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How to stay afloat when your world’s being flooded
January 29, 2006 - Tom Bartlett
Matt 24:37-39 (TLB) "The world will be at ease-- banquets and parties and weddings-- just as it was in Noah’s time before the sudden coming of the flood; people wouldn’t believe what was going to happen until the flood actually arrived and took them all away. So shall my coming be.”
HOW TO CAUSE A FLOOD
Gen 6:7 (NLT) “So the LORD said, "I will wipe this human race… from the face of the earth…."
• Live in direct disobedience to God
Genesis 6:3 (TLB) (God) "My Spirit must not forever be disgraced in man, wholly evil as he is.”
Rom 1:18 (TLB) “…God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, evil men who push away the truth...”
• Fill your mind with trash.
Genesis 6:5 (NLT) “…The Lord… saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.”
Titus 1:15-16 (NIV) “… to those who are corrupted… nothing is pure…their minds… are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him…”
• Make violence and corruption a way of life.
Genesis 6:11 (NLT) “God saw that the earth… was filled with violence… everyone was corrupt.”
HOW TO STAY AFLOAT WHEN YOUR WORLD’S BEING FLOODED
Genesis 6:8 (NLT) “Noah found favor with the Lord.”
Heb 11:7 (NIV) “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”
• Stay loyal to God.
Genesis 6:9a (NLT) “Noah was a righteous man….”
Proverbs 14:12 (NIV) “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”
• Make integrity a priority.
Genesis 6:9b (NLT) “…the only blameless person living on the earth…”
Integrity: Incorruptness, untainted sincerity.
Titus 2:7 (NLT) “Let everything you do reflect… integrity…”
• Follow God’s instructions.
Genesis 6:9c & 22 (NLT) “… he walked in close relationship with God… So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT) “Trust in the Lord… do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.”
God’s Umbrella of Protection
FULL TEXT
The earth had become corrupt, so much so that even the simple tasks of farming were very difficult. Noah’s father named him Noah which means “may he bring us relief.” He was referring to the hard labor of farming.
People lived long and that probably extended to every living thing. It may be that the earth was becoming more and more unfit for humans to even survive on.
Satan and his followers were doing all they could to disrupt God’s plan and God’s creation. Satan first tried a run at being God. God saw through his schemes and tossed him like a bad habit.
Now Satan is trying to destroy God’s plan of renewing man and bringing him back to Himself.
Satan and his demons that were cast to the earth tried to infiltrate human race by intermarrying with them so as to pollute the race and make it un-savable.
Man was created in relationship with God but was moving faster and further away from Him than ever with Satan’s help.
In an effort to save the world and man, God had to start over, shorten man’s days and literally change the environment. The flood wiped out man and animals from the earth except for Noah and his children.
Satan was attempting to destroy what God had created, so God in essence changed the parameters. Instead of man living in his sinful ways for hundreds of years becoming worse and worse God brought his days down to a fraction of that amount.
Satan may have thought that if he couldn’t kill man from without, he would destroy man from within. He almost succeeded. By the time that Noah came along, he was the last one to still be serving God.
Had Noah not come along and God not start over, it may have ended there for the human race. Satan almost won right here in the infancy of man’s existence.
Some people ask, “how could a good God wipe out all those people and animals?” That’s really not the right question. The question is really, “How could a righteous God, who could not sin, allow sinful man to degrade his creation for as long as he did?”
Not only was man becoming more and more sinful and wicked, I believe the very nature of man was changing. He was starting to evolve into something that looked nothing like God’s original intention.
FOR THOSE AND MANY OTHER REASONS GOD SENT A FLOOD
As amazing as that is, the only difference today is the fact that man doesn’t live as long, but he once again is pursuing every evil and corrupt thing there is.
The Bible says that in the end days it will be just like it was in the days of Noah. People will be living their lives with no concern for eternity or God.
Matt 24:37-39 (TLB) "The world will be at ease-- banquets and parties and weddings-- just as it was in Noah’s time before the sudden coming of the flood; people wouldn’t believe what was going to happen until the flood actually arrived and took them all away. So shall my coming be.”
The people of that day thought for sure that God would certainly not do anything to them. They lived with no regard to what might happen. In essence they caused a huge flood and you may do the same in your life if you’re not careful!!!!
HOW TO CAUSE A FLOOD
Gen 6:7 (NLT) “So the LORD said, "I will wipe this human race… from the face of the earth…."
• Live in direct disobedience to God
Genesis 6:3 (TLB) (God) "My Spirit must not forever be disgraced in man, wholly evil as he is.”
