, 00:40.330 --> 00:44.970 Kelsey, asked me a few days ago, why are you going through so many verses every week? 00:45.670 --> 00:49.410 And I said, well, because I'm trying to finish our series before Christmas. 00:50.504 --> 00:55.124 She laughed at that because she thought I had a spiritual reason, but no, just a very 00:55.124 --> 00:57.684 practical one. 00:57.684 --> 01:04.004 Now last week we looked at the first half of the great flood event when God judged the 01:04.004 --> 01:06.764 world for their wickedness. 01:06.974 --> 01:10.554 You see, God created a very good and perfect world, 01:10.614 --> 01:13.954 full of life, full of peace, full of joy. 01:14.014 --> 01:17.354 There was no pain, there was no suffering, there was no death. 01:17.414 --> 01:22.914 But then sin entered the world, and sin destroyed everything. 01:23.461 --> 01:26.861 Now, God didn't judge mankind immediately. 01:27.061 --> 01:28.661 He was very patient with them. 01:28.741 --> 01:33.801 But the more that he was patient, the more his heart was grieved. 01:33.801 --> 01:37.621 And the more wicked and violent that mankind became. 01:37.961 --> 01:44.861 So wicked, in fact, that God chose to destroy everyone but one family, Noah's family. 01:45.483 --> 01:49.483 Now, the story of Noah's Ark is one of the most famous stories 01:49.783 --> 01:51.283 in all of the Bible. 01:51.283 --> 01:54.683 Sometimes you'll even see Noah and his ark and the animals 01:54.943 --> 01:57.823 painted as murals in a preschool class. 01:57.823 --> 02:00.983 And I've always found that to be strange because when you really think about it, 02:01.243 --> 02:03.743 this isn't a very kid friendly story. 02:03.743 --> 02:08.483 I mean, this is a story of great terror and death and judgment. 02:09.243 --> 02:14.063 But as we'll see today, it's also a story of God's grace. 02:14.525 --> 02:21.485 Now we left off last week with Noah and his family and all of the animals in the ark saved 02:21.485 --> 02:24.905 from God's judgment in those flood waters. 02:24.905 --> 02:30.565 And the last verse of chapter 7 indicates that at this point that they had been on the 02:30.565 --> 02:35.805 ark for 150 days, roughly five months. 02:35.805 --> 02:37.885 Chapter 8, verse number 1. 02:38.116 --> 02:43.196 Then God remembered Noah and every living thing and all the animals that were with him 02:43.196 --> 02:43.955 in the ark. 02:43.956 --> 02:48.216 And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided. 02:48.816 --> 02:52.616 The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain 02:52.616 --> 02:54.016 and the heaven was restrained. 02:54.396 --> 02:57.636 And the waters receded continually from the earth. 02:57.636 --> 03:02.216 At the end of 150 days, the waters decreased." 03:02.753 --> 03:06.153 Now, I love how this chapter begins. 03:06.193 --> 03:09.953 Then God remembered Noah. 03:10.145 --> 03:14.805 Now it's not as if God had forgotten Noah, although he may have felt forgotten. 03:15.285 --> 03:17.185 I mean, this is no cruise ship. 03:17.985 --> 03:21.785 I'm sure it was mainly dark in there and damp. 03:21.785 --> 03:27.945 And can you imagine the stench of being with all of those animals for five months? 03:28.045 --> 03:32.565 But then the scriptures say, but then God remembered Noah. 03:33.449 --> 03:36.249 Now remember it is a covenantal language. 03:36.249 --> 03:38.909 It doesn't have to do with mental recall. 03:38.909 --> 03:40.929 It's a word that was used in the Old Testament 03:40.929 --> 03:44.749 to signify God acting on His covenant promise. 03:44.749 --> 03:46.989 We saw in chapter six, verse number 18, 03:46.989 --> 03:49.629 that God established a covenant with Noah 03:49.629 --> 03:54.009 to save him and everyone else on board from the floodwaters. 03:54.009 --> 03:56.929 But then five months later, 03:57.108 --> 04:03.408 God begins acting on that covenant promise by causing the floodwaters to begin receding. 04:03.568 --> 04:05.287 Here's our principle. 04:05.288 --> 04:09.028 God always keeps His promises. 04:09.588 --> 04:10.877 Amen? 04:10.878 --> 04:14.338 Aren't you glad that God always remembers His promises? 04:14.338 --> 04:19.338 The Bible says that when we come to faith in God, 04:19.918 --> 04:24.198 the scriptures teach that God remembers our sin no more, 04:24.198 --> 04:27.978 but He always remembers His promises. 04:27.978 --> 04:30.618 And there's a lot of promises that God has to remember 04:30.618 --> 04:32.018 because there's a lot of promises 04:32.018 --> 04:34.598 that God gives us in His Word. 04:34.598 --> 04:37.058 Perhaps the most precious 04:37.152 --> 04:42.992 is the promise to His people that He will never leave us nor forsake us. 04:42.992 --> 04:48.272 When my dad was in the hospital in Houston, he was in all kinds of pain. 04:48.272 --> 04:50.112 He was on drugs as well. 04:50.112 --> 04:55.612 But he told us one morning that the night before, all throughout the night, that the 04:55.612 --> 05:00.772 devil kept coming to him and telling him that God had forsaken him. 05:00.772 --> 05:05.832 And dad said, I just kept telling him he was a liar and that God would never forsake me. 05:06.633 --> 05:12.733 You know, when the storms of life come, it may feel at times as if the Lord has forsaken you, 05:12.973 --> 05:17.873 but just know He hasn't because He's promised never to forsake us. 05:17.873 --> 05:23.693 So cling to that promise during those times of pain and what feels like uncertainty. 