WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:07.360 Well, what an exciting time to continue in worship as we open up the word for the preaching of the word. 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:10.240 And so I'm going to ask you to stand with me if you are able. 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:16.879 And we are going to read a portion of the book of Genesis in chapter 9. 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:27.280 And I remind us as we do this, this is God's word, his inerrant, perfect, authoritative word to us. 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:38.240 And so as I read this, just be blessed to know that it is God Himself speaking through human authors to us here today. 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:42.479 Genesis chapter 9, starting in verse 18. 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:48.880 It says, Now the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. 00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:51.359 And Ham was the father of Canaan. 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:57.359 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated. 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:00.719 Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:06.319 He drank of the vine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:12.719 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:27.920 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father, and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father's nakedness. 00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:33.040 When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:39.040 So he said, Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants he shall be to his brothers. 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:45.920 He also said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant. 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:54.319 May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant. 00:01:55.280 --> 00:02:05.120 Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood, so all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died. 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:09.360 May God bless the reading of his word, you may be seated. 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:36.800 Well, let's pray. 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:41.120 This is a quite a passage, to say the least. 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:48.319 God Almighty, we are your people, and we have to hear from you. 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:53.199 There's nothing else we need more than your word in our hearts. 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:55.599 God, please protect this time. 00:02:55.840 --> 00:02:57.680 Protect us from distraction. 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:00.639 Bless us to hear from you, God. 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:01.840 Your people are listening. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:04.879 Open our eyes and we'd see wonderful things in your word. 00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:06.479 In Jesus' name. 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:07.360 Amen. 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:16.080 So, right off the bat, do you know who wrote the book of Genesis? 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:18.879 It's okay, say it. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:20.639 Moses. 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:37.199 He is also credited with writing the majority of what is called the Pentateuch, which is the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:37.599 Good job. 00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:39.360 So I want to make sure you're here with me today. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:41.199 It's a great day to be together. 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:47.120 This five-part portion of the Bible is called the law. 00:03:48.319 --> 00:04:04.159 By the infallible inspiration of the Creator God, Moses wrote the history of the creation of the world and followed the family line of the people who would become the nation of Israel. 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:30.879 So after creation, after the Garden of Eden, after the fall of mankind into sin and their banishment from the Garden of Eden, after the wickedness of the descendants of Adam and Eve had grown to such a fevered pitch that God stepped in and put a stop to it. 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:49.120 After righteous Noah and his family had been brought through the worldwide flood of judgment, Noah's sons began to have children who would repopulate the earth. 00:04:51.360 --> 00:05:05.600 Everyone in this church building, everyone in this state, everyone on this continent, everyone on this world can trace their lineage back to the sons of Noah. 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:08.560 Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:11.920 So this means we are all of Middle Eastern descent. 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:17.439 And this also brings up a couple questions. 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:24.800 When and why did Moses write the Pentateuch? 