Genesis (Part 20)(BST 10-26-08)

Genesis (Part 20)
Bible Study Time 10-26-08
(From James Roberts 1-5-97)

Last week in our Journey Through the Scripture, we saw that Abraham was taken from UR of the Chaldeans and was led into the land of Canaan, the land of promise. While in the land of Canaan, Abraham was tested by the Lord. During a time of great famine, Abraham chose to go down into Egypt rather than trusting the Lord to provide for him while remaining in the land that God had given him.

While Abraham was down in Egypt, Abraham dishonored his wife, he dishonored the Lord, he was rebuked by Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and he was sent out of the land of Egypt. But one of the things that is so refreshing about Abraham is that when he left Egypt, he went back to the place where he was before he went down into Egypt. Upon his return, he built an altar, and he began to call upon the name of the Lord.

How important this lesson is for us today. In the book of I John, Chapter 1 and verse 9, the Apostle John tells us that when we sin, we are to confess our sin. And he says that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Everyone of us is just like Abraham. Many times we fail to trust God completely. As a result we go down into Egypt, away from the Lord, and we have to come back to the place where we were when we sinned so that we can confess that sin to the Lord.

After we confess our sin, the Lord restores us to fellowship with Him once again. We don’t have to be saved again. We don’t have to be born again, over and over again. But when we sin, after we are saved, we are to confess our sin. In a way, this sort of washes our feet. We don’t have to be bathed all over again, but we do have to have our feet cleansed when our walk is defiled by sin.

Abraham gives us a beautiful picture of the person who sins and then is restored to fellowship with God as he returns to God and calls upon the name of the Lord. Now notice how this restored fellowship is really used of God in Genesis, Chapter 13. We will begin reading with verse five:

Genesis 13:5-8 NKJV
5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents.
6 Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.
7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.
8 So Abram said to Lot,"Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren.

I don’t think we’re inappropriately reading into this when we say that Abraham was particularly concerned about this situation because of the message it was sending to the nations that lived around them. The Canaanites and the Perizzites undoubtedly were watching Abraham and Lot because they knew that Abraham and Lot believed in the true and the living God, and they were carefully observing the power of their faith. Abraham must have recognized that this situation was a problem, so he went to Lot to resolve the conflict.

The first principle that we see here is that if there is a conflict between two brothers, the one who is walking in fellowship with the Lord and is therefore sensitive to the Lord’s leading, must take the initiative to go to the other brother and endeavor to resolve the conflict. So Abraham went to talk with Lot, but he did not go with a list of demands. Abraham did not go to Lot in a judgmental way. But notice what Abraham said:

Genesis 13:8 NKJV
8 So Abram said to Lot,"Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren.

Clearly, Abraham took a place of humility. He besought Lot, he pleaded with Lot to resolve the conflict. Abraham said:

Genesis 13:9 NKJV
9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left."

Abraham had every right to say:

Now Lot, there is a conflict between us, and this can’t happen anymore. So here’s what I want you to do. God has given me this land and because he has given me this land, I’m going to show you how we will resolve this conflict. I’m going to give you that particular portion of land over there, and I want you and your herdsmen to go over there. As for me, I will take this other portion of land.

No, Abraham did not do what he had the right to do. Abraham gave the choice to Lot. He said, Lot, if you go to the left I will go to the right, but if you go to the right I will go to the left. Abraham left the choice with Lot. Abraham gave up his own rights so that there might be peace and so that the conflict might be resolved. In the book of Philippians, Chapter 2, the Apostle Paul says:

Philippians 2:5-8 NKJV
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

This carries the idea that Jesus Christ was there in heaven as God, and yet He did not think that His position of equality with the Father was so precious that He could not given it up. He did not feel that He had to hold onto that position of privilege at all cost. No, He willingly laid aside that to which He had a right.

He was willing to lay aside all of the glory and significance of His rightful position, and He was willing to come down to the earth and take a position as a servant. Here we have the God of glory laying aside His rightful position and taking the position of a servant.

As a servant, He gave His life for your sins and for my sins. He was willing to be born into a cursed world, a world that was cursed by sin, and He went to the cross to take that curse upon Himself. He died for your sins and for mine.

This was the mind of Christ, and may I say as a little aside here that there may be one of you who is listening this morning who has never trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. You still have never become a child of God. Oh, I trust that you will see today that God so loved you that He was willing to give His son, and His son loved you so much that He was willing to lay aside His right to remain in heaven so that He could come down to this earth to be your Savior. I trust that if you don’t know Him today that you will come to Him and say:

Lord Jesus, I want to thank You for dying for me, and I want to trust You as my Savior. I want you to save me right now because I’m totally believing in You as my Savior, the one who redeemed me from all of my sins.

God says that when you have this kind of faith, He will count your faith for righteousness.

And it may be that you are already a Christian, but you are out of fellowship with God. It may be that you have been down in Egypt, and you sense that it is time for you to come back out of Egypt. If so, it is time for you to go back to the place where you left God, so that you can confess that sin to God, so that you can tell God that you want to serve Him and fellowship with Him, and that you want to worship Him, and that you want to have His will done in your life.

When you do that, God will begin to work in your life and reveal Himself to you though His word. Then you can be like Abraham. You can have spiritual understanding and perceive things that those who are out of fellowship with God can not perceive.

Abraham recognized the problem that was being caused by the strife between his herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen, and he wanted to have that conflict resolved. It seems as though Lot was indifferent to the problem, almost unaware of the problem. In this, Lot is a picture of the worldly Christian in that the worldly Christian will not be sensitive to the spiritual dangers that surrounds him.

So Abraham let Lot choose which direction he wanted to go, but I want you to notice the basis upon which Lot made his choice. Let’s read verse 10.

Genesis 13:10 NKJV
10 And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar.

Lot lifted up his eyes and saw the well watered plains of Jordan. The scriptures declare that we are to walk by faith and not by sight. When we look at the things around us, and if we make our decisions based on the things that we see around us, we are walking just like every other person that’s in the world.

The Apostle Paul says that the believer who does this is a carnal Christian. This is typical of the Christian who is out of fellowship with God. On the other hand, the Christian who is in fellowship with God will be looking into God’s word and seeking direction from God’s word, because he will know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

If you’re in fellowship with God, you will be studying God’s word and hiding God’s word in your heart. You’ll be able to perceive spiritual truths, and you will be able to recognize spiritual dangers, so that you will be able to make decisions that are based on the spiritual truths that are taught in the word of God. The book of Psalms tells us:

Psalms 119:105 KJV
105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Lot lifted up his eyes, and rather than walking by faith, He chose to walk by sight. Abraham on the other hand was walking by faith and not by sight. He was willing to let Lot make the choice.

Now notice again what Lot saw. He saw the well watered plains of Jordan. He said, this is just like paradise, this is just like Eden, this is just like the garden of the Lord. You see, when a man is walking by sight, his natural mind will always lead him in the direction of those things that appear on the outside to be beautiful. He will think, if I can just get this or that, my life will be like paradise.

Undoubtedly, Lot looked at those well watered plains, and he said, look at all of that grass. I’ll never again have to worry about pasture for my cattle. So he chose the well watered plains of Jordan.

But I want you to notice that there was another description of those well watered plains. To Lot, they looked like paradise, the garden of the Lord, but they were also described as being like Egypt as one goes down to Zoar. As we said before, Egypt is a picture of the world, and so it was that Lot chose the way of the world.

Satan never tempts us with the ugliness of the world or the destructiveness of the things of the world. He will always tempt us with the attractiveness of the things of the world. Lot saw the well watered plains of Jordan, and to him it was like paradise, it was like the garden of the Lord, but God saw that it was like Egypt.

As we go on, we are going to see the results of Lot’s desire to go down into the well watered plains of Jordan. Lot made the wrong choice because he was walking by sight, and Lot was sure to face the consequences of that choice. Oh, how important it is for us today to be in a position where we can make choices that are pleasing to the Lord.

Well, I see our time is gone. The Lord willing we will be back with you again next week as we continue our study of Lot. Until that time, we bid you goodbye.

