The Noahic Covenant

salm of the Day: Psalm 95

Psalm 95 ESV

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.” Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.”

Scripture Memorization: Genesis 50:19-20

Genesis 50:19–20 ESV

But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 12:18-24

Hebrews 12:18–24 ESV

For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Sermon:

Good Morning Church! I was glad when they said to me let us go and worship in the house of the Lord!

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Speaker 1

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Well once again, and as always, good morning. I was glad when they said to me let us go and Worship in the house of the Lord. Well, you might be sitting there, thinking, um? This isn't right, it's time. It's not time rather for the sermon yet, and you would be kind of right if you're thinking that, but? There are extenuating circumstances today. I am flying out this afternoon to the annual conference for our denomination for the BFC, the Bible Fellowship Church denomination that we are a part of. Annual conference is. Was in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. I'll be flying into Philadelphia tonight and the only flight I could find.

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That would really work leaves at two o'clock today. Which, when I first got was a blessing, I was happy I would get to still be here at church. But then, as I started doing the math and thinking through these things. That's cutting it a bit close, especially since I'm flying Southwest. And if you show up late? You know, you might be riding underneath someone's chair if you don't get the right seat. And so? By. Grace of God, and because of the grace of the elders. Daryl and some other people towards me. We decided to rearrange the order of service.

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Today, just a little bit. We'll move the sermon a little earlier so that I can please, don't judge me. Try to sneak out of here, just a little bit. But I wanted to definitely be here. To preach. This text. We will be looking at Genesis chapter 8, verse 20. All the way through chapter 9, verse 17. The ESV has titled this section of scripture God's covenant. With Noah. I mentioned a few weeks ago. God would say I will make a covenant with Noah the first time that that word appears in all of scripture. Was in Genesis chapter 7.

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When God was saying I, I will Covenant with you Genesis rather chapter 6, Verse 18. I will establish my Covenant with you and you shall come into the ark. God would set his redeeming saving love. And that God would, by his grace and mercy, promise and Covenant to save and deliver Noah and through Noah. Therefore, all mankind. The flood came. And the flood went. Last week, we looked at the flood subsiding. Noah in his faith as he waited for. The waters to to go down. As he waited for God to open the Ark. As he waited for God's command, Genesis 8.

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16 go out from the ark. As he saw God move as he saw God save. And now. After that, we reach the Pinnacle. The reason, the joy, and the hope truly? Of the story of Noah will be introduced to. The iconic. Symbol of God's covenant promise will be introduced to. God's goodness, his commands, as we see what life was like for Noah. As he came off the ark, and more importantly. As we see what God had in store for mankind. As Noah came off the ark. Again. Our tax Genesis 8, 20 through 917, we will start our time together by reading God's word.

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After the flood after it resided, then. Noah built-in altar to the Lord? And took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And when the Lord smelled the pleasing Aroma, the Lord said in his heart, I will never again curse the ground because of man. For the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done while the Earth remains seed time and harvest cold and heat summer and winter day and night shall not cease.

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And God bless. Noah and his sons and said to them be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth. The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea into your hand. They are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I give you the green plants, I give you everything. But you shall not eat the flesh with its life, that is, its blood. And for your lifeblood. I will require a reckoning from every Beast. I will require it and from man.

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From his fellow man, I will acquire a wet Reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of Man by man shall his blood be shed. For God made man in his own image. And you? Be fruitful and multiply increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it. Then, God said to Noah and to his sons with him. Behold. I establish my Covenant with you and your Offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the Earth with you as many as came out of the Ark.

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It is for every beast of the earth. I establish my Covenant with you that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the Waters of the flood. And never again. Shall there be a flood to destroy the Earth? And God said, this is the sign of the Covenant that I made between me and you and every living creature that is with you for all future Generations. I have set my bow in the cloud. It shall be a sign of the Covenant between me and the Earth. When I bring clouds over the Earth and the bow is seen in the clouds. I will remember my Covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of All Flesh.

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And the water shall never again become a flood to destroy All Flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the Everlasting Covenant between God and every living creature of the flesh that is on the earth. God said to Noah. This is the sign of the Covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth. These are the words of the Lord for us this morning. Let's open with a word of prayer. Oh Lord, Our Lord, how Majestic is your name and all the Earth? The Earth is your footstool?

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And all that is therein. You are high and lifted up the high King of Heaven. And yet. You have given us such great and precious and hopeful promises. Help us to see and trust and rest upon your work and your word. Help us to know your promises. See them afresh and Anew, ultimately, to see them fulfilled in the work of your son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We thank you for the blessing it is to know you and to be known by you. As this morning that you would speak through your word and speak through your servant to all of our hearts. It's in Jesus name that we pray.

