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We’ve already introduced the concept of faith. The writer to the Hebrews introduced faith in chapter 10 in order to help his readers combat wavering and shrinking back to Judaism. He told them that they had need of faith and in chapter 11 he began by describing what faith was like. Faith as we saw was the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. Faith isn’t wishful thinking, the object of our faith is God, who has given His people His word with an oath as a way to give them security about His promises. This faith that the writer is talking about comes from the word of God that works in the believer to will and act according to the plan of God. And this is why without faith, it is impossible to please God. Now in today’s presentation, we’ll see the exemplary faith of Abel, Enoch and Noah in order to get a proper understanding of how the faith the writer is discussing works.
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hello
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and uh welcome back to our study of the
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book of hebrews today we're going to
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just look at 11 chapter 11 verses 4
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through 7 and the title of the study is
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faith in action part one now if you were
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here last week we quickly introduced on
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the concept of faith and we talked about
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the description of faith according to
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the scriptures so basically
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uh in our intro i'll kind of introduce
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we introduce it again so basically we
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talked about the concept of faith and
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now when the writer of the the letter to
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the hebrews was talking to his uh
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listeners in chapter 10 he
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kind of introduced the concept of faith
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to help them combat waving and then
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shrink shrinking back into judaism so
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that's one of the reasons why he
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mentioned faith because a lot of them
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were under persecution and the
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temptation to go back to the old system
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was always lurking around so he told
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them listen you have need of faith
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and our faith as we saw in uh last week
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was the assurance of things uh hoped for
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and the conviction of things not seen
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and we quickly and we actually defined
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faith not to be wishful thinking and
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faith is not just something that you can
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kind of muster up manipulate or
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face is not something that you imagine
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or some kind of feeling no no no
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we save faith what is what is the
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assurance of things hoped for and the
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conviction of things not seen and then
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the object of our faith is god because
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god has given hope to his people through
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his word and he gave him he gave them
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and gave us today an oath as a way to
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give us security about his promises so
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faith our faith is in god and he has
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proved that he is faithful and worthy of
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our praise and we can trust him because
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his word always come to pass because his
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word his word can be trusted so we've
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seen evidence of that in chapter
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six seven eight we've talked about the
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faithfulness of god and how god's word
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is always true okay
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so we talked about the faith that the
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writer was mentioning
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comes from the word of god because we
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defined faith has been what
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faith comes by hearing
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and hearing by the word of god so faith
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is birthed by hearing and hearing by the
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word of god so the word of god is the
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author of faith so god is the one who
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produces faith in a person okay through
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his word and we talk about isaiah 55 10
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when god says that his word will not
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return to him void or will accomplish
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the purpose for which he send it so
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faith is birthed
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from the word of god and is god that
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works in us both to will and act
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according to his purpose so we cannot
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produce faith on our own is a work of
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the spirit of god that uses the word of
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god and applies it in our life and we
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receive it by faith and we act upon what
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is being said by god now so today we're
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going to talk about faith in action and
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we're going to look at three separate
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individuals we're going to look at able
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we're going to look at uh enoch and then
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we're going to look at noah and then
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we're going to conclude so we're only