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Genesis (Part 19)(BST 10-19-08)

Genesis (Part 19)
Bible Study Time 10-19-08
(From James Roberts 12-22-96)

The past several Sundays we have been on a Journey Through the Scripture, and we’ve been looking at Genesis, Chapter 12, where we see Abraham, the great patriarch of the nation of Israel. We saw that God gave to Abraham great and precious promises while he was still in UR of the Chaldeans. It was at that time that God told Abram to get out of his country and leave his family and his father’s house. God told Abram that He would show him the land into which he should go. Then, God gave this promise to Abraham:

Genesis 12:2-3 NKJV
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

As we go on into the seventh verse, we see that the Lord promised to Abraham and to his descendants the land of Palestine. In Genesis, Chapter 15, we see this covenant confirmed once again, that all of the land of Palestine was to be given to Abraham.

Now keep in mind that the promise God gave to Abraham was that God was going to bless Abraham and that through Abraham all the nations of the earth would be blessed. All through the Old Testament we find the promise that great blessings would come to the nations of the world through Abraham’s multiplied seed.

From the time that God called the nation of Israel out of the land of Egypt and made a covenant with them at Mt. Sinai, it was His plan for them to be a light to the nations of the world. It was God’s plan to make of them a holy nation and a royal priesthood and that they would be a blessing to the nations of the earth.

Keep in mind that Abraham had two sons. Ishmael was born of a bondwoman, while Isaac was born of Sarah, the free woman. God specifically told Abraham that the promised seed would come through Isaac. God made it clear that it would be Isaac’s descendants who would inherit the land of Palestine and become a blessing to the nations of the earth.

This covenant between God and Abraham promised to Abraham and the descendants of Isaac the whole land of Palestine, and so it is called the Palestinian Covenant. This is one of the great sticking points in all of the negotiations in the Middle East today. The big question is, who’s going to occupy the land of Palestine?

Well, one day when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back and sets up His kingdom on the earth, the nations of the earth will be blessed through the nation of Israel. At that time, the nation of Israel will occupy the land of Palestine in a greater way than ever before. The part of Abraham’s seed through Isaac that will inherit the land of Palestine, the land of promise.

When we come to the book of Hebrews, Chapter 11, we find something rather strange. We find that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did not possess the land that had been promised to them. In Hebrews, Chapter 11 and verse 12, we read:

Hebrews 11:12-16 NKJV
12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude — innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.
15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

Notice that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were strangers and pilgrims in the land of Canaan while they were alive. They did not possess the land even though it was promised to them. But now God has prepared a heavenly city for them, and it is the country of this city that they now desire.

When the Lord Jesus Christ came to the earth, He came preaching the gospel of the kingdom. This gospel proclaimed that Jesus Christ had come to establish the kingdom of God on the earth. The angel made this announcement to Mary:

Luke 1:31-33 NKJV
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.
32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

The great promise to David was that one of His descendants would sit upon His throne and rule and reign over the earth in an everlasting kingdom. That promise looked forward to the day when the Lord Jesus Christ would come and sit upon the throne of David in an earthly kingdom.

Someday, this promise will be fulfilled. At that time, the nation of Israel will not only occupy the land of Palestine, but they will inherit all of the earth. This is when all of the promises that were given to Abraham will be fulfilled.

However, according to the book of Hebrews, it seems that there was a part of Abraham’s seed that was not looking for an earthly inheritance. Rather, they were looking for a heavenly inheritance, a heavenly city that God had prepared for them.

When we come to Chapter 21 in the book of the Revelation, we see a city that comes down from God out of heaven. That city is called the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife. It is referred to as the New Jerusalem, the heavenly city.

When we read those verses in Revelation, Chapter 21, we see that God is not talking about heaven, as many people seem to think. This is a description of the city that is going to come down out of heaven, and this is the heavenly city that God has prepared for Abraham and his seed. It is the descendants of Abraham who were said to be looking for this heavenly city.

As we read the description of that city in Revelation 21, we see its Jewish character. We see that the names of the 12 apostles will be in the 12 foundations. There will be 12 gates that lead into the city. These are all things that relate to the nation of Israel, the multiplied seed of Abraham. All of the promises that God has given to Israel will flow to them through Abraham.

Notice then that among those who are Abraham’s seed there are two different groups with different hopes. One group has a heavenly hope while the other has an earthly hope. Those with an earthly hope will be the ministers of God on the earth during the earthly kingdom, and they will bring great blessings to the nations of the earth. This is the time when the meek shall inherit the earth and there will be peace on earth and good will toward men. This is the time when the Prince of Peace will rule from the throne of His father David.

But the other group within Abraham’s seed will be looking for that city that is going to come down out of heaven. This group will be a part of the Bride the Lamb’s Wife.

I believe that this distinction between the two different groups within the seed of Abraham is alluded to in Hebrews, Chapter 11, where we read that the seed of Abraham will be in number as the stars of the heaven and as the sand the seashore. This seems to me to be an interesting way for God to show the two different groups.

The one group, which will be as numerous as the stars of the heavens, will have a heavenly hope. The other group, which will be as numerous as the sands of the seashore, will have an earthly hope. All of this will come about as God works out his plan and purpose for the nation of Israel, the multiplied seed of Abraham.

But in the book of Galatians, Chapter 3, the Apostle Paul makes an interesting statement. He says:

Galatians 3:10-14 NKJV
10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them."
11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith."
12 Yet the law is not of faith, but "the man who does them shall live by them."
13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"),
14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Here we see that the blessings of Abraham were to come upon the Gentiles, those were not descendants of Abraham. Obviously, Paul understood the ramifications of the promise that was given to Abraham, that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. This is referring to the Gentile nations of the world. Now notice in verse 16, we read:

Galatians 3:16 NKJV
16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ.

We have seen that Abraham’s seed may be divided into two different groups of people with two different hopes, one earthly and one heavenly. But now we see two completely different aspects of the seed of Abraham. One is the multiplied seed, which would include all of the descendants of Abraham who have the faith of Abraham, while the other is the singular Seed, the Lord Jesus Christ.

This singular Seed of Abraham was to be made under the Law so that He could redeem those who were under the Law. Through this one man, the Lord Jesus Christ, blessing was to come to the nation of Israel. He was to make it possible for them to receive the Holy Spirit of God and become a new nation. As such, they would be empowered to bring blessing to the nations of the earth.

Today, those of us who are members of the Church which is the Body of Christ have all of our blessings in this same person, the Lord Jesus Christ. He did not come to the earth just to fulfill the promises that were made to Abraham, but He came to seek and to save all those who are lost.

In the book of Ephesians, Chapter 1, the Apostle Paul tells us that all believers today are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Our hope is that one day, as members of the Church which is the Body of Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ will appear in the glory of heaven and take us up to be with Him in heaven, where we will forever be with the Lord.

There will be a part of Abraham’s seed that will look for the kingdom of Jesus Christ here on this earth where the meek shall inherit the earth. Then there will be a part of Abraham’s seed that will look for a city that comes down out of heaven, and they will become the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife. But the Church which is the Body of Christ will be united in the heavens with Christ before either of these groups see the realization of their hope.

Regardless of the various programs of God through the ages, it is a profound truth that all believers from all ages gain access to the Father through the shed blood of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He came as the Seed of Abraham to fulfill the promises that were made to Abraham, but when He shed His blood on the cross, He provided the means of salvation for all those who believe.

Well, I see that our time is gone. The Lord willing we will take up again next week with our Journey Through the Scripture. Until that time, we bid you goodbye.

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Genesis (Part 18)(BST 10-12-08)

Genesis (Part 18)
Bible Study Time 10-12-08
(From James Roberts 12-1-96)

Last week in our Journey Through the Scripture, we saw Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. We saw that these three sons and their descendants were all in one place, and they all had one language and one speech. In Romans, Chapter 1, Paul said that God was restraining the evil ways of these people by the revelation that He had given of Himself through the creation.

However, the people did not want anything to do with God’s revelation of Himself. They changed the glory of the incorruptible God and made images like unto man and four footed beasts and creeping things. They began to worship the creation rather than the creator, who is blessed forever.