05:25.280 --> 05:32.040 Yesterday, in the early morning hours, a friend of mine and a dear friend of our church, Pastor 05:32.040 --> 05:38.440 Larry Wood, went home to be with the Lord. Larry was one of my dad and Pastor Phil's 05:38.440 --> 05:44.920 very best friends, and so this one really hurts. But did you know that 05:45.327 --> 05:49.867 I, in the midst of grief, find a sense of peace and joy 05:49.867 --> 05:53.767 with the promise of God that to be absent from the body 05:53.767 --> 05:56.167 is to be present with the Lord. 05:56.167 --> 05:58.787 The promise of God that there's a great reunion 05:58.787 --> 06:01.847 that's taken place between Pastor Larry and my dad 06:01.847 --> 06:04.607 and many others and that someday I'm gonna join in that. 06:04.607 --> 06:07.507 But most of all, the promise of God that Pastor Larry 06:07.507 --> 06:12.407 is no longer in pain and he is in the presence of Jesus. 06:13.205 --> 06:19.365 Just like Noah, God always keeps His promises to His people. 06:19.365 --> 06:21.205 Verse number 4. 06:22.233 --> 06:25.033 Then the ark rested in the seventh month, 06:25.033 --> 06:29.213 the 17th day of the month on the mountains of Ararat," 06:29.213 --> 06:32.233 that's modern day Turkey or Armenia. 06:32.233 --> 06:34.153 "'And the waters decreased continually 06:34.153 --> 06:38.873 until in the 10th month on the first day of the month 06:38.873 --> 06:40.893 the tops of the mountains were seen. 06:40.893 --> 06:43.393 So it came to pass at the end of 40 days 06:43.393 --> 06:46.353 that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. 06:46.353 --> 06:49.553 Then he sent out a raven which kept going to and fro 06:49.553 --> 06:52.073 until the waters had dried up from the earth. 06:52.068 --> 06:57.568 He also sent out from himself a dove to see if the waters had receded from the face of 06:57.568 --> 06:58.227 the ground. 06:58.228 --> 07:02.868 But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the 07:02.868 --> 07:06.128 ark to him, for waters were on the face of the whole earth. 07:06.800 --> 07:10.740 So he put out his hand and he took her and drew her into the ark to himself. 07:10.740 --> 07:15.800 And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark. 07:16.200 --> 07:22.220 Then the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth. 07:22.260 --> 07:29.000 Now, a dove with an olive leaf in her mouth is still a universal symbol of peace, or now it is. 07:29.581 --> 07:34.221 And it says, And Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. 07:34.221 --> 07:38.921 So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to 07:38.921 --> 07:39.921 him anymore. 07:39.921 --> 07:46.041 And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, and in the 07:46.041 --> 07:48.201 first day of the month. 07:48.201 --> 07:50.821 Folks that's Noah's birthday by the way. 07:50.821 --> 07:51.821 Did you know that? 07:51.821 --> 07:52.821 Did you catch that? 07:52.821 --> 07:53.821 Did you catch that? 07:54.337 --> 07:58.157 Age is serving as a timeline for the flood. 07:58.157 --> 08:04.297 So on Noah's six hundredth and first birthday, the waters were dried up from the earth. 08:04.297 --> 08:08.197 And Noah removed the covering of the ark, and he looked, and indeed the surface of the 08:08.197 --> 08:09.797 ground was dry. 08:09.797 --> 08:16.437 And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dried. 08:16.983 --> 08:20.143 So God remembers Noah. 08:20.643 --> 08:25.903 And then about seven months later, Noah walks off the ark. 08:26.500 --> 08:29.600 That's a pretty big gap of time. 08:29.600 --> 08:33.080 I mean, there's a long process involved here 08:33.080 --> 08:35.440 of the waters receding to the point where the ark 08:35.440 --> 08:36.880 rests on Mount Ararat, 08:36.880 --> 08:39.380 to the point where the other mountaintops are now seen, 08:39.380 --> 08:41.660 to the point where Noah sends out a raven 08:41.660 --> 08:43.000 and then he sends out a dove 08:43.000 --> 08:45.140 and then he sends out the dove a second time 08:45.140 --> 08:46.340 and a third time. 08:46.340 --> 08:48.960 Eventually the dove doesn't return. 08:48.960 --> 08:50.600 And on Noah's birthday, 08:50.600 --> 08:52.940 I think a birthday present to himself, 08:52.940 --> 08:55.960 he removes the covering of the ark to get a 08:55.964 --> 08:59.304 better look at the ground that is now drying. 08:59.304 --> 09:03.684 And it looks pretty dry, but apparently it's not completely dry. 09:03.684 --> 09:09.984 It still had more drying to go because it's nearly another two months later that God commands 09:09.984 --> 09:12.004 him to go off the ark. 09:12.873 --> 09:21.093 So, if my math is right, Noah and his family and the animals are on the ark for a year 09:21.093 --> 09:23.313 and eleven days. 09:23.313 --> 09:25.773 That's a long time to be on this big boat. 09:25.773 --> 09:27.453 Here's our principle. 09:27.453 --> 09:34.313 God's plan often involves a process of waiting on Him. 09:34.313 --> 09:37.313 We don't like that, but that's the truth. 09:37.460 --> 09:42.240 Now God always fulfills His promises just like He did with Noah, but sometimes it takes 09:42.240 --> 09:45.280 a little bit longer than we would like it to take. 09:45.280 --> 09:47.700 See, God's never in a hurry, is He? 09:47.700 --> 09:52.240 Because remember, God is eternal, and the Scriptures say that a day is as a thousand 09:52.240 --> 09:57.020 days, a thousand days, and a thousand days is as a day unto the Lord. 09:57.020 --> 10:00.600 So God's timing is very different than our timing. 