The God We Serve

Introduction

Well, good morning!

It feels good to be here…to worship with my church family. I can’t wait to dive into God’s Word with you guys, here in just a few minutes. This is literally my favorite thing to do and I’m so grateful that I get to do it with each of you, week in and week out.

But listen, before we do that, lets recite our mission verse together this morning. I hope you’re putting it on your hearts…I hope God’s Word is that important to you. I hope you can see what we’re trying to become here at FBC…a church without walls…a church that delivers the gospel, disciples believers, and deploys ‘em all out…all for the glory of God…I hope you can see the mission of Christ and our goal in honoring Him through this calling. That’s the purpose of reciting this together as God’s people every single week.

And so, I’ll get us started…you finish us up. Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 through 20:

Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV)

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

[Prayer]

Alright, if you have your Bibles and I hope that you do, open ‘em up with me to Genesis chapter 9…Genesis chapter 9.

If you were with us last week, then you remember where we kind of left things off…Noah and his family, all the animals, they get off the ark and God makes them a new promise…a promise that never again will He flood the earth to the same magnitude that we just read about, right? And as we discussed, that covenant that He makes here in the prior verses, it really demonstrated the true nature of God and it really pointed to our salvation and how God works within the covenant He makes with each of us personally…but as we finish up chapter nine this morning, we really get an idea of how our view of the covenant or our view of God, how it impacts our walk with Him.

Listen, as we dig into this text this morning…I want you to understand that every single person in this room, every single person that walks the face of this earth, they will influence the next generation…and listen, they’ll do that by demonstrating exactly the God they serve. And listen, the God you serve, that god dictates how you respond to things like sin and your future.

As we continue through this story of Noah and the flood, that’s exactly what we see happening here. While Noah was a good man…this account, it’s about a good man’s sin, a good man’s fall…but it’s also about the ability we have when we place our faith in Christ…the ability we have to overcome sin…and the ability we have to help restore those around us. And this story, it’s a reminder to all of us that we’ll either be servants of this sinful world…leaving us with an eternity of torment, one separated from the goodness of God…or we’ll be the recipients of the inheritance we have in Christ as His children.

This text, it’s challenging us to determine what god it is we really serve…because, it’s that god that’ll be used to influence those that come after us.

And so, if you’re there with me this morning…let’s stand together as we read, starting in verse 18:

Genesis 9:18–29 (ESV)

The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed.

Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said,

“Cursed be Canaan;

a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”

He also said,

“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem;

and let Canaan be his servant.

May God enlarge Japheth,

and let him dwell in the tents of Shem,

and let Canaan be his servant.”

After the flood Noah lived 350 years. All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.

Thank you, you can be seated.

Listen, as we look at this story and as we try to piece together what exactly led to Noah’s fall and what led to the outcome with his three sons, there’s four things I want you to see this morning: Number 1…On your own you become calloused toward sin…Number 2…Through Christ you see your ability to restore…Number 3…On your own you become servants of this world…and then finally, number 4…Through Christ you receive your inheritance.

Hopefully, you see the contrast here of doing things on your own…which is one god that we set up for ourselves…and then the opposite, doing things through Christ, which is the God that delivers us and brings us true fulfillment.

I. On Your Own You Become Calloused Toward Sin (vv. 18-22)

And so, with that…let’s start with point number 1…on your own, you become calloused toward sin.

Look at verse 18 with me again. It says, “18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed.”

Listen, its interesting here because the way that Moses list Noah’s sons, its not in order. Ever since chapter 5, anytime it mentions Noah’s three sons it says, “Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” But according to chapter 10, which we’ll look at when we come back from the community service, Japheth’s Noah’s first son, Ham is his second, and Shem’s last. And I think the reason Moses does this is because Shem is the forefather to Israel…remember who Moses is writing to as he writes Genesis…it’s to the Israelites. And this history he’s giving, its specifically for them…And so, for that reason, he typically will list Shem first.