These descendants of Noah were guilty of gross idolatry and gross immorality, so God withdrew the restraining power of revelation that He had given of Himself through the creation, and He confounded their speech. It seems as though He gave each of the different families of Shem, Ham and Japheth different languages so that the different families went into different parts of the earth. This resulted in the various nations that are present on the earth today.

Before this confusion of languages, the people all met together at a place called Babel, which has always played a very important role in God’s dealings with the nations of the earth. This is especially true for the nation of Israel.

In Revelation, Chapter 17, we read about the great tribulation period and about God’s dealings with the nation of Israel during that time. This will be the time when the antichrist, the man of sin, will be ruling and reigning over the earth, and the system through which he operates will be “anti-Christ.” His system will be religious, political and economic, and a part of this great system is referred to in Revelation, Chapter 17, as Mystery Babylon the Great which is said to be the mother of all harlots and the mother of all of the abominations on the earth.

Now, how is it that this Mystery Babylon will be the mother of all of the abominations on the earth? Well, when the descendants of Noah all gathered together at Babel, they followed after a common idolatrous system. When God scattered them abroad, each family took this system of idolatry with them. Therefore, all through the ages we have seen vestiges of this idolatrous system showing up in various times and places. During the tribulation period, this idolatrous system will once again be united under the antichrist. The religion of the antichrist will have its roots in the idolatrous system of Babel, and it will most certainly be anti-Christ.

Even today we are starting to see the reemergence of this system. Today, we see a great emphasis upon inclusiveness, where people want to believe that all religions have validity. More and more, people rebel against the idea that there is only one way to gain access to God. But the Bible is very clear that Jesus Christ said:

John 14:6
6 . . . I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.

All of the religious systems of the world have their own approach to God, and this includes the Christian religion, if you just consider the Christian religion as a whole. But the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, revealed Himself in the word of God as the only way to the Father. If you want access to the Father, you must come the narrow way, through the Lord Jesus Christ and through faith in His death, burial and resurrection.

What we find in the New Age movement today is really not new; it had its beginning in Babylon. But in the new age movement today we see the infusion of eastern religions and all of the various idolatrous practices that were spread out over the world after the tower of Babel. These practices are now starting to have an impact on the Christian religion here in America in regard to its view of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even in the Christian religion, it is hard for people to accept that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father.

In Genesis, Chapter 10, we find Nimrod, the grandson of Ham. It was Nimrod who started the city of Babel and who undoubtedly started the idolatrous practices of that city. But then, in Genesis, Chapter 12, we find the promise of a descendant of Shem who would come through Abraham and who would bring blessing to all the families of the earth. This, of course, was a veiled promise concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Keep in mind that all of the descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth were idolatrous, including Terah who was Abraham’s father. There are passages in the Bible that describe Abraham before he met the Lord. They describe him as being a Syrian who was ready to perish. He was an idolater and he lived in an idolatrous family, even though he was from the family of Shem through whom the righteous line was promised.

In Genesis, Chapter 11, we find that Terah had three sons, Abram, Nahor and Haran. Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans where he was born, but Terah took Abram and Nahor and their families from Ur of the Chaldeans to a place which they named Haran. In Genesis, Chapter 12, we find that this was not according to God’s plan. Verse one says:

Genesis 12:1 NKJV
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you.

Along with these instructions, God also gave Abram these promises:

Genesis 12:2-3 NKJV
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

So Abram departed from Ur of the Chaldeans but did not do so in accordance with God’s instructions. God had instructed Abram to separate himself from his father’s family. Instead, Abram left Ur of the Chaldeans with his father and all of his father’s family, and they went to a place which they named Haran. This is the place where Terah, Abram’s father, died.

I remember listening to Dr. De Haan as he taught on this passage many years ago. He stated that Terah was a picture of the old nature, that is, the corrupt nature with which we are born. God had revealed himself to Abram as the God of glory, and He had told Abram to leave his father, Terah, his old way life, and move on to a new life without Terah. In other words, Abram was to separate himself from his old way of life.

Well, Abram was like many of us. When God calls us and saves us, we are often reluctant to give up our old way of life. We are willing to become a child of God, but we may also want to bring along with us the Terahs and the Lots of the old life.

Dr. De Haan said that Terah is a picture of the old man and that Abram could not go into the land of promise until Terah died. Then he added, thank God the old man died. Dr. De Haan showed so clearly that until the old nature is reckoned to be dead indeed unto sin and until we reckon ourselves to be alive unto God, we can never enter into the full blessings of God. Until we reckon the old man to be dead indeed unto sin, we can never walk in newness of life.

Abraham had obeyed, but it was an incomplete obedience. Arthur Pink gives the definition of the word Haran and says that it means parched place. Abram had to live in a parched place until the old man died. Only after the old man died was Abram able to leave the parched place and move on into His place of blessing. Oh, what a difference it made when the old man died!

May I just say this to you? What a beautiful picture this is for you and for me. If you have never trusted the Lord Jesus Christ and have never received the revelation that God has given to us in His word, I trust that you will listen to what God is saying to you today.

God loved you enough that He sent His son into the world. The Lord Jesus loved you enough to leave His realm of blessing and fellowship with the Father, where He lived in equality with the Father. He left that realm of blessing to come down to this earth and be born as a baby, to live as a man. He was God, manifest in the flesh, Immanuel.

In His body of flesh, He went to the cross and there He died, the Just One for us, the unjust. He knew no sin, but He was made the sin offering for us. He did this so that we might become new creations, so that we might become new born children of God, so that we might, as it were, leave our father’s house and leave behind the old nature, putting it in the past, so that we might go on to the place of blessing.

I wonder today if there is one listening to this broadcast who has never trusted Christ. If you have never trusted Christ, I pray that you will come to know Jesus Christ as your Savior, so that you can become a child of God.

I wonder if there are those of you who are listening today who are like Abram was in the initial stage of his walk with the Lord. Abram wanted to carry with him much of his old life, so that he had to dwell in Haran, the parched place. Are you dwelling in Haran today? Are you dwelling in a parched place? Or are you willing to leave behind the old life and move on into your place of blessing with the Lord?

Well, I see our time is gone. The Lord willing, we are going to continue in our Journey Through the Scripture next week. Until that time, we bid you goodbye.

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Genesis (Part 17)(BST 10-5-08)

Genesis (Part 17)
Bible Study Time 10-5-08
(From James Roberts 11-24-96)

If you have an opportunity to do so, we would like to encourage you to get your Bible and turn with us to the book of Genesis, Chapter 12. Last week, in our Journey Through the Scripture, we saw something of the description of Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. They and their descendants forsook the Lord and rushed head long into gross idolatry.

God had revealed Himself to them as the creator, and the creation, itself, was enough to reveal His every attribute. Even the invisible attributes of God were revealed in and through the creation.

However, the descendants of Noah did not want to retain any knowledge of God. Therefore, they begin to worship and serve the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. The book of Romans tells us that God withdrew the restraining power of His revelation of Himself so that He gave up the nations to go in their own way, to live in an unrestrained way, to fill up the lusts of their flesh. They simply tried to crowd out of their minds any knowledge of God.

But before God gave up the nations to go in their own way, He called out one man from the family of Shem whose name was Abram. God gave Abram certain instructions along with a great promise. Notice what God said in verse one of Genesis, Chapter 12:

Genesis 12:1-3 NKJV
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

In verse 1 we read that God had told Abram to leave his country, his family and his father’s house, but according to Genesis, Chapter 11, Abraham actually left his country with his father, Terah, and all of his father’s family.

As we study further, we will see that God did not reveal the full extent of His promise to Abram until after Abram finally separated himself from Lot, the last of his father’s family. It was not until that point that God promised all of the land of Palestine to Abram. At that point, God showed Abram all the land of Palestine and said, this is the land I’m going to give to you and to your seed. This promise is called by many the Palestinian Covenant.

Now notice God’s promise in Genesis, Chapter 12, and verse 2:

Genesis 12:2-3 NKJV
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

As we look at this first aspect of the promise, we see that God said, I will make you a great nation. In one sense, that has already been fulfilled. Abraham’s family went down into Egypt in the days of Joseph, and they lived there for 430 years. At the end of that time, God brought them out of Egypt, not as a family, but as a nation. As Israel traveled from Egypt to the land of Canaan, God gave them the Law at Mt. Sinai, and it was at Mt. Sinai that God first started dealing with Israel as a nation.

