Series:
SUPPLANTING The LEGACY Of WICKEDNESS—Genesis 6:9—10:32
A—GOD’s REMOVAL STRATEGY—Genesis 6:9-22
Toward Removing the Legacy of Wickedness
B—GOD’s DESIGNED DESTRUCTION(& Salvation)—Genesis 7:1-24
C—SALVATION REALIZED(Getting to Normal)—Genesis 8:1-19
D—EXPERIENCING The VICTORY(Man’s Response)—Genesis 8:18-22...
OR RATHER--MANIFESTATIONS Of ACCEPTANCE—Genesis 8:18-22
E—CONSTRAINTS Of RESTORATION-V—Genesis 9:1-19
1. CONSTRAINTS For FRUITFULNESS(Success)—Genesis 9:1-7
2. GOD’s COVENANT With The EARTH—Genesis 9:8-17
F—SAME Ol’ SAME Ol’—Genesis 9:20-29
G—The NATIONS—Genesis 10:1-32
Attention:
revised from: The Washington Post, February 28, 2019.
By all accounts, the amateur museum that Donald C. Miller ran out of his home in the cornfields of central Indiana wasn’t exactly a secret. Newspaper reporters, Boy Scout troops & residents of the rural farming community of Waldron, Ind., were all invited to drop in & look around in his basement, where glass cases covered most of the walls. Tens of thousands of rare cultural artifacts were on display — including pre-Columbian pottery, Ming Dynasty jade, an Egyptian sarcophagus & a dugout canoe that had traveled down the Amazon River. And the eccentric Mr. Miller was part of the attraction.
On April 2014 the FBI’s art crime detectives showed up at Miller’s museum & began sifting through his extensive collection. In doing so, they came across something that horrified them: about 2,000 human bones, nearly all of which are thought to have been taken from ancient Native American burial sites.
Tim Carpenter, who heads the FBI’s art theft unit, told CBS News in an interview, “To the best of our knowledge right now, those 2,000 bones represent about 500 human beings”. “It’s very staggering."
Miller, a Christian missionary & ham radio operator who claimed to have worked on the Manhattan Project, died at age 91 in 2015, nearly a year after the FBI raided his home & seized about 42,000 items whose cultural value was said to be immeasurable.
Carpenter said that, before Mr. Miller had died, Miller admitted that he had come by many of the items illegally, & that he had gone on unsanctioned archaeological digs all over the country & the world. He also came to agree that the artifacts should be returned to their proper homes. But because he died while the investigation was still ongoing, many aspects of his life — & the trove he left behind — are a mystery.
The FBI special agent in charge of the case, told reporters at the time that Miller’s methods for procuring some of those objects had violated multiple laws & treaties, but also acknowledged that the relevant statutes may not have been in place yet when Mr. Miller was procuring his collection.
The FBI agent heading the investigation believes that Mr. Miller understood the ramifications of his previous actions. Toward the end he felt compelled to do the right thing. At least he knew he should return the bones to their rightful place.
Brother Donald Miller’s guidelines/reconsiderations/limiting factors/constraints for the proper restoration of his artifacts, & his faith, was opened to include the effect that those ‘possessions’ would have on others.
Likewise, there are certain constraints/limits by which mankind’s restoration can be accomplished before God!
Our Success as Christians is Constrained thru certain relationships & actions.
CONSTRAIN—‘To severely restrict the scope, extent, or activity of.’ OR--‘To compel or force toward a particular course of action.’
OR rather--for OUR/Today’s APPLICATION--‘To keep within God’s limits.’
Need:
The constraints attending mankind’s restoration may be different than you may imagine!
God blessed Noah’s family with a restoration based on relationship.
Man’s restoration is to be constrained/limited contained/determined thru relationships.
How do relationships constrain/determine our restoration?
Some relationships constraining/determining our restoration.
We have already found that ‘Our Restoration is constrained thru relationship with’...
1. GOD(:1a)
2. REINSTATEMENT(:1b-2)
3. CREATION(:3)
4. MAN(:4-7)
5a—Restoration is constrained thru relationship with...
COVENANT(:8-19) concerning...
•GOD SPEAKS(:8 only)
Explanation: (a—:8 only)(:8-17)
:8—“Then God spoke to Noah & to his sons with him, saying:.”
God had previously blessed Adam & Eve(1:28). And a part of that blessing was a charge to them to be fruitful & multiply; & to fill the earth & subdue it, having dominion over every living thing that moves on the earth. In 9:1 & 7, that same charge is applied to Noah & his family. So after the flood, that killed all but eight people, Noah & his family are established, & under certain constraints/limitations concerning his relationships with God(:1), Creation(:2-3), & Man(:4-7).
