WEBVTT 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:10.012 Pick your Bibles up, if you've got them handy, and wave them around, make Jesus glad, the devil mad, and let's say this together say Heavenly Father, I'm so glad for today. 00:00:10.012 --> 00:00:20.195 You chose this time for me to live and I intend to make a difference in this world. 00:00:20.195 --> 00:00:24.353 You've anointed me, you've chosen me, you've given me a chosen me. 00:00:24.353 --> 00:00:27.600 You've given me a message, you've given me a testimony. 00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:30.099 I'm going to see people saved. 00:00:30.099 --> 00:00:36.067 My family's coming in, my friends are coming in, my co-workers are coming in. 00:00:36.067 --> 00:00:37.840 There's coming a great revival. 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:40.329 I'm on the forefront of it. 00:00:40.329 --> 00:00:44.659 I'm going to be faithful to the end in Jesus name. 00:00:44.659 --> 00:00:47.307 Amen, you can be seated. 00:00:47.307 --> 00:00:51.281 Hallelujah, glory to God. 00:00:51.281 --> 00:00:58.814 Let's turn in our Bibles to Hebrews, chapter 11, and we'll read a few verses here. 00:00:58.814 --> 00:01:03.801 Hebrews 11, verse 1. 00:01:03.801 --> 00:01:13.233 As I was preparing this message, I wondered how many times I've preached out of Hebrews 11 quite a lot over all the years. 00:01:13.233 --> 00:01:15.195 Verse 1. 00:01:15.195 --> 00:01:20.861 Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen For. 00:01:20.861 --> 00:01:25.251 By it, that is, by faith, the elders obtained a good report. 00:01:25.251 --> 00:01:35.412 Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen are not made of things which do appear. 00:01:35.412 --> 00:01:37.382 By faith. 00:01:37.382 --> 00:01:45.867 Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous. 00:01:45.867 --> 00:01:56.210 God testifying of his gifts, and by it he being dead, is yet spoken of by faith. 00:01:56.210 --> 00:02:12.013 Enoch was translated that he should not see death, but was not found because God had translated him, for before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God. 00:02:12.013 --> 00:02:27.270 But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. 00:02:27.270 --> 00:02:35.150 And so today, on Father's Day, I wanted to share a message entitled Fathers of Faith. 00:02:35.150 --> 00:02:44.531 Fathers of Faith, and we want to honor those fathers of faith on those shoulders upon which we stand. 00:02:44.531 --> 00:02:47.866 We stand on the fathers of our faith here in the Old Testament. 00:02:47.866 --> 00:02:57.570 I didn't keep reading, but if I kept reading I've got five fathers that are mentioned here in this chapter that I'm going to talk about today. 00:02:57.570 --> 00:03:00.022 They're all Old Testament saints. 00:03:00.022 --> 00:03:03.310 They are all spiritually dead men. 00:03:03.310 --> 00:03:15.911 They weren't born again, and yet the Bible says in 1 Corinthians, chapter 10, that all these things in the Old Testament are written for our admonition. 00:03:15.911 --> 00:03:19.675 Upon whom the ends of the age are come. 00:03:19.675 --> 00:03:21.359 End of what age. 00:03:21.359 --> 00:03:23.284 Well, the end of the church age is about. 00:03:23.284 --> 00:03:26.012 The church age is about to wrap up the church age. 00:03:26.012 --> 00:03:33.473 The church age is the age in which whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 00:03:33.580 --> 00:03:35.067 It's so easy to get saved. 00:03:35.067 --> 00:03:38.425 It's not hard to get saved, it's easy to get saved. 00:03:38.425 --> 00:03:42.508 You know, sometimes we just make it so complicated. 00:03:42.508 --> 00:03:43.925 We've got to have 10 steps. 00:03:43.925 --> 00:03:44.709 We've got to have 10 steps. 00:03:44.709 --> 00:03:45.460 We've got to have 13 things. 00:03:45.460 --> 00:03:47.930 No, you know, it's just two things. 00:03:47.930 --> 00:03:50.120 It's just two things. 00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:54.948 You believe in your heart, god raised Jesus from the dead and you confess him as Lord. 00:03:54.948 --> 00:03:57.626 It's just two things. 00:03:57.626 --> 00:03:59.045 You've got those two things going. 00:03:59.045 --> 00:04:03.551 It doesn't matter what denomination or non-denomination you're part of. 00:04:03.551 --> 00:04:06.126 Are you with me now? 00:04:09.200 --> 00:04:18.240 And so the Old Testament is there for our admonition or for our instruction, our warning, our encouragement. 