Mercy

The teach you since it's Valentine's Day, it's called love and so I don't all the kids to come up. Okay, and we're going to teach you guys us new song.

I'd be the glory.

A reading this morning is taken from 1st Corinthians chapter 6 verses 9 through 11. Or do you not know that wrong doors will not inherit the kingdom of God do not be deceived neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor greedy nor drunkards northlanders nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God and that is what some of you were but you were washed you were Sanctified you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God praise the Lord for that it is by God's mercy. I washed we are cleansed Sanctified and we are justified through Jesus Christ, and we need to praise the Lord for that. Okay, if you prayer request gives me if you know John Bechtel sister's husband, they attended here for a while and lived here their back in Kentucky. John has had a heart attack a few months back and he's going in Thursday for a bypass surgery. He'll have a triple bypass on Thursday need to be praying for him. Mary has a traveling back there on Tuesday. So I need to pray for Mary's safe travels there and she'll be back there till Thursday the following week. Okay. Let's go to prayer.

Grace's Father in Heaven, how we thank you that. We again can gather in your presence. We thank you that we can bring our request before you for we know that you know them and you listened carefully to our hearts and our desires. We thank you and praise you for that you are Mighty and true father. We do pray that you would be with the people of powers. We think particularly of those who live and uncertainty of their eternal life. Father we pray for the ones who in this community who do not know you and need you we pray for their lives for your spirit to be working on their hearts to change them and revive this community for the sake of Jesus Christ. Thank you for your work in our lives that you were changing the people here in this congregation and helping us to reach out May you do so with greater power and strength that others would come to know you. Father we do want to pray for Mary as she travels this Tuesday back to Kentucky. We know that the weather has not been real good in the Midwest. And so we pray for your protection along the way and that she would arrive safely and be a great encouragement to Joanne as she has to wait outside the hospital for all that to be done. Lord we do pray for John is he goes through the surgery that you would give certainly wisdom to the doctor's but we also pray that your touch would be upon his life that you would bring him through this and restore his strength and energy. We do pray for the unspoken request for those who have those desires and have not mentioned them, but they are real and powerful and we do pray that your spirit and your touch would be upon their lives to help them through these situations. May you richly bless and now father we pray that you would be with us as we worship. You may we lift our voices in Praise of your name for your the mighty one deserving of all of our praise for we will one day fall at Arnie's on our knees before you and worship. May we practice that dedication now as we sing and praise you in Jesus name? Amen? What's the stand for the first song?

These are the days of Elijah.

These are the days of yoga poses by just miss being a fantastic voice.

These are the days of Ezekiel.

Call the Baton Rouge.

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You never let go.

You never let it go. Let it go. Let it go.

Let's start with the word of Prayer.

Grace's Father in Heaven, how we thank you that you are present here in power and strength than the father. This is Holy Ground. It's Holy Ground because you're here and we do stand on Holy Ground. Father help us to remember that that your spirit is here and alive and active in the hearts of everyone. Who is called on Jesus Christ to be their lord and savior or father you have promised to come in and dwell with us? for all eternity

Lord we pray that that spirit that is yours would be active and alive in our hearts right neck that you would be touching each of us that our hearts would be drawn to you. And father may you touch me deeply that I would be humbled and yielded into your hands that your spirit would be guiding each and every word for you or the light and you were the Hope in every way bless us O Lord of this time in Jesus name. Amen. Well, we're going to continue on in our look at the the Old Testament Road and will be in chapter 6 of Genesis. Today. We're going to be looking at Mercy Mercy is the term that we hear a lot and it is a it is within God's mercy that we find his grace where we are redeemed and in the New Testament we look at that is our receiving of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and in so doing we received the Holy Spirit and we have eternal Redemption through the power of Jesus Christ in the is working us. In the Old Testament, you know, we kind of look at it and we think it is sort of the same thing that people are redeemed in the Old Testament the Bible tells us so and Noah is one of those people that truly was redeemed. How does all that work out? And we're going to take a look at that a little bit today, but I want to give you the idea that it comes with. A desire on the part of the person who is saved. by faith Is a response from them in other words, they're alive or a picture. of their hope in the Lord in other words, they have to do something to demonstrate their love. If you take a look at any Old Testament character, you would say that person is redeemed. Why because they chose to serve the Living God. In some respect in other words their lawn displayed their feeling of God's presence and redemption in their lives. We'll take a look at Noah today and we'll see that working out in his life how the Redemption plan of the Old Testament is really essentially the Redemption of plan of the New Testament accept Jesus Christ is added and therefore we receive the Holy Spirit didn't happen in the Old Testament. They stood on their faith and their work in the Living God and their willingness to do what God called them to do in the New Testament. It says the same thing. He says that because of our obedience to Jesus Christ. We demonstrate our Redemption you're doing that right now, you're demonstrating your obedience to Jesus Christ by being here and worshipping the Living God today. Okay, so you are participating in it and in the Old Testament there was a participation plan as well and we'll see that in the life of of of Noah. Okay. Well, let's get on with it.