10:00.764 --> 10:04.944 Now, I'm sure Noah was very, very ready to get off that boat, 10:05.044 --> 10:09.844 but God's plans often require us as his people to wait on him. 10:10.504 --> 10:13.084 In fact, over and over again in God's word, 10:13.184 --> 10:17.484 he commands us, wait on the Lord, wait on the Lord. 10:17.524 --> 10:19.784 That's one of the main things that we do is we wait. 10:20.084 --> 10:22.984 We wait patiently on the Lord. 10:23.900 --> 10:32.360 So if you're in a season of life where it feels like all you're doing is waiting, just know that God has not forgotten you. 10:33.060 --> 10:34.180 He hasn't forgotten you. 10:34.720 --> 10:41.220 He sees you and he loves you and he cares for you right where you're at in the midst of your life. 10:41.220 --> 10:43.380 He loves you and he cares for you. 10:44.318 --> 10:47.418 Now, here's what I encourage you to do as you wait on the Lord. 10:47.498 --> 10:55.218 Whatever waiting circumstances you are in, instead of focusing on the part of God's will that you don't understand, namely his timing, 10:55.698 --> 10:59.258 focus instead on the part of God's will that you do understand. 10:59.258 --> 11:04.778 And when you do that, God will give you patience as you wait on him. 11:05.418 --> 11:06.798 Verse number 15. 11:07.606 --> 11:13.346 Then God spoke to Noah, saying, "'Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons 11:13.346 --> 11:15.566 and your sons' wives with you. 11:15.566 --> 11:20.146 Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and cattle and 11:20.146 --> 11:24.146 every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth and be 11:24.146 --> 11:26.266 fruitful and multiply on the earth.' 11:26.266 --> 11:30.846 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. 11:30.846 --> 11:34.586 Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird and everything that creeps on the earth, 11:34.586 --> 11:36.926 according to their families, went out of the ark. 11:37.340 --> 11:40.600 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord 11:40.600 --> 11:44.280 and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird 11:44.280 --> 11:48.040 and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 11:49.180 --> 11:51.840 Now, can you imagine the first time 11:51.840 --> 11:53.920 that door opened up to the ark 11:53.920 --> 11:56.920 and perhaps a cool breeze blew over them 11:56.920 --> 12:00.080 as they took in that fresh air for the first time 12:00.080 --> 12:02.620 in over a year, I'm thinking they went running 12:02.620 --> 12:05.080 and maybe skipping and leaping for joy. 12:05.080 --> 12:06.260 I think I would have. 12:06.719 --> 12:12.559 But after that moment, perhaps of ecstasy, in that moment, the first thing that Noah 12:12.559 --> 12:19.199 does is he builds an altar unto the Lord and he offers a sacrifice, not just a little sacrifice. 12:19.899 --> 12:26.619 It says, "'He took of every clean animal and of every clean bird,' and he offers this 12:26.619 --> 12:30.739 massive burnt offering unto the Lord.'" 12:30.918 --> 12:32.397 Here's our principle. 12:32.398 --> 12:37.658 God's gracious salvation deserves a generous offering of worship. 12:39.218 --> 12:41.278 I should get an amen about that. 12:42.882 --> 12:48.762 His salvation unto us deserves a generous offering of worship. 12:48.862 --> 12:50.682 Noah worshiped God. 12:50.782 --> 12:53.602 Now, we don't know if his sacrifice was a Thanksgiving 12:53.702 --> 12:56.602 sacrifice or if it was a sacrifice of dedication or if 12:56.702 --> 12:58.402 it was a sacrifice of atonement. 12:58.502 --> 13:01.602 I think that perhaps it was all of the above. 13:01.702 --> 13:05.402 But we do see here with a great sense of certainty that Noah was 13:05.502 --> 13:09.402 not taking God's salvation for granted. 13:09.882 --> 13:16.942 Chapter 8 begins with God remembering Noah, and it ends with Noah remembering God. 13:17.942 --> 13:25.142 Let me ask you, now that God has saved you by His grace, assuming you've experienced His salvation, 13:25.842 --> 13:29.982 what kind of offering have you given to the Lord? 13:30.382 --> 13:34.502 Noah gave the very best that he had to give, and he was generous. 13:34.862 --> 13:39.162 One of every clean animal and every clean bird he gave. 13:40.460 --> 13:48.420 I remember when my dad told a story one time about my brother Matt getting a playset of 13:48.420 --> 13:52.780 Noah's Ark for Christmas. 13:52.780 --> 13:56.640 If I remember the story correctly, I'm just a little guy at that time. 13:56.640 --> 14:02.780 As Matt's playing one day with this Noah's Ark set and the animals, Dad overheard Matt 14:02.780 --> 14:09.300 say, Andrew, now that all the animals are off the ark, we need to give God a sacrifice. 14:10.160 --> 14:12.620 Now that's a cute little story for a kid to say that, 14:12.620 --> 14:13.820 but it doesn't end there. 14:13.820 --> 14:16.020 My dad kept watching and listening, 14:16.020 --> 14:16.959 and he heard Matt say, 14:16.960 --> 14:19.360 here's the animal that broke its leg off, 14:19.360 --> 14:21.280 let's give this one to God. 14:24.940 --> 14:26.740 Now we might assume that a child 14:26.740 --> 14:28.900 would make a mistake like that, 14:28.900 --> 14:31.660 but how many grown men and grown women, 14:31.660 --> 14:35.280 saved by the grace of God, still make the same mistake? 14:35.438 --> 14:36.978 Here, God, this is broken. 