00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:23.533 And so these five flaming torches light our way. 00:04:23.533 --> 00:04:28.689 They're testimony, they still are spoken of right here. 00:04:28.689 --> 00:04:32.350 This word was spoken so it could be written. 00:04:32.350 --> 00:04:33.987 It was written so it could be spoken. 00:04:33.987 --> 00:04:42.514 And when you say the same thing, as, in other words, confess and you believe in your heart, you can have. 00:04:42.514 --> 00:04:46.430 And so you know, as examples, there are examples to us. 00:04:47.540 --> 00:04:55.387 So one version of Hebrews 11 says 20 times by an act of faith. 00:04:55.387 --> 00:04:59.326 Abel by an act of faith. 00:04:59.326 --> 00:05:01.865 Enoch by an act of faith. 00:05:01.865 --> 00:05:04.910 Noah by an act of faith. 00:05:04.910 --> 00:05:05.997 Abraham by an act of faith. 00:05:05.997 --> 00:05:07.584 Abraham by an act of faith. 00:05:07.584 --> 00:05:08.848 Moses. 00:05:08.848 --> 00:05:16.524 Those are the five that I'm going to talk about today, five fathers of faith and by an act. 00:05:16.740 --> 00:05:22.567 See, faith is not just a concept, it's not just a mental thing, it's not just a way of thinking. 00:05:22.567 --> 00:05:24.244 No, faith is an action. 00:05:24.244 --> 00:05:30.788 If you believe God, the first initial action of believing God in your heart is saying something. 00:05:30.788 --> 00:05:33.783 You've got to speak in line with what you believe. 00:05:33.783 --> 00:05:35.788 You've got to speak in line with what's written. 00:05:35.788 --> 00:05:40.745 But besides speaking, there's other actions. 00:05:40.745 --> 00:05:42.550 You've got to act, like the Bible is true. 00:05:42.550 --> 00:05:45.507 You know, a simple definition of faith is acting like the Bible is true. 00:05:45.507 --> 00:05:53.629 So each one of these five torches flames of fire that light our way. 00:05:53.649 --> 00:05:58.307 You know I was watching an old World War II movie and it was, you know, the OSS. 00:05:58.307 --> 00:06:00.372 That was the precursor to the CIA. 00:06:00.372 --> 00:06:01.161 They were kind of. 00:06:01.161 --> 00:06:07.490 You know spies sit behind the lines and they were communicating. 00:06:07.490 --> 00:06:09.156 You know, spies sit behind the lines and they were communicating. 00:06:09.156 --> 00:06:16.704 You know, to the free French forces, you had the resistance, the French resistance, after Hitler had taken over France. 00:06:16.704 --> 00:06:21.634 You still had pockets of resistance where they would oppose them as much as possible. 00:06:22.562 --> 00:06:25.250 So this one guy had to fly over to this airstrip. 00:06:25.250 --> 00:06:29.067 Well, it's in the middle of the night, there's no airstrip, it's just a pasture. 00:06:29.067 --> 00:06:30.451 What'd they have to do? 00:06:30.451 --> 00:06:34.166 They had to light a fire up down the side of this place for him to land. 00:06:34.166 --> 00:06:41.732 I mean, they have marked our way, folks, and we can learn today about our fathers of faith. 00:06:41.732 --> 00:06:44.660 And so the first one here is Abel, about our fathers of faith. 00:06:44.660 --> 00:06:49.358 And so the first one here is Abel, verse 4. 00:06:49.358 --> 00:06:56.759 Abel, by an act of faith, abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. 00:06:56.759 --> 00:07:00.800 Now you can go back to Genesis 4 and read the account that it says there. 00:07:04.973 --> 00:07:06.038 Cain was the firstborn of Adam. 00:07:06.038 --> 00:07:10.101 Adam essentially means humankind. 00:07:10.101 --> 00:07:10.562 You know, god made Adam. 00:07:10.562 --> 00:07:11.766 We think about him as a man, or he was a man originally. 00:07:11.766 --> 00:07:13.329 But then what happened? 00:07:13.329 --> 00:07:14.552 Well, it wasn't, you know. 00:07:14.552 --> 00:07:15.721 He couldn't find a partner. 00:07:15.721 --> 00:07:26.331 500,000 species of animals were paraded and he named them, and there wasn't anybody good enough for him to procreate with. 00:07:26.331 --> 00:07:27.560 He's supposed to procreate. 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:32.992 He couldn't procreate by himself, and so God put him to sleep and created the woman. 