It was God’s plan to make of Israel a great nation. After He gave them the Law, He said, I’m going to take you into the land of Canaan where you are to be a light to the nations round about you. Indeed, this was God’s great plan and purpose for the nation of Israel.

There was a time during the days of David and Solomon that Israel showed great promise as a nation. It was in those days that the kingdom of Israel reached its zenith in power, glory and riches. It was a wonderful kingdom at that time, but soon it began to decline. Ultimately, it was taken captive by the Assyrians and the Babylonians, and it has been in decline ever since.

However, some day this promise that God made to Abraham is going to be fulfilled completely. When the Lord Jesus Christ returns to this earth and takes the reins of government by His mighty power, His name shall be great. He shall be the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

At that time the Lord Jesus Christ will establish the nation of Israel as the greatest nation on the face of the earth. At that time Israel will become a new nation because they will be born again. They will be given a new heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. This will be during the millennial kingdom when Jesus Christ rules and reigns over all the earth for a thousand years.

The glorious days of David and Solomon were just a faint picture of the glory and the power that will belong to the nation of Israel during the millennium. While Israel was under the Law, her constant desire was to be like the rest of the nations. She had no desire to show forth the glory of God.

But one day Israel will show forth the glory of God. As the head of all the nations, she will serve the Lord and minister to the nations. Yes, she will be the greatest, but she will also be the servant. As the Lord Jesus said, the one who is the greatest will be the servant of them all.

At that time the nation of Israel will be a royal priesthood and a holy nation. As the priests of the kingdom, the Jews will go throughout the world teaching the nations how to love, serve and worship the Lord who will be ruling and reigning in Jerusalem at that time. Oh yes, this great promise to Abraham awaits its final fulfillment when God will make of Abraham a great nation.

God told Abraham that He would bless Abraham and make Abraham’s name great. That too has already been partially fulfilled. Abraham’s name is revered among Christians and Jews and even among Islamic people. It is common among all of these different groups for children to be named Abraham because all three have ties to Abraham.

Keep in mind that Abraham had two sons, Isaac and Ishmael. It was through Ishmael that the Arab nations came into being. However, Isaac was the son of promise. It was through Isaac that the promise of the great nation and the great name would be fulfilled. The Lord Jesus Christ came through Isaac as the promised Seed of Abraham, and His name is above every name. One day, when the descendants of Isaac put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, they will become the greatest nation on the fact of the earth.

Now notice God’s promise in verse 3:

Genesis 12:3 NKJV
3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you . . .

One day the Lord Jesus Christ is going to take the church of this present dispensation home to be with Himself in the glory of heaven. After that, God is going to bring a time of great tribulation upon this earth. During that time of tribulation, God will separate the sheep from the goats on the basis of their relationship to Israel. Those nations that protect the believing Jewish people will be the sheep and they will be blessed, but those who persecute the nation of Israel will be the goats and they will perish; they will be cursed.

At the close of the tribulation period, before the Lord Jesus Christ establishes His kingdom upon the earth, God will separate the sheep from the goats. The sheep will enter into the blessing of the kingdom while the goats will be cast off into darkness where they will be separated from God and from His blessings.

The final words of God’s blessing upon Abram read:

Genesis 12:3 NKJV
3 . . . in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

This blessing of God upon the nation of Israel will not be a self serving type of glory, but it will result in great blessings for all the families of the earth. In the kingdom, Israel will be the ministers of the Lord Jesus as they serve the nations of the world.

Today, God has suspended this promise that He made to Israel through Abraham, but why did God suspend this promise? We see in the gospel accounts that when the Lord Jesus Christ came to the nation of Israel, they rejected Him. There was a small remnant of believers among the Jews who did believe in the Lord Jesus, but for the most part the Jews rejected Him. They said, away with Him, we have no king but Caesar.

After the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, God continued to offer the kingdom to the nation of Israel through the preaching of the Apostles. This offer was open to the nation of Israel throughout the period of time covered by the book of Acts, but throughout that time, the nation of Israel steadfastly refused to accept Jesus Christ as her promised Messiah and King.

At the close of the time period covered by the book of Acts, God temporarily set aside His offer of the kingdom. God did not do away with the promise, and He did not change the promise so as to give the kingdom to others. God simply suspended the promise, while He started calling out the Church of our present age.

Now may I say this to you? In one sense, our spiritual blessings today come to us through the Promised Seed of Abraham, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. It was He who went to the cross where He died for our sins that we might become the children of God. The very moment we trust Him as Savior, God makes us children of God, and Ephesians, Chapter 1, says:

Ephesians 1:3 NKJV
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

Our blessings today are not the blessings of the earthly kingdom which were promised to Abraham. Our blessings are spiritual blessings which are found in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Do you know him today as the one who died for you, and who is officiating today as the Head of the Church which is the Body of Christ? I trust that you do, and that you have this immeasurable blessing because you know Him as Savior.

Well, the Lord willing, we will take up on our Journey Through the Scripture again next week. Until that time, we bid you goodbye.

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://graceBiblechurch-fw.com/

Genesis (Part 16)(BST 9-28-08)

Genesis (Part 16)
Bible Study Time 9-27-08
(From James Roberts 11-17-96)

In our Journey Through the Scripture last week, we saw something about the curse that was placed upon Canaan in the days of Noah. Canaan’s father, Ham, did something that was dishonoring to Noah, and God used that incident to utter a prophetic judgment against Canaan. Seven hundred years later, Moses would use this prophetic curse to encourage the children of Israel as they prepared to enter the Land of Canaan.

According to Genesis, Chapter 15, the children of Israel served the Egyptians as slaves for 400 years before Moses came to lead them to the land of Canaan. God promised them that He would give them the victory over the Canaanites, but the children of Israel had to remain in the land of Egypt until the iniquity of the Canaanites was full. With the iniquity of the Canaanites full and running over as the nation of Israel left the land of Egypt, it was time for the righteous wrath of God to be poured out upon the children of Canaan.

Moses wanted the children of Israel to know that they had nothing to fear from the Canaanites because even in the days of Noah God had predicted that a great judgment would come upon the inhabitants of the land of Canaan. Even from the days of Noah, God knew that the children of Canaan would become so wicked that He would have to bring a great judgment upon them. As the children of Israel neared the land of Canaan, Moses announced that it was time for that prophetic judgment to be fulfilled.

As we approach the book of Genesis, Chapter 10, we see how that the earth was divided up into various nations, and we also see how the various languages came about. We’ll begin reading in verse 5.

Genesis 10:5 NKJV
5 From these (three sons of Noah) the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.

After this statement, Moses goes on to talk about the sons of Ham and Shem and then of Japheth as he gives their various generations. But it’s very interesting to note that these people were of different languages. You would think that these three sons of Noah would all speak the same language, and you would think that their families after them would all speak the same language.

How did it happen that they all spoke different languages, and what is the origin of all of the various languages that we see in the world today. To understand this we need to go over to Genesis, Chapter 11. Notice as we begin reading in verse 1:

Genesis 11:1-9 NKJV
1 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.
3 Then they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.
4 And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
6 And the Lord said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.
7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."
8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.
9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

We find this word Babel in our language today. People are said to be babbling if they speak in a confused manner and that expression comes from the word Babel. Another word that comes from the word Babel is the word Babylon, which was to later become the name of the capital city of the Babylonian Empire.

The city of Babel and the city of Babylon are seen in the scriptures as two great centers of rebellion against God, and we see the beginning of these two cities in Genesis, Chapter 11. These two cities were established under the rule of a man named Nimrod. Genesis, Chapter 11, tells us that the beginning of Nimrod’s kingdom was Babel.

Now let’s just take a look at why God brought such great judgment upon the people of Babel. They built a city and they built a tower and there seems to be nothing wrong with that. But in the book of Romans, Chapter 1, the Apostle Paul is used of God to fill us in and help us to understand what was really happening there in Babel.