14:37.238 --> 14:39.098 This is kind of left over to me. 14:39.418 --> 14:41.578 You know, I don't think I really need this anymore. 14:41.858 --> 14:45.198 Why don't you take this as my offering to you? 14:45.638 --> 14:49.958 My excess time, my excess money and resources, my excess whatever it is. 14:50.238 --> 14:53.138 What a slap in the face of God's grace. 14:54.098 --> 14:59.998 Now, the most generous offering that we could possibly give unto the Lord isn't an animal. 15:00.538 --> 15:01.477 It isn't wealth. 15:01.478 --> 15:02.738 It isn't money. 15:02.938 --> 15:04.732 It's ourselves. 15:04.733 --> 15:10.433 The Bible says that we are to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice unto the Lord. 15:10.433 --> 15:19.193 The most pleasing offering you could possibly ever give God is a heart that is fully surrendered 15:19.193 --> 15:22.293 and devoted unto Him. 15:22.293 --> 15:27.253 Verse 21, and the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. 15:27.253 --> 15:29.293 That means He was pleased with the offering. 15:29.776 --> 15:31.916 Then the Lord said in his heart, 15:31.916 --> 15:34.476 I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, 15:34.476 --> 15:37.616 although the imagination of man's heart 15:37.616 --> 15:38.976 is evil from the youth, 15:38.976 --> 15:42.216 nor will I again destroy every living thing as I've done. 15:42.415 --> 15:49.095 While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and the day and night shall not cease. 15:49.095 --> 15:57.275 So God promises here that even though mankind's heart is still going to be full of sin, the flood didn't solve that. 15:57.335 --> 15:58.935 It's going to still be full of sin. 15:59.295 --> 16:02.195 I'm never going to send a year-long flood again. 16:03.121 --> 16:07.421 Instead, moving forward, he says, as long as the earth remains, 16:07.521 --> 16:12.081 there's going to be a rhythm now to the seasons of the earth. 16:12.181 --> 16:16.641 There's going to be summer and winter, day and night. 16:18.275 --> 16:25.995 Now, in chapter 9, we see detailed out for us what has been called the Noahic covenant. 16:26.815 --> 16:32.475 As God starts over with humanity after the flood with Noah and his family. 16:32.475 --> 16:34.615 Verse number 1 of chapter 9 we read. 16:35.774 --> 16:39.654 So God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, 16:40.214 --> 16:42.854 Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 16:43.214 --> 16:47.374 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, 16:47.454 --> 16:50.254 on every bird of the air, and on all that move on the earth, 16:50.734 --> 16:52.114 and on all the fish of the sea. 16:52.194 --> 16:55.154 They are given into your hand. 16:55.614 --> 16:57.019 Here's our principle. 16:57.020 --> 17:01.820 God still expects humanity to exercise dominion over the earth. 17:02.460 --> 17:05.740 You see, God blesses Noah here, and he repeats the same command, 17:05.840 --> 17:07.680 the first command that he gave Adam and Eve, 17:07.960 --> 17:11.780 be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 17:11.840 --> 17:15.360 In other words, have a lot of kids and spread out all over the globe. 17:16.160 --> 17:20.480 And then he basically says, now you are still to exercise dominion 17:20.480 --> 17:24.340 as Adam and Eve were, but now it's going to be a little bit harder. 17:25.117 --> 17:28.497 Because the animals now, they're going to be scared of you. 17:29.337 --> 17:30.757 That's going to cause some danger. 17:30.917 --> 17:32.217 That's going to cause a lot of problems. 17:32.828 --> 17:37.748 Now, I love how verse number three articulates things, 17:37.748 --> 17:41.648 because God tells us that part of our dominion over the earth 17:41.648 --> 17:43.028 and our dominion over the animals 17:43.028 --> 17:46.068 includes our freedom to eat meat. 17:46.068 --> 17:48.068 Look at verse number three. 17:48.068 --> 17:49.208 That makes me happy. 17:49.208 --> 17:54.308 It says, every morning, every moving thing that lives 17:54.308 --> 17:56.528 shall be food for you. 17:56.528 --> 17:58.028 I've given you all things. 17:58.023 --> 18:04.263 even the green herbs, but you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood." 18:04.263 --> 18:09.763 Now, some translate that last phrase as lifeblood, meaning don't eat the animal if it's still alive. 18:10.523 --> 18:15.463 In other words, make sure you barbecue it first. That's how I'm reading it. 18:18.998 --> 18:22.758 Up to this point, apparently human beings were vegetarians. 18:22.858 --> 18:25.078 Remember, there was no death prior to sin. 18:25.218 --> 18:29.578 And so they were at this vegetarian state for a period of time. 18:29.598 --> 18:32.238 But now God is blessing the eating of meat. 18:32.798 --> 18:34.578 He's opening that door to eat meat. 18:34.638 --> 18:35.838 Now, why would he do that? 18:36.838 --> 18:39.318 I don't know, but I'm thankful that he did. 18:40.632 --> 18:42.672 because I love a good steak. 18:42.672 --> 18:47.672 Now, to be clear, God isn't saying you have to eat meat. 18:47.712 --> 18:49.792 He's saying you can eat meat. 18:49.792 --> 18:53.332 Some may choose not to eat meat for dietary reasons 18:53.332 --> 18:56.932 or preference reasons, but eating meat or not eating meat 18:56.932 --> 18:58.592 isn't a moral issue. 18:58.592 --> 19:02.512 It's not a spiritual issue because God gives mankind 19:02.512 --> 19:06.252 freedom here to eat the meat of animals. 