00:07:32.992 --> 00:07:37.002 So the man was Ish and the woman was Ish-ah. 00:07:37.002 --> 00:07:41.668 So when Adam woke up he looked at Ish and went aww. 00:07:41.668 --> 00:07:50.396 But it took two, and so I could just think about Adam and Eve. 00:07:50.396 --> 00:07:52.862 And you know, ish and Ish aww. 00:07:52.901 --> 00:07:55.889 And they brought forth their first born son. 00:07:55.889 --> 00:08:03.529 And this was after the fall, that's after they had lost the glory, and so she had pain in childbirth. 00:08:03.529 --> 00:08:08.127 But when they brought forth that boy, you can imagine how proud they were of Cain. 00:08:08.127 --> 00:08:09.810 Oh, this is our boy, cain. 00:08:09.810 --> 00:08:10.653 He's just you know what. 00:08:10.653 --> 00:08:12.663 He didn't work, he didn't turn out too good. 00:08:13.925 --> 00:08:16.350 And their second son was Abel. 00:08:16.350 --> 00:08:21.401 And Abel did what his father taught him to do. 00:08:21.401 --> 00:08:25.733 His father taught him that you can't approach God except over a bleeding sacrifice. 00:08:25.733 --> 00:08:39.868 You need to take the firstling of your flock and kill it, and over that bleeding sacrifice the blood of a lamb we talked about, the blood of Jesus this morning, greater than the blood of bulls and goats. 00:08:39.868 --> 00:08:44.720 And so you've got to approach God over that bleeding sacrifice. 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:45.254 That's your tithe. 00:08:45.254 --> 00:08:45.629 You've got to bring god over that bleeding sacrifice. 00:08:45.629 --> 00:08:46.250 That's your tithe. 00:08:46.250 --> 00:08:56.491 You've got to bring that to the lord and kill it and shed the blood, and over that blood you can, then, you know, approach your god and and worship him. 00:08:56.491 --> 00:09:07.668 See, the, the, the firstling of the flock, the t was for the purpose of honoring the father, and he wasn't father, by the way, he was God. 00:09:07.668 --> 00:09:12.006 He wasn't their father, see, they're spiritually dead, remember. 00:09:12.006 --> 00:09:18.373 But he was God, almighty God, and they honored him and they worshiped him. 00:09:19.980 --> 00:09:23.467 But Cain, see, he's the oldest and he doesn't grow. 00:09:23.467 --> 00:09:24.811 He doesn't have a flock. 00:09:24.811 --> 00:09:27.596 But Cain, see, he's the oldest and he doesn't grow. 00:09:27.596 --> 00:09:28.720 He doesn't have a flock. 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:30.785 In order to get a flock, he's got to go and buy one from his brother and he's too proud to do it. 00:09:30.785 --> 00:09:32.090 We don't know what the reasons are. 00:09:32.090 --> 00:09:32.530 You know what? 00:09:32.530 --> 00:09:33.621 He's? 00:09:33.621 --> 00:09:34.485 Just a goofball. 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:36.585 Sometimes people are born that way. 00:09:36.585 --> 00:09:38.029 Or is there any hope? 00:09:38.029 --> 00:09:39.306 Yeah, they get saved. 00:09:39.306 --> 00:09:42.230 You can change their scrambled eggs into something that's great. 00:09:42.230 --> 00:09:46.481 They can have their mind renewed. 00:09:46.481 --> 00:09:47.264 They can change their personality. 00:09:47.264 --> 00:09:49.969 You might have been born with a stubborn personality, but you know what. 00:09:49.969 --> 00:09:52.134 You can get saved and your personality can change. 00:09:52.134 --> 00:09:55.399 You get more like Jesus, amen. 00:09:56.701 --> 00:10:03.027 So anyway, for whatever reason, the Bible says that he brought in the process of time. 00:10:03.027 --> 00:10:04.567 He brought an offering. 00:10:04.567 --> 00:10:05.730 Well, you know, there's no offering. 00:10:05.730 --> 00:10:07.451 You've got to tithe first. 00:10:07.451 --> 00:10:08.172 There's no offering. 00:10:08.172 --> 00:10:09.413 We've already learned that, didn't we? 00:10:10.193 --> 00:10:10.833 Adam knew that. 00:10:10.833 --> 00:10:14.297 Adam trained his boys and one of them listened and the other one didn't. 00:10:14.297 --> 00:10:22.943 The older one didn't listen and he just laid a bunch of weed out there on the side of the road or wherever it was, and brought it to the gods. 00:10:22.943 --> 00:10:29.610 And here, here you go, and god says what I'm not going to say, I can't say, I can't accept that. 00:10:29.610 --> 00:10:37.125 You know, if you, just, if you just do it the right way, wouldn't you, wouldn't you, wouldn't, wouldn't your worship be accepted? 00:10:37.125 --> 00:10:41.437 And if it, if not, then there's sin at the door. 00:10:41.437 --> 00:10:44.331 See he, he warned cain and cain didn't repent. 