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For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; ... then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,
2 Peter 2:4-9

#faith #jesus #jesuschrist #Messiah #Noah #Salvation #SignsOfTheTimes #WhatIsToBeDone

https://lightforthelastdays.co.uk/articles/moral-matters/what-is-to-be-done-part-2/

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00:00all right okay we're going to look at the bible tonight so let's just have a word of prayer as we
00:05come to the word of god well we do thank you for your word we thank you that it's the truth
00:09we pray you help me to speak as led by your spirit and that your will be done in this place
00:14in jesus name amen okay so tonight i'm going to look at lessons which we can learn from the story
00:23of noah a few weeks ago i did a talk on what is to be done how are we going to
00:30live as christians how do we respond to the situation we're in
00:36a talk from philippians today i want to share some things about again what is to be done how
00:42are we going to live our lives how do we live as a church how do you build a church a real church
00:47in this neighborhood and i was reading this a few thoughts came to me from the story of noah so
00:52we're going to look at that tonight i'm sure you're all familiar with the basics of the story
00:56of noah bring in a few things which are perhaps not so familiar first of all when we look at the
01:03bible we find that noah is mentioned not just in the old testament but also in the new testament
01:09three particular references from the new testament i'm going to major on first of all in hebrews chapter
01:1611 it says by faith noah being divinely warned of things not yet seen moved with godly fear prepared
01:25an ark for the saving of his household by which he condemned the world and became heir of the
01:31righteousness which is according to faith hebrews chapter 11 verse 7 says that noah prepared an ark for
01:38the saving of his household we'll think a little bit about the significance of that later on
01:43second quote from the new testament in 2 peter chapter 2 says god did not spare the ancient world but
01:51saved noah one of eight people a preacher of righteousness bringing in the flood on the world
01:55of the ungodly to peter chapter 2 verse 5 noah therefore was a preacher of righteousness
02:03and the third one matthew 24 jesus speaking about his second coming he said of that day an hour no one
02:13knows not even the angels of heaven but my father only but as the days of noah were so also will the
02:18coming of the son of man be as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and
02:23giving him marriage until the day that noah entered the ark and did not know until the flood came and
02:28took them all away so also will the coming of the son of man be and two men will be in the field one
02:34will be taken the other left two women will be grinding at the mill one will be taken and the other
02:38left watch therefore for you do not know what hour your lord is coming but know this that if the
02:44master of the house had known what hour the thief would come he would have watched and not allowed his
02:48house to be broken into therefore you also be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour you do not
02:55expect words of jesus speaking about the comparison between the days of noah and the days of his second
03:02coming and one of the points which he makes is that you should be ready for the coming of the lord
03:07because it's coming at an hour you do not expect yes he understood that the people who were living at
03:14the time of noah didn't believe what he was doing when he was building this ark and didn't believe
03:19his warnings so they're carrying on life as normal life was going on they were eating and drinking
03:25marrying and giving him marriage doing everything which people do and suddenly the flood came and took
03:31them all away and the message from this which god wants to give us is we should be ready at all times
03:36for the coming of the lord has a certain implication about the timing of the coming of the lord but he
03:43says watch therefore for you do not know what hour your lord is coming so there's going to be a
03:47comparison with the days of noah and the days of the second coming of jesus and we're going to look
03:54at some of the comparisons as we go through this and we look at some of the passages in the old
03:57testament which deal with it so beginning at genesis chapter 6 one of the most obvious parallels which
04:05is to be found in the
04:08account of noah in the book of genesis is its account of the wickedness of the human race at
04:16that time of the judgment which was coming so in genesis chapter 6 it came to pass when men would
04:24began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them that the sons of god
04:28saw that the daughters of men that they were beautiful and they took wives for themselves of
04:32all whom they chose and the lord said my spirit shall not strive with man forever for he is indeed
04:38flesh yet his days shall be 120 years there were giants on the earth in those days and also afterward
04:45when the sons of god came into the daughters of men and they bore children to them those were the
04:51mighty men who were of old men of renown then the lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on
04:56the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually and the lord
05:02was sorry that he made man on the earth and he was grieved in his heart so the lord said i would
05:06destroy man whom i have created from the face of the earth both man and beast creeping things and birds
05:12of the air for i'm sorry that i have made them but noah found grace in the eyes of the lord
05:18this is the genealogy of noah noah was a just man perfect in his generations noah walked with god
05:25and noah begot three sons shem ham and japheth the earth also was corrupt before god and the earth was
05:31filled with violence so god looked upon the earth and indeed it was corrupt for all flesh had corrupted
05:36their way on the earth and god said to noah the end of all flesh has come before me the earth is filled
05:43with violence through them and behold i will destroy them with the earth make yourself an ark
05:48of gopher wood make rooms in the ark cover it inside and outside with pitch and this is how you
05:55will make it the length of the ark shall be 300 cubits its width 50 cubits and its height 30 cubits