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:26.959 Why now? 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:33.439 What is the historical context of this collection of books in the Bible called the Law? 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:41.680 Why did God see fit that this narrative be written down when it was and not earlier in human history? 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:45.680 And why not later in human history? 00:05:46.800 --> 00:06:14.480 You see, after the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, and before Moses wrote the law, and before they entered the Promised Land, at some point during the stiff-necked grumbling of forty years in the wilderness wanderings, God put it on Moses' heart to write down the history and reality of who God is and what he required. 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:25.120 We have no verifiable written biblical manuscripts before Moses wrote the law. 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:32.079 We have nothing conclusive that predates Moses' writings in the canon of Scripture. 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:45.360 As far as we know, up to the time of Moses, information about who about how about who God was and the history of the world up to that point was passed down orally. 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:51.120 There may have been some scribes who documented some things, but we don't have it. 00:06:52.480 --> 00:07:18.560 All we have is what this Moses, this Israelite, who was raised and educated in the palace of the king of Egypt, has told us as he led God's people, the people recently freed from 430 years of slavery in Egypt, through the desert on their way to the land God had promised to give them as an inheritance, the promised land. 00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:22.480 And so now for the why. 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:27.439 We have the when of when Moses wrote the Pentateuch, but now the why. 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:31.120 What's the purpose of the timing? 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:37.600 The Israelites were about to enter the land of milk and honey. 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:40.000 The promised land. 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:42.800 Canaan. 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:51.759 In Genesis 12, 7, God promised to give this land to Abraham's, to Abram's descendants, the Israelites. 00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:56.560 But why is the promised land called Canaan? 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:02.480 If you're tracking with me at all, you'll recognize it's because it's full of Canaanites. 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:14.639 It's also loaded with six other pagan nations, like the Hittites, Amorites, Gergeshites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites, and electric lights. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:20.079 You are still tracking with me, that's good to hear. 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:24.879 So what? 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:28.720 So what that the promised land is called Canaan. 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:30.399 So I'll tell you what. 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:32.879 Who were the Canaanites? 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:38.559 The descendants of Noah's youngest son Ham. 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:43.120 And his son, whose name was Canaan. 00:08:44.879 --> 00:09:14.399 Moses, under the direction of God, was giving the Israelites a much needed, written history lesson before they went into the promised land to make God directed, merciless, land cleansing war with the wicked and idolatrous Canaanites, the descendants of Ham. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:21.279 And you can see that this is exactly the direction Moses is going in the narrative. 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:28.559 When in verse 18 and 22 he only mentions Ham's son, whose name was Canaan. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:33.200 Did you notice that in the scripture reading this morning? 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:37.919 Only Canaan is mentioned here as a grandson of Noah. 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:42.320 Shem and Japheth's kids won't be mentioned until chapter 10. 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:52.399 Because for now, the only one of Noah's grandsons we need to know about according to God through the pen of Moses is Canaan. 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:59.360 And so now with that foundation laid, we're going to work our way through the text. 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:10.799 What I want to show you in this text is a crossroad, an opportunity for decision. 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:24.080 Choice, a fork in the road that arises in the passage, an opportunity that affords the choice to either do the right thing or the wrong thing. 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:32.080 And this choices subsequent and far-reaching consequence. 