00:10:44.331 --> 00:10:46.280 Instead, he got mad and killed his brother. 00:10:46.280 --> 00:10:49.306 Are y'all with me now? 00:10:49.306 --> 00:10:50.649 I'm talking about a flame. 00:10:50.649 --> 00:10:55.844 See, I'm talking about a flame from the very beginning. 00:10:55.844 --> 00:11:00.293 I mean right out of the garden, I mean right out of Adam and Eve. 00:11:00.721 --> 00:11:06.052 In the very first generation, they were taught to worship God. 00:11:06.052 --> 00:11:07.581 See what was his act of faith? 00:11:07.581 --> 00:11:09.928 Worship Number one. 00:11:09.928 --> 00:11:14.163 He had to be taught there was a God and he had to be taught how to approach him. 00:11:14.163 --> 00:11:16.086 Glory to God. 00:11:16.086 --> 00:11:18.994 This is before they even had a covenant. 00:11:18.994 --> 00:11:24.822 I mean, mosaic covenant hadn't been done yet, but yet they had an approach. 00:11:24.822 --> 00:11:29.647 They had an approach to God and it was through the blood. 00:11:29.647 --> 00:11:31.408 Are y'all with me? 00:11:31.408 --> 00:11:34.049 So his act of faith was worship. 00:11:34.591 --> 00:11:39.394 You know, I heard RW Schambach say this many years ago, 40 years ago. 00:11:39.394 --> 00:11:46.062 He said you know, this is back then I think it's worse now the biggest sin in the church. 00:11:46.062 --> 00:11:54.288 And here's a preacher that's traveled all over preaching and he was a local church guy, plus the fact that he would do tent meetings and get people. 00:11:54.288 --> 00:12:05.355 So I remember when he had a tent meeting in Brooklyn and he'd come to New York and had a revival and of course they didn't support the meeting. 00:12:05.355 --> 00:12:14.126 That wasn't enough money, and so Brother Osteen opened Sunday nights to Brother Schambach and so for the whole summer Schambach preached every Sunday night. 00:12:14.126 --> 00:12:22.942 I don't know if anybody remembers that, but he was there every Sunday night and for the purpose that Lakewood could partner with him and help support that meeting. 00:12:22.942 --> 00:12:25.530 And I tell you we've got a lot of seed in New York City. 00:12:25.530 --> 00:12:29.826 About time they turn around and quit being so stupid. 00:12:29.826 --> 00:12:38.144 Anyway, so he said the biggest sin in the church is worship without sacrifice. 00:12:39.928 --> 00:12:43.181 You know, some people want to take those beautiful songs and sing them. 00:12:43.181 --> 00:12:47.932 They want to just cry and they want to lift their hands and they call that worship, and then they don't tithe. 00:12:47.932 --> 00:12:49.846 They don't honor God with a tithe. 00:12:49.846 --> 00:12:54.672 They don't think about, you know, bringing their tithe to the local church. 00:12:54.672 --> 00:12:55.926 They don't think anything about it. 00:12:55.926 --> 00:12:58.379 I mean, especially our younger generation. 00:12:58.379 --> 00:13:01.610 They're not taught because their parents aren't tithing. 00:13:01.610 --> 00:13:03.663 They're certainly not taught. 00:13:03.663 --> 00:13:07.528 They just think it's another place to go and have fun. 00:13:07.528 --> 00:13:12.154 It's like a rock concert, only holy Well, you know what. 00:13:12.154 --> 00:13:16.326 It's not worth a flip. 00:13:16.326 --> 00:13:18.392 There's no worship that God is accepting. 00:13:18.392 --> 00:13:22.769 It can be the most beautiful and there are some really good worship songs coming out. 00:13:22.769 --> 00:13:27.884 Somebody's got it's better than it was there for the longest time. 00:13:27.923 --> 00:13:30.604 Every song that came out we'd had to change the words. 00:13:30.604 --> 00:13:34.610 I wouldn't sing those things. 00:13:34.610 --> 00:13:44.009 I mean they were just hang dog, poor me kind of songs, you know, and that's not redemptive truth. 00:13:44.009 --> 00:13:47.470 The songs we sang this morning, full of redemptive truth. 00:13:47.470 --> 00:13:51.466 The anointing comes in the river, the river of God comes in here. 00:13:51.466 --> 00:13:56.187 Worship without sacrifice. 00:13:56.187 --> 00:13:59.826 You take that time. 00:13:59.826 --> 00:14:02.566 No, I'm not touching it, I'm not spinning on anything. 00:14:02.566 --> 00:14:06.971 I'm taking it the first 10th and I'm laying it here and I'm not spinning on anything. 00:14:06.971 --> 00:14:10.860 I'm taking it the first tenth and I'm laying it here and I'm worshiping you with it. 00:14:10.860 --> 00:14:13.447 So that was the first flame there. 