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going to talk about verses 4 through 7
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today so first let me read uh
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the scripture and then we're going to
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talk about how faith works the faith
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that they got the writer is talking
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about we want to talk about how that
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works in a person that believes in god
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so if you go to hebrews chapter 11
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verses 4 to 7 okay now the writer has
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just defined faith okay if you look go
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to verses one through three which i just
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mentioned earlier he said now faith is
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the assurance of things hoped for
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and the conviction of things that sin
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for by it by what by faith the people of
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old the ancient the patriarchs and the
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sense of old received the recommendation
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from god the scripture says because by
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faith we understand that the universe
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was created by the word of god so that
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what is seen was not made out of things
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that are visible so that's the first the
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beginning of our faith is believing that
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god created all things from his word
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okay so things don't come out of nothing
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god spoke and things happened so that's
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the first introduction of faith and to
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come to that realization it is by faith
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is god that produces the faith in us to
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believe in his word and to believe in
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his creation order okay
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now the faith now is an action and we're
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going to look at verses 4
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through 7 this is the object of our
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contemplation today okay so scripture
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says
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by faith abel offered to god a more
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acceptable sacrifice than cain through
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which he was commanded as being
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righteous god commanding him by
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accepting his gifts
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and through his faith though he died he
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still speaks
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now the next person by faith enoch was
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taken up so that he should not see death
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and he was not found because
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god had taken him now before he was
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taken he was commanded as having pleased
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god
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and without faith it is impossible to
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please god for whoever will draw near
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god must believe that he exists and that
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he rewards those who seek him by faith
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noah been warned by by god concerning
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event as yet unseen in reverent fear
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constructed an ark for the saving of his
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household by this he condemned the world
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and became an heir of the righteousness
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that comes by faith now we're going to
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analyze all these verses and then we're
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going to wrap up after that so
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the first example of faith that we are
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given
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is comes from us uh
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from the book of genesis
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okay this is the story of abel and we're
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gonna talk about it
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so we're gonna find out what happened
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between abel and cain
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let's go to genesis i want to read the
5:54
scripture and then we're gonna we're
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gonna talk about it verses uh one
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through eleven the scripture says
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now adam knew his wife and she conceived
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and bore cain saying i've gotten a man
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with the help of the lord and again she
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bore his brother abel now abel was a
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keeper of sheep and cain a worker of the
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groud in the course of time cain brought
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to the lord an offering of the fruit of
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the ground and abel also brought of the
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firstborn of his flock and of their fat
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portions and the lord had regard for
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abel and his offering but for cain and
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his offering he had no regard
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so cain was very angry and his face fell
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and the lord said the cane why are you
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angry
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and why has your face fallen if you do
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well will you not be accepted
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and if you do not do well sin is
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crouching at your door its desire is