But it’s also interesting why he mentions the Canaanites here. He writes, “Ham was the father of Canaan.”…Again, keeping things in context, the Israelites, as they’re reading this, they’re wandering around in the desert, on the verge of entering into the promised land…and guess who’s there? Guess who they’re gonna have to take the land from and fight against? The Canaanites, right? We have to remember, Genesis was written for them initially, not for us. And so, if we’re gonna understand it, we have to understand it from their perspective.

And so, I think there’s two things Moses is trying to show them here. Number one…just like them, they originated from Noah…they came from the same seed…from a man considered righteous…and the whole idea of inserting verses 18 and 19 between the rainbow covenant and the fall of Noah, it’s to connect the two accounts and remind them of the judgement of God. And that while He won’t flood the earth again, He will bring judgement to those that boast in their sin. Israel would be God’s source of judgement against the Canaanites. He was using them, as they entered into the promise land, to eradicate the Canaanites. But listen, number two, Moses is giving them a warning here. If they also came from the same line of Noah…if they came from a line that knew God and walked with God…they needed to guard themselves because they were just as capable of following the same path if they didn’t keep their eyes set on God.

I mean, that’s exactly what we see happening in the next couple of verses. When we don’t keep our eyes set on God and when we walk in our own will, we become calloused toward sin.

Look at verse 20 again. It says, “20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.”

And so, according to the text…Noah renews the purpose of man…he becomes a man of the soil, right? I mean that’s where man experienced their joy according to Genesis chapter 2. And listen, the fact Noah’s able to plant a thriving vineyard…it certainly means the curse has been lifted from the ground at this point. It doesn’t really seem that Noah’s miserable…he’s not experiencing a hand-to-mouth mentality here. It seems there’s this period of prosperity. It seems things are going well for Noah and his family. And listen, some time would’ve had to pass because it takes time to grow grapes used for wine…but he does it, he makes wine, and he becomes drunk.

And listen, this is the first time wine’s actually mentioned in the Bible…and I just wanna point this out, as we walk through this text, this is not the sin of Noah. The Bible doesn’t actually forbid the drinking of wine…its his intoxication and his nakedness that are the sin. Your body and your mind, under this intoxication are not your own, and so, for that reason, it’s a sin. And listen, there’s a ton more we can talk about when it pertains to drinking but I just wanna that point out, that’s not Noah’s problem here.

Here’s what Moses is showing us. Wine, throughout Scripture, it’s actually a symbol of God’s blessing and prosperity…and so, again, Moses is painting this picture of a season of prosperity for Noah and his family. Life’s going well for him and for that reason…he became prone to sin…He began to ignore God…become self-reliant…and before he knew it, he became calloused toward sin. When he wasn’t working hard to trust in God, he gave into the sin crouching at his door. When judgement was right around the corner and when he had this incredibly difficult task of building the ark, it forced him to lean into the Lord. But now, now that everything was going great…he didn’t need God as much…and so, he was much more prone to sin.

Listen, this is a warning to us as well…when life’s going great, we’re prone to do the same thing. We become self-reliant…we become calloused…Listen, we don’t have to be afraid of the good times, but we do have to remain vigilant. We have to keep seeking God…connecting ourselves to His body…using our gifting all for His glory…so that we don’t fall into this same rut. Because when we don’t do those things, sin’ll give in.

And as shocking as it is about Noah’s sin, it’s still not the main focus of this text…it’s just setting the stage for the real focus…the two different responses of his sons.

Look at verse 22. It says, “22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside.”

There it is again…Moses reminding the Israelites that the Canaanites and the Israelites, they come from the same people. But look at this…Ham, he comes in…he sees his father laid out, naked…and what’s he do? He just goes out and he tells his brothers. He makes fun of him…he shames him. If you remember back in Genesis chapter 3, verse 7…nakedness, it’s a sign of shame. And when we see this picture of Ham here, he has no sense of shame at all. He’s become calloused toward sin himself. He delighted in Noah’s sinful failure…and he sees his father’s condition as just an opportunity. It’s almost as if Noah goes down a notch to Ham…and he kind of goes up. Ham’s sin its all about what he saw and about what he said. It’s how he responded to someone else’s sin.

