Voice of the Nazarene 2-1-26

Voice of the Nazarene 2-1-26

Transcript

Pastor Ray LaSalle: 0:00

We are coming to you from North Central Ohio. We share with you the voice of the Nazarene a week by week venture into the Word of God sponsored by the Bucyrus Ohio Church of the Nazarene. We join our pastor, Reverend Ray LaSalle and the voice of the Nazarene

Hebrews 12: 0:17

1, Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with such a great cloud of witnesses. That's what we're talking about in this series. We're talking about the witnesses that are found here in chapter 12 and the previous chapter, chapter 11, the great hall of faith, he said, as we watch, let us lay aside all those weights, any sin that's besetting us. And who are we to look to unto Jesus, he authored this thing. He's going to finish this thing, and who, for the joy himself, endured the cross, despised the shame is set down in the right hand of the throne of God For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint at heart. If I have any concerns, I have a concern lest people become wearied along the journey become faint and discouraged and want to throw in the towel. And so we are going back into that great 11th Chapter, and we're picking up some of that crowd of witnesses that are watching. And I think it'd be wonderful to join with Noah for a few minutes here this morning, the Bible talks about him here in this 11th Chapter, verse seven. And we can journey with Noah, and we can learn from him, by faith, Noah, being warned of God, of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared then ark to the saving of his house. Anybody want their house? Saved your family, saved by which you condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith, Noah being warned of God, of things not yet seen and all around us, things are happening. Things are happening around us faster than we we can shake a stick at every time you think there's peace and things are settling down, there's another war begin to rage, and another nation rising against another nation rioting on the streets, this whole thing of artificial intelligence, I could sense some good in it. But by the same token, it's frightening. I mean, they can literally put your head on another image and make your lips move and have you talking and saying things that you never said. We have no clue of what we're about to face in the future. People can be ruined overnight. It and it said, God warned him, and God, I believe, is warning us. And what should those warnings do? It ought to move us with fear. Now let's take a lap with with Noah, and let him join us as we run this race. I was reading the other day about a fellow who everywhere he went, he would tell how he had survived the johntown flood. Anytime he got a chance. He didn't care if it was kids or it was at the restaurant. He'd say, I'm the survivor of the Johnstown Flood. Well, he died, and he went to heaven, and he met St Pete, and he said to St Pete, I understand they're going to be a banquet tonight. And St Pete said, That's right. Well, he said, Could I have a few minutes to speak? I'd like to tell how I'm the survivor of the Johnstown Flood. St Peter said, Well, that's fine, but you need to know you're following Noah, who'll be sharing how he survived the worldwide flood. Charles tremendous Jones, motivational speaker, he said these words, all the truth in the world would do little good until God brings a man or a woman across your path, and you're able to see that truth in action, then suddenly that truth will become a driving force in your life. What he's saying is actions speak louder than words. I want you to see four things in our time with Noah as we lap the journey, the first is the situation during the ark. Now understand that from Adam all the way to Noah was 2000 years. 2000 years are ate up during that time. And now Noah comes on the scene, and I ask the question, what was it like? Noah's day and Genesis 65 tells us God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually. Wickedness was great. Imagination of man's thoughts were evil continually. But wait. Matthew 2437 throws a wrench into this thing. But as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it also be in the coming of the Son of man suddenly that makes it prevalent now and again. What was it like in in Noah's day? And I don't want to freak you out or anything, but I'll just Nick on it for a moment. You study your Bible, you read about it, you think about it yourself, whatever. I'm not trying to impress you, but here's what it says in Genesis 61 it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, the daughters were born unto them. Now catch the next verse that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and the Bible said they took them wives of all which they chose. And suddenly God stepped in, and he said, My Spirit will not always strive with man for that he's flesh. Did you catch that something here that God said, I can no longer deal with this element that's just happened. Man is flesh. My spirit can no longer deal with what's happening here, and God's saying, I'm not going to tolerate it. And then it changes everything. In the very next verse, verse four, there were giants in the earth in those days. And also after that, were the sons of God, who had come under the daughters of men. And they bare children to them, the same became mighty men of old men and women. And out of that comes all the mythology that remember, the Greek mythology ever read about it, strange creatures, huge. All that happened? Well, Giants were created. The Bible calls them, if you go in the original Hebrew language, nephtalims, and that means fallen ones. So it wasn't