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contrary to you but you must rule over
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it
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cain spoke to abel his brother and when
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they were in the field cain rose up
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against his brother abel and killed him
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then the lord said cain where is abel
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your brother and cain responds
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i don't know
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am i my brother's keeper and the lord
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said what have you done
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the voice of your brother's blood is
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crying to me from the ground
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and now you are cursed from the ground
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which has opened its mouth to receive
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your brother's blood from your hand so
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now what does that have to do
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with this chapter of hebrews so first
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thing we need to understand abel was the
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first
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believer to die for his faith now in the
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new testament it was stephen the first
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martyr but in the old it was able to die
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for his faith okay and his account was
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recorded in genesis 4 for our sick and
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for the sake of the readers
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now cain killed his brother abel because
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his own actions
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were evil and his brothers were
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righteous that's what we are told in
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first john 3 verse 12 okay
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basically
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from these verses we can make some
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inferences okay god had prescribed how
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to be worshipped
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according to the text of genesis if you
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go to verse 6 the scripture says the
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lord saith to cain
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why are you angry and why has your face
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fallen if you do well
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will you not be accepted and if you
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don't do well sin is what crouching at
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your door is desire is contrary to you
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but you must learn to rule over it so
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basically
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we can make that strong inference the
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lord had prescribed how to be worshipped
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and he had prescribed what the earthing
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was supposed to be the first one of the
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flock and their fat portion but
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scripture tells us cain did not obey the
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instruction of the lord again it's not
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the scripture doesn't say that but it's
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we can make that implication it's
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implied because god tells him why are
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you angry if you do what is right will
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you not be accepted but if you don't do
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what is right sin is scratching at your
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door okay
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so the thing is this
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kid didn't obey the instruction of the
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lord and we need to know why see he
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would have required him to go to his
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brother able to ask for a sheep but he
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didn't want to do that because his pride
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was standing in the way so we also
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learned from the scriptures that cain
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was not in talking terms with his
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brother in verse 8 scripture tells us
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that cain spoke to abel his brother now
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if you read the french version it
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communicates this better it says cain
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finally addressed his brother which
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means
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he was not
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talking to
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abel he was not okay so really if you
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look if you look at his verse cain is
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really angry at god
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okay and he takes it out on his brother
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that's the thing and scripture tells us
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like whoever claims to love god yet hate
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his brother the love of god is not in
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him right i'm just making this a side
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reference here
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but what does that have to do with uh
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chapter verse 4 hebrews 11 see abel was
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commanded as righteous before god
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because he obeyed the instructions of
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the lord by faith jesus said that men
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are not to live what by bread alone but
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by every word that proceeds from the
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mouth of god see abel heard instructions
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and he generated an action in him and