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:14.926 His act of faith was worship. 00:14:14.926 --> 00:14:17.743 And the second one, enoch. 00:14:17.743 --> 00:14:23.153 In verse 5, by faith, enoch was translated that he should not see death. 00:14:23.153 --> 00:14:35.341 Faith, enoch was translated that he should not see death and he was not found because he had God translated him Before his translation. 00:14:35.341 --> 00:14:37.669 He had this testimony that he pleased God. 00:14:37.669 --> 00:14:51.325 So when you go back to Genesis, chapter 5, and read the account, it says that Enoch walked with God and was not for God took it. 00:14:51.325 --> 00:15:04.100 And so you know, comparing these two verses, you know 40 years ago, reading those verses, you know I, I thought well, god, how in the world did Enoch get enough faith? 00:15:04.120 --> 00:15:05.366 It implies that he had faith. 00:15:05.366 --> 00:15:10.152 If he had faith that pleased God, he had this testimony that he pleased God. 00:15:10.152 --> 00:15:13.090 So he walked with God by faith. 00:15:13.090 --> 00:15:16.908 That meant he walked not according to sight. 00:15:16.908 --> 00:15:18.326 God didn't appear to him. 00:15:18.326 --> 00:15:20.788 He couldn't see God, smell God, feel God. 00:15:20.788 --> 00:15:23.229 He walked with God by faith. 00:15:23.229 --> 00:15:25.784 Are y'all with me? 00:15:27.860 --> 00:15:29.808 So I asked the question. 00:15:29.808 --> 00:15:31.647 I said, lord, where'd he get his faith? 00:15:31.647 --> 00:15:35.065 How did he know? 00:15:35.065 --> 00:15:37.307 How did he get his faith to walk with God? 00:15:37.307 --> 00:15:46.611 Walk means continue with God, means continue, and he was taken off the earth at the age of 365 years. 00:15:46.611 --> 00:15:53.605 Now he's not 365 years old, he's a lot older than that. 00:15:53.605 --> 00:16:04.037 Now Just think of a man just like you and me, who wasn't born again and he went to heaven and he's been there all this time. 00:16:04.037 --> 00:16:08.317 I don't know if you think that way, I think that way. 00:16:08.317 --> 00:16:09.770 So I thought how could that happen, lord? 00:16:09.770 --> 00:16:11.116 Where did he get his faith? 00:16:11.116 --> 00:16:17.043 And God said Adam told him Adam, adam, what are you, adam? 00:16:17.043 --> 00:16:20.875 And I started what Adam was way back there. 00:16:20.875 --> 00:16:22.537 Adam is out of many generations. 00:16:22.710 --> 00:16:23.711 So I had to break out my Bible. 00:16:23.711 --> 00:16:24.410 I had to do a spreadsheet. 00:16:24.410 --> 00:16:25.011 I had to break out my Bible. 00:16:25.011 --> 00:16:26.032 I had to do a spreadsheet. 00:16:26.032 --> 00:16:37.419 I had to get Adam how many years he and how old he was when he begat so-and-so, and then so-and-so was such-and-such old when he died and at such-and-such age he begat, so-and-so, and he begat and he begat. 00:16:37.419 --> 00:16:49.628 And I discovered now you might I'll just check my math if you want to, but my math tells me that Adam and Enoch overlapped by 57 years. 00:16:49.628 --> 00:16:58.297 In other words, enoch was 57 years old when Adam went to heaven, so they had 57 years together. 00:16:58.297 --> 00:17:01.903 Now you know, all these other begats had the same opportunity. 00:17:01.903 --> 00:17:05.532 They're not written, nobody knows anything about it. 00:17:05.532 --> 00:17:15.940 And then, while he was on there, so from the age of 57 to the age of 365, he continued without his father, in the faith. 00:17:15.940 --> 00:17:22.253 He continued walking with God by faith, with no evidence that he existed. 00:17:24.739 --> 00:17:30.239 See, I tell you what we quit too soon a lot of times when we don't see something like right now. 00:17:30.239 --> 00:17:32.410 You know, we've just got the drive-thru mentality. 00:17:32.410 --> 00:17:38.450 You know, the Chick-fil-A drive-thru if it didn't show up, it's just not, it's just crazy. 00:17:38.450 --> 00:17:55.579 I mean, I've had to drive a lot through Chick-fil-A lately and it's just my Chick-fil-A foreclosed and so I've got to drive way down the road to go to the Chick-fil-A foreclosed and so I've got to drive way down the road to go to the Chick-fil-A, and sometimes it's all the way out to the road, you know, and they quit doing the curbside delivery. 00:17:55.579 --> 00:18:01.122 We have this mentality in the 21st century of just instant potatoes. 