Genesis 8:13-22 2/1/26 A.M. “The Heart of God”
Silas and I were in the truck on Thursday morning. I had to put it in 4wd just to get up the driveway. I turned to him and I said, “I am ready for Winter to be over.” And can I get a BIG AMEN from you folks? Listen, I like living in a CLIMATE where we have 4 seasons. Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.
I LOVE the SPRING when the flowers begin to bud and the grass turns green. But eventually, I get tired of the MUD.
I LOVE the SUMMER where you can go outside maybe go for a DIP in the LAKE. But man it gets HOT.
I LOVE the Fall. It’s starts to COOL DOWN. Bon fires and Hay rides. But man it’s DRY and out where I live, I get to worrying about GRASS FIRES.
I LOVE the WINTER. I LIKE the SNOW but the BITING COLD gets OLD REAL FAST. Kind of like RIGHT NOW!!!
And so there’s always a NEW SEASON just ahead. A CHANGE is COMING. Did you know that at 11:46 A.M. on March 20, Spring Time will arrive here in Oklahoma. I don’t know about you but I’m looking forward to that. Can I get another AMEN!!!
Alright, so let’s turn in our Bibles this morning to the Book of Genesis, Chapter 8 and we’ll read Verse 13-22.
“And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.
14 And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.
15 And God spake unto Noah, saying,
16 Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.
17 Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.
18 And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him:
19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.
20 And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21 And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”
In Genesis Chapter 7, Verses 11-13, it tells us that Noah, and his family, entered the ark on the seventeenth day of the second month of the six hundredth year of his life.
And now we’ve read in Verses 13 and 14 of Genesis 8, that Noah left the ARK on the 27th day of the SECOND MONTH of Noah’s 601st year. And so that is 1 YEAR and 10 days that they were on the ARK. I betcha you all didn’t know I was so PROFICIENT at MATH did you? One long year on the Ark.
And let me say something here. I like to go to the ZOO every once in a while. I like these Animal Safaris things you can go to. But I don’t think I want to camp out in the ZOO for a year. I betcha it was tough being onboard that big old boat for a year. No doubt they had everything they needed. Food, Water and Shelter. They probably had living quarters somewhere on the boat away from the animals. I’m sure they didn’t bed down with the PIGS but I bet it was smelly in there. And so after one year and 10 days, they got off of the ARK. And once they got off, a WHOLE NEW WORLD was waiting for them.
And so let’s pray and ask the Lord to bless us and His Word today and then we’ll get into the message.
Brother ____, would you lead us?
I. And so we see the first thing that Noah did after he got off of the Ark was to offer a BURNT OFFERING, a SACRIFICE, to the Lord of EVERY CLEAN ANIMAL that was on the Ark. The BIRDS, the SHEEP, the COWS and so forth. And it tells us in Verse 21, “And the Lord smelled a sweet savour.”
Do you know what that tells me? The Lord likes Barbecue as much as you and I do. I bet He LOVES HIM SOME MAC’s BARBECUE right down the road here. I guess I’m a little bit biased but I think MAC’S is THE BEST BARBECUE in the world. It’s the BEST BARBECUE I’ve ever had anyway. So if you want to be close to the Lord go out and BARBECUE SOME MEAT!!! RIGHT?!!! Not really.
But look, NOAH did the RIGHT THING. Some might say, “Why would he offer a sacrifice of something that there was so few of? There were only SEVEN living CLEAN animals of each kind in the world. The rest had been destroyed. After Noah got done there were only SIX of each kind. Now let me tell you why he did that. Because God EXPECTS and God ACCEPTS what is TRULY a SACRIFICE.
Jesus gives the story in Mark Chapter 12 of the Poor Widow who gave her ALL to the Lord. Let’s look at that in Verses 41-44
“And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.
42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:
44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.”
She gave ALL her living. If you want to please God give Him a sacrifice. Give Him something that is DEAR to you. Give Him something that will COST you. Give Him something that’s a RISK. I’m not just talking about MONEY.
I’ve never preached on TITHING because I don’t have to. You folks support this church and I THANK the LORD for you ALL. And I know some of you all may truly make a SACRIFICE when you give. And I want to thank you for that.
But I’m not talking money, I’m talking about a SACRIFICE of your LIFE. Your WILL. Your WANTS. Your DESIRES. EVERYTHING. All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
Too many folks will GIVE but then they want to HOLD SOMETHING BACK. They want to make DEALS with God.
“Lord, you can have this and that ... but I want to keep just a little bit of this.” That’s NOT SURRENDERING ALL.
Have you ever wondered what Jesus was talking about in Luke 14:26?
“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”
Jesus is NOT saying to have hatred in your heart for these people, He’s simply saying HE, JESUS, must be #1 in your life.
And so many people today just aren’t willing to do that.
II. And then look what happens when GOD SMELLS THE SACRIFICE.
Noah is busy there KILLING these ANIMALS. Placing them on the ALTER. The FIRE is BURNING and the AROMA of the ROASTING FLESH SMELLED SWEET TO GOD.
“And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; AND THE LORD SAID IN HIS HEART”
Do you see that. The Lord begins to SPEAK FROM HIS HEART. That’s a TERM that is still used today. “FROM YOUR HEART” “Speak from your Heart, Sing from your Heart, Listen to your Heart, Be True to your Heart.”
And here as a Spirit, GOD is SAYING this in HIS HEART!!!
This Verse is telling us God’s personal plan rather than Him declaring it. And it shows us that God was DETERMINED to show MANKIND GREAT MERCY and GRACE. IN HIS VERY BEING HE IS DETERMINED TO SHOW MERCY, GRACE and KINDNESS to all of MANKIND.