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that is to offer the firstborn of the
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flock in accordance with the word of god
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and as a result god commanded him as
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being righteous and he died for his
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faith
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okay he did what was right
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but he died for it
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now the scripture tells us through his
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faith though he died he still speaks
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now how he informs us that what trusting
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in god doesn't mean that we won't suffer
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even when we are doing what is right
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and that's consistent with second
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timothy 3
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and verse 12 the scripture says indeed
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all who desire to live a godly life
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in jesus christ will be persecuted now
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listen to how this is resonating with
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the listeners okay see evil still speaks
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to all of us today about this faith
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meaning faith in god doesn't mean
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exemption from trials okay sufferings
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and persecutions and the readers they
11:14
needed to hear that and we need to hear
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that today
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just because you believe in god doesn't
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mean everything is going to be pitchy
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just because you love jesus doesn't mean
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that your life is going to be smooth
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sailing that's not how it is oftentimes
11:27
the scripture tells us that in this
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world
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we will have tribulations we will be
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persecuted we will have trials because
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listen the prince of this world
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dominates this world and the people of
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this world they don't like you because
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they don't like god and because you're a
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child of god then their anger is going
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to be directed at you and you are going
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to suffer i'm going to suffer that's
11:51
just how it is okay even peter tells us
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in first peter 4 12 listen to what peter
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says
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beloved
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don't be surprised at the fiery trials
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when it comes upon you to test you as
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though something strange was happening
12:07
to you i am preaching to myself
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going through trials right now
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constantly
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there's nothing strange it's like why
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well god appointed us for those things
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we've been appointed for suffering it's
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just gonna happen that's just how it is
12:24
and we learned this from able okay
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now the scripture
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what can we what can we like infer
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as far as like the readers and what they
12:33
were listening to if you read this
12:35
scripture abel's account
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showed the readers that even though abel
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was worshiping correctly because he was
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doing what was right he was persecuted
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and killed by his own brother
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okay cain insisted on his own way of
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worship and was rejected by god he
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wanted to worship god in on his own
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terms that's why he brought the fruit of
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the ground and god rejected it the
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scripture tells us that able gave his
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gift in faith meaning god spoke a word
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he heard it and he gave according to the
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word of god see in the case of the
13:08
jewish believers like the writer was
13:10
addressing they were being persecuted
13:12
for their profession of faith in jesus
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by the judaizers who insisted on
13:17
pursuing the old testament rituals and
13:21
practices that were obsolete
13:23
so in some ways
13:25
those people that were being persecuted
13:27
represented abel and the persecutors
13:29
represented kane so
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if you if you're listening you you're
13:33
listening to this and this is this
13:35
letter from the book of hebrews you go i
13:38
get it
13:39
we are going through persecution right
13:40
now we are just like able
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okay we are going to be persecuted some
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of us might get killed
13:48
but that doesn't mean that god has
13:50
forgotten he has not forgotten
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god is still reigning god is still
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sovereign but for us now this is what
13:57
has been appointed
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this is hard stuff
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it's hard
14:02
because it's suffering
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and i don't like to suffer and nobody in
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their right mind like to suffer i mean
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if you like to suffer don't lie to
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yourself don't deceive yourself nobody
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likes to go through hard times but in
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those times this is when we we get
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stronger