19:06.252 --> 19:07.512 Verse number five. 19:08.628 --> 19:12.388 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning. 19:12.808 --> 19:16.188 From the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. 19:16.788 --> 19:20.388 From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man. 19:20.628 --> 19:24.388 Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed. 19:24.788 --> 19:26.868 For in the image of God he made man. 19:27.348 --> 19:33.168 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply, bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply in it. 19:33.648 --> 19:34.888 God is saying... 19:35.206 --> 19:38.366 You can kill an animal and you can even eat its meat, 19:38.366 --> 19:41.106 but you cannot kill another human being 19:41.746 --> 19:44.846 because people are made in the image of God. 19:44.846 --> 19:50.566 And therefore, we are all of more value, value than animals. 19:51.466 --> 19:52.666 Here's our principle. 19:52.666 --> 19:59.346 Human life is sacred because we are made in the very image of almighty God. 20:00.367 --> 20:03.027 Now, the word sacred means set apart. 20:03.067 --> 20:09.107 We are set apart by God as different and more value 20:09.127 --> 20:11.127 than the rest of creation. 20:11.167 --> 20:15.127 So valuable, in fact, that human life is to be protected, 20:15.167 --> 20:16.207 God says. 20:16.227 --> 20:20.027 And part of that protection includes capital punishment 20:20.067 --> 20:23.307 for those who murder, whether it be an animal who takes the life 20:23.327 --> 20:26.327 of a person or another person who takes the life 20:26.367 --> 20:27.607 of another person. 20:27.627 --> 20:30.027 Life for life is what He is saying. 20:30.033 --> 20:41.393 Now, this right here is the very beginning of the rule of law that God institutes after sin to help deter and to help rein in, corral sin. 20:42.013 --> 20:45.753 Now, God would later detail out the law through Moses. 20:46.653 --> 20:52.173 But we know that the rule of law is given for one main reason, to protect life. 20:52.696 --> 20:55.656 And so that we can live with a sense of peace 20:55.656 --> 20:58.316 among one another, not in fear of danger constantly, 20:58.436 --> 20:59.616 because there's gonna be consequences 20:59.616 --> 21:02.136 if someone were to take actions into their own hands, 21:02.336 --> 21:04.336 a sense of harmony within society. 21:05.133 --> 21:11.033 Now, without the rule of law, anarchy reigns and might becomes right. 21:11.473 --> 21:16.713 And sinful people, they start thinking that just because they have the power to do something that they can. 21:17.373 --> 21:20.333 But God says through the rule of law that he institutes. 21:20.753 --> 21:24.193 No, all people, he says, have rights. 21:24.193 --> 21:27.393 All human life is to be protected. 21:27.753 --> 21:33.633 Just because a person's weaker or more vulnerable doesn't give anyone the right to take their life. 21:34.310 --> 21:37.890 You see, God is pro-life in every sense of the word. 21:38.730 --> 21:46.930 He demands that human life made in his image be protected by society so that every person, 21:46.930 --> 21:55.290 regardless of race or color or age or development, is precious to God and is to be protected 21:55.290 --> 21:56.990 by those in power. 21:58.002 --> 22:03.602 Now, my brother, Pastor Matthew, said regarding this passage, he said, God says we are to 22:03.602 --> 22:07.382 protect the life of the innocent and take the life of the murderer. 22:07.382 --> 22:12.022 But the twisted logic of the world says to take the life of the innocent and protect 22:12.022 --> 22:14.542 the life of the murderer. 22:14.542 --> 22:18.042 I don't think I could have said it any better than that. 22:19.687 --> 22:22.707 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, 22:23.347 --> 22:27.927 And as for me, behold, I established my covenant, my promise with you, 22:28.127 --> 22:31.887 and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, 22:32.007 --> 22:34.847 the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, 22:34.887 --> 22:37.607 all that go out from the ark, every beast of the earth. 22:37.608 --> 22:39.528 Thus I establish my covenant with you. 22:39.988 --> 22:43.708 Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood. 22:44.168 --> 22:47.388 Never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth. 22:47.488 --> 22:50.028 Obviously talking about a worldwide flood. 22:50.534 --> 22:54.654 And God said, this is the sign of the covenant 22:54.654 --> 22:56.774 which I make between me and you 22:56.774 --> 22:58.854 and every living creature that's with you 22:58.854 --> 23:00.494 for perpetual generations. 23:01.094 --> 23:03.334 I set my rainbow in the cloud 23:03.334 --> 23:06.114 and it shall be for the sign of the covenant 23:06.114 --> 23:07.834 between me and the earth. 23:07.834 --> 23:10.634 It shall be when I bring a cloud over the earth 23:10.634 --> 23:13.114 that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud 23:13.114 --> 23:16.014 and I will remember my covenant which is between me 23:16.437 --> 23:19.637 and you and every living creature of all flesh. 23:19.897 --> 23:24.517 The waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 23:24.837 --> 23:29.477 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember 23:29.477 --> 23:33.417 the everlasting covenant between God and every creature of all flesh 23:33.417 --> 23:35.997 that is in on the earth. 