06:01you shall make a window for the ark and you shall finish it to a cubit from above and set the door of
06:08the ark on its side you shall make it with lower second and third decks and behold i myself am
06:14bringing floodwaters on the earth to destroy from under heaven all flesh which is in the breath in
06:19which is the breath of life everything that is on the earth shall die but i will establish my covenant
06:25with you and you shall go into the ark you your sons your wife and your sons wives with you of every
06:30living thing of all flesh you should bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with
06:35you they shall be male and female of the birds after their kind of animals after their kind and
06:41every creeping thing of the earth after its kind two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive
06:47and you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten and you should gather it to yourself
06:52and it shall be food for you and for them thus noah did according to all that noah that god commanded him
06:58so we have the account of noah i'm sure you've heard that many times before you're familiar with
07:07the details of it but there are just four things which i want to bring out from this account
07:12which i believe god wants to speak to us concerning first of all noah lived in a society of great wickedness
07:21and secondly that noah was a just man in the eyes of the lord thirdly that god was going to bring
07:28judgment in the on the world in the days of noah and fourthly that god prepared noah prepared an ark
07:34for the saving of his people
07:36so the story of noah now first of all i want you to know that the story of noah is not a myth
07:44there's plenty of evidence that there has been a time past a gigantic flood on the earth
07:50i'm not going to go into that in detail but it's relevant to what i'm going to say because these are
07:56events which took place in time and space and because god is saying that you are now living in
08:00a different time but the same sequence of events as parallels with that event are going to happen in
08:06the last days you need to believe that it really did happen in the first place so what jesus is saying
08:13is also going to happen for sure so the first point noah lived in a society of great wickedness
08:20when you read this account it's pretty clear that it was a bad time to be alive
08:26says god saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth
08:29every intent of the thoughts of his heart or every imagination of his heart was only evil
08:34continually so what was going on in people's thought lives was full of evil
08:39and what goes on in your thought life comes out in what happens in your actions
08:43and god saw that as a result of this evil in the heart of human beings was coming out actions which
08:50were evil in the sight of the lord that the lord was the earth was corrupt the earth was filled with
08:56violence interesting that the hebrew word for violence is hamas do you know that and the earth was filled
09:04with violence and so god saw this violence on the face of the earth and he was sorry that he made the
09:09human race we like to say that god loves the human race he does but also god doesn't love the things
09:16which we do i mean god sees these things happening god is filled with sorrow at what he sees happening
09:21in the world which he gave us to look after gave us this world to careful to look after to look after
09:27not just the people on the earth but look after the creation itself to make sure that it is
09:31under god and it's run for god's purpose the praise of god and we see the result of the fall of man
09:38the very opposite has happened and now we have the earth filled with violence the first four verses
09:44imply that some kind of demonic interference had happened in human affairs there are different
09:49interpretations of what it meant but the sons of god coming into the the daughters of men
09:57came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them that
10:02the sons of god saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful they took wives for themselves of all
10:07that they had they chose quite a mysterious scripture there are different interpretations of it
10:12one is that it just meant that the godly line the line which came through shem who called upon the
10:19name of the lord intermarried with the ungodly line the line that came through cain and that they
10:24produced these fallen creatures who were giants on the earth the giants were actually called in hebrew
10:32the nephilim and nephilim in hebrew means the fallen ones so there were some kind of humans who came out
10:39of this relationship between the sons of god and the daughters of men which was extremely harmful to god
10:45and he describes them as the nephilim or the fallen ones now if it was just people who were godly
10:52intermarrying with ungodly people then doesn't really quite add up and also if the sons of god were
11:00the men means all the men were good and all the women were bad which also doesn't add up so one
11:08other interpretation which is controversial but comes out in one of the apocryphal books of the bible
11:13called the not not a book of the bible the book which is in hebrew writings called the book of enoch
11:19is that it wasn't a union between the fallen angels who were the sons of god and the daughters of men who
11:26were human women now this has some difficulties and i have difficulties with it but there are people
11:32who believe that that is what it means and that something happened with to interfere with the genetic
11:36bloodline of humans to produce these nephilim who were some kind of superhumans or subhumans in some
11:44way and as a result of this it brought in a curse upon the human race what's interesting in our time
11:50is that we see people interfering with the normal process of reproduction in using some kind of way in
11:58which they can have even a children born to three different parents don't know what that means but
12:05it's it's happening we have things interfering with god's normal way of human reproduction and what's
12:10it going to produce now that may have something to do with it may not but there are interpretations
12:15which say that this is something to do with occult demonic activity interfering in the area of sexual
12:21relations now we can certainly see that there are certainly much of demonic activity taking place in our