just men and women coming together creating giants. It had to be something more superior to that, and it was abnormal and it was perverted. You say, Well, angels? Are you talking about angels being involved with the human race? Study it yourself. I mean, don't take my word on anything. Just read it for yourself. Study it. Look it over. Kind of think about it. Whatever happened. It created giants. You say, Well, angels have no no sex about them. Well, I remind you again of Sodom. Gomorrah, when the two angels went down to Sodom, you remember the men who were no longer interested in women, wanted to know them as men. They appeared to them as men. Well, here's an interesting verse, and two verses, and it's found over here in Jude verse six, the angels, certain class of angels which kept not their first estate, left their own habitation, and he reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness, under the judgment of that great day, Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, going after strange flesh are set forth as an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Now notice verse eight, likewise in our days, filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, speak evil of dignitaries. I've never heard in my life. Everybody out running around with opinion. Everybody's face has a mouth that's open, and they're running down all the leadership. I've never seen anything like it in my life. You don't dare say anything about anything. It just starts a little war. It doesn't matter if it's in church, it it's become so divisive, and everybody is speaking evil of any kind of leadership. Nobody wants dominion over them. But anyhow, if you read on about those, it said they're reserved under the chains of darkness. Why they went after strange flesh, and these are not the same angels as just the fallen angels. This was a group they got so involved that they're not kept. Are being cast into the lake of fire. They're in a place called Gehenna reserved under that great day of judgment because of what they'd done. And God walked off and said, I'll not deal with man anymore. And a flood came. Now, as it was in the days of Noah, so shall also it be in the coming of the Son of Man. Now we live in a day of sexual exploitation. I'm not going to go into this deep but do you realize that what we know and more goes on than what we know more than 200 100,000 incidents of sex trafficking going on in America. We live right near Toledo, one of the capitals for it, the second largest city involved in it, is down in Atlanta. And the average age, the entry age is a 12 year old girl in Atlanta alone every night more than 300 men sleeping with 12 year olds. Listen, if God doesn't judge America, he owes the antediluvians that apology for destroying them. Now we have the Respect for Marriage Act that became a law in 2022 and boy, that's misnamed, is it not respect for marriage. And I'll not go into it, but you read about it. And then we have the Equality Act, which states that men can take a pill or two and claim they're a woman and they can go into women's restrooms. I'm just talking to you. And then we have now allowing the children to change and choose their gender and have surgery without parental consent. And just 10 years ago, only two hospitals in America did those surgeries. Now, more than 50. Noah was in that kind of a culture, perversion on every side. And what does the Bible say about him? And called him a man of righteousness. Here it says in chapter seven, verse one, the Lord said to Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee. Have I seen righteousness before me in this generation, in the very generation that you're living, you lived, right. So what did Noah do? Well, second, Peter, chapter two, verse five, said, I spared not the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in a flood upon the world of the ungodly. Now here's what I want you to understand. You have an opinion. I have a little dinky opinion. But you know something, your opinion, and my opinion doesn't change the fact that God said in Genesis, 224 Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. Now the Bible says that marriage should be between a man and a woman. I'm just talking to you for a moment. Don't get angry. The Bible says in Genesis, 127 God created man in His own image. In the image of God created He him male and female. That's what the word teaches. Now I believe that we ought to mean what we say, and say what we mean, and we should say, in a way that's not mean my opinion doesn't amount to much. I want to tell you something your opinion doesn't amount to much either. But God's going to have the final day, and he'll have the final say. And so Ray La Salle needs to stay to one side and and just talk to you. Bonhoeffer said, silence in the face of evil is evil itself. And if you go to a church that will not address these issues, I remind you again, silence in the face of evil is evil itself. Now, a second thing I noticed is the sarcasm and the ark. And let me give you something to think about. Here's this crazy guy building an ark, 450 feet long. That's long, 75 feet high, 45 feet wide, and he was telling everybody a Flood's coming. They thought he was crazy. They were sarcastic. They called him a lunatic. They thought he was nuts, and he's down there pounding away and building an ark. He's spending years with his sons building an ark. And did you know it had never rained before? He had never had a drop of rain, never splash against his face, and he's saying, You need to get aboard the ark. And up to that time, according to Genesis two, six, God had watered the Earth from underneath. And here's Noah talking about a flood