And listen, this kind of got me thinking when I was studying…what do we do when someone we know falls into sin? How do we respond when a well-known Christian leader or pastor falls into sin? Hopefully we mourn…hopefully we pray for that person’s restoration…hopefully we pray that doesn’t happen to us because we understand our hearts are in the same condition and that we’re just as capable.

But if we’re honest…if we really evaluate our responses in those situations…a lot of times we respond with self-righteousness. “I would’ve never done that!” And listen, you know what that says about us? It says we’ve become calloused toward sin…just like Ham…we don’t care about restoration or people’s walk with Christ…because ultimately we don’t understand the nature of the gospel which is centered around grace…Ham, more than anyone, should’ve understood grace…he witnessed the judgement of this world as him and his family floated safely toward life.

Guys, if we’re not careful…if we take our eyes off Christ…if we disconnect ourselves from the people God called us too, the church…if we try to do things on our own, through our own power…we’ll become calloused toward sin and eventually we’ll find ourselves fallen…just like Noah here…and we’ll find our mindset distorted like Ham.

That’s point number one.

II. Through Christ You See Your Ability to Restore (v. 23)

But through Christ, we’ll see our ability to restore those around us…that’s point number two.

Look at verse 23 with me again. It says, “23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.”

Listen, while Ham’s account centers on what he saw and said…his brothers, Shem and Japheth, it’s centered on what they did…their actions.

The text says the two brothers, they come into the tent backwards…they don’t wanna take advantage of their father or their mother. Most scholars believe that when Ham saw the nakedness of their father, it included their mother…and that they were exposed there because of intercourse they might’ve had after becoming intoxicated together. But listen, Ham, he sees it and goes immediately to tell his brothers. Shem and Japheth, they walk backwards because they wanna preserve their parent’s dignity and of course they wanna preserve the integrity of the reproductive cycle… You see what I did there parents, right?…They didn’t wanna shame their father by seeing his nakedness…and they didn’t wanna be tempted themselves by seeing their mother’s nakedness…and so they cover ‘em. They work together to restore them.

Here’s the picture Moses is painting…when we’re walking with God…keeping our eyes set on Him…letting Him lead us and guide us…we’ll develop a culture of grace in our lives and we’ll care about the image and the restoration of those around us. What he’s showing is that those who experience God’s grace, they’re gonna show God’s grace. You understand? We’re not gonna exploit sin…we’re gonna come together and through the power of Christ that resides in us, we’re gonna overcome sin…and we’re gonna help push each other closer and closer to Christ.

For the Israelites, as they’re on the verge of entering into the promised land…they would need to come together as one community to stand against their enemies, the Canaanites…and they would need to stand together to ensure they didn’t fall into sin themselves as they took procession of the promised land.

For the church, it’s the same…we have to come together to overcome our enemy, which is the unseen powers of this world…and we have to stand together so that we can all overcome the sin that engulfs our lives. God brought us together, as a local body of believes, to be held accountable to each other and to be discipled…all so that we could advance His kingdom together.

To accomplish that, we have to build a culture of grace where we care about the restoration of each other as we all struggle with the sin in our lives and as we all strive to draw ourselves closer to Christ.

Guys, we’re here, a part of First Baptist Church…to help cover each other when we fall. To restore each other…not to tear each other further down. And that’s why membership’s so important…it’s about commitment to a church body…if you’ve been coming here for some time, you need to commit…you need to get connected so we can do what we were called to do in your life and so you can do the same for the people here.

But listen, all of this…it only happens…when we keep our eyes set on Christ. It’s when we don’t try and walk in our own will…This mindset of restoration, of togetherness, it can only come from the Spirit, not the flesh.

That’s point number two…through Christ, you see your ability to restore.

III. On Your Own You Become Servants of This World (vv. 24-25)

Point number three…on your own you become servants of the world.

Listen, if we walk in the flesh…exploiting the sins of others…living our lives in self-righteousness…that’s not of Christ…that’s of our own accord…and it means we haven’t experienced the grace of God in our lives…or that we don’t understand the grace of God. And when we walk in this way…on our own, what’s gonna happen? We’re gonna get everything we think we wanted…we’re gonna get this world…and for that reason, we’re gonna become servants of the world.