00:18:01.122 --> 00:18:10.003 We've got to have the drive-thru If our hamburger isn't ready by the time we get to the window and we're told to go around front and park and wait for it. 00:18:10.003 --> 00:18:12.377 I know I'm just talking to myself. 00:18:12.377 --> 00:18:14.396 Y'all are way up here. 00:18:14.396 --> 00:18:24.179 I know you're way up here and your patience has been so developed and that you learned to go ahead and cook it yourself and not bother with the fast food Anyway. 00:18:26.343 --> 00:18:32.217 Anyway, adam taught him about God. 00:18:32.217 --> 00:18:36.255 And so what was his act of faith? 00:18:36.255 --> 00:18:38.801 He walked, he continued, he continued. 00:18:38.801 --> 00:18:41.416 See, we've got to keep on going. 00:18:41.416 --> 00:18:47.862 I mean, you're going to fall and slip and you're going to mess up and you're going to hit roadblocks and you're going to fail at times and do things that you're ashamed of. 00:18:47.862 --> 00:18:50.924 But you've going to mess up and you're going to hit roadblocks and you're going to fail at times and do things that you're ashamed of. 00:18:50.924 --> 00:18:55.240 But you've got to just pick up and smear the blood all over you and keep on going. 00:18:55.240 --> 00:18:56.996 Just continue with God. 00:18:56.996 --> 00:18:57.759 Don't stop. 00:18:57.759 --> 00:19:01.498 Don't stop for anything or anybody. 00:19:01.498 --> 00:19:05.417 Just keep on with God because faith pleases Him. 00:19:05.417 --> 00:19:14.791 Boy, a flaming torch teaching us written for our admonition Alright. 00:19:14.791 --> 00:19:15.273 Number three. 00:19:15.315 --> 00:19:17.044 Verse seven Get anything out of this today. 00:19:17.044 --> 00:19:19.654 It's simple, but you know it's Father's Day. 00:19:19.654 --> 00:19:23.914 We need to remind ourselves by faith. 00:19:23.914 --> 00:19:41.022 Verse seven Noah being warned of God, of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, reverence, god told him something so fantastic that he had no history. 00:19:41.022 --> 00:19:46.836 There had never been rain In the early days, the earth was watered by water vapor. 00:19:46.836 --> 00:19:47.818 There was no rain. 00:19:47.818 --> 00:19:49.261 There was no rain, there was no flood. 00:19:49.261 --> 00:19:53.038 There were rivers, there was oceans, but there was no flood. 00:19:53.038 --> 00:19:54.955 There's no such thing as rain. 00:19:54.955 --> 00:20:04.737 It just watered the water vapor and God said I'm going to send a rain, it's going to flood, I'm going to destroy everything except you and your house. 00:20:04.737 --> 00:20:07.442 Build an ark. 00:20:07.442 --> 00:20:11.609 And gave him the Build an ark, gave him the plans for the ark. 00:20:11.609 --> 00:20:15.619 And so Noah moved with fear. 00:20:18.551 --> 00:20:23.078 It says here in Hebrews that's why you need the whole Bible, not just the Old Testament. 00:20:23.078 --> 00:20:30.377 Old Testament doesn't say it this way, but the New Testament says Noah, being warned of God, of things not seen as yet, moved with fear. 00:20:30.377 --> 00:20:34.050 It didn't say built an ark, it said he prepared an ark. 00:20:34.050 --> 00:20:38.917 He prepared an ark. 00:20:38.917 --> 00:20:41.161 Now, building the ark. 00:20:41.161 --> 00:20:44.305 He did that and with no power tools. 00:20:44.305 --> 00:20:47.440 I mean, he didn't have electricity, he didn't have a drill, he didn't have a saw. 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:49.376 You know, I don't know how he did it. 00:20:49.376 --> 00:20:58.563 It took him 100 plus years to do it and every day that he was building it he was mocked and, you know, made fun of. 00:20:58.563 --> 00:20:59.503 And look at this fool. 00:20:59.503 --> 00:21:00.736 What is he doing with his life? 00:21:00.736 --> 00:21:02.637 Why is he building that monstrosity? 00:21:04.690 --> 00:21:06.736 Royce was telling me about the ark. 00:21:06.736 --> 00:21:08.420 Let's see, where is that ark that they? 00:21:08.420 --> 00:21:11.815 He was telling me about Missouri, kentucky. 00:21:11.815 --> 00:21:12.776 They have a. 00:21:12.776 --> 00:21:13.438 They have a. 00:21:13.438 --> 00:21:15.421 He, he had seen it. 00:21:15.421 --> 00:21:17.664 It's an amazing thing, it's huge. 00:21:17.664 --> 00:21:19.794 You just don't realize how big the ark was. 00:21:19.794 --> 00:21:20.415 It was huge. 00:21:21.317 --> 00:21:22.720 And this, this guy built it. 