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Amen. And amen. As as we go through the story of no, as we go through the even the beginning of Genesis here in what's known as the prehistoric we're getting towards the end, just so everyone knows Genesis is largely broken up into sort of sections we've called the pre-history. Which is chapters 1 through 11, the Patriarchs, which is 12 through. Six or seven. It's a little fudgy, because then we get the Joseph narrative at the end, and there's some there's some overlap there. And so, we're getting to the end of the pre-history. Portion. And I, I would not be an exaggeration or an overstatement. To say this is the most important part.

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Of the pre-history. I know I've hinted at that and said, this part's very important. It's, it's all exceedingly important. It's God's words given to us. Genesis 1's critical Genesis 3 sort of lays the foundation for sin and all of those things. And here we have God entering into a covenantal relationship. With his people. What is a covenant? This would be an important question. One of the books I had on the book table when we started this. The series was, oh, Palmer Robinson's.

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Book on the covenants and he defines as sort of this. The seminal work on Covenant theology. He defines a covenant as a a bond in blood, sovereignly administered, which is a lot of words. How should we think through a covenant? Well, it's a promise. A promise that is solemn and? And secure because it is. Made when we say a bond in blood. It's because usually blood is shed. There's some sort of sacrifice or some sort of something. Here in Genesis 8 is the entire world being destroyed, but also what we'll look at that Noah does at the beginning.

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When you get to? Abraham there. Animals being torn into and then passing between them. As we get to Jesus and the New Covenant, the blood is his blood that was shed. That. So there's an aspect of blood and Sovereign likeness, but then this idea that it's sovereignly administered means that God is the one who will control it, enforce it, ensure it, and Who ultimately has control over it so. Bonding blood sovereignly administered. We can just think a solemn promise made and kept by Sovereign God that'll work for our purposes here today.

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And these become important because as they play out. What we see is is a growth. What I want us to know before we dive into anything? The promises that God made to Noah are still in effect. How do we know this one? We see the sign of this Covenant. All the time. In its beauty and Splendor as we walk outside and see the rainbow. But even more important than that, because we might be able to. Yeah, well, those are. That's a scientific phenomenon with refraction of light, sure. God himself said. This is an everlasting promise.

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He said. In verse 16, I will see it and remember the Everlasting Covenant. This promise will last forever. So, it is still in effect and still in our lives. Important to know and understand what are God's promises here? So, let's walk through this text and see if we can understand what's going on in this scene where God makes a covenant with Noah, and therefore. With all mankind and the scene starts.

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With noaa. Worship. We open with Noah, bringing a sacrifice and worship before almighty God. Then, Noah verse 20 built an altar and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings. On the altar. There is some confusion, maybe for some of us, and I didn't help this for many. When I, when Noah brings two of every animal, but also. Seven pairs of every clean animal. Well, why did God tell him to bring more clean animals? List for this. God knew that the right response and the response. Ultimately, if we're being frank, that God would demand.

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Is Right, ordered worship. And Noah, being a man who walked with God who was upright and blameless in his generation, would know to bring God the worship that he is due. And so, if Noah only brought two of every clean animal, and then we get to this scene, and Noah is going to offer a burnt sacrifice to God. And he starts killing off the clean animals. We're gonna have a problem. There'll be no clean animals left. And so, even before when, when God was instructing Noah to fill the Ark and do all of these things?

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God's worship was envisioned. Because this is ultimately what all of life is becomes about, what all of God's promises, what all of these things it is for God's glory, and for us to offer to God, the praise, glory, and honor that he is due. Noah gets it. And so, Noah comes, and he offers these offerings. His worship is to offer these burnt offerings on an altar that he has made to God. And his worship is effective. It approaches the Throne of God. Verse 21, the Lord smelled the pleasing Aroma. The the worship of God's people is to God, a pleasing Aroma and the worship of God's people.

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Works to affect. God's grace and care. Towards his people. Let's be careful. Can we use worship as a way to manipulate? No. And the reason that would never work is any worship that is meant not to glorify God, but to manipulate God. Our heart will be impacted, and sacrifices is not what he has required, but rather a contrite heart, right. So, so worship offered in the wrong heart won't do anything but true worship. Pleases God. And as God smells the worship of Noah, really. What's happening here? He's smelling Noah's worship. It is pleasing, verse 21 says and.

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It moves God. He says, I will never again curse the ground because of him. Noah's worship. Softens. Noah's sinful heart. Though, Noah's heart is because the heart of evil is from his youth. The intention of man's heart is evil. That hasn't changed. Yet.