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:50.879 In our fast-paced culture, we are constantly railroaded into making complex and life-altering decisions with almost no time for reflection or consideration. 00:10:51.039 --> 00:11:06.000 What we are given are quick, compelling, slick, sound bites of information tailored for our specific demographic to cause us to make hasty decisions based slowly on the information the seller has given us. 00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:18.879 Very rarely are we counseled to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:35.759 Very rarely are we counseled to slow down and pray and meditate on the Word of God and ask the Holy Spirit to guide and direct our steps in the decision-making process. 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:40.480 There's no worldly prophet in that, after all. 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:53.200 If we would seek first the kingdom of God, we would be led to make our decisions based on eternal factors. 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:58.080 Like who gets the glory in this decision? 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:03.120 Or who am I worshiping with my choice? 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:11.919 You see, I don't think that we give enough attention to the consequences of our actions. 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:33.679 I think the majority of us flit from one life opportunity to the next, making decisions on a whim or an unconsidered gut feeling, and then move on from that response to the next opportunity without really considering what will come or has come from the choice we have just made. 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:48.720 If things go poorly from our choice, we are counseled by modern psychology to shift the blame off of ourselves and onto somebody else to alleviate our feelings of guilt. 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:56.720 If things go very well, then we are quick to pat ourselves on our back for our wisdom and quick thinking. 00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:11.440 Both of these responses are sinful and worldly and against God who has called us to be in Christ. 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:20.080 I have titled this sermon Response Ability. 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:44.080 In God's sovereign will, He has given us the ability to respond, either positively or negatively, to untold multiples of decisions and opportunities throughout our days. 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:52.080 We make decisions, and the list of the decisions we are faced with on any given day is almost endless. 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:55.519 Where should I go? 00:13:56.639 --> 00:13:58.080 What should I do? 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:00.879 When should I do it? 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:03.440 Why should I do that? 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:05.360 Or how should I do that? 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:08.399 And on and on and on and on. 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:29.840 And all of these decisions or responses create either a mental or physical or emotional or a spiritual consequence, some of which will only last for a moment, and some for a day or more, and some for an eternity. 00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:34.320 And so how are we to navigate? 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:46.559 How are we to rightly respond to the opportunities for decision afforded to each of us as they come to us day after day after day? 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:52.799 The answer lies in right worship. 00:14:54.480 --> 00:15:01.039 And I think the story in this passage can help us to understand what that does and does not look like. 00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:03.600 So let's dive in. 00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:05.679 Verse 18. 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:11.519 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:13.759 Ham was the father of Canaan. 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:21.360 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed. 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:28.159 So picture at the ark in the flood, it's landed, the mountains of Ararat. 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:31.120 The flood waters have dried up. 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:36.559 Noah has sacrificed clean animals as a thank offering to God. 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:45.600 God has made the Noahic covenant and promised with a sign of the rainbow that he would no longer, would not destroy the earth with a flood again. 00:15:45.919 --> 00:15:54.480 And now Noah and his sons and their wives leave the ark behind to make a new life for themselves on this changed planet. 00:15:56.320 --> 00:16:02.480 And again, Moses brings the son of Ham to the forefront in this story. 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:12.159 So if we were the Israelites, hearing or reading this story for the first time, our ears would stand at attention. 