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:24.790 But he did more than build it. 00:21:24.790 --> 00:21:25.632 He prepared it. 00:21:25.632 --> 00:21:26.173 What do you mean? 00:21:26.173 --> 00:21:26.773 He prepared it. 00:21:26.773 --> 00:21:28.517 Well, you know, it's not enough to build this thing. 00:21:28.517 --> 00:21:36.696 He's got to put something in it for the animals and his family, something like food, something like water. 00:21:38.019 --> 00:21:39.602 Do you know how long they were in the ark? 00:21:39.602 --> 00:21:40.763 Total, a year. 00:21:40.763 --> 00:21:44.073 They were in the ark for a year. 00:21:44.073 --> 00:21:46.355 Now it didn't, it didn't float on the water. 00:21:46.355 --> 00:21:53.193 I think it was 10 months and it came to rest, but they still couldn't leave it because it was still wet and muddy and everything else. 00:21:53.193 --> 00:21:56.183 So they were in the ark for a year. 00:21:56.243 --> 00:22:03.837 That means he had to prepare food for himself, his wife, his kids and all the animals. 00:22:03.837 --> 00:22:08.484 Man, where did he get the food? 00:22:08.484 --> 00:22:11.693 And how about water? 00:22:11.693 --> 00:22:14.060 How about water? 00:22:14.060 --> 00:22:21.044 Now, I know it flooded and I guess he could have used the buckets to bring the water up from out there. 00:22:21.044 --> 00:22:27.641 But I mean, I don't know if I would want to drink that water, all the dead people and dead animals and dead things that floating in it. 00:22:27.641 --> 00:22:31.259 I mean you're floating along and here goes somebody floating by you. 00:22:31.259 --> 00:22:37.020 You know, and I hate to be so graphic but I think, see, I meditate, I meditate. 00:22:37.020 --> 00:22:38.650 I want to know what was it like. 00:22:38.650 --> 00:22:41.394 It was horrendous. 00:22:41.394 --> 00:22:50.286 I can't even imagine being in a boat with all those animals and the smell that it must have been Holy mackerel. 00:22:50.286 --> 00:22:53.538 I hope he had a whole lot of air wick. 00:22:53.538 --> 00:22:56.291 They still make air wick, remember air? 00:22:56.291 --> 00:22:58.779 You know y'all that's really old, that's dating me. 00:22:58.779 --> 00:23:01.917 Before they had the aerosol, they had air wick. 00:23:01.917 --> 00:23:03.877 You had to bottle the thing, you pull the thing out. 00:23:03.877 --> 00:23:08.012 He prepared. 00:23:08.012 --> 00:23:09.597 So that was his act of faith. 00:23:09.597 --> 00:23:11.090 What was his act of faith? 00:23:11.090 --> 00:23:14.838 He prepared, and by building that ark. 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:23.363 There's no really record of him proclaiming much, but 2 Peter 2.5 says he was a preacher of righteousness. 00:23:23.363 --> 00:23:32.813 I tell you, you may not be a preacher like you, may not be one that talks a lot, but I'm going to tell you something. 00:23:32.813 --> 00:23:34.397 Your life is preaching a message. 00:23:34.397 --> 00:23:35.801 What message is it preaching? 00:23:35.801 --> 00:23:40.262 His message preached that you better repent. 00:23:40.262 --> 00:23:42.210 There's something coming that you're not prepared for. 00:23:42.210 --> 00:23:43.173 Say are we prepared for the coming of the Lord? 00:23:43.173 --> 00:23:44.396 Say, that's my whole message for the last 25 years. 00:23:44.396 --> 00:23:44.778 Wake up the church. 00:23:44.778 --> 00:23:45.861 They're not ready for the coming of the Lord. 00:23:45.861 --> 00:23:47.727 Say, that's my whole message for the last 25 years. 00:23:47.727 --> 00:23:48.609 Wake up the church. 00:23:48.609 --> 00:23:50.316 They're not ready for the coming of the Lord. 00:23:50.316 --> 00:23:50.979 They're not ready. 00:23:50.979 --> 00:23:53.258 They're not doing what they need to be doing right now. 00:23:53.650 --> 00:23:59.019 I'm telling you, when he appears, it's going to be suddenly and there's going to be a whole lot of people that are not ready. 00:23:59.019 --> 00:24:01.732 That's what I see in my Bible. 00:24:01.732 --> 00:24:04.637 I see the ten wise and the 10 foolish virgins. 00:24:04.637 --> 00:24:06.582 He comes and all well. 00:24:06.582 --> 00:24:07.644 Well, I was asleep. 00:24:07.644 --> 00:24:11.781 Oh, give me some of your oil. 00:24:11.781 --> 00:24:12.814 Some of these people. 00:24:12.814 --> 00:24:14.869 It's going to be too late because they weren't found doing what they were supposed to do. 00:24:14.869 --> 00:24:16.378 Listen, I'm determined. 