Note: Inner marriage of spirit beings and humans were corrupting God’s creation and the race he was trying to save.
Nothing hurt God more than when we live out of His plan for us. He knows what incredible peace we will have when we follow His direction.
Whenever God says don’t do something, He says that to keep us from hurting ourselves. The 10 commandments are not God’s idea of holding us back from fun. It’s God’s idea of saving us from pain.
WHAT COMMANDEMENT IF BROKEN DOESN’T BRING PAIN TO YOU OR SOMEONE ELSE?
There isn’t any. If you take the first 4, they refer to your relationship with God. If that’s broken, it will show up in your life in a painful way.
The next 6 refer to your relationship with others. If those are broken, it will mean pan and discomfort for you. Is there any man in his right mind that murdered and wished he hadn’t? I doubt it. Is there any person who ever committed adultery and didn’t regret it.
People say I can sin and it’s OK as long as it doesn’t affect someone else.
YOU CAN NOT SIN WITHOUT IT AFFECTING SOMEONE ELSE! Sin affects you, it changes you and ultimately it’s affect work into relationships and affect them. IT ALWAYS AFFECTS OTHERS.
If you want to cause a flood of pain and hurt – live in direct disobedience to God!
Rom 1:18 (TLB) “…God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, evil men who push away the truth...”
The truth brings freedom and peace. Don’t push it away.
• Fill your mind with trash.
There’s a battle going on today for your life and it starts with your mind.
The Bible says, as a man thinks in his heart, that’s exactly how he is.
In the days of Noah people were mentally feeding on trash. They were taking it in and were totally absorbed by it.
Genesis 6:5 (NLT) “…The Lord… saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.”
What about your mind? What do you thinking about all the time? Where does your mind go when your day dreaming?
In Noah’s time every person except Noah, thought continually about evil things.
God created man perfect. He fell and became corrupted. Instead of turning to God for favor and help, man continued to become more and more corrupted.
YOU MIGHT ASK, HOW DO I KNOW IF I’M CORRUPTED?
Well you can say, I know God. You can go to church, you can look nice but the proof is in your actions and your actions are driven by your thoughts.
Are your thoughts constantly impure? If they are, then your actions ill be the same.
Titus 1:15-16 (NIV) “… to those who are corrupted… nothing is pure…their minds… are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him…”
If you want to cause a flood of pain and hurt – Fill you mind with trash.
The flood of dissatisfaction with life, broken relationships and total rejection will soon follow.
• Make violence and corruption a way of life.
Today in America there are more people incarcerator than ever before. As a matter of fact, I’m told, the land of the free and the home of the brave has more of it’s own citizens in jail than any other nation.
Violence and discontent, drug abuse and physical abuse are a way of life in this society.
It’s just like it was in the days of Noah.
• If you didn’t like what someone did – kill them.
• If you wanted what they had – take it.
• If you desired another man’s wife – move in on it.
Genesis 6:11 (NLT) “God saw that the earth… was filled with violence… everyone was corrupt.”
If you want to cause a flood of pain and hurt – make violence a way of life.
Take what you want, lie, cheat, steal… and the waves will cover you like a lead blanket.
HOW TO STAY AFLOAT WHEN YOUR WORLD’S BEING FLOODED
There are times in everyone’s life when it seems their whole world is caving in, that no matter what they do, it’s not right.
Maybe you feel like your serving God, but your whole world is falling apart and headed straight down the tubes.
How do you stay afloat when you’re drowning in the details of life? How do you stay afloat when those around you seem not to care about what’s really important?
YOU DETERMINE WHAT’S RIGHT AND IMPORTANT AND YOU LIVE BY IT!
Genesis 6:8 (NLT) “Noah found favor with the Lord.”
Noah decided to stay with God and when the world was flooding in around him, God was there to keep him afloat.
If you look at the account of this story in Genesis you’ll see that Noah worked for a lot of years to prepare for this flood. And God didn’t let him get into the boat till it was the right time. Noah was a little more than 500 years old when he started building the ark and the rains didn’t start until he was exactly 600 years old.
Noah kept himself and the whole human race afloat by simply staying true to God.
Heb 11:7 (NIV) “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”
If you want to make it through life and ride above the wave, while the rest of the world is drowning, do what Noah did:
• Stay loyal to God.
The Bible says that wickedness was everywhere. People had reached to the lowest possible depths. And in the middle of all this darkness one man stayed right and pure. One man stayed loyal to his God. His name was Noah.
Genesis 6:9a (NLT) “Noah was a righteous man….”
The word “righteous” carries a connotation of loyalty to your God. Noah was righteous because He made a commitment to His God and was faithful to it.