There is a Great and Mighty division that has occurred in the land. Okay, and we'll read about it right here, but it was so severe. So incredibly bad that. Just and had it with mankind. Okay, and he said I'm going to end it I'm going to end it. Well, let's read it Genesis 6 through 13. It says it starts off but Noah found favor in the eyes of God of the Lord. This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man blameless among the people of his time and he walk Faithfully with God. Does that mean that he was without sin? No, he was not without Sim. He was blameless in the eyes of God. No Aunt Three Sons sham him and japheth. Now the Earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence gun sound how corrupt the Earth and become the people on the Earth interrupted their ways. So God said to Noah I'm going to put an end to all people for the Earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the Earth. complete destruction a big change coming. Okay, we see this.

enlai I all the time and we're seeing it more and more in our in our lives today as people continually turned further away from God and essentially are running the other way away from him because

sin is over tank in them. And if trusted in him, Isaiah 55 6 and 7 shows that division remember Isaiah is a prophet that came along. Midpoint in the existence of Judah of the kings of Judah and he says these words Isaiah 55 6 and 7 seek the Lord while he may be found.

Okay, if you're thinking back to the flood seek the Lord while he may be found Noah did. nobody else did

Call on him while he is near let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord and He will have mercy on them. And I've to our God for he will freely. Pardon. Okay, this is Old Testament. This isn't New Testament. God will have mercy on those who turn to him. And he wants to redeem people he wants them to come to him and you'll their lives to him. It's a great call but there's a division that has happened there. You know and dad that division separates. Those who are redeemed and those who are not that's the division line that is there and it happens because God is merciful in the New Testament you receive Christ because you understand the mercy God gave through Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. You saw his Mercy By choosing to live the life that God called you to you know, he gave a plan for how to live life and he said follow my plan.

Same with the New Testament though. Same thing same thing. You are chosen as righteous. Because of your obedience to God and your desire to love him. Ezekiel speaks of the people of his day. Remember Ezekiel was one of those final prophets in the transitional. Of Israel being a nation and then at being destroyed by the Babylonians and hauled off into slavery. Okay, and he's talking about the people of the day those people that are still there and he says these words Ezekiel 14:14, even if these three men, okay. These are men of Faith Noah Daniel who was present-day is Ezekiel. and Joe where in there they could save only themselves by their righteousness declares The Sovereign Lord. In other words, every person has to make the choice. You're not safe because you belong to a proper family that actually walks with God you're not saved because you belong to a nation that supposedly follows dog. You're not safe just because you say I believe there's a God There are a lot of people in our world today this Ayo, I believe there's a God, you know, and I've chosen that bad. Add some friends in them. In Rhodes Greece and they come over from Libya. They were both born in Libya and they'd common they were living in roads and they had a choice when they were growing up. They could either choose to be a Christian or choose to be a Muslim. One of them chose to be a Christian the other chose to be a Muslim and they came to Rogue, you know, and neither of them lived like they were called to live. They never saw God but one of them said I'm a Christian because I chose to follow that way and the other said I'm a Muslim because I chose to follow that way but there was no evidence whatsoever in their choices. There needs to be evidence in our lives. And so when we become righteous when we receive that Mercy there needs to be a show of evidence in the life of the believer that there is a difference in their lives. You know and if we do receive that God's blessing comes Upon Us in so many different ways. And sometimes we don't see it real good. We see the life of Joe, you know, Joe but he's been living life the way God and called him too. And you know, he had all kinds of cattle and sheep and buildings and you know, he was wealthy and he had children and all of these things if you follow the story that was all taken away. And he had to he had the process through this and for the first 40 chapters of Joby processes through this and eventually he gets the point work in chapter 42 where he humbled himself. And calls on the Lord and the lord loves him and and you know, he re blesses him. He gives him the blessing it says in 4216 after this job lived a hundred and forty years. He saw his children and their children to the 4th generation hundred forty years after he'd gone through the disaster but God demonstrates his Blessing to all of us who have really truly called upon his name whether it's here in eternity. We are incredibly blessed. But you know, there's the other side if you don't receive that Mercy that God wishes to give your life. There's nothing but destruction. For those who are corrupted by this world. There's no hope there's no hope and we see that in the flood. It was a big dividing line there if you were righteous you got in the boat. If you are not righteous, you didn't make it into the boat.