coming. He'd never seen rain. He had never seen a Boat Float. He had no way to get animals to follow him aboard the ark, one female, one male, and all the creatures out there on land coming aboard a miracle. Now I want to make just a couple quick statements while you're a Manning me, if I can work my message in between your amens. When God tells you to do something, it may not make sense. When God tells you to do something, it may not make sense. And God told Noah to build an ark, and what did he do? The Bible said in Genesis, seven, five, that he did according to all the Lord commanded him. I'm just saying when God tells you to do something, everybody else looking. One, it may not make much sense, but number two, don't be afraid to stand out in the crowd. You don't need to fit in. God didn't create you to fit in. God made us all individuals and to stand out. And as long as you follow the crowd, you'll not be followed by a crowd, and you'll never make a difference until you're different. And you know why a leader stands out? Because they're not afraid of getting along with God without the crowd. Don't be afraid to stand out in the crowd. And here's the third statement, don't be afraid to do something for the very first time, somebody said to me the other day, I'm 36 and I'm thinking about going back to school, but four years after that, I'll be 40 years of age when I graduate, so I guess I won't do it myself. My thoughts to him were, well, you're 36 years of age. Four years from now, you're going to be 40 whether you go to school or don't go to school. So don't be afraid to do something for the very first time. Noah was doing something for the very first time. And think about this. Noah was an amateur. Amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic. Just a thought. Don't be afraid to step out and do something for the very first time. And here's another one I want to throw at you. I think it fits. Don't let age hold you back. Do you know how to tell if you're young or old? At heart, it's whether you're looking for the sunrise or you're looking for a sunset. Noah was 480 years of age. Moses was 80 years of age when he led the children of Israel out of Egypt. Caleb was 85 years of age when he said, God, give me that mountain. Now, I was reading the other day about a guy he was 91 years of age. That's getting up there, isn't it. I'm not that old. I know you think I am. He was 91 but the interesting fact was, and I think he was getting some braces for his false teeth. Incidentally, this 91 year old guy was going to marry a 26 year old girl, and his son was upset. The article said his son was 72 years of age, and he said, Dad, you're making a fool out of yourself. You're looking stupid. You're 91 and she's 26 and this could be fatal to you. He said, If she dies, she dies. I was reading an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, and it said the most productive years of life are between 60 and 70, and the second most productive decade is between 70 and 80. The third most productive 10 years is between 50 and 60. So you're just a babe, if you're a baby, if you're in that little category, don't be afraid to do something for the first time, and don't let age hold you back. Now, I want to talk to you about safety of the ark. They were in the ark 370 days, according to First Peter 320, and 21 and the ark symbolized Jesus Christ. Now, with that in mind, I want to make just maybe two quick statements, and then I'll make my last point so you can land my plane. Okay? One, God didn't tell them to go into the ark. God said, to come into the ark. That's Genesis seven one. He said, Come down all thy house into the ark. For thee. Have I seen righteousness before me in this generation? Why did he not say go into the ark? Why did he say come into the ark? Because God was in the ark, and I like what Hebrews said, I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee and all eight of them that went in, hey, let me give you my second thought. Okay, all that went in the ark came out of the ark. Nobody that didn't go in the ark came out of the ark. Is that too difficult of a scientific equation there, according to Genesis, 818 Noah went forth, and his sons, his wife and his son's wife, all eight of them that went into the ark came out of the ark. Now let's jump off of that during the 370 days that the storm and the flood was taking place, and that big old Ark was rocking and the waves were dashing it, and it was, had to be turbulent, had to be bad weather. I mean, if you're out on the ocean, can you imagine what it's like? This was a worldwide flood, and all the time, and all of this is happening, I want to tell. Tell you, if you were on the inside of the ark, you had safety. Safety is not an absence of a storm. Safety is with the Savior. And I'd rather go through a storm with Jesus than to be in a calm without him. And it was rough times, but God never promised us a smooth life, but he did promise us a safe landing. We're going to make it. I want you to notice the Ark didn't have a rudder, it didn't have a steering wheel, and it only had one window, and Noah didn't get to steer this thing. He wouldn't have known where to win anyhow. I doubt if he had been out of town, but God took charge. You know, we have a danger. We're always wanting to guide our own little life and guide our little ship, and we're wanting to steward things and and God is saying, Let me direct your life. Let me guide your life. Now I thought about this, 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, 45 feet tall. What a massive size. That was as big as the Queen Mary, but it only had one window. And where was that window? Well, Genesis 616, said, the