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Noah in bringing this worship before God. Brings forth. God's pleasure. In God's goodness. And, and something important to note here. The flood was all about de-creation. I said this a couple weeks ago that that in creation, God separates the waters from the waters. He makes the dry land he does. All this stuff the flood comes. The waters from above and the waters from below it. They come. They erase dry land. All of the creatures are dying. The flood was decreation.

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Before the world is even recreated. Noah worships. Worship to the high King of Heaven is of utmost importance. And then. As Noah offers this sacrifice, and this pleasing Aroma approaches God. Creation is recreated. Such that verse 22, while the Earth remains seed time and harvest cold and heat summer and winter day and night, shall not cease. Order. Is restored. The flood was chaos, death, destruction, and and horrible, painful. Nothing. Noah brings worship, and now. Order is restored. All is right. The world will continue to go on, but God's worship is now the centerpiece. We couldn't overstate the importance of Noah's worship.

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So, Noah brings worship. And I'm just going to spoiler alert. Noaa is officially done with his duties and role in working in this story. So, here's the lesson. Usually we try to. We'll tack the application at the end. Here's your application at the very beginning. Worship God.

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Worship God.

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That's it! That's the point. God Saves God delivers. God promises God covenants. God will do this. God will do that. What is our right response worship? God Saves God delivers. God will shelter God remembers God. Does this stuff, what is, what is it that we have to do? Worship. We worship. We offer praise to God, we sing his praises. We offer ourselves Paul will tell us in Romans, right? We no longer offer birds and clean animals upon altars made by human hands. Rather, we offer ourselves as a Living Sacrifice. This is your spiritual Act of worship Romans 12.

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Because our high priest of the New Covenant. Has offered a sacrifice in the Heavenly Realms. We no longer offer clean and unclean birds and burn offerings. And the smell no longer approaches Heaven as we burn these burnt offerings. Instead, our sacrifice was made in heaven. Jesus, our great high priest, has done this. So, what do we do? We worship. And we worship. And we worship. Life is hard and difficult, and in a lot of ways very complicated. But I'm here to tell you today, it's not that complicated Worship the Lord.

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Worship the Lord.

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And God will do all the rest. And that's what we see here. NOAA offers his worship. And then God moves first. He says he's moved in. I will never again curse the ground because of man. I will never again do this. And then he blesses man. Verse 9, this is literally the language and God blessed. Noah and his sons? And this blessing comes in the form of a command. This blessing comes in a form of. Here is your duty. Now, go forth and do it. And many theologians say, and this is a half joke, but also.

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We're being serious here. This is the one command of God that mankind has seemed to manage. To keep. With an asterisk. Be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth. The blessing of God comes in the form of a command to know in his sons. To multiply to have children and your children will have children and your children's. Children's children will have children and your children's children's children's children's will have children until we get to the point where we grow from a human beings on the face of the Earth to eight billion human beings on the face of the Earth.

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So in one sense. We're doing pretty good.

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Part of the blessing here as well. Comes in the form of dominion. Verse 2 the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and every bird of the heavens upon everything that creeps everything's given to you for food, but you shall not eat the flesh with its life that is blood, so we don't Noah. Was a vegetarian, right? There's some important like distinctions here before the flood. God looked to Noah and he or he looked to the world. He's like, I've given you all of these plants. All these plants you can eat them. Enjoy!

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They're great. Have some lettuce and some cucumbers and carrots. But here. As I gave you verse 3, every green plans I give you everything. You can eat meat now! You're now Noah and omnivore!

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Go ahead. Eat it. Just don't eat the blood. Because blood is life. And God's about to make a covenant and blood's important in the Covenant. There's there's connections that go all the way through here.

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God's blessing to Noah. Is to fill the Earth. And this idea of eating the and then this, the the fear of the animals coming upon him. This is, I believe. A re saying of God's command earlier in Genesis to have dominion over the Earth? Right, the animals will fear you. In many ways, Noah is to rule, and his descendants are to rule with a rod of iron. And so there's still kindness that's required. They're still right. We still show our virtues. But animals are not people.

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And we are to have dominion over them. As I said, there's a little asterisk behind. How well are we following this? There seems to be for many a a desire to. Elevate creation above man. We see that in sort of. Animalistic. Religions and animism, right where the Earth is God. And yes. But I would also say when when we see these sort of extreme environmental people where you hear people say things like I would kill all people if it meant the Earth lived. That's going against what God has said to Noah here. The blessing to Noah is to fill the Earth and have dominion over the Earth.

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And so Noah should do that. Because here, God, strangely in one sense, but also importantly, and, and I think it fits, there's a reasoning that God does this here. Goes from this blessing to then showing for us man's value. Another spoiler alert man's value comes entirely from the fact that he has made in God's image. Our value is value that is intrinsic to us because we are made in the image of God. So, all mankind, Every Creature, every human being is every creature, every man creature every. Every single human person. At every stage of their development.