You know, that was a pretty clear Division and it shows you what the division will be in the future. We have a choice that we need to make. Psalm 14:1 says the fool says in his heart there is no God.

They are corrupt and their deeds are vile. There is no one who does good. You might recognize that from Romans 3 as well. That's the coffee from that but that's

God wants us to know that there is you know it division point. It is a long there and it was pretty clear. Those who chose to serve God. They obeyed God they did what he called them to do. Alright, let's take a look at the Judgment in their verses 14 through 17.

God says to Moses so make yourself an arc of Cypresswood make rooms in it and coated with pitch inside and outside. This is how you are to building. The ark has to be three hundred cubits long are about 450 ft in length 50 cubits wide are about 75 feet wide and 30 cubits high in about 45 car make a roux for it leaving below the roof and opening 1 cubed High all around put a door in the side of the Ark and make lower middle and upper decks. I'm going to bring flood waters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens every creature. That is the Breath of Life in it everything on the earth will perish everything Now that's the call for judgment from God and all he does now and I had the chance to go back to Kentucky as many of you know in October and we did go to the ark encounter, which is in Kentucky. And it's a Ark that was built by a fellow from Australia named him and he had this thing built and it is enormous got a chance to walk through it. If you ever get the chance, it's a really Incredible 2 walkthrough it and realize how big it is and they actually showed them different demonstrations throughout the walkthrough of Alf Noah and his family could have really cared for all the creatures that were brought onto the ark. But it's a huge huge undertaking. Imagine what it would take for just a few people to build a structure like that and actually have it work out as it did it floated about them. Anyway aren't says there's a dividing line and here's the dividing line, you know bunches those were sinful. They do not and I will destroy them. I will destroy them. Matthew 25:46 speaks of kinds of judgments that God has in glory on Jesus is talking and he says in the first 56 of Matthew 25, then they will go away to Eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

Just two ways to go. That's a choice for each and everyone of us whether we will choose to serve God and do the things he's called us to do or whether will turn away. It was the same then way back in the time of Noah today. There's a choice a choice they have but there's a Deliverance God promises a Deliverance. And that Deliverance for us we recognize is coming to Jesus Christ and humbling ourselves before you confessing our sins and receiving his forgive. That's a changing point for each and every one of us. Jesus Christ is the door into the ark.

Okay, he's the door is the only door member is said there's one door one opening. Jesus Christ, that's it.

No. It's only through Jesus Christ vital points it out over and over and over again, but that's the way there's no other way, but that in the Old Testament. It was a walk by faith in the Living God in the New Testament. So walk by faith in the Living God. We just have the extra bonus of Milling. It's the work of Jesus Christ.

There is a Deliverance that is for all of us Hebrews. 11:7 says wife a Noah when warned about things not yet seen in holy fear build an ark to save his family by faith. He condemned the world and become pain are of the righteousness that is in keeping with. Okay. No difference than today. It's by faith in Jesus Christ that we receive God's mercy. We find that Mercy that leads us to the throne of God. And it's the way out for every person on the face of the Earth. No, Jesus Christ as your lord and savior. It's an act of obedience to do that. If you sit there and I'm telling you now if you received Jesus Christ as your lord and savior, you've transition you will become righteous in the eyes of the Living God, but if you haven't if you said well, you know, I think I'm just going to hang out and wait around awhile and see what happens. You haven't found that. You're lost. You're not going through the door into the ark.

Until you make that choice until you choose to follow and Obey what he has to say. Yes. I'm talking to you too. I hope you're listening.