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:16.559 And our eyes would have narrowed when we came to this word Canaan. 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:19.519 Verse 20. 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:24.960 Noah began to be a man of the soil. 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:32.159 He planted a vineyard, he drank of the wine and became drunk, and lay uncovered in his tent. 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:38.240 So we don't know what Noah's occupation was before the flood. 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:42.000 We just know that he was a righteous man. 00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:45.759 After the flood, we're told that Noah became a farmer. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:48.639 Specifically, he planted a vineyard. 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:52.799 The next thing we know, Noah is buck naked in his tent. 00:16:55.360 --> 00:17:07.200 At this point, some Bible commentators spin out and lose traction and what I like to call their forward exposition. 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:16.319 And try to make excuses for Noah's drunkenness by saying that Noah accidentally got drunk. 00:17:17.519 --> 00:17:23.440 The basis for their reasoning for saying this is because God called Noah a righteous man. 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:26.400 And drunkenness is a sin. 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:30.079 Therefore, Noah must have accidentally gotten drunk. 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:34.799 They are trying to get Noah off of the sin hook. 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:48.480 In order to do this, they postulate that since drunkenness is not mentioned in the text before now, therefore grape juice didn't ferment before the flood. 00:17:49.519 --> 00:18:00.240 But after the flood, the atmosphere had so changed as to cause fermentation, therefore, Noah unwittingly drank grape juice that had become wine and had gotten drunk. 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:06.640 Whether that happened or not is irrelevant to the story. 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:13.920 Noah had a sin nature when he got into that ark, and he had one when he got out of that ark. 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:21.759 Noah was not sinless, and any attempt to prop him up as sinless is faulty. 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:28.319 The fact is, Noah got buck naked drunk in his tent. 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:37.119 Noah was weak in his flesh, just like you and I are weak in our flesh. 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:40.640 And this was written as a reminder of that fact. 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:55.920 Think of Romans 15, 4 that says, For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:02.240 Jesus said that the Spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:16.960 Galatians 2.16 says and makes it clear that mankind cannot be perfect in the flesh when it says, man is not justified by the works of the law. 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:18.079 J. 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:20.640 Vernon McGee puts it this way. 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:28.880 God has given us here the story of a man who fell, revealing the weakness of the flesh. 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:32.319 There is no use trying to make excuses for Noah. 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:35.359 The bare fact is Noah got drunk. 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:44.640 And yet the point of this story is not the fact that Noah blew it and got drunk. 00:19:45.519 --> 00:19:52.880 The point of this story is how Noah's sons reacted to his weakness and failure. 00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:54.960 Verse 22. 00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:06.880 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:13.440 Noah had apparently gotten drunk in the privacy of his tent. 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:22.240 When Noah's youngest son Ham entered into the tent, he saw the old man lying naked and useless in his drunken stupor. 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:31.440 Ham had unwittingly wandered into a crossroads and had a decision to make. 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:39.359 He had been given an opportunity to respond to an embarrassing situation. 00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:50.400 His options were either to honor his father or to mock his father for his own glory. 00:20:52.160 --> 00:21:04.480 We are not told how long Ham stood gaping at this crossroad of decision, but we are told what he did, which tells us who he cared about the most. 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:16.880 Ham turned around, went out, went directly to his older brothers, and told them what he saw. 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:31.519 Ham chose to walk out of that tent headlong into idolatry and self-worship by deriding his father to his brothers. 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:40.160 Ham rejected the God of his father and instead chose the God of self instead. 