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In every moment of their life. From the moment of their conception to the moment of their death, these two events planned, ordained and sovereignly held by God. Man has value mankind has value. And this is emphasized when he says. From your lifeblood. I will acquire Reckoning from every Beast I were required and from man from his fellow man. I require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of Man by man shall his blood be shed. For God made man in his own image. What is God saying here? The value of mankind cannot be overstated.

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God here is establishing the death penalty. Right, and we can note it's important we, we read timings and these sort of things.

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I'm trying to help you all here. Should Christians believe in the death penalty? It's an important question. I won't give you the answer. But I will say this. For you to think about and Ponder. God here gave the command for the death penalty. That is what. So, just so, we're all clear whoever sheds the blood of Man by man shall his blood be shed. This is the institution of the death penalty for murder. And this is instituted. Before the law. Before anything with Abraham. Before anything with Moses. This here is established at the first Covenant that God made with.

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All of mankind. It's just some food for thought. Just something to contemplate and Ponder? But more than anything else. What this shows us is the value of man. That man's life is worth nothing less than man's life. The only thing that has this a same value. The only thing that can make recompense for man's life. Is man's life? And while it applies to death penalty. And we can think through that. That's fine. What this more importantly tells us.

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Is the value and worth of our savior?

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We just celebrated last week, Easter. In the resurrection. And the reason we celebrate the resurrection. Is because three days before we think about and Ponder Good Friday. And on Good Friday. A human life.

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Was ended. Jesus Christ offered himself on the cross.

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Because that's the only price that man's life in my life would be worms. Man has great value. It's got doubles down, and he says, be fruitful and multiply increase ours on the earth and multiplying it. Noble worships. God comes and blesses him, he reiterates man's value. Man's value to God, but also should be man's value to one another. And this is important because the Earth was marked with violence when every intention of the heart of man was only evil continually. The Earth was filled with violence, it was corrupted. The Earth is filled with violence through man Genesis 6, 13.

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And so, God here is saying the reason this violence is so bad is because man's life is precious to God, and it should be precious to us. And this then all becomes the background. We're finally seeing God's promise. It comes in verse 8, God said to Noel. Behold, I establish my Covenant with you. And here again, there is much that should be and could be covered in this Covenant in what he says and what this means and how we apply and how we think through all of this stuff. I just want to give us a few quick points.

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God's promise.

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To put it shortly and simply.

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Is God's grace and mercy? On sinful man.

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God sets a bow in the sky. The rainbow. As a sign of the Covenant that he will not. Wipe man from the face of the Earth. When clearly that's what man deserves.

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The Covenant here is God promising? For no reason, apart from his grace and mercy. To not to put it. Frankly, Smite man, where he stands for his sins. The promise here. Is for God to set? Redeeming love on people.

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God will save and deliver.

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Moses. Noah. Get me every time Noah. A righteous man. Who walked with God who was blameless in his generation? Was saved by the Ark.

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And got looks on Noah. He looks on his descendants.

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He looks on man, who was created in God's image.

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As the Pinnacle of God's creation that when God created, he looked and said, this is very good.

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I will show Mercy on who I will show. Mercy and I will show Grace upon who all show Grace. Though their sins were vile.

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God will be gracious.

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Here's a lesson for us. Right. Your application is worship, but why? Why do we worship? This is why we survey gracious, wonderful, kind, generous God. God's the one who promises God's the one who holds it God's the one who will keep it and God's promise to us is nothing short of God, saying I will show you Mercy.

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So, trust in the mercy of God?

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I will no longer. I'll never again, God says. Blot the Earth out in a flood. Did it once? And so we see the rains and the rains come.

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And the storms blow.

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And it is right? It is right, right? In some sense, we should have faith like children actually in a lot of senses. We should have faith like children, but this is how I mean it right now. How we should have faith like children?

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Kids are scared of storms.

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We should be.

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Not because we're terrified, and we live in fear. Because wrath is a real thing. And when the thunder and the lightning and the storms rage.

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Maybe that should be a reminder to us? Because wrath is a real thing.

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But when the rain clouds come, so do the rainbows.

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And God will show Mercy.

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And, and we have the initial fear because the storm's raging, but then we look to the promise of God, and that strikes out God's perfect love, casts out fear. The reason children are scared of storms is because they don't necessarily know. God's promised. He will protect us, and he will keep us.

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His problems. Trust in him. Worship the Lord. Receive His blessings. No mankind, your value. No Oman, your value. And hear and trust in the great promises of God. Let's pray.