RIGHTEOUESNESS = FAITHFUL TO THE COMMITMENTS YOU’VE MADE.
That could be in your marriage, or your job or other relationships in your life!
RIGHTOUSNESS IS MORE THAN DOING RIGHT – Anyone can do right even if they are forced. Noah was righteous because he did right because he decided to. It speak of a life direction.
MY DIRECTION IS TOWARD GOD
When the rest of the world was following after worldly pleasure and doing things their way, Noah followed after God.
When the flood is hitting you don’t turn your back on God. That’s when you need him the most. Stay in the direction of God.
Some people say well I’ve been trusting God all this time and now there’s a storm in my life, maybe I better try something else.
WHAT MAY SEEM LIKE A GOOD PATH TO YOU WITHOUT GOD’S DIRECTION WILL LEAD YOU TO A DEAD END!
Proverbs 14:12 (NIV) “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”
Stay the path of following God’s ways. Your ways may seem right but you can’t see the end. You don’t know where your path will take you.
Let God’s path be your direction.
NOAH STAYED LOYAL TO GOD – What about you? Are you gonna hang with God when the clouds start to rise? When things are heated up at work when things are tough at home?
• Make integrity a priority.
Genesis 6:9b (NLT) “…the only blameless person living on the earth… “
What do people say about you? Can they trust you? What are the words they use to describe you?
Reliable unreliable, trustworthy untrustworthy, faithful unfaithful. Truthful liar, thoughtful self-centered
If you’re worried about image, then you’re probably not worried about substance. If there’s no substance to your life there’s no integrity.
WHEN THE WAVES START TO HIT OR THE STORM IS COMING, WITHOUT INTEGRITY, YOU’LL FALL TO PIECES.
This word “blameless” refers to the moral character of Noah. There was no double life with him. He was the same man on Monday as he was on Sunday.
Integrity: Incorruptness, untainted sincerity.
God has just said that he’s going to destroy the world because of all the corruptness. Integrity means to live with out corruptness.
Titus 2:7 (NLT) “Let everything you do reflect… integrity…”
Noah lived a life of integrity and character. He was true through and through. What’s your character like? Are you one way with certain people and another way with others? If so, you have an integrity problem. NOT NOAH!
• Follow God’s instructions.
Sometimes God speaks and we think, what are you nuts? What was Noah thinking when God said build a boat?
It had never rained up to this point in history, so Noah probably didn’t know what a boat was.
That would be like God coming to you and saying, “I want you to build a shuzzbutt.” You say a what butt? God says a shuzzbutt!”
Your thinking, I don’t even know what a shuzzbutt is…
God what’s a shuzzbutt?
God says, “it’s a contraption that I will tell you how to build to have your family saved from coming destruction. This contraption will take most of the rest of your life to build and will use up all of your yard and part of your neighbors yard. Your family will think you’re weird, you friends will avoid you, but in the end you’ll be glad.”
What would you do? Or if God came to you and said, I want you to build a ski resort West Palm Beach. Build all the lifts, the lodge everything, all in a place that’s never snowed and from all appearances never will.
If we try and figure it out we’ll go nuts. We can’t see what God’s up to we can only do what He says.
LOOK WHAT NOAH DID:
Genesis 6:9c & 22 (NLT) “… he walked in close relationship with God… So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded.”
Now underline the words “everything exactly as God commanded.”
Now circle the word “exactly.”
When God speaks to you and asks you to do something, you must do it just the way he says. God isn’t asking for your input, trust me He doesn’t need it!
MANY HAVE MADE THE MISTAKE OF DOING PART OF WHAT GOD SAID, MIXED WITH THEY THINK IS RIGHT.
God won’t honor that and you’ll be sorry.
• When God says, run from sexual immorality – 1 Thess. 4:4 – some have hung around. Others thought they’d walk away. God says run away.
• When God says, seek me first in all you do Matt. 6:33, some have said, well I’ll consider that at some point. WRONG!
• When God has said, trust me with your finances, don’t rob from m, Mal. 3:10 – Some have said, well I’ll do better financially if I keep some of what God has asked for. WRONG!
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT) “Trust in the Lord… do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.”
The Umbrella of God’s protection.
The moment you became part, or the moment you become part of God’s family, there’s a protection, a covering over you. When you walk in God’s way, in His will He’s like an umbrella that shields what could be harmful for your life. When you sep away from God’s protection and expose yourself to the world without his protection – well that’s where many pains and hurts come from.
Walking in God’s way will allow you to make it through any storm of life, and come out on the other side still in his care. EVEN IF YOU DIE! Because he is Lord of the living and the dead.