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:50.000 The God of self who always says, if I do this, I can get me some attention. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:53.039 I can put someone else down. 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:59.599 I can mock them and stand on top of their stupidity and get glory from my. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:00.880 Myself. 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:14.319 Ham may have surmised that his brothers would join him in mocking their father, and that they would all congratulate themselves for being better than Noah. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:30.880 Ham could be likened to little Jack Horner who sat in a corner eating his Christmas pie, put in his thumb and pulled out a plum and said, Oh, what a good boy am I? 00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:40.400 And now that response ability comes to Shem and Japheth. 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:45.759 What will they do with this report from Ham? 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:50.720 Will they act like the sinful world? 00:22:51.200 --> 00:23:01.359 The world that was just destroyed by the flood, and join Ham in self-righteous indignation of their father? 00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:09.119 Or will they humbly respect and honor their father and in so doing honor the God of their father? 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:11.119 Verse 23. 00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:25.200 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, and they laid it on both of their shoulders and walked backward, and covered the nakedness of their father. 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:27.680 Their faces were turned backward. 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:31.359 They did not see their father's nakedness. 00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:44.640 Shem and Japheth decided to do the honorable thing and to not go gawk and mock at their father's weak flesh. 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:56.480 Their response was to take the high road, the narrow path, and to not take part in either Noah's weakness nor in Ham's mockery. 00:23:57.359 --> 00:24:04.079 What they did was a great example to us on how to deal with the failings of others. 00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:17.039 They made themselves into a curtain wall and walked backwards into the tent, covered over their father's foolish, drunken nakedness. 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:21.119 They took no part in the weakness of the flesh here. 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:29.519 Haman the world says, look at the failings of others and mock them publicly for your own glory. 00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:32.960 Do not concern yourself with their well-being. 00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:37.440 Take out their dirty laundry, air it publicly for all to see. 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:42.480 Warm yourself by the pleasant fire of self-righteous gossip. 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:46.480 Do not concern yourself with helping them, use them. 00:24:49.920 --> 00:24:56.720 Shem, Japheth, and the kingdom of God says, show honor. 00:24:57.839 --> 00:24:59.200 Show respect. 00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:04.960 This person that has failed is made in the image of God. 00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:12.079 Bring dignity into the darkness and seek restoration. 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:20.160 What Shem and Japheth did was to provide a covering for sin. 00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:30.240 This is a picture to us of Christ and his loving, sacrificial covering of sin. 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:38.480 While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:45.359 And this is a strange story. 00:25:46.799 --> 00:25:49.039 The story of Noah's drunkenness. 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:58.960 And it must be read in context with every other passage in the Bible, because the Bible agrees with itself perfectly. 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:02.240 So what do we see in the rest of Scripture? 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:07.839 In context, as a right response to the failings of others. 00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:34.960 If he listens to you, you have won your brother. 00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:36.799 3. 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:42.000 Galatians 6, 1 through 2 and 7 through 10. 00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:56.559 Brethren, if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, each one looking to yourself so that you too will not be tempted. 00:26:56.880 --> 00:27:02.240 Bear one another's burdens and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. 00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:05.039 Do not be deceived. 00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:10.799 God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:17.279 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. 