This is interesting to me because when you read the FULL ACCOUNT of the FLOOD in Genesis 6 and 7, it seems like God was SPEAKING out of ANGER at what MANKIND had become. Genesis 6, Verses 6 and 7, “And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.”
And so God had already decided to DESTROY the world. He had already decided to BRING SALVATION to Noah and his family. He had given the instructions to Noah and Noah had carried them out. He had built the ARK. He had gathered the animals. They had all gotten on board. Everything took place according to HIS PLAN.
But here in Chapter 8, you might say God shows us HIS LOVE. He SPEAKS from HIS HEART.
And I think as we look through the Bible there were times when God made DECISIONS BECAUSE HE IS JUST but other times God made DECISIONS FROM HIS HEART.
He JUSTLY DESTROYED Sodom and Gamorrah. He reigned down FIRE and BRIMSTONE upon them. But yet He showed GRACE and MERCY to LOT and HIS FAMILY.
He JUSTLY DESTROYED Korah and all of those that rebelled against Moses in Numbers 16. And yet he showed GRACE and MERCY to the Nation of Israel by allowing them to enter into the Promised Land. We SEE the HEART of GOD.
Now I’m gonna say something you may not like but it’s TRUTH. God JUSTLY CONDEMNS you and I to DEATH.
He is OUR CREATOR. He is in CHARGE. He makes the RULES. And He tells us in Romans 3:23,
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
And then Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death”
That’s JUST. We all SIN and the PUNISHMENT for SIN is DEATH.
But then we see the HEART of GOD. His GRACE and MERCY. We see Romans 6:23 PART 2.
“but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
I love Ephesians 2:4-8
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”
I love Verse 7. “That in the AGES TO COME he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”
This wasn’t something that was just for those in the Bible days. It wasn’t just for NOAH and his family. It wasn’t just for the APOSTLES. You and I can SEE the HEART of GOD today. We see HIS MERCY and GRACE TODAY. We see KINDNESS and LOVE TODAY!!! We serve a GOOD GOD.
III. And so Noah gets off the ARK. He builds an ALTER and begins to offer SACRIFICES to God. God SMELLS that SWEET AROMA and HE SPEAKS from HIS HEART and this is what He says,
“I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”
God would NEVER AGAIN give up on mankind. He would NEVER AGAIN curse the ground, flood the Earth, kill all of the ANIMALS. As long as time ENDURED, Life will continue on.
And as long as this Earth remains there will be times to PLANT and there will be times to HARVEST.
There will be times, like the LAST TWO WEEKS, when it will be BONE CHILLING COLD.
And come AUGUST there will be times of EXTREME HEAT when we will LONG FOR a JANUARY SNOW STORM.
In other words the Earth will continue to ROTATE around the SUN. Seasons will come and Seasons will go.
And then notice days will get LONGER and then days will get SHORTER but there will always be DAYS and NIGHTS. In other words, the Earth will continue to ROTATE around and around on it’s own AXIS.
In the next Chapter God gave Noah a SYMBOL of His MERCY and GRACE. A SYMBOL of His promise. He gave him the RAINBOW. Every time Noah looked up into the SKY and saw the BEAUTIFUL BRIGHT COLORS he was reminded of GOD’S MERCY and GRACE.
I mentioned earlier that Ephesians Chapter 2 tells us that God would show the AGES TO COME, HIS GRACE and MERCY. And I think He does that each time we see the RAINBOW. We’re reminded of a time when God spoke from HIS HEART and that message is still to you and I today.
But so much more than the RAINBOW, God showed us HIS MERCY and GRACE by sending HIS SON to die on the CROSS for our SINS. JESUS IS OUR ARK of SAFETY. HE IS OUR SALVATION.
Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Howard Kelly was a young orphan boy, living alone in Camden, New Jersey.
To survive and pay for school, he walked from house to house selling small goods.
One day, starving and with not a single cent in his pocket, he decided to knock on a door to ask for food.
But when a young woman opened it, her beauty and kindness made him hesitate.
Embarrassed to ask for a meal, he nervously said:
“Could I please have… a glass of water?”
The woman noticed his condition and returned with a large glass of milk.
He drank it slowly, savoring every sip.
“How much do I owe you?” he asked.
She smiled.
“You owe me nothing. My mother taught me never to take payment for kindness.”
Howard thanked her with all his heart.
But her kindness didn’t just fill his stomach it restored his faith in humanity. Years passed by.
The young woman grew up and faced a serious illness that local doctors couldn’t cure.
She was transferred to a major city for treatment. And among the consulting specialists was ... Dr. Howard Kelly. The young orphan boy was now one of the country’s top physicians and a co-founder of Johns Hopkins Medical School.
When he heard the name of her hometown, Camden, New Jersey, his face lit up. That’s where he grew up so he visited her hospital room and immediately recognized her.
Yes. It was her, the same girl who had once offered him that glass of milk. The diagnosis was grim but Dr. Kelly wouldn’t give up.
Driven by memory and gratitude, he dedicated himself to saving her life.
After months of treatment and care, she recovered.
When the hospital sent her the bill, she hesitated. She knew she could never afford it.
But as she unfolded the envelope, something caught her eye at the bottom of the page a handwritten note under the word "Amount due."
It read “Paid in full… with one glass of milk.”
Dr. Howard Kelly
And I think God SHOWED US HIS HEART when He sent His Only Begotten SON to die for our sins. Oh what a DEBT I OWED. Oh the SINS I had COMMITTED. Oh what TROUBLE I was in. But then Jesus wrote PAID IN FULL on the CROSS OF CALVARY.
So let me ask you something this morning. Have you accepted Jesus as your Savior? Is He the Lord of your life? Listen TODAY is the DAY to do that.
Let’s Pray