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those fiery trials have a way of what
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refining our faith it's not easy
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i don't like to talk about trials and
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sufferings and stuff like that but this
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is part of the reality we are living in
14:32
so faith in action
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faith doesn't mean that we are exempt
14:35
from trials
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but even though they come god is still
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faithful in the process
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and the next thing we're going to talk
14:41
about
14:42
is verses five through six enoch now
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enoch brings something totally different
14:46
which we're gonna talk about and
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scripture tells us
14:49
by faith enoch was taken up so that he
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should not see death
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and he was not found because god had
14:56
taken him now before he was taken he was
14:58
commanded as having pleased god
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and without faith it's impossible to
15:03
please god for whoever will draw near
15:05
the god must believe that he exists and
15:08
that he rewards those who seek him
15:11
so what can we learn from enoch see
15:13
abel died for his faith
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but enoch did not experience death he
15:19
was translated into heaven just like the
15:21
prophet elijah
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and the writer tells us that before he
15:25
was taken up god gave the following
15:27
testimony about enoch he pleased god
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and the writer reminds his readers and
15:33
us today that the only reason why enoch
15:35
pleased god is because he lived by faith
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and again
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how do we define faith we say that faith
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is birthed right faith comes by hearing
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and hearing by the word of god so enoch
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was called by god and believed god and
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walked with god and sought god in
15:53
everything that he did the scripture
15:56
tells us he walked with god so scripture
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tells us that whether we eat or we drink
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or whatever we do
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we ought to do it all for the glory of
16:06
the lord so if i'm talking to you this
16:08
evening and i'm not doing it by faith
16:10
then i'm displeasing to god so it has to
16:13
be an appointment from god it has to be
16:15
god that decided that i should be
16:18
speaking to you this evening if it's not
16:20
from god then i am not doing what i'm
16:23
supposed to be doing
16:24
see and paul says whatever is not from
16:27
faith is sin so if you do something and
16:29
this is not fine that thing that you're
16:31
doing does not find its roots in the
16:33
word of god or in the mind of god then
16:35
you are not living by faith because
16:37
scripture says
16:39
man does not
16:40
live by bread alone but by every word
16:43
that proceeds from the mouth of god the
16:45
scripture tells us in deuteronomy you
16:47
shall love the lord your god with what
16:48
all your mind all your strength all your
16:50
might
16:51
and every answer of your being okay
16:54
so which means that
16:57
whatever we do
16:58
must be
17:00
initiated by the spirit of god see but
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what do we learn from enoch
17:05
god reserves the right to do anything he
17:07
desires and everything god does is right
17:10
and just see abel died for his faith but
17:13
enoch's physical life was preserved and
17:16
he never
17:17
tasted
17:18
death on the side of eternity but they
17:20
were equally commanded for being
17:22
righteous so god has a different plan
17:24
for each one of us we trust in him some
17:26
may suffer more than others some may not
17:28
suffer at all
17:31
i shouldn't say at all because
17:32
everybody's gonna go through some type
17:34
of persecution but the level the level
17:36
to which you feel it is gonna be
17:38
different
17:39
able died
17:40
enoch did it
17:41
and i'm you know you have to ask
17:43
yourself why is he juxtaposing these two
17:45
accounts together he's trying to tell
17:46
him listen
17:48
i'm gonna give you these two
17:49
diametrically opposed uh outcome for of
17:52
faith in god to just show you that god
17:54
is the one who decides who
17:57
what happens for some people they may
17:59
experience death
18:01
for some people they may not experience
18:02
this kind of death they may experience
18:04
more suffering than others but the
18:06
scripture also says that and without
18:07
faith is impossible to please god for
18:10
whoever will draw near the god must
18:12
believe that he exists and that he
18:13
rewards those who seek him in james we
18:15
are told if you lack wisdom ask god who
18:19
gives wisdom to all without finding
18:22
fault when you when you ask do not doubt
18:24
because he would doubt he is like
18:27
the waves of the sea is tossed here and
18:29
and thereby everything that man should
18:31
not think that he will receive anything
18:33
from god because he's double minded
18:35
you see we can't even go to god unless
18:38
god enables us because god says
18:40
somewhere in the scripture that no one
18:41
can come to him unless what the father
18:44
was in heaven draws him so we don't even
18:46
want to go to god
18:47
but the person that goes to god the
18:49
person that draws near god has believed
18:52
in the goodness of god and that's only
18:54
possible because god himself through his
18:57
spirit has what changed the disposition
19:00
of our heart and we receive his love we
19:02
say we want to know what the lord has in
19:06
mind for us
19:07
so this is how it works so everything
19:09
begins with god and ends with god and
19:12
and if you are doing anything right
19:13
today it's because of god because
19:16
scripture says
19:18
everything good
19:19
comes from who the father of love does
19:21
not change like shifting shadow so
19:22
whatever you do in your life that is
19:24
praiseworthy that is where you have the
19:27
name of god is because god has enabled
19:29
you through his spirit to do it and you
19:32
are doing it by faith because you heard
19:33
the word the word that came from god and
19:36
you are responding by faith
19:39
okay so you see faith in action
19:42
now we're going to go to verse 7 and
19:43
talk about noah
19:45
now the scripture says
19:47
by faith noah being warned by god
19:50
concerning event as yet unseen in
19:53
reverent fear constructed an ark for the
19:55
saving of his household by this he
19:58
condemned the world and became an heir
20:00
of the righteousness that comes by faith
20:03
and what do we learn from noah again
20:05
this is another exceptional example
20:07
of faith in action see in noah's time
20:10
those people are never experienced a
20:12
flood or even a rain storm they've never
20:14
seen that before they have never seen it
20:16
so what made the noah stand out of the
20:18
crowd so you need to understand that
20:21
okay
20:22
all of them were there they heard the
20:23
same thing no i heard but noah responds
20:25
differently in verse 8 of genesis 6 we
20:29
read the following
20:30
but noah
20:32
found favor in the eyes of the lord what
20:35