00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:22.799 But the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life. 00:27:23.119 --> 00:27:30.079 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. 00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:40.480 So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:46.640 What Shem and Japheth did here agrees with the rest of Scripture. 00:27:46.960 --> 00:27:52.960 They honored their father, they dealt with his sin privately. 00:27:53.440 --> 00:27:58.799 They did not seek to bring honor to themselves by degrading somebody else. 00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:19.680 Shem and Japheth's response to Ham's response, to Noah's drunkenness, is a powerful lesson to us today as Christ followers on how we are to love one another for the glory of God and the good of others. 00:28:20.880 --> 00:28:33.039 We are to look with compassion on the failings of others, all the while working hard to not fall into the same trappings. 00:28:35.119 --> 00:28:44.640 Remember, Christ came to seek and to save the lost, not to point and mock and jeer. 00:28:45.519 --> 00:28:53.359 And so as Christians, as Christ followers, we are called to walk in the same manner as He walked. 00:28:55.200 --> 00:28:59.519 We have to love our neighbors as ourselves. 00:28:59.920 --> 00:29:03.039 We are called to love the brethren. 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:11.599 We are called to lay down our lives for Him, for them, and to seek honorable restoration. 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:16.960 Sin is sin. 00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:31.680 And it must be dealt with rightly, the same way Christ has dealt with us, in truthful, loving compassion, seeking to make right what has been made wrong. 00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:36.640 So what happened next? 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:40.000 Verses 24 through 29. 00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:52.799 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, Cursed be Canaan. 00:29:54.240 --> 00:29:58.720 A servant of servants shall he be to his brothers. 00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:03.200 He also said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem. 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:06.000 Let Canaan be his servant. 00:30:06.799 --> 00:30:09.759 May God enlarge Japheth. 00:30:10.799 --> 00:30:13.200 Let him dwell in the tents of Shem. 00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:15.839 Let Canaan be his servant. 00:30:16.319 --> 00:30:19.920 After the flood, Noah lived 350 years. 00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:24.960 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died. 00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:45.200 Noah responded to Ham's self-righteous self-worship with exactly what that mindset and lifestyle always brings. 00:30:46.400 --> 00:30:47.599 Cursing. 00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:50.559 This is God's economy. 00:30:51.440 --> 00:30:57.920 In all of God's creation, sinful self-worship always brings cursing. 00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:04.400 There is no blessing to be found in worshiping the creature instead of the creator. 00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:06.079 Romans 1 25. 00:31:08.400 --> 00:31:16.000 The lineage of Ham, the Canaanites, after this account, were dispersed from the mountains of Ararat and were cursed. 00:31:17.119 --> 00:31:39.759 This people group grew into a large and powerful nation of creator God rejecting idol worshipers who would sacrifice their infant children to the idols of Baal and Molech in the hopes of appeasing them and to gain from them safety and good crops. 00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:50.240 This is the people group, the nation of Israel during the time of Moses was to utterly destroy out of the land under the leadership of Joshua. 00:31:51.599 --> 00:32:00.559 These people were indeed cursed, for that is what it is to live in direct opposition to God. 00:32:03.759 --> 00:32:15.680 The worldly life lived in self-love, self-gratification, God rejecting idolatry is a cursed life. 00:32:17.039 --> 00:32:48.559 Regardless of your status, your cash, your abilities, your strength, the size of your home, the size of your country, or the amount of people around you who will do whatever you tell them to do, all that self-righteous and self-loving worldly power and authority is a curse to you because it comes at the cost of rejecting the three times holy creator, sustainer, and judge of all of the universe. 00:32:51.119 --> 00:33:25.039 When you see a godless and powerful person or nation doing as they please and seemingly getting away with it in this world, your very first and right reaction should be to count them as cursed, because they have rejected the eternal covering of the one true God who holds out his hands all day long to a disobedient and obstinate people and says he's not willing that any would perish, but that all would come to eternal life. 00:33:26.720 --> 00:33:30.079 Do not be fooled by worldly power. 00:33:31.200 --> 00:33:32.720 It does not last. 00:34:03.279 --> 00:34:07.039 Galatians 6 7 says, Do not be deceived. 