The people of Babel were not just building a city, although that was in itself something that came out of their own minds and out of their own hearts in their rebellion against God. But notice what Paul says in Romans, Chapter 1.

Romans 1:16-18 NKJV
16 . . . I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

You see, God revealed Himself, and instead of man accepting that revelation by faith and being saved, man tried to hold it down. This carries the idea of suppression. It carries the idea of resistance. Man did not want anything to do with the revelation of God, and Paul says that the wrath of God is revealed against all those who labor to hold down the truth.

Then Paul went back to the time of Noah’s sons in Genesis 10 and 11 to give us an example of a group of people who tried to hold down the truth. Notice verse 19:

Romans 1:19 NKJV
19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.

God had an ancient revelation of Himself which He had given to these people, and notice what that ancient revelation was.

Romans 1:20 NKJV
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

God had clearly revealed Himself in the creation. The creation, itself, was the ancient revelation which revealed that God was the creator of all things, but the creation also reveals the various attributes of God in such a way that they are clearly understood. The creation reveals God goodness and His mercy and so forth. If the sons and grandsons of Noah had only looked with an open mind at the creation, itself, they would have been able to see that God is the creator and the sustainer of all things. But notice:

Romans 1:21-23 NKJV
21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 and changed (or exchanged) the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man — and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

They exchanged the truth of the creator for an image that they made from God’s creation. They actually started a system of worship that was filled with idolatry.

Romans 1:24-25 NKJV
24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,
25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie . . .

Notice, they took the revelation that God gave of Himself, and they exchanged it for Satan’s lie. They:

Romans 1:25 NKJV
25 . . . worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to vile passions, and Paul describes the depth of the perversion of their sexual desires. God simply gave them over to these desires.

And do you know what happened? Paul says that they did not want to retain God in their knowledge. They gave themselves over to work all manner of uncleanness. They ran greedily after their evil desires. They filled their hearts and their minds with every evil thought so that they could crowd out any knowledge that they had of God. That’s exactly what was happening in the city of Babel in Genesis, Chapters 10 and 11, so God came down and confused their language so that they would go into the various regions of the world.

When we look at Nimrod in Genesis, Chapter 10, we see that Nimrod was a mighty hunter. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Undoubtedly, this is not just speaking of someone who goes out with a bow and arrow hunting animals, but it carries the idea that Nimrod was a hunter of men. He gathered men together in rebellion against God. He hunted the souls of man, and the beginning of his kingdom was Babel.

It would appear that Nimrod was the leader of the great rebellion that took place at Babel, and when God confused their languages, Nimrod left Babel and went into the area that was to become the kingdom of Assyria. It was there that Nimrod established the city of Nineveh. As we continue in our Journey Through the Scripture, we will see much more about Babylon and Assyria for they were both destined to become two of the greatest enemies of the children of Israel.

As we close this lesson, I would just like to mention that there was another great line that came from Noah, and that was the line of Shem. The children of Israel came through the line of Shem, and the Lord Jesus Christ came through the nation of Israel. The whole earth was to be blessed through the line of Shem.

Next week we are going to see how God called out Abraham from all of the confused mass of people on the earth. Abraham was the descendant of Shem through whom the nation of Israel and the Lord Jesus Christ would come.

Well, I see our time is gone so our journey for today is over. We’ll take up again next week. Until that time, we bid you goodbye.

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Genesis (Part 15)(BST 9-21-08)

Genesis (Part 15)
Bible Study Time 9-21-08
(From James Roberts 11-10-96)

In our previous studies on Bible Study Time, we have been taking a Journey Through the Scripture. We saw Noah and his family and animals of every kind as they entered into the ark where they were protected by God and brought safely through the flood judgment. During this flood judgment, God destroyed the heavens and the earth that were in existence at that time.

As He brought Noah out of the ark, God made a covenant with Noah in which He said that He would never again destroy the earth with a judgment such as the one that Noah had just experienced. In other words, God said that He would never again destroy the heavens and the earth with a flood judgment.

However, the book of 2 Peter tells us that there will come a time in which God will destroy the heavens and the earth with a judgment of fire. The heavens and the earth that now exist will melt with fervent heat, and out of that old heaven and old earth will come a new heaven and a new earth in which dwells righteousness.

Every person who has been saved, from Adam right down to the last person, will be with the Lord in eternity in a new heaven and a new earth in which dwells righteousness. The old things will pass away, and all things will become new.

Many people are very confused about this fiery judgment that is going to take place. They think that at any moment God could just end everything with a fiery judgment in which He destroys the heavens and the earth. I believe that the scriptures are very clear in telling us that there are many things that must take place before that fiery judgment takes place.

In our present age, God is calling out the Church which is the Body of Christ. This is the Church that God is building in the heavens today. In the book of Acts, God suspended His program with the nation of Israel which had to do with the calling out of the nation of Israel and those Gentiles that will be blessed with Israel in God’s earthly kingdom. In our present age, God has suspended that program because of Israel’s unbelief.

As a result of Israel’s unbelief, God set Israel’s program aside and started calling out the Church of our present age. In God’s program for us today, God is taking Jews and Gentiles who put their trust in Christ, and He is adding them to the Church. When a person puts his faith in Christ, he automatically becomes a member of the Church which is the Body of Christ. This is the means by which God is building the Church today.

Someday, the last member will be added to the Church, and God will at that point take the Church up to be with Himself in the heavens. This is our hope today. At that time, those who have died, who are members of the Body of Christ, will be raised up with a body that will never die. Those who are alive when the Lord completes the Church will never seen death, but they will be taken up into heaven where they will be given new bodies that will never die.

After the catching up of the Church, God is going to send a great time of judgment upon the earth. This will be the time when God resumes His dealings with the nation of Israel. In fact, the Bible calls this period of time the time of Jacob’s trouble.

During this period of great tribulation, God is going to purify unto Himself the nation of Israel. Out of the old unbelieving nation will come a new nation of Israel, purified by the trials and afflictions of the great tribulation period. The members of this new nation will put their faith in Jesus Christ as Israel’s promised Messiah, and they will as last have the Law of God written in their hearts by the Holy Spirit of God.

When the Lord returns to the earth at the end of this tribulation period, He is going to save the nation of Israel in a day. The nation of Israel will be born again, and they will be the ministers of God in a perfect kingdom here on this earth. In this kingdom, the Lord Jesus Christ will reign over the earth for a thousand years as he sits upon the throne of David in Jerusalem. At that time, Jesus Christ will rule and reign over the earth as the Prince of Peace, and Jerusalem will be the capital city of His kingdom.

The great judgment of fire which was predicted by the Apostle Peter will not come until after Christ’s thousand year kingdom. At the close of that kingdom. Christ will sit upon a great white throne from which He will judge all of the unsaved, wicked dead. All unsaved people from the time of Adam all the way through the ions of time, who have never trusted God and who have never believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, will be cast into the lake of fire. Only then will God destroy the heavens and earth with fire.

So the thing that man needs to be concerned about today is not the fiery judgment. Today, man needs to be concerned about whether or not he has trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. The book of Hebrews says that it is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment.

The judgment that is awaiting those who have never trusted Christ will take place after they die. We are not to be overly concerned about the fiery judgment. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, Paul says, there is no judgment, or condemnation, for those who are in Christ Jesus.

If you know the Lord Jesus Christ, you are safe and secure in the ark of safety, even as Noah was safe in the ark. No judgment fell upon Noah and his family because they were in the ark. The judgment fell only upon those who were outside the ark.

Oh, I ask you today, do you know the Lord as your personal Savior? Do you know the one who died for you, who was buried and rose again? Do you know the one who became your substitute, the one who paid the penalty for your sins and then was raised again and went back into the heavens? Do you know him today? If you don’t, you’re under judgment. The only thing that’s keeping you from the judgment of God is the breath that is in your body. By simply placing your faith in Jesus Christ and calling upon His name, you can be saved today.

Now, after Noah and his family came out of the ark, there was an incident that took place which has been a point of controversy through the years. In Genesis, Chapter 9, we read that Noah became a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then one day, as Noah was drinking the wine, he got drunk and was lying in his tent naked. Then,

Genesis 9:22-25 NKJV
22 . . . Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's nakedness.
24 So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him.
25 Then he said: "Cursed be Canaan; . . .