23:35.997 --> 23:39.497 And God said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant 23:39.637 --> 23:44.657 which I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth. 23:45.850 --> 23:54.150 So God establishes here a covenant with Noah and every other creature who lives after him, 23:54.150 --> 23:59.330 that he's never going to destroy the earth again by water. 23:59.330 --> 24:05.430 Now there are a number of covenants that God makes with people throughout the Old Testament. 24:05.430 --> 24:08.030 Some of them are conditional covenants. 24:08.176 --> 24:11.196 and some of them are unconditional covenants. 24:11.576 --> 24:13.716 This is an unconditional covenant, 24:13.856 --> 24:16.236 meaning it's not based on mankind at all. 24:16.236 --> 24:19.436 It's based on God's grace. 24:20.579 --> 24:25.379 Now God's covenants often come with an outward sign, don't they? 24:25.759 --> 24:29.159 The sign of the Abrahamic covenant was circumcision. 24:29.519 --> 24:32.699 The sign of the Mosaic covenant was the Sabbath. 24:32.699 --> 24:37.879 The sign of the new covenant that we have in Christ Jesus is baptism and the Lord's Supper. 24:38.199 --> 24:43.699 And here we read that the sign of the Noahic covenant is the rainbow. 24:44.035 --> 24:45.195 Here's our principle. 24:45.295 --> 24:52.395 The rainbow is a sign of God's common grace to all mankind. 24:54.515 --> 25:00.835 Theologians call all of the blessings of God that non-believers experience in life, they 25:00.835 --> 25:03.735 call it common grace. 25:03.735 --> 25:09.755 These are universal blessings such as health and happiness, prosperity, the restraint of 25:09.755 --> 25:12.975 God upon the full effects of sin and evil. 25:12.975 --> 25:15.835 All of those things are common grace. 25:15.835 --> 25:22.435 God's declaration here is a blessing upon mankind that we don't deserve. 25:23.253 --> 25:25.153 That's what makes it grace. 25:25.153 --> 25:28.933 And the rainbow is put in the sky to remind us 25:28.933 --> 25:32.733 and to remind God of His covenant promise. 25:34.013 --> 25:35.313 Now, I don't know about you, 25:36.193 --> 25:40.373 but I am deeply bothered by how God's symbol 25:40.373 --> 25:42.893 of His covenant promise has been stolen 25:42.893 --> 25:44.053 by some in our culture. 25:45.293 --> 25:48.573 It's now become a symbol of the LBGQ community 25:48.573 --> 25:50.273 and lifestyle, and I'm telling you, 25:50.273 --> 25:53.113 I have a deep desire to take back the rainbow. 25:53.813 --> 25:55.713 I really do. 25:55.713 --> 26:01.193 But I have no idea how that can be done because in our day and age, a church can't even display 26:01.193 --> 26:05.693 a rainbow without people freaking out, and I actually understand why. 26:05.693 --> 26:12.313 A few years ago, the ladies, some of the ladies who decorated for Vacation Bible School had 26:12.313 --> 26:18.773 a bunch of colors flying in the foyer, and it created quite a firestorm. 26:18.772 --> 26:21.852 because people, they thought that looked too much like a rainbow. 26:21.852 --> 26:24.192 And my first reaction was, so what? 26:24.192 --> 26:28.572 The rainbow is God's symbol to us, a promise to us. 26:28.572 --> 26:32.212 But then, recognizing 26:32.952 --> 26:37.332 how it was being so misunderstood, I reluctantly agree 26:37.332 --> 26:40.552 that it should be taken down. 26:40.552 --> 26:42.672 I'm telling you right now, 26:42.920 --> 26:48.080 While for obvious reasons, we may not be able to put a rainbow up on our campus, 26:48.120 --> 26:52.680 I praise God that He still puts a rainbow up in the sky for us. 26:52.880 --> 26:56.840 And every time I see His magnificent, beautiful rainbow in the sky, 26:57.920 --> 27:03.620 painted, painted across the sky, I thank God for His mercy and His grace 27:03.740 --> 27:05.960 and His promise to all mankind. 27:07.820 --> 27:10.440 Now, with all of that said about God's grace, 27:11.540 --> 27:14.840 We need to understand what God says here 27:14.840 --> 27:17.700 and what God does not say here. 27:17.700 --> 27:18.960 God says very clearly, 27:18.960 --> 27:23.120 I will not destroy the earth again with water. 27:24.230 --> 27:27.650 But he does not say that he will not destroy it again. 27:28.330 --> 27:31.630 2 Peter 3, verse number 12 says, 27:31.730 --> 27:34.650 "...looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, 27:34.910 --> 27:38.730 because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, 27:38.730 --> 27:42.090 and the elements will melt with fervent heat." 27:42.083 --> 27:48.023 Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which 27:48.023 --> 27:50.303 righteousness dwells." 27:50.303 --> 27:56.023 You see, someday the earth will be destroyed, not with water but with fire, and then God 27:56.023 --> 28:00.883 will create a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness and only righteousness 28:00.883 --> 28:02.203 will dwell. 28:02.203 --> 28:09.023 Now, the New Testament I pointed out last week tells us that the ark is actually a picture 28:09.023 --> 28:10.323 of Jesus. 28:10.467 --> 28:15.467 And just like God waited patiently in the days of Noah 28:15.787 --> 28:20.427 for people to repent, God waits patiently now. 28:20.427 --> 28:22.627 The Bible says that God is patient, 28:22.627 --> 28:24.907 not wishing or willing that any should perish, 28:24.907 --> 28:28.507 but that all should come to repentance. 28:28.507 --> 28:32.547 God has not yet destroyed the earth with fire, 28:32.742 --> 28:35.962 because he's waiting on some of you who are listening to this message 28:35.962 --> 28:38.882 and others to repent of their sins 28:39.702 --> 28:43.162 and to come to him in salvation. 