does that mean it doesn't mean that noah
20:38
did something exceptional
20:39
but god
20:41
is the one who chose
20:43
noah god chosen god elected him okay and
20:47
this election resulted in faith in
20:50
noah's heart so it wasn't like noah was
20:52
seeking after god is god who worked in
20:55
noah to achieve that end so god prompted
20:58
his heart by giving him a warning about
21:00
the flood and noah received the word in
21:04
reverent fear
21:05
see he didn't play with god's word he
21:08
heard the word he heard a warning and he
21:10
began to build an ark and based on the
21:12
scripture it took about 120 years to
21:15
finish the project but he kept doing
21:17
perseverance okay and doris in the
21:21
meantime the people of his age of his uh
21:25
his contemporaries they were ridiculing
21:27
him laughing at him they displayed what
21:29
unbelief
21:31
so noah just like the rest of people had
21:33
never seen a flood
21:35
but he believed the word of god and
21:37
acted upon it he acted upon what was
21:39
told him so noah's faith in some way
21:41
condemned the word the whole world
21:44
because he revealed what their own
21:46
belief
21:47
he revealed their unbelief
21:50
while noah believed they did not believe
21:53
and why did noah believe because he
21:55
found favor in the eyes of god because
21:57
god chose him god elected him
22:00
so the flood in some way proved that
22:03
noah was right because what he had heard
22:04
from the lord was true
22:07
so jesus used the account of noah to
22:09
warn his people
22:10
about his return in matthew 24 and
22:13
verses 36 to 42. let's listen listen to
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what jesus says here
22:18
but concerning that day and hour no one
22:20
knows that when when he comes back no
22:23
not even the angels of heaven nor the
22:24
son
22:25
but the father only for us were the days
22:28
of noah
22:29
so will be the coming of the son of man
22:32
for as in those days before the flood
22:34
they were eaten and drinking
22:36
marrying and giving in marriage until
22:38
the day when noah entered the ark
22:40
and they were unaware until the flood
22:42
came and swept them all the way so will
22:46
it be
22:47
so will will be the coming of the son of
22:49
man then two men will be in the field
22:51
one will be taken and the other left two
22:54
women will be grinding at the mail one
22:56
will be taken and one left therefore
22:58
stay awake for you don't know
23:00
on what day your lord is coming
23:03
so it's going to happen
23:05
it's not if it's when it happens so the
23:08
writer is using this very valid argument
23:10
as a way to strengthen his readers and
23:12
us
23:13
see just like noah we haven't yet
23:16
experienced the return of christ but
23:18
based on the evidence of scripture and
23:20
the word of god prompting our heart
23:22
we believe in jesus words and we live in
23:25
light
23:26
of his second coming see i'm sure there
23:28
were times when noah was like he had a
23:30
share of doubts he's like is this ever
23:32
going to happen i've been building this
23:34
thing for like 120 years
23:36
but nonetheless
23:38
the spirit of god continued to work in
23:41
him to wield and act according to the
23:44
word of god so in the same way the
23:46
writer of the hebrews
23:48
to the hebrews is encouraging his
23:50
readers to continue to trust in the
23:52
promises of god and the word of god
23:54
because god's word what he never fails
23:57
he always will come to pass a god's own
24:01
appointed time so we can put our trust
24:03
in the word of god
24:04
so these are people that were growing
24:06
wary okay but i'm sure these god-given
24:09
exaltations
24:11
to them and to us today will change
24:13
their their attitude and my perspective
24:15
because that's what needs to change and
24:17
we all need to be reassured and
24:19
encouraged in times of like trials i
24:22
don't know about you but
24:23
when you're going through through uh
24:25
trials when you begin to that's when you
24:28
reach out to the promises of god because
24:30
those are the times when you you go
24:32
i must believe this but again we said
24:35
you can't believe unless the holy spirit
24:36
prompts your heart and those words
24:38
become life in you because jesus himself
24:41
said my words are what spirit and life
24:43
so the word of god causes faith the word
24:46
of god produces faith we see it and we
24:48
believe it and we hold on to it and
24:50
that's how we we
24:53
we we stay the course okay
24:56
so in conclusion my question to you will
24:58
be
24:59
uh the first thing that we learn is
25:01
faith in god doesn't always mean that we
25:03
won't suffer or even die
25:05
that's just
25:06
something that we need to come to grips
25:08
with okay second long-suffering and
25:11
endurance is the fruit of the spirit and
25:13
all believers will experience
25:15
suffering we all will okay it isn't if
25:18
it will happen is well when it happens
25:20
and then second
25:22
god has a different plan for everyone we
25:24
trust in him abel died for his faith
25:26
enoch never died he never tasted death
25:29
he was translated into heaven so not all
25:32
believers will experience the same
25:33
levels of trials and sufferings he's
25:35
going to be different
25:37
but god is faithful and you know let us
25:39
be tempted beyond what our abilities to
25:41
bear but with every temptation or trial
25:43
you make a way of escape so that we
25:45
might be able to bear it so god is
25:47
faithful in that way
25:49
and then finally from noah we learned
25:51
that though it might take a long time to
25:53
come to fruition
25:55
god's word
25:56
never fails and we may not see it
25:59
materialized yet
26:00
but that doesn't mean that god has
26:02
forgotten because in due time he will
26:04
act
26:06
so
26:07
what can you take free away from from
26:09
today's study um it's just
26:12
i don't know how what to say to you but
26:14
what i'm gonna say is we're trusting god
26:16
you know when things don't make sense
26:18
continue to trust in god
26:21
his word is what we have
26:23
i don't know what kind of word you need
26:25
to hear but i'll say just go to the word
26:27
of god he will guide you with because
26:28
scripture says that the spirit of god
26:31
will guide us into all the truth so i
26:33
also continue to hold on to those
26:34
promises
26:36
whatever they may be because he has a
26:37
rhema word for you i don't the word that
26:40
he speaks to you is not going to be the
26:41
same he speaks to me but we have the
26:43
general revelation in the bible
26:46
it's going to direct you to the word to
26:48
the right passage to read to give you
26:50
strength
26:51
and we are not exempt from trials
26:54
you know it's hard that's just part of
26:56
life
26:57
but he promises to strengthen us in the
26:59
process again i told you i'm going
27:01
through trials right now i'm still in it
27:04
how long will it take i don't know
27:07
there are times when i'm like
27:09
there's the lord here does the lord hear
27:11
my prayers and i see how he works
27:14
he speaks we just have to have a
27:15
listening ear
27:17
okay we have to be
27:19
paying attention because god speaks
27:21
all the time we just don't catch because
27:24
our senses are too dull we don't catch
27:26
it because our minds are not prepared
27:28
the scripture tells us to be sober
27:30
minded for the sake of your prayers
27:32
god always speaks but because we are so
27:35
absent-minded we don't see things from
27:38
his perspective we see that we want to
27:40
see it and i pray that god will begin to
27:43
just mold our thinking and change our
27:45
mind so that we are the same way of
27:47
length as he is so that we can live
27:49
rested lives
27:51
that's what it's all about to be
27:52
arrested to be in a state of rest
27:54
knowing that god is in control now i am
27:56
not god he is
27:59
that's the point okay so i look forward
28:02
to seeing you next week have a wonderful
28:04
evening