Notice that Noah did not say, cursed by Ham, the one who had done this thing, but Noah said, cursed by Canaan. Now, verse 25:

Genesis 9:25-28 NKJV
25 . . . A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren."
26 And he said: "Blessed be the Lord, The God of Shem, And may Canaan be his servant.
27 May God enlarge Japheth, And may he dwell in the tents of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant."
28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.

So here we see a curse, a judgment, that was placed, not upon Ham, but upon Ham’s son, Canaan. Why is it that the judgment did not fall upon Ham, who did the deed? Why did the judgment fall upon Canaan?

We need to keep in mind that the first five books of the Bible were written by Moses under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. God was using Moses at the close of Moses’ life to instruct Israel through these first five books of the Bible. God had brought the children of Israel up out of Egypt with the promise that they would inherit the land of Canaan, and God wanted them to understand that the land of Canaan was already under a curse. God wanted them to know that He would fight for them against the Canaanites.

But some may say that it’s unfair to pronounce a curse upon people before they even exist. Well, God knew all about the wickedness that would come from the descendants of Canaan. In Genesis, Chapter 15, we read that God told Abraham that his descendants would be slaves in a strange land for 400 years. God said that Abraham’s would remain in that land until the iniquity of the Amorites was full.

So God was patient and longsuffering with the children of Canaan. He endured their wickedness for 400 years while the children of Israel were being afflicted by the Egyptians. But after 400 years, God brought the children of Israel up out of Egypt, and He led them to the land of Canaan where Moses instructed them concerning the curse that had been pronounced by Noah hundreds of years earlier.

Obviously, the curse upon the Canaanites was not just because of Noah’s words, but it was because of the wickedness of the children of Canaan. The iniquity of the Amorites had finally reached its fullness, and so it was time for Noah’s curse to be fulfilled.

Do you remember what happened when the children of Israel first came up to the borders of the land of Canaan? They sent in spies to spy out the land, and when the spies came back, Joshua and Caleb were confident that they could take the land.

How did they know that they could take the land? Undoubtedly, their confidence was at least partially due to the prophesy of Noah, that God had placed a curse upon the children of Canaan. This prophesy was well known by the all those who were familiar with the writings of Moses.

Many things have been written about this curse that was placed upon Canaan. Tragically, some have interpreted this curse as being a curse upon the black race. According to this interpretation, the black man was destined to be a servant of servants all the days of his life.
That interpretation is a misreading of the scriptures. God never placed a curse upon the black race. The curse upon Canaan was a curse upon the children of Canaan, and this prophetic curse was fulfilled when the children of Israel entered and conquered the land of Canaan. This curse has nothing to do with the black race.

Now, before we close, there are a couple of other things that I would like to mention concerning the descendants of Noah. In Genesis, Chapter 10, we see two very important people. One of the descendants of the Ham was Nimrod, whose kingdom was initiated at Babel in the plain of Shinar. Then he went out from Babel to establish the city of Nineveh which became the capital city of the Assyrians. We are going to take a closer look at Babel and Nineveh next week. These two great kingdoms of Nimrod are very important.

But then it’s also important to see that God had a great promise that was to come to pass through Shem, for it was through the line of Shem that the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, would come into the world. So, Nimrod, the picture of wickedness, came through Canaan, while Jesus Christ, the picture of righteousness, came through Shem.

Well, I see our time is gone. Be sure to be with us again next week as we continue our Journey Through the Scripture . Until that time, we bid you goodbye.

Church links:

http://www.peaceChurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenueChurch.com/

http://gracebibleChurch-fw.com/

Genesis (Part 14)(BST 9-14-08)

Genesis (Part 14)
Bible Study Time 9-14-08
(From James Roberts 11-3-96)

In our Journey Through the Scripture, we have been looking at Noah and his family. We have seen that they went into the ark that God had told Noah to build, and there they were kept safe from the flood judgment that God brought upon the earth. God destroyed the earth and all that was in it, but those who were in the ark were safe and secure, and they were brought safely through that flood judgment.

Now since we have started our Journey Through the Scripture there has been a great deal of talk in the national media about the Genesis Project. This is a series of broadcasts that Bill Moyer is planning to do on public television regarding the book of Genesis.

Study groups around the country, especially on the East Coast, have contributed to this study in the book of Genesis, and I want to give you one word of warning about this project. I just read an article in Newsweek magazine which gave some background information concerning these programs.

Generally speaking, the people who are involved in this project and these programs that will be broadcast over public broadcasting are people who do not believe in the integrity of the scriptures. They do not believe in the absolute authority and inspiration of the scriptures.

For instance, they say that the first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis are just tales that were handed down from mouth to mouth until someone in the time of David and Solomon saw fit to write them down. They say that they were written down as little moral homilies, and they were written down so that you and I could look at those myths and get some moral application from them.

I want you to know that I believe in the integrity of the scriptures, the wholeness of the scriptures. The Bible is not just a compilation of writings from different men, but it is a compilation of writings by men who wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit of God. Because God is the author of the entire Bible, the scriptures stand in their entirety as an integrated whole.

The Bible, itself, gives us the method by which we should study the Bible. We are not to study any portion of the Bible in isolation, but we are to study each portion of the Bible in the context of the Bible as a whole. Each passage must be seen in its relationship to the rest of the Bible.

The process of Bible interpretation that was used by the Genesis Project is very dangerous. Let me give you a couple of illustrations. They say that there is no mention of sin in the account that is given in the early chapters of the book of Genesis. Their doctrine not only misinterprets the scriptures, but it violates the basic principle that every passage must be seen in the light of the scriptures as a whole.

The book of Romans, Chapter 5, very clearly states that when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they committed an act of disobedience, and that act of disobedience was sin. It also says that when they sinned, they brought the sin nature upon themselves and upon all of their descendants.

The reason that you and I today are sinners by nature, by birth, is because Adam and Eve passed that nature to sin right on down to all men who followed after them. Romans 5:12, says:

Romans 5:12 KJV
12 (For) by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

It is a violation of the scriptures to say that there is no account of sin in the book of Genesis.

Another example of their erroneous thinking is seen in the fact that they blame Noah for not telling his contemporaries about the coming flood. Well, in this they are willingly ignorant. In the book of Genesis, itself, we find that Enoch walked with God, and the book of Jude tells us that Enoch was a prophet. For 300 years Enoch prophesied concerning the coming judgment of God.

Enoch named his son Methuselah, no doubt according to the revelation of God. Methuselah means, when he is dead, it shall be sent. Well, what shall be sent? This was talking about the judgment of God that was going to come.

God allowed Methuselah to live for nearly 1000 years. He lived to be the oldest man that has ever lived on the earth, and this is a great testimony, not to the vengeance of God, but to the longsuffering and goodness of God. God is not willing that any should perish.

Enoch warned the people of his day, but it is also clear that Noah also warned the people. Noah was a preacher of righteousness for 120 years, while the ark was being built. So there was ample warning about the judgment that was going to come.

It would appear that the Genesis Project has no intention of revealing what God has actually said in His word, but rather, it’s intention is to question the character of God. It leaves the clear impression that we today have no reason to fear any future judgment from God. It is true that each person must decide this issue for himself, but we had better decide on the basis of what God has said in the entirety of His word. We should be very skeptical of philosophers and theologians who propagate ideas which are not based on the teachings of the entire word of God.

The book of 2 Corinthians tells us that Satan is able to transform himself into an angel of light and that his ministers pose as ministers of righteousness. The book of 1 John says, prove every spirit to see if it is from God. When men start denying any portion of the word of God, you had better reject their testimony. If you do not believe in the integrity of the scriptures, that all of the Bible is the word of God, then you cannot place your confidence in any part of it.

One of the reasons that men want to discredit the first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis is to do away with the historical account of creation. They want to believe that the earth just came into being through natural evolution, but Genesis, Chapter 1, absolutely refutes the idea of evolution.