28:43.162 --> 28:46.382 Now, we know that the flood 28:46.382 --> 28:49.002 did not change humanity's sin problem. 28:49.542 --> 28:55.182 Mankind, we still continue to have a heart full of sin without Christ. 28:55.182 --> 28:59.182 But what the flood could not do, Jesus has done. 29:00.299 --> 29:08.219 You see, Jesus took on the flood of God's judgment in such a way that he is now able 29:08.219 --> 29:11.819 to forgive us of our sins while God remains just. 29:12.399 --> 29:14.379 And he is able to give us new hearts. 29:14.479 --> 29:15.819 That's what Christianity is all about. 29:16.079 --> 29:19.539 That Jesus did for us what we couldn't possibly have done on our own. 29:19.699 --> 29:23.399 That he died on the cross for our sins, paying the full payment of it. 29:23.559 --> 29:24.959 He rose on the third day. 29:24.959 --> 29:27.199 Then he sent his spirit. 29:27.198 --> 29:30.878 to forgive us and to give us new hearts and to replace our heart of stone 29:30.878 --> 29:32.998 with a heart of flesh. 29:32.998 --> 29:35.498 And the Bible says that all who will believe, 29:35.918 --> 29:39.538 all who will come unto him are now in Christ. 29:40.418 --> 29:44.218 And just like those who were in the ark were saved, 29:44.218 --> 29:47.338 those who are in Christ are saved. 29:49.118 --> 29:52.838 So you know in his family, they didn't have to work hard in order to be saved. 29:52.938 --> 29:54.638 They were saved by grace through faith. 29:54.918 --> 30:00.638 It's not like God, you know, told them, hey, attach some ropes to the side of the ark and just hold on for dear life. 30:01.078 --> 30:03.798 If you're able to hold on throughout the flood, you're going to be saved. 30:03.978 --> 30:05.238 No, God didn't do it that way. 30:05.238 --> 30:07.278 He said, come into the ark and be saved. 30:07.518 --> 30:10.778 Come unto me, come into the ark, and I will save you. 30:12.187 --> 30:14.167 Salvation belongs to the Lord. 30:14.167 --> 30:17.827 We can't possibly do enough to earn favor with God. 30:17.827 --> 30:19.127 It is by grace. 30:19.127 --> 30:21.807 Noah found grace in the eyes of God 30:21.807 --> 30:23.807 is what the scriptures teach. 30:24.747 --> 30:26.467 So I wanna invite you today, 30:28.087 --> 30:32.847 very simply, to come into the ark of salvation, 30:32.847 --> 30:36.307 to come in to Christ Jesus by faith. 30:37.432 --> 30:41.612 and to receive God's grace. 30:41.612 --> 30:50.272 Not the common grace that all the descendants of Noah receive, but the saving grace that 30:50.272 --> 30:53.572 only the descendants of Jesus receive. 30:53.572 --> 30:59.732 Now, let's bow together in an attitude of prayer, if you will. 30:59.732 --> 31:03.092 This is a holy moment in the life of our church, both here and at Olive Drive. 31:06.710 --> 31:08.110 This is a time of reflection. 31:09.110 --> 31:10.610 This is a time of prayer. 31:10.990 --> 31:15.550 This is a time of response to be doers of God's word and not just hearers. 31:21.090 --> 31:30.730 It might be that you know Jesus as your savior and you are one of God's children. 31:32.866 --> 31:40.026 But it could also be that in the midst of that, you're still going through a terrible storm in life. 31:41.846 --> 31:43.626 Maybe you've lost a loved one. 31:46.186 --> 31:47.966 Maybe you've lost your job. 31:49.666 --> 31:51.506 Maybe your marriage is in trouble. 31:51.506 --> 31:54.706 Maybe a child is wayward. 31:58.313 --> 32:02.333 If you're going through a storm today, I want to encourage you to look for God's rainbow. 32:03.553 --> 32:05.352 Look for it. 32:05.353 --> 32:06.973 Look for God's promises. 32:08.493 --> 32:14.273 And then cling to those promises because God always keeps His promises. 32:16.273 --> 32:22.233 In just a moment, we're going to have pastors and other leaders all across the front of our worship center, 32:22.233 --> 32:24.093 both here and at Olive Drive. 32:26.107 --> 32:27.107 I'm going to pray. 32:27.767 --> 32:29.907 And after I pray, we're going to stand to our feet 32:29.907 --> 32:33.947 and we're going to sing a song, but we're also going to invite everyone 32:34.987 --> 32:38.947 who is willing to come forward and give their life to Christ. 32:39.487 --> 32:43.127 Anyone who God is touching your life today, 32:43.747 --> 32:45.867 He's bringing an awareness of your sin, 32:47.605 --> 32:51.285 It's maybe it's just dawning on you in a new, fresh way. 32:51.285 --> 32:58.125 The light bulb of of God's plan and his love and his grace is it's flickering on. 32:59.625 --> 33:03.785 I want to invite you to to turn that light bulb, keep it on by faith, 33:04.325 --> 33:07.025 accept what God is doing in your heart. 33:09.982 --> 33:13.222 The Bible says, whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 33:13.222 --> 33:14.602 Sometimes people overthink it. 33:15.202 --> 33:18.502 Sometimes people, they think, well, I've got to do this and I've got to do that. 33:18.502 --> 33:20.841 No, no, no, no, no. 33:20.842 --> 33:22.402 All you need to do is surrender. 33:24.082 --> 33:25.162 That's what it takes. 33:25.402 --> 33:32.002 Humbling oneself, swallowing one's pride to recognize that you can't possibly do it. 33:34.162 --> 33:35.302 Only God can do it. 33:37.982 --> 33:39.962 The good news is God has done it. 33:41.133 --> 33:42.933 Jesus accomplished what we couldn't. 33:43.413 --> 33:45.293 And so it's not that we earn God's grace, 33:45.373 --> 33:47.073 we receive God's grace. 