Look at verse 24 and 25 with me again. It says, “24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him” (he covered him, right? Which makes the assumption it was mostly Shem’s idea to cover his father.) But it continues in verse 25, “25 Noah said,“Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”

You guys see that? Ham’s cursed because of his actions. And his sin, it doesn’t just impact him…it impacts the generations that follow him. It’s the Canaanite people that are truly cursed. That’s what I was talking about earlier when I said that we all influence somebody…The god we choose to serve, it dictates how we’ll influence the next generation. For Ham, he’s cursed by his father and he’s told that he’ll be a servant of servants…that he’ll serve his brothers. And as we continue in this story, we’ll see that story play out. Guys, he becomes a servant of this world. The Canaanite people, they worshiped worldly things…and naturally, they become servants of the very thing they worshiped.

Ham, he tried to be his own God…and for that reason, he didn’t experience the blessings of God…and he won’t experience or receive the promise of God that comes through faith. He becomes a servant of the world…maybe he experiences some form of temporary happiness (we don’t know)…but he never experienced true joy or satisfaction because he never walked with God.

Guys, for us…we have to be careful here. If we walk in our own will…trying to model our lives the way the world tells us…we’ll become servants to the very things we serve. Listen, if we care more about our careers…more about success…more about sports…or hobbies or activities…if those things take us away from the body of Christ, it’s a sign we’re walking in our own will, serving the world and it’s pleasures…and it’s a warning to be careful…because you might just get want your flesh really wants…you’ll become servants to those things. And generations later, those things will become your descendants’ gods.

And so, how do you evaluate if that’s you or not? Well…how involved are you in the lives of all the people sitting around you? Because here’s the reality…each one of the people around you, including yourself, they’re all sinful…and we were all brought together to help each other overcome that sin. Are you like Ham and play ignorant, unwilling to cover your brothers and sisters? Do you think that job’s beneath you? Do you see your responsibility in being your brother’s keeper? Right? How are you building the body of Christ up through accountability and discipleship…outside of just coming on Sunday mornings? Or are you like Shem and Japheth, who recognize sin and immediately work together to restore the ones they love.

The reality is…if you’re not involved in the building up of one another…you’re walking in your own will, and you’re more like a servant of the world.

That’s the third point…on your own, you will become a servant of the world…and that’s the way you’ll influence others. And it’s a curse…not a blessing…and like the Canaanites, you’ll experience the judgement of God.

IV. Through Christ You Receive Your Inheritance (vv. 26-29)

But through Christ, you’ll receive your inheritance…that’s the fourth point. When you allow Christ to cover you, you’ll naturally do for others what you’ve experienced yourself and for that reason…you’ll receive the inheritance of Christ.

Look at the last several verses with me again. Verse 26, it says, “26 He also said,

“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem;

and let Canaan be his servant.

27  May God enlarge Japheth,

and let him dwell in the tents of Shem,

and let Canaan be his servant.”

28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.”

And so, we see something completely different with Shem and Japheth here. They’re not cursed…they’re blessed.

If you know the story…Shem’s line would eventually lead to Israel and of course to Jesus. So of course, it’s obvious…Shem and his line, they’re definitely blessed…and they do receive very physical things from the Lord. But most importantly, the Israelites would be considered God’s people and they’d receive the promised land, right?

And the blessing Japheth receives, it’s a little different than Shem’s. He would share in Shem’s blessing. Noah says that he’ll dwell in the the tents of Shem…but that together, they’ll ultimately have dominion over Canaan.

Listen, let me kind of explain the metaphor God’s giving us here. Shem, he’s a picture of the Messiah…the Savior…he’s a picture of Christ here in this story. He receives the ultimate blessing and exaltation. Everything and everyone would ultimately serve him, right?

Japheth, on the other hand, he’s a picture of the church. He dwells in and receives what’s already the Lord’s. You understand? As God’s people…our fulfillment, it comes with us dwelling in Christ.