If evolution is correct then there was no historical Adam who sinned and brought the sin nature into the human race. If there was no historical Adam then there is no reason to think that man is a sinner by nature.

As far as I’m concerned, if I could not believe in the historical, Biblical Adam, I think I would find it very difficult to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ came down from heaven’s glory to live as a man on the earth. If there was no sin in the world, why would Jesus Christ leave the glory of heaven? He came first and foremost to save the world from sin. The Lord Jesus Christ, this second Adam, came down and was made in the likeness of sinful flesh in order that you and I might have eternal life.

I say this to you as a word of warning. Be careful what you hear. False doctrine can come in the garb of religion. It would appear that these philosophers and theologians are trying to get Jews and Christians and Muslims to come together in one religion, and this would do away with the most basic doctrine of the Bible which states that there is no other way to come to the Father except to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Men may work ever so hard to bring human beings together as one, but the Bible still remains true. The Bible tells us that the Jesus Christ was the God of glory in human flesh. He was Emmanuel which means God with us. Jesus Christ came to the earth to open up a new and a living way for man to come to God. Jesus Christ was not just a prophet, He was not just a good man, but He was and is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Jesus said:

John 14:6
6 . . . I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.

There's only one way whereby man may approach God. It’s not through Islam; it’s not to Judaism; it’s not through Christendom. It’s through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only way.

In the Old Testament, the tabernacle had only one door; there was only one way to enter into the tabernacle. The ark that Noah built had only one door. Likewise, there is only one door that leads to heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ said:

John 10:9 KJV
9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

There’s only one door to heaven, and if you don’t enter in through that one door, you’re not going to make it. The Lord Jesus Christ is that door.

1 John 5:12 KJV
12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

As time goes on, there will be all kinds of movements and cults that will try to seduce people away from the one door that leads to heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ. It may be today that you are depending upon church membership or some ordinance to get you into heaven. But unless you have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you do not have eternal life. The Lord Jesus said:

John 3:16 KJV
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Who is it that is of the antichrist? It is the one who does not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you find any kind of doctrine or religious activity that does not hold to the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fact that He bore the sins of the whole world when He died on the cross, you can count that as a false religion. That is the standard, the plumb line, by which we can judge false doctrine. This is the standard that God has given to us to judge between truth and false doctrine.

I say these things in love but I say them as a warning. Satan can transform himself into an angel of light, and his ministers may appear as the ministers of righteousness. Be careful what you hear. Prove the spirits to see if they are of God. Test all things by the integrity, by the wholeness, of the Bible.

I see that our time is already gone, and we didn’t get very far on our Journey Through the Scripture today, but we will take up again with the book of Genesis, Chapter 9, next week. Until that time, we bid you goodbye.

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Genesis (Part 13)(BST 9-7-08)

Genesis (Part 13)
Bible Study Time 9-7-08
(From James Roberts 10-27-96)

Last week in our Journey Through the Scripture, we saw God bringing Noah out of the ark. God had sent Noah into the ark because it was time for the great flood which would destroy the earth and all of the inhabitants that were on the earth. When Noah and his family and all of the animals were safely inside the ark, God shut the door, and the great flood judgment came. Noah did not have to suffer the judgment of the flood because the ark bore all of the judgment of God’s wrath. The ark floated above the water and protected Noah from the judgment of God.

The ark is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ who is our ark of safety. When the Lord Jesus went to the cross, He died for your sins and for my sins. All of the wrath of God for mankind’s sins was poured out upon the Lord Jesus so that He cried out, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? And now Jesus Christ is the beautiful ark of safety for those of us who have put our faith and trust in Him. When we trust Christ, we are given a position in Christ where we are safe and secure from the coming judgment of God.

The first thing that Noah did when he came out of that ark was to build an altar, an altar whereby he could worship God and thank God for bringing him safely through the flood. Through the judgment of God, Noah was safe and secure, and so his desire was to worship God.

How you and I who have been saved by the grace of God should offer up our sacrifices of praise unto the Lord. We are safe and secure in Christ Jesus. As the Apostle Paul said:

Romans 8:1 NKJV
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus . . .

When God brought Noah out of the ark, God gave Noah new instructions which were to govern Noah and his descendants after the flood. These instructions were different from any instructions that God had given before the flood. In other words, God changed the way He dealt with mankind after the flood. This was the beginning of the new dispensation.

Not long ago I was talking to a man, and I told him that it is important to study the Bible rightly divided and that we need to take into account the various dispensations of the Bible. Well, this man asked, what do you mean by dispensations?

Sometimes people are afraid of the word dispensation, but it’s a good Biblical word. In the book of Ephesians, Chapter 3, Paul speaks of the dispensation of the grace of God that was given to him for us. The word dispensation comes from a Greek word which means a house manager. In the Old Testament, Joseph was placed as a house manager over all of Potiphar’s house. That means that Potiphar gave Joseph authority over all of his house.

In the Bible we see that every time God changes His dealings with mankind, He raised up a person to be responsible for that new dispensation. That person then serves as the house manager, or steward, of that dispensation. Adam was the first house manager of a new dispensation. Adam lived in innocence, but when he sinned, he became conscious of his sin. Then, because of the presence of sin, God gave Adam new instructions for approaching God in a world that was under the curse of sin.

Undoubtedly, God told Adam to tell his family how they were to approach God. As you may recall, Cain rejected Adam’s instructions while Abel accepted them. Accordingly, Abel was accepted by God, but Cain was rejected. Adam was the house manager for this new dispensation.

After the flood, we find that Noah was the house manager, or steward, of a new dispensation from God. God delegated to Noah the responsibility for teaching His descendants about God’s order for their post-diluvian life. In our lesson today, we are going to take a look at some of the changes that God made after the flood. In Genesis, Chapter 9, we read that:

Genesis 9:1 NKJV
1 . . . God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them:"Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

Previously, when Adam and Eve were the only two people on the earth, God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. That commandment was not given again until it was given to Noah after the flood. After the flood, it was just Noah and his wife, and Shem, Ham and Japheth and their wives. So God told them to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

In our present age of grace, where we have billions of people living on the earth, I don’t see where God tells us to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. There was a need for that injunction in the time of Adam, and there was a need for it in the time of Noah because they were the only ones living on the earth when God gave this command.

After the flood we also see a change in the animals of the earth. Before the flood, animals had no fear of man as they lived among men. But after the flood, God said to Noah:

Genesis 9:2 NKJV
2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand.

Why is it that God put the fear of man into all the animals? Why is it that when we come close to a bird today, that bird will usually fly away? When a man comes near to an animal, most of the time that animal will flee? Why are they so afraid of man? Notice in verse three:

Genesis 9:3 NKJV
3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.

This implies that man was a vegetarian before the flood, but after the flood, God added meat to man’s diet. After the flood, man was permitted to eat the flesh of animals. They were given to him for food.

In order to preserve and protect animals, God put the fear of man in the heart of the animals to provide for a balance in nature. Animals became afraid of man because man was now going to hunt them for food. God put the dread of man within the animals to protect them in some measure from man.

Some people today are offended by the thought of eating meat. Some claim that eating the flesh of animals makes people more beastly and more violent. However, the people before the flood were vegetarians, and they were extremely violent. Some think that a vegetarian diet will make a person more spiritual, but there is no Biblical basis for that idea. God ordained in Genesis, Chapter 9, that man may eat meat as well as the green herbs.

There was, however, one dietary prohibition when it came to eating meat. God told Noah that he and his descendants should eat no flesh with its blood. Before eating any animal, they were to butcher the animal and allow the blood to drain. In this we see that blood is sacred in the sight of God. In Leviticus we read that the life is in the blood, and the book of Hebrews teaches that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission for sins. Ultimately, we see that blood is typical of the blood of Jesus Christ which was shed for our sins that we might have eternal life.

Now, as we continue in verse 5, we read:

Genesis 9:5-16 NKJV
5 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man.
6 "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.
7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it."
8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying:
9 "And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you,
10 and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth.
11 Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."
12 And God said:"This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud;
15 and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."