It's obedience obedience gets the other way if you choose to sit there and say yeah, I'm going to wait on those things. I want to do some things in my life that I don't have to be obedient to God for I'll get out and do that. You're continuing to walk in judgment. By the Living God will receive you. Until you respond to him in obedience and follow him Genesis. 7:21 says every little thing that moved. I'm sorry. I didn't read about the obedient Genesis 75 and no it did all that the Lord commanded him. You know God told him how to build the ark because he did all that God commanded him to do. He lifts. Okay Disobedience Genesis, 7:21, every living thing that moved on the land Eric Birds livestock wild animals all the creatures that swarm over the Earth and all mankind. Request as well. Did the waters really cover the whole Earth? God said did you did? God destroyed everyone on the faces. There will be a time again when judgment will come and God will either save or destroy continuing makes a covenant with Noah. Let's read about it here. Genesis 6 18 to 22 with you and you will enter the ark you and your sons and your wife and your son's wives with you you are to bring into the ark to of all living creatures male and female to keep them alive with you two of every kind of bird of every kind of animal and have every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive you are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them. No, it did everything just as God commanded him says it a number of times for all of those animals. That haven't been project in itself in WoW.

It's a covenant that God made with the with know what I asked you to do. You will survive.

You know, which means that? God's ability to save you is there but it comes with your choice to follow him.

God's Mercy is

but we are following Hebrews. 11:13 says all these people chapter 8. 11 this is Hebrews, 11:13. And it says all these people were still living by faith when they died, even though he was living by faith that God would ultimately redeem him to Glory when he died. They did not receive things promised. They own them and welcome them from a distance admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on Earth. Where is your kingdom? Are you members of the Heavenly Kingdom or the earthquake?

Best of animals it says in Genesis 7:15 pairs of all creatures that have the Breath of Life in them to Noah and enters came to know and entered the Ark God called four pairs of animals. Why because that's the ability to reproduce and so God Ed eight people Men and women that were ready to repopulate the Earth and then two of each animal ready to repopulate the Earth. This is what he called for them to do. And so God brought these into the ark for Noah to be used in pairs Genesis 716 the animals going in where male and female of every living thing as God commanded Noah and then the Lord shut him in God closed the door sealed it. This is it. These are the same. The rest are lost. The wrestler lost and it was completed. It was completed Genesis 7:23, every living thing on the face of the Earth was wiped out people and animals and the creatures that moved along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left and those with him in the are

Pretty clear division of like they're God's mercy to those who were willing to follow him and God's judgement on all the others who were not willing to follow him. at the end of all things God chose us in Scripture that there will be a judgment that will take place and the judgment will be for those who for all of us for us to have chosen to follow the Living God and to live for him. We will have Redemption 2 Judgment will be a wonderful judgment that we make ternatea of glory and joy and peace and happiness in heaven for the others There Is Only Hell and stands before them. There's only one Heaven or Hell. And it's our choice because God's done to work is shown Mercy through Jesus Christ. He's already done it. He's come to Earth. He's lived a perfect life. He died on that trocity rose again and through his shed blood we fund that piece that relationship with the Living God. You got to make the choice. You knowing some people are embarrassed to make that choice. Well, I don't want people to know that I have a meeting. Yeah, we all have that meeting. Any calls Esther coming? Take care of it. The Delight of dividing line is clearly there and each and every one of us have to make that choice and I hope that every person here. Is made the choice Define God's mercy and Grace. because of the cross

You know, it's very clear. The oven is a very clear dividing line and you can choose to do it your own way.

What you can do choose to do it God's way and there is that wonderful Redemption that he gives to our lives when we choose that course. You know, he may call you to live a life. This is is kind of complicated. With with the burdens that he places on your life. But you know, it's not that long life. What is an eternity thereafter? And for me, it just makes sense to choose to follow Jesus. nopd So that I know where I'm going and I hope you do if you don't. At the end of the service talk to me talk to somebody else. Did you know knows Jesus Christ as Lord and because God loves you want to review these opportunities?

Prince's Father in heaven

How we thank you for the mercy that you give. when we choose to Accept you as our Lord and savior we choose to identify with you and live our life as you have called us to in obedience to what you commanded us to do. And we have that rich and Powerful blessing but father, there are a number here that may not know you that may have chosen a different path or just not taking the time. Yeah it make that choice but father. We don't know how much time we have left on this Earth and so father. May your spirit be working in those hearts. urging them to make that change today to choose Jesus Christ and his Redemption over a life of sin that is corrupted and Lyle and will be judged. wrong for all eternity Lord touch Hearts now in Jesus name. Amen. Let's close.

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a gracious Father in heaven. We thank you for the love you give and may we the people that live in accordance with your will as we go out from this assembly may we do so with the knowledge that the Living God is with us and guiding us and helping us to be strong and faithful through all that we do. For you have promised. To go with us Lord Our God In The Name Of Our Savior Jesus Christ. We ask these things. Amen.