And listen, together…we have perfect dominion of the created world…which going back to Genesis 1 and 2, that was God’s intentions to begin with. Listen, as believers, our hope is in the future…our future inheritance.

That’s why Paul writes in Ephesians 1:11, “In him we have also received an inheritance.” Listen, that’s what Paul’s talking about. We get to benefit from Christ because we’re His. And as His children…not only are we restored…not only are we able to overcome sin…not only do we get to experience the fullness of God and walk with Him…but we get to receive an inheritance. We’re co-heirs…and our inheritance, it’s imperishable…unspoiled…it’s perfect!

But we’ll only experience that through Christ…that’s the last point.

Closing

Listen, as we come to a close this morning and as we reflect on this passage…would you bow your head and close your eyes with me?

Guys, as you seek the Lord this morning…ask yourself this question…how am I contributing to the body of Christ? How do I respond to the sin of those around me? Do I care about that sin? And listen, how you answer that…it really defines the god you serve…and whether you wanna admit it or not, that’s how you’re gonna impact those that come after you.

Listen, if you wanna help build a church that walks with Christ, that works together to build each other up…then its gonna take us getting out of our pews and becoming our brother and sister’s keepers. It’s gonna take us all caring about the sin around us and caring about the building up of each other.

And so, how do you do that now…here at FBC? How do you do that with the people around you? And listen, if you’re not, what’d you need to do to make the first steps? Is there someone on your heart right now? Pray…seek ‘em out! Because guys, we’ll not experience the fullness of Christ together until we walk with Christ in this way.

And so, are you Ham this morning…calloused toward sin? Or are you Shem, seeing your ability to bring restoration to those in our church?

Or listen, if you’re here this morning and you’re not walking with Jesus…you’ve never turned to Him and received restoration. Listen, the Bible’s clear…it says that God created us in His image…and being made in His image, it means we have freewill. The ability to make decisions. And through that freewill, we chose rebellion. It says that all of us, we all fall short of God’s glory…we’re all sinful and wicked…we all allow sin to overcome us…none of us seek God…and like Ham, we all wanna be our own God. And because of that, we’ll all experience death…and we’ll all experience an eternal damnation separated from the goodness of God. That’s what’ll happen if something in our life doesn’t change…if we’re not saved from our circumstances.

But the Bible says, because of God’s great love…He sent His Son…to save us. He came, he lived a completely sinless life…and He went to the cross to experience the punishment we deserve…the punishment for our sins. And it says that He rose to life again after three days, showing us that He was truly God…showing us that we could entirely trust in Him. And the Bible tells us that when we repent…when we turn from ourselves…when we turn to Jesus. And when we believe in Jesus…placing our faith in Him…it’s at that moment, we can be saved. It says we’re made new, given a new heart and a new mind. Giving us the power to truly overcome the sin in our lives. And it’s at that point we can truly begin walking in the Spirit and not of our own will…it’s at those points we’re able to break the grips of this world and find ourselves firmly in the palms of God’s hands. Through Christ, we become His…and through Christ, we’re changed…and through Christ we become co-heirs of His kingdom.

And so listen, whatever God’s putting on your heart this morning, would you respond to that? If He’s telling you to become more involved in the church, with the people He’s called you to…then make that step…get involved! Maybe you know you gotta get more involved, in the building of each other up…but you don’t know how, seek Him this morning. Ask Him to reveal it to you. Take some time, humble yourself…step outta of the pew, come to the altar this morning…pray!

Or listen, maybe you realize that you need Jesus this morning…you recognize your need for a Savior…and that only Jesus can actually change you. Guys, if that’s you…would you just step outta of the pew and just come talk to me? The Bible says all you have to do is repent and believe…that’s all you have to do to experience the grace of God.

And so listen, Wendy’s gonna play…and for the next several minutes, this is your time to respond to the Spirit of God. And I’m here if you need anything at all. You want me to pray with you…you wanna learn more about joining the church in membership…baptism…salvation…whatever it is. I’m here for you.

And so, you respond and I’ll close us in just a moment.

[Prayer]