In this passage, God institutes human government. God said that if a man kills someone, he should be killed by other men. A man’s blood is to be required at the hands of the another men. I believe that God instituted human government right here in Genesis, Chapter 9, and when we come to Romans, Chapter 13, we find the Apostle Paul saying that the principle of human government is still in effect for us today. Romans 13:1, says:

Romans 13:1-3 NKJV
1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil . . .

I believe that this authority for human government comes from Genesis, Chapter 9, where God made a change in His dealings with mankind and appointed man to rule over man. In Romans, Chapter 13, we find the authority for capital punishment, and we are told that we should be in submission to all authority, all human laws. This is not only to be done out of fear but also for conscience sake.

Well, I see we have run out of time in our journey today. Next week we are going to see something about the effects of human government and why God established human government for man’s good.

If you don’t know the Lord today and you’re not in the ark of safety, you can be saved today by simply trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. Next week we will take up our Journey Through the Scripture once again. Until that time we bid you goodbye.

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Genesis (Part 12)(BST 8-31-08)

Genesis (Part 12)
Bible Study Time 8-31-08
(From James Roberts 10-20-96)

Last week in our Journey Through the Scripture we saw that Noah and his family and all of the animals that Noah brought with him into the ark were safe and secure from the judgment that God brought upon the earth. The Bible clearly teaches that God destroyed the earth and all of its inhabitants with a cataclysmic, universal flood.

The ark is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ because those who were in the ark were safe and secure. Jesus Christ is the only ark of safety that God has provided for mankind. When the future judgment of God comes upon this earth, only those who are found in Jesus Christ will be safe and secure.

Men may make their little row boats as they come up with all kinds of schemes and all kinds of works to please and appease God, but these little row boats will never provide any measure of safety when the wrath of God is poured out upon the earth. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only ark of safety when it comes to escaping the wrath of God.

When the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, He tasted the judgment of God for man’s sins, and all those who believe that Christ died for their sins, that He was buried and that He rose again the third day, God places them in the Lord Jesus Christ where they find safety and security. Those who are outside the Lord Jesus Christ will be even as the inhabitants of the earth in the days of Noah in that they will have to face the terrible, dark days of judgment that will take place when God’s wrath is poured out upon the earth.

I trust today that you know the Lord Jesus Christ as the one who died to take your place, as the one who bore your sins on the cross so that you would not have to face the future judgment of God. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, then you can rest in the assurance of Romans, Chapter 8, which says that there is therefore now no condemnation, no judgment, to those who are in Christ Jesus.

Now, as we turn to Genesis, Chapter 8, in our Journey Through the Scripture, we see that the flood waters receded from the face of the earth. When God saw that the earth was inhabitable once again, He told Noah to go out of the ark with his family and all of the animals.

As Noah left the ark, we see that the very first thing that Noah did was to build an altar unto the Lord. This is the first mention of an altar being built. It seems that before the flood there was a designated place where man was to bring his offerings to the Lord, but there was never any mention of an altar. At this point, however, it appears that that designated place was destroyed by the flood, so Noah had to build an altar.

It was Noah’s desire to provide an offering to the Lord that would be acceptable in the sight of God. I do not believe that Noah’s offering at this point was a sin offering. It was not an offering that was intended to provide a covering for his sins. This must have been an offering of thanksgiving and dedication to the Lord.

You see, Noah had already passed through the judgment so that he would have no need of a sin offering. At this point, Noah needed only to bring an offering of thanksgiving in which he could express his dedication and devotion to the Lord.

Oh my, how you and I, when have been saved by faith in Christ from the judgment to come, how we should thank God, not only at the moment of salvation but every day of our lives for the grace of God that has delivered us from all of the judgment that is to come. This great deliverance should also motivate us to dedicate our lives unto the Lord with all sincerity and devotion.

Yes, Noah built an altar so that he would have a place to offer his animal sacrifices, but the Apostle Paul tells us that God requires a different kind of sacrifice from us today. We do have an altar today but that altar is not for the offering up of animal sacrifices. Christ has already come to present Himself as the ultimate sacrifice for sin, not just to cover our sins but to take away our sins. Because of His sacrifice, we have the assurance that we will never have to face the judgment of God’s wrath. However, in Romans, Chapter 12, Paul challenges us, saying:

Romans 12:1-2 NKJV
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

The sacrifice that pleases God today is the sacrifice of the believer who comes to God and presents himself as a living sacrifice. He is pleased with the believer who offers up his life, saying, Lord, here’s my body, take my body and use it for your honor and for your glory.

Noah offered up dead, animal sacrifices as a burnt offering to the Lord upon an altar that he had built, and God was well pleased. But today God wants each believer to offer his body as a living sacrifice, not the body of an animal, but his own body, not as a dead sacrifice, but as a living sacrifice. God was well pleased with Noah’s animal sacrifice, but today God is well pleased when each believer is willing to present his own body to God as a living sacrifice.

Now, after Noah offered his sacrifice to the Lord, the Lord smelled the sweet smell of the sacrifice, and He said in His heart:

Genesis 8:21 NKJV
21 . . . "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.

Notice that God did not say that He would never again destroy the earth and its inhabitants. In Genesis 9 God tells Noah:

Genesis 9:9-11 NKJV
9 "And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you,
10 and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth.
11 Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."

God states that He will never destroy the earth with water, as He did through the flood. God promises this to Noah, and Noah’s descendants and all of the living creatures upon the earth. But in the book of 2 Peter, Peter speaks of a judgment that is going to come upon this earth. All of the inhabitants of the earth are going to experience this judgment except those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ.

The men of the earth at that time will be ungodly men. They will be like the ungodly men of Noah’s day, and they will say:

2 Peter 3:4 NKJV
4 . . . "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."

Before the flood, Enoch prophesied for 300 years about the fact that the Lord would someday come with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment upon all that are ungodly. Then Noah preached for 120 years that the judgment of God was coming. But the men of that day scoffed, saying, we’ve never seen any such judgment; nothing like that has ever happened before.

Well, there had been a judgment like that before. When Lucifer sinned, a great, cataclysmic judgment fell upon all of the creation. Peter says that in the last days people will once again be unaware of the previous judgments of God. 2 Peter 3:5 says:

2 Peter 3:5-6 NKJV
5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,
6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.

This takes us right back to the time of Noah and the flood. Now, verse 7:

2 Peter 3:7-13 NKJV
7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
The Day of the Lord 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Yes, the flood judgment came because of the wrath of God upon the ungodliness of men, and that judgment is but a picture of the end time when God will completely destroy the earth, not with water, but with fire that is reserved in heaven. Indeed, this fire is reserved in heaven right now.

In the days of Noah, water was reserved in heaven for that very moment when the flood was to come. Even so, at this very moment, there is fire in heaven that is waiting to be poured out upon the earth at the time of the final judgment. At that time, God will destroy the heavens and the earth that now exist and out of that old heaven and old earth will come a new heaven and a new earth which will be filled with righteousness.

The great flood judgment did not rid the world of wickedness. In Genesis 8:21, God said:

Genesis 8:21 NKJV
21 . . . although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.

God knew that even after the flood, the heart of man would continue to be evil. But after the end time judgment of fire, which will result in the new heaven and the new earth, there will be only righteousness. Those who have come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and have been made new creations in Christ will fill the earth. There will be no place for the old nature in the new heaven and the new earth.

Noah was kept safe while he was in the ark, but he came out of the ark with the old sin nature. In fact, we see in the scriptures that shortly after Noah came out of the ark, he planted a vineyard and got drunk. So Noah still had to deal with the old sin nature. But in the new heaven and the new earth there will be no one who still has that sin nature. Old things will have passed away, and everyone who is there will be righteous in the sight of God.

I’d like to ask you this today, have you ever trusted Christ as your Savior? Do you know that you are free from the wrath to come? One day God’s judgment is going to come upon the earth in a worldwide judgment. There are multitudes of people who go out into eternity everyday without accepting by faith the good news that Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world. I trust today that you are like Noah in that you have by faith entered into the Lord Jesus Christ who is our ark of safety.

Well, I see that our journey for today has come to an end. The Lord willing next week we are going to look at the instructions that God gave to Noah as he and his family settled into a world which had changed dramatically as a result of the flood. Until that time, we bid you goodbye.

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/