00:34:07.359 --> 00:34:13.039 God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 00:34:13.679 --> 00:34:23.920 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the spirit will reap from that spirit eternal life. 00:34:25.360 --> 00:34:49.440 Ham, Canaan came to the crossroads of their proverbial response ability and chose to reject the covering and instead sought self-glorification and received the inevitable cursing that comes from idolatry. 00:34:51.360 --> 00:34:57.840 Shem and Japheth came to the same crossroads and chose the covering. 00:34:58.320 --> 00:35:05.920 They saw sin for what it was and sought to deal with it righteously and honorably. 00:35:09.840 --> 00:35:17.440 I'd like to finish this message by reading to you a story that was introduced to me probably 20 years ago. 00:35:18.639 --> 00:35:22.079 It's an allegory, it's fairly short, so calm down. 00:35:24.800 --> 00:35:42.000 It's a picture of what it looks like to see sin for what it is and to seek the selfless, God-honoring, blood-bought covering of the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world. 00:35:42.559 --> 00:35:44.800 The Christ, the Messiah. 00:35:45.119 --> 00:35:47.360 This story is called the Ragman. 00:35:54.559 --> 00:35:57.119 I saw a strange sight. 00:35:58.000 --> 00:36:07.440 I stumbled upon a story most strange, like nothing my life or my street sense or my sly tongue had ever prepared me for. 00:36:07.760 --> 00:36:11.039 Hush, child, hush now, and I will tell it to you. 00:36:12.159 --> 00:36:19.920 Even before dawn, one Friday morning, I noticed a young man, handsome, strong, walking the alleys of our city. 00:36:20.480 --> 00:36:36.079 He was pulling an old cart filled with clothes, both bright and new, and he was calling in a clear, tenor voice, Rags! The air was foul, and the first light filthy to be crossed by such sweet music. 00:36:36.480 --> 00:36:41.280 Rags! New rags for old, I take your tired rags. 00:36:41.840 --> 00:36:42.559 Rags. 00:36:43.679 --> 00:36:48.639 Now this is a wonder, I thought to myself, for the man stood six feet four. 00:36:48.800 --> 00:36:53.920 His arms were like tree limbs, hard, muscular, and his eyes flashed intelligence. 00:36:54.079 --> 00:36:56.079 Could he find no better job than this? 00:36:56.320 --> 00:36:58.719 To be a ragman in the inner city. 00:36:59.519 --> 00:37:01.039 I followed him. 00:37:01.360 --> 00:37:05.360 My curiosity drove me, and I was not disappointed. 00:37:06.079 --> 00:37:09.760 Soon the ragman saw a woman sitting on her back porch. 00:37:09.920 --> 00:37:19.280 She was sobbing into a handkerchief, sighing, shedding a thousand tears, her knees and elbows made a sad eks. 00:37:19.920 --> 00:37:23.440 Her shoulders shook, her heart was breaking. 00:37:23.760 --> 00:37:25.920 The ragman stopped his cart. 00:37:26.159 --> 00:37:32.079 Quietly he walked to the woman, stepped around tin cans, dead toys, and pampers. 00:37:33.119 --> 00:37:39.840 Give me your rag, he said so gently, and I will give you another. 00:37:41.039 --> 00:37:51.679 He slipped the handkerchief from her eyes, and she looked up, and he laid across her palm a linen cloth so clean and new that it shined. 00:37:52.079 --> 00:37:54.800 She blinked from the gift to the giver. 00:37:56.639 --> 00:38:02.639 And then as he began to pull his card again, the ragman did a strange thing. 00:38:02.960 --> 00:38:16.960 He put her stained handkerchief to his own face, and he began to weep, to sob as grievously as she had done, his shoulders shaking, yet she was left without a tear. 00:38:18.480 --> 00:38:26.239 This is a wonder, I breathed to myself, and I followed the sobbing ragman like a child who cannot turn away from mystery. 00:38:26.719 --> 00:38:30.079 Rags, rags, new rags for old. 00:38:31.039 --> 00:38:38.320 In a little while, when the sky showed gray behind the rooftops, I could see the shredded curtains hanging out, black windows. 00:38:38.480 --> 00:38:43.920 The ragman came upon a girl whose head was wrapped in a bandage, whose eyes were empty. 00:38:44.079 --> 00:38:48.480 Blood soaked her bandage, and a single line of blood ran down her cheek. 00:38:48.800 --> 00:38:53.280 Now the tall ragman looked upon this child with pity. 00:38:54.320 --> 00:38:57.360 And he drew a lovely yellow bonnet from his cart. 00:38:57.599 --> 00:39:02.159 Give me a rag, he said, tracing his own line on her cheek. 00:39:02.320 --> 00:39:03.440 I'll give you mine. 00:39:04.639 --> 00:39:13.679 The child could only gaze at him while he loosened the bandage, removed it, tied it on his own head. 00:39:14.000 --> 00:39:21.920 The bonnet he set on hers, and I gasped at what I saw, for with the bandage went the wound. 00:39:22.559 --> 00:39:28.000 Against his brow it ran a darker, more substantial blood, his own. 00:39:29.519 --> 00:39:37.039 Rags, rags, I take old rags, cried the sobbing, bleeding, strong, intelligent ragman. 00:39:37.519 --> 00:39:40.639 The sun hurt both the sky now and my eyes. 00:39:40.800 --> 00:39:44.079 The ragman seemed more and more to hurry. 00:39:44.639 --> 00:39:45.519 Are you going to work? 00:39:45.679 --> 00:39:48.000 He asked a man who leaned against a telephone pole. 00:39:48.239 --> 00:39:49.360 The man shook his head. 00:39:49.519 --> 00:39:50.800 The ragman pressed him. 00:39:50.960 --> 00:39:51.920 Do you have a job? 00:39:52.079 --> 00:39:53.280 Are you crazy? 00:39:53.519 --> 00:39:54.400 sneered the other. 00:39:54.559 --> 00:39:59.119 He pulled away from the pole, revealing the right sleeve of his jacket. 