God now “speaks” “to Noah & to his sons.” His sons were “with him.” The wives are not mentioned here. It is understood that Husband-Wife role relationship is implied.
This entire conversation/revelation/declaration(:1-17; :1, 8, 12, 17) is directed at Noah & his sons, who act as mediators for the entire extended human family that would arise from them.
“God spoke” to those who would be responsible as the bearers of God’s truth for their families...the heads of their families, Noah, Shem, Ham, & Japheth.
By the way...Did you know that God speaks to individuals? He did then & He does now.
I can reliably say to you that God speaks to His people not so often audibly, but has chosen to speak directly to our hearts. His Holy Spirit indwells every believer, & so God—God the Father, God the Son, & God the Holy Spirit—is present throughout the believer’s life on this earth.
•The limitations & giftedness of myself & all others of the family of God, play into our hearing & obeying God’s voice.
•And sometimes we can ‘hear & obey’ what we desperately want to!...Which complicates & hinders God’s plan for us.
Num. 14:1-4, 6-10, 19-25, 35, 39-45—“”.....:1-4—“So all the congregation lifted up their voices & cried, & the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel complained against Moses & Aaron, & the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! “Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives & children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader & return to Egypt.”.....:6-10—“But Joshua the son of Nun & Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; & they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. “If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land & give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk & honey.’ “Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, & the LORD is with us. Do not fear them.” And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel.”.....:19-25—“Pardon the iniquity of this people, I[Moses] pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” Then the LORD said: “I have pardoned, according to your word; “but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD-- “because all these men who have seen My glory & the signs which I did in Egypt & in the wilderness, & have put Me to the test now these ten times, & have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him & has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, & his descendants shall inherit it. Now the Amalekites & the Canaanites dwell in the valley; tomorrow turn & move out into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.”.....:35—“‘I the LORD have spoken this; I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, & there they shall die.’”.....:39-45—“Then Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, & the people mourned greatly. And they rose early in the morning & went up to the top of the mountain, saying, “Here we are, & we will go up to the place which the LORD has promised, for we have sinned!” And Moses said, “Now why do you transgress the command of the LORD? For this will not succeed. “Do not go up, lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the LORD is not among you. For the Amalekites & the Canaanites are there before you, & you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned away from the LORD, the LORD will not be with you.” But they presumed to go up to the mountaintop; nevertheless, neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed from the camp. Then the Amalekites & the Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down & attacked them, & drove them back as far as Hormah.”
Argumentation:
Ps. 95:7-11; Heb. 3:12-14—“Ps. 95:7-11—“For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’”.....Heb. 3:12-14—Immediately following the Ps. 95:7-11 quote—“Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,”
Rev. 3:20—““Behold, I[Jesus] stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”
Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22—““He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches....””
Illustration:
‘When You Speak To Me’
by:Twila Paris
When You speak to me...
When I take the time to listen,
There is more than what I think I feel.
When You speak to me...
When I sit & still the motion,
There is nothing left but what is real.
There is an answer to every question,
The answer is You.
CHORUS:
And the heavens open when You speak to me,
Pouring light into my waiting heart.
And the music fills an ocean silently, quietly,
When you speak to me.
When You speak to me...
When You call me & surround me,
There is peace to cover any pain.
When You speak to me...
When You place Your word inside me,
I am filled & I am strong again.
There is a reason for every longing,
The reason is You.
CHORUS:
And the heavens open when You speak to me...
Pouring light into my waiting heart,
And the music fills an ocean silently, quietly,
When you speak to me.
Application:
? Is Your Restoration constrained thru Relationship with COVENANT?
? Is Your Restoration determined by God’s desire...or your own?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Brother Donald Miller’s constraints for the proper restoration of his artifacts, & his faith, was opened to include the effect that those ‘possessions’ would have on others. Likewise, there are specific constraints by which mankind’s restoration before God can be accomplished!
Action:
Our Restoration is constrained thru relationship with...
5a. COVENANT(:8-19) concerning...
•GOD SPEAKS(:8 only)
1. GOD(:1)
2. REINSTATEMENT(:1b-2)
3. CREATION(:3)
4. MAN(:4-7)
Pt# 5(:8 only!) Presented 02/23/2020am to:
FBC Cbelle
206 Storrs Ave(SE Ave. A).
Carrabelle, FL 32322
Pt#s 1-3 Presented 05/20/2012am to:
Needmore Baptist Church
1620 Mt. Vernon Rd.
Woodleaf, NC 27054