33:47.173 --> 33:49.673 So I want to invite you to receive God's grace today 33:49.673 --> 33:52.113 if you've never experienced it, 33:52.413 --> 33:54.493 if you've never had the weight of your sin 33:54.493 --> 33:55.873 lifted off your shoulders 33:55.873 --> 33:59.233 and to feel the lightness of knowing God 33:59.233 --> 34:02.733 and that kind of a way to be clean before him. 34:02.733 --> 34:04.473 There's nothing like it in all the world. 34:04.793 --> 34:06.493 The only way you experience that 34:06.493 --> 34:08.853 is that you come unto the ark, 34:08.933 --> 34:11.093 you come unto Jesus in faith. 34:12.503 --> 34:15.103 The Bible says, as many as received him, that's Jesus, 34:15.603 --> 34:19.923 to them God gave the right to be called the children of God. 34:20.583 --> 34:27.023 I want to invite you to become a child of God today by faith. 34:28.243 --> 34:30.363 As soon as we stand in just a moment. 34:31.589 --> 34:34.449 I want to invite you just to come as you are down one of these aisles, 34:34.449 --> 34:37.789 down one of these staircases, both campuses. 34:38.729 --> 34:40.349 Say, I want to give my life to Jesus. 34:40.349 --> 34:44.489 These this team of leaders, they're going to know exactly how to help you. 34:44.789 --> 34:46.129 They're not going to embarrass you. 34:46.129 --> 34:48.589 They're not going to ask you a question that you can't answer. 34:49.049 --> 34:52.589 They're going to help you take that step of faith. 34:53.349 --> 34:56.649 Maybe you say, I want to be baptized and go public with my faith like 34:57.849 --> 34:59.209 many are doing today. 35:01.897 --> 35:04.077 Say, I want to join this church family. 35:04.297 --> 35:09.117 It's time for me to be an official member of Valley, to be a family member. 35:09.617 --> 35:10.737 Well, we'd love to have you. 35:10.797 --> 35:12.357 We'd love to visit with you about that. 35:14.300 --> 35:15.860 We can set up a time for you to join. 35:15.980 --> 35:17.680 We can set up a time for you to be baptized. 35:17.980 --> 35:22.260 Maybe just a few weeks from now is our 40th anniversary. 35:22.460 --> 35:28.160 We're hoping and praying we're going to have many people that we baptize in celebration of our 40th birthday. 35:29.020 --> 35:30.700 Come, let us know you'd like to be baptized. 35:30.880 --> 35:34.020 We can schedule a time for just that. 35:34.660 --> 35:37.019 Let's pray. 35:37.020 --> 35:43.680 Our gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for your amazing grace. 35:46.177 --> 35:58.477 Lord, we recognize today that your love and your grace is not really truly and fully understood unless we understand it in light of your holiness and your justice. 35:59.877 --> 36:02.937 You're perfect, and we're not, Lord. 36:04.823 --> 36:07.203 So we thank you, Lord, that you're patient with us. 36:07.623 --> 36:10.463 I thank you that you continue to be patient. 36:10.583 --> 36:15.023 Oh, how we look forward to the coming day of the Lord 36:15.023 --> 36:19.203 when you shall return and you shall set into motion 36:19.203 --> 36:23.023 all the end time events that shall take place 36:23.023 --> 36:27.303 that will culminate someday in a new heavens and a new earth. 36:27.423 --> 36:28.603 Lord, we long for that. 36:28.723 --> 36:30.703 We wait patiently for that. 36:30.783 --> 36:34.243 But also, Lord, we're thankful. 36:36.413 --> 36:40.453 that that day has not yet come in your perfect timing and plan 36:40.453 --> 36:43.713 because you're still waiting for people to come to you. 36:44.713 --> 36:47.133 You're still extending grace. 36:47.133 --> 36:50.533 You're still being patient with people. 36:50.533 --> 36:54.633 Lord, I pray that people would not take advantage of that patience or 36:54.993 --> 36:59.173 or ignore your patience, Lord, but that would prompt them 37:00.073 --> 37:01.993 to get right today. 37:03.481 --> 37:06.201 Your scriptures say today is the day of salvation. 37:06.621 --> 37:09.381 And it's today because we don't know what tomorrow holds. 37:10.861 --> 37:18.281 So, Father, would you do a great work in our midst, in the hearts of our people, in the hearts of people that don't know you yet. 37:18.701 --> 37:21.061 Would you just draw us close? 37:22.161 --> 37:23.461 Would you tug on our hearts? 37:23.541 --> 37:25.061 Would you open our eyes? 37:28.658 --> 37:30.838 Help, Lord, help people believe. 37:31.158 --> 37:33.818 We ask in Jesus' name, amen. 37:34.958 --> 37:36.258 Thanks for listening today. 37:36.498 --> 37:38.078 We hope you enjoyed this message. 37:38.238 --> 37:40.258 And if you did, we would be so grateful 37:40.258 --> 37:41.458 if you left us a review. 37:42.098 --> 37:44.218 Also, go ahead and subscribe to the podcast 37:44.218 --> 37:45.618 if you would like to be notified 37:45.618 --> 37:47.078 when a new sermon is released. 37:47.678 --> 37:49.338 If you feel the Lord calling you 37:49.338 --> 37:50.798 to take the next step in faith 37:50.798 --> 37:54.678 through salvation, service, or giving, don't wait. 37:55.304 --> 37:58.424 Reach out to us by texting podcast to 88988. 37:58.764 --> 38:03.984 That's podcast to 88988 or connect with us on one of our social media platforms. 38:04.624 --> 38:09.744 You can also visit our website, valleybaptist.org to find even more great resources. 38:10.104 --> 38:13.644 No matter where you are in your journey, know that we love you. 38:13.644 --> 38:18.324 We're praying for you and we can't wait to see what God will do in your life.