00:24:16.378 --> 00:24:20.940 This church is going to be found doing what it's been called to do when Jesus comes. 00:24:20.940 --> 00:24:25.634 We're preparing something. 00:24:25.634 --> 00:24:29.086 We're preparing Glory to everybody. 00:24:29.086 --> 00:24:30.130 We're preparing Glory to everybody I'm preparing. 00:24:30.130 --> 00:24:32.115 See, that's his act of faith. 00:24:32.991 --> 00:24:36.816 By an act of faith, prepared, all right, verse 8. 00:24:36.816 --> 00:24:54.032 By faith, abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should, after receive for an inheritance, obeyed and he went out not knowing whether he went by faith. 00:24:54.032 --> 00:25:23.826 He sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise For, or because he looked for, a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 00:25:23.826 --> 00:25:31.343 So, abraham, just one sentence of command. 00:25:31.343 --> 00:25:36.390 I want you to go back in Genesis, there 11 and 12. 00:25:36.390 --> 00:25:42.596 And he was just commanded to leave his father's house and his kindred and go to a place I'll show you. 00:25:42.596 --> 00:25:50.520 He didn't even tell him where to go and Abraham obeyed and left not knowing. 00:25:50.520 --> 00:25:55.696 He had one sentence, he had some promises that went with it. 00:25:55.696 --> 00:26:01.357 I'm going to make of you a great nation, I'm going to bless you and make you a blessing. 00:26:01.357 --> 00:26:07.675 He gave him some promises now, but as far as what to do, I mean he didn't. 00:26:07.675 --> 00:26:10.363 He left not knowing. 00:26:12.269 --> 00:26:14.536 Now, how many of us want to do that? 00:26:14.536 --> 00:26:24.594 I mean, we know we've got something from God, we've got a word from God and we're trying to figure it out, and we're trying to reason it out and we're trying to go from point A to point B. 00:26:24.594 --> 00:26:28.039 What's that going to mean down the road such and such, 20 years from now. 00:26:28.039 --> 00:26:29.461 If I go now, what's that going to? 00:26:29.461 --> 00:26:30.544 Dah, dah, dah, dah. 00:26:30.544 --> 00:26:31.125 Well, you know what? 00:26:31.125 --> 00:26:34.217 You're not going to get any more information until you obey the one word. 00:26:34.217 --> 00:26:35.635 One word's all you need from God. 00:26:35.635 --> 00:26:38.434 If you've got one word from God, you act on that word. 00:26:38.434 --> 00:26:39.955 You act on that one word. 00:26:39.955 --> 00:26:50.409 I don't know how many times I've had to live this out. 00:26:50.589 --> 00:26:52.433 When God told me to start this church, I was broke. 00:26:52.433 --> 00:26:53.015 They've started. 00:26:53.015 --> 00:26:54.156 Have you noticed? 00:26:54.156 --> 00:26:57.763 On television everybody turns one syllable words into two syllables. 00:26:57.763 --> 00:27:08.242 So it used to be broke and now it's broke. 00:27:08.242 --> 00:27:09.365 Well, I was Baroque. 00:27:09.365 --> 00:27:19.098 If I'd have stopped and analyzed it, this church never would have happened. 00:27:19.098 --> 00:27:25.678 But oh, thank God, we didn't analyze it, we just acted on that word and we had overcome some stuff too. 00:27:28.771 --> 00:27:41.402 This first church service started on January, the 29th 1995, but on January 3rd 1995, the biggest house I'd ever built, you know, $650,000 house, 5,000 square foot, three-story house. 00:27:41.402 --> 00:27:50.154 And the bank took it back, but I couldn't pay the interest and so they foreclosed on it and you talk about a wreckage. 00:27:50.154 --> 00:27:56.098 I mean, I lost yet again everything I had, and my partners lost everything they had. 00:27:56.098 --> 00:28:04.329 And you know, you're just coming from a place of total inability of your own to be able to do much of anything. 00:28:04.329 --> 00:28:07.798 If you've got one word from God, that's all you need. 00:28:07.798 --> 00:28:12.258 That and faith If you'll act on it, if you'll act like it's true. 00:28:12.258 --> 00:28:14.314 Oh, come on, lift your hand. 00:28:14.314 --> 00:28:15.638 Glory to God. 00:28:15.638 --> 00:28:22.989 Talk about a flaming torch to light our way, amen. 00:28:27.527 --> 00:28:28.471 And what was his aim? 00:28:28.471 --> 00:28:31.933 See, you know, he left and he went into a land that wasn't his. 00:28:31.933 --> 00:28:32.876 He sojourned. 00:28:32.876 --> 00:28:34.651 What does that mean exactly? 00:28:34.651 --> 00:28:39.217