window, shalt thou make and finish it above so where's the window? It's right up there, where it's up there. God knew if he'd put the window behind him, that they got dismayed, and if he had put a window in front of him, they'd got discouraged, and if it put a window on the sides, they'd become disappointed. But they had a window up above, they'd get delivered. My last thought is the solidification of the ark. The Bible says here in Genesis eight, verse three, the waters finally returned back to normal, and the ark came to rest on the mountains of Arafat. Now, sometimes things are happening in life, and sometimes things are going on, and we're saying, God, what's going to happen next in my life? I don't know which way to turn. I don't know where my life's going. My spouse just walked off, and I've got the kids and no income, and what's going May I just say that God's got this, God had it for Noah, and God's got it in our lives, God's in charge. And notice it landed. It rested on Mount Ariat, that's a mountain in Turkey, and the water started going down. And notice it said it rested on the seventh month of the 17th day. Now the Jewish calendar started on October, so the seventh month would be April, and the 17th day was three days after Passover, so the daily Ark wrestler was the very same day Jesus was resurrected when he said, I am he that liveth and was dead, but I'm alive forevermore, and I have the keys to the great death and hell and the grave and Genesis. Five Verse 21 tells us that Enoch lives 60 and five and begat Methuselah. Why do people say why you're as old as Methuselah? You know why he's the oldest man ever mentioned in the Bible. He was 969 years of age. According to verse 27 all the days of Methuselah were 960 and nine years and he died. And Methuselah, he outlived everybody. But you need to understand what his name means. It meant when he dies, judgment comes. Judgment comes, and Methuselah lived 180 and seven years, and beget lame now, get that in your head, 187 Okay, you got that. And then it said, And Lamech lived 180 and two years. Beget a son, and his name was Noah. So catch this, 187 plus. 182 comes up to what 369 now, chapter seven, verse 11, in the 600th year of Noah's life. Second month, 17th day of the month, same day. All the fountains of the great deep broke up and the windows of heaven were open. So you have 369 plus 600 comes up to 969 years. And what happened? I'll tell you what happened. Methuselah breathed his last breath, and God said judgment, and the flood came, just like God said it would happen. I do like what happened after the flood there in Genesis nine, verse 16, and a bow shall be put in the sky, and I'll look upon it. And he said, I'll remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all places upon the earth. Every time you see a rainbow, it's a reminder. Wonder that God will never destroy the Earth again by water. It's also a reminder that God always keeps his promise. And there in Genesis seven, verse 16, need to read it as great a job as Noah did. He built an ark, but there's one thing he couldn't do, and that was to shut the door, and the Bible said that God shut him in that ark. Noah and his family got in. God shut the door. Now I was reading in Revelation, chapter three, verse seven, where it speaks about the key of David and he that openeth and no man shutteth and no man openeth, and when God shuts the door, nobody can open that door, and I'm just a preacher of the gospel. That's all I am. I just preach what's here. Listen to me. Something's happening now. I believe God's starting to shut the door. You can say whatever you want to, that's fine. I don't argue with anybody, but God's shutting the door. Things are beginning to close down and settle in the midst of all of this. Noah's day, Genesis, 63 God said, but My spirit shall not always strive with man. God was setting the door. Do you know what I believe that Noah's trying to tell us? I believe he's trying to tell us, you better be sure you're in the ark, and you'd better get into that ark before the door is shut, because when the door shut, that God shuts, no man can open it be sure you're right with God. One of the things that Daniel mentioned right at the end, he said at the end, men will be running to and fro. I've never seen people so busy. Everybody's running here, running there. You can't hardly get anybody to stop. Schools have nearly taken over, and they just got all kinds of something for our kids. And then we got other kind of leagues that have taken over during the whole summer. And used to be Wednesday night that the kids go to church, and on Sunday, you wouldn't have heard of a ball game. Everybody's running. I remember as a kid when they preach against a band of gold around your finger, they'd tell you, it send you to hell. But I'll tell you something worse than that. It's the itch for gold in our fingers. Everybody's working a job and two jobs, and this shift in 12 hours and over time, and everybody's got the itch for gold, everybody's running. And in the midst of it all, nobody seems to realize what's the most important. Some of us not even getting our kids into church. We're just busy shuttling them here and there, thinking that's a success, and we're busy running and the door is going to be shut. The first thing Noah did when he got off the ark, Genesis, 820, he built an altar unto the Lord. And I just closed my little message by saying, is that what you need to do, you need to build an altar and get acquainted with God. Thanks for being a part of the voice of the Nazarene. Visit us every Sunday at 9am with B and C's pastor. Ray La Salle for more information regarding B and C, visit Bucyrus nazarene.org, you.