00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:02.960 Flat, the cuff stuffed into the pocket. 00:40:03.119 --> 00:40:04.239 He had no arm. 00:40:04.880 --> 00:40:07.360 So said the ragman, give me your jacket. 00:40:07.519 --> 00:40:08.800 I'll give you mine. 00:40:09.840 --> 00:40:13.760 Such quiet authority in his voice. 00:40:14.159 --> 00:40:23.599 The one armed man took off his jacket, and so did the ragman, and I trembled at what I saw, for the ragman's arm stayed in its sleeve. 00:40:24.000 --> 00:40:30.480 When the uh and when the other put it on, he had two good arms, thick as tree limbs, but the ragman had one. 00:40:31.199 --> 00:40:32.880 Go to work, he said. 00:40:34.320 --> 00:40:42.719 After that he found a drunk, lying unconscious beneath an army blanket, an old man hunched, wizened, and sick. 00:40:42.960 --> 00:40:48.480 He took that blanket, wrapped around himself, but for the drunk he left new clothes. 00:40:49.760 --> 00:41:08.400 And now I had to run to keep up with the ragmen, though he was weeping uncontrollably and bleeding freely at the forehead, pulling his cart with one arm, stumbling for drunkenness, falling again and again, exhausted, old, old and sick, yet he went with terrible speed. 00:41:08.559 --> 00:41:15.679 On spider's legs he skittered through the alleys of the city, this mile and the next until he came to its limits, and then he rushed beyond. 00:41:15.840 --> 00:41:18.480 I wept to see the change in this man. 00:41:19.039 --> 00:41:27.519 I hurt to see his sorrow, yet I needed to see where he was going in such haste, perhaps to see what drove him so. 00:41:28.239 --> 00:41:32.239 The little old ragman came to a landfill. 00:41:32.480 --> 00:41:38.320 He came to the garbage pits, and then I wanted to help him in what he did, but I hung back, hiding. 00:41:38.639 --> 00:41:40.079 He climbed a hill. 00:41:40.320 --> 00:41:53.679 With tormented labor, he cleared a little space on that hill, and then he sighed, he laid down, he pillowed his head on a handkerchief and a jacket, he covered his bones with an army blanket, and he died. 00:41:55.280 --> 00:41:59.119 Oh, how I cried to witness that death. 00:41:59.840 --> 00:42:05.199 I slumped into a junked car and wailed and mourned as one who has no hope. 00:42:05.440 --> 00:42:07.760 Because I had come to love the ragman. 00:42:07.920 --> 00:42:16.480 Every other face had faded in the wonder of this man, and I cherished him, but he died, and I sobbed myself to sleep. 00:42:17.599 --> 00:42:22.880 I did not know, how could I know that I slept through Friday night and Saturday and its night too? 00:42:23.039 --> 00:42:27.199 But then on Sunday morning I was awakened with a violence. 00:42:28.559 --> 00:42:40.400 Light, pure, hard, demanding light, slammed against my sour face, and I blinked and I looked, and I saw the last and first wonder of all. 00:42:40.800 --> 00:42:48.400 There was the ragman, folding the blanket most carefully, scar on his forehead, but alive. 00:42:48.639 --> 00:42:57.760 And besides that, healthy, there was no sign of sorrow or of age, and all the rags he had gathered shined for cleanness. 00:42:58.320 --> 00:43:06.000 Well then I lowered my head, and trembling for all that I had seen, I myself walked up to that ragman. 00:43:06.239 --> 00:43:13.039 I told him my name with shame, for I was a sorry figure next to him. 00:43:13.280 --> 00:43:20.800 And then I took off all my clothes in that place, and I said to him with dear yearning in my voice, dress me. 00:43:22.159 --> 00:43:23.599 He dressed me. 00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:32.320 My Lord he put new rags on me, and I am a wonder beside him, the ragman, the ragman, the Christ. 00:43:36.159 --> 00:43:39.679 Church, we have a responsibility. 00:43:43.679 --> 00:43:46.480 Non Christian hearing this message. 00:43:48.000 --> 00:43:53.119 Will you be content to remain in your shame? 00:43:54.559 --> 00:43:59.760 To cover yourself with the curse, and wait for the unavoidable. 00:44:00.800 --> 00:44:06.719 Inevitable, eternal judgment of your sin against a holy God? 00:44:07.519 --> 00:44:20.400 Or will you hear the voice of Jesus who bids you to come to Him, all who are weary and heavy laden, so that He can cover you and give you rest? 00:44:23.280 --> 00:44:31.920 Christian, hearing this message, will you respond rightly to the sin and failings of others? 00:44:32.159 --> 00:44:36.239 Will you offer them that which has covered you? 00:44:36.960 --> 00:44:52.639 The good news of the gospel, the atoning blood of Jesus Christ that can make us stand clothed and unashamed before the Almighty, glorious, and righteous King of all creation. 00:44:54.320 --> 00:44:57.760 Church, what is your response? 00:45:00.079 --> 00:45:01.840 Please pray with me. 00:45:05.920 --> 00:45:09.199 God, your word is so powerful. 00:45:09.519 --> 00:45:12.719 It is all for our good. 00:45:13.599 --> 00:45:15.119 Every bit of it. 00:45:15.840 --> 00:45:29.440 God, please bless us to be a people of your word, a people who love it, submit to it, look for it, and look to love the brethren around us and to shine that light of love to the world. 00:45:29.840 --> 00:45:41.199 Bless us to bring the covering of your gospel everywhere we go, to not look for shame that we can point out and say, ha ha, what a failure. 00:45:41.440 --> 00:45:46.480 Bless us to love our neighbor as you have first loved us. 00:45:46.639 --> 00:45:47.920 In Jesus' name. 00:45:48.159 --> 00:45:48.800 Amen.