12:26time you can see it also expressing itself in immorality and homosexuality and all of these
12:32things which are being pushed upon us so we put all this together you have three things which are
12:36strands if you like of behavior at the time of noah demonic activity something going wrong in the area of
12:45sexual relations and violence corrupting the earth do you see any of those things happening in our world
12:52today you see an increase in the occult you see sexual immorality do you see increase of violence
12:57and those another ways in which you have a parallel between the days of noah and the days in which we
13:03live producing great wickedness upon the face of the earth and as god saw this wickedness he was
13:09sorry that he made the human race now if you're god you look in heaven and you're obviously we're not god
13:15but if we're looking god and god is holy he's looking down at the world that he's made and he sees the
13:19world as it is today what do you think goes through god's mind when he looks at the state of humanity
13:24today when he sees the violence he sees the immorality he sees the occult the demonic activity
13:29taking place you think god is angry about that i think he is and there comes a point when god says
13:37enough i'm going to bring an end to this and i'm going to bring an end to this race to this this time
13:42and you'll bring in a change which is going to take place which is exactly what happened
13:47going to bring judgment actually and going to destroy that generation of humans and save just
13:54one generation which we can then repopulate the earth so does that have a parallel with our time
14:00i think it does and when you look at the great tribulation you can see it's a time when god is
14:04going to judge the human race and out of that judgment he's going to bring about a new new world
14:10order god's new world order in which jesus is going to reign on the earth in the millennial kingdom
14:15okay the second point it says noah was a just man in the eyes of the lord
14:19so in the text it says noah found grace in the eyes of the lord noah walked with god noah was a just
14:28man perfect in his generations noah walked with god noah found grace the hebrew word is chen
14:36favor he found grace in the eyes of the lord so god gave him grace god in a sense redeemed him
14:43out of that wicked world and he gave him the grace of god by which he could call on the name of the
14:48lord and have a relationship with god so he could walk with god it says he walked with god in the
14:53hebrew the phrase which is used hebrew word is halach from that the rabbis have the term halacha which
14:59means application of the torah to life so it means how you apply the word of god to your life so if you
15:06walk with god it means you're applying god's word and you're walking with god you're allowing it to
15:10direct your life so noah directed his life according to the law of god to what god had revealed to him
15:16and as a result he was a just man he was justified with god and god saw him as being perfect in his
15:22generation the word perfect you might get a little bit trouble with that because no one's perfect are
15:28they hebrew word actually is tamim which means blameless and whatever sin noah had was under god's
15:37covering and implies that god had taken this man out to be his representative to speak for him in
15:44that generation that's what god's looking for in us he's looking for a people who he can take out of
15:49the wickedness of this generation and people who will speak to the world around us okay the third
15:55point judgment is coming god said to noah the end of all flesh has come before me the earth is filled
16:03with violence through them and behold i will destroy them with the earth and bring flood borders on the
16:08earth to destroy them from under heaven all flesh which is in the breath of life everything which is
16:13on the earth shall die now clearly from this it was not a local flood had to be a worldwide flood
16:20bringing death to all life on the earth and he says here there's a reason for it because of the
16:25wickedness of man on the earth i was talking this morning about the fact that when god looks down on
16:32the earth and he sees the wickedness of humans he's going to bring judgment upon it a lot of the church
16:38doesn't like to speak about it we like to just say god loves us god does love us but god is also just
16:46and he is holy and god does not love the things which people are doing on the earth and there comes a
16:51point when god says when i see the wickedness i'm going to bring judgment upon it and there's no
16:56question that we live in a time where people are doing things which are provoking god to judgment
17:00when you hear that little children are being taught in school how to be homosexual how to be transsexual
17:07how to change their sexuality and that if you speak against it you can get into trouble
17:12what does god think about that what does god think about a society that's doing that to his children
17:18it comes a point where god says enough i can't tolerate this anymore when you see people who
17:24are marching through our streets doing support for violent terrorists who want to kill and destroy
17:30israel destroy jewish people that our government is now basically really siding with them and giving
17:37them what they want or wanting to give them what they want is god going to stand for that when you see
17:42all the things that are taking place on the face of the earth today things happening in russia and china
17:47in the countries in africa and you see the things which are being done which are so much provoking
17:53god to anger there comes a point when god says enough i'm going to bring judgment upon that world
17:58and we don't like to talk about it but the bible speaks about it and the bible also speaks about
18:05the way of salvation the fourth point is that god told noah to build an ark for salvation
18:12for the preservation of life on the earth preservation of the humans and the animals and the birds and he
18:19gave them instructions on how to make it reading the text that he made it with gopher wood we actually
18:25don't know what gopher wood but it must have been pretty strong because it withstood all of those
18:29forces of the flood which came after the building of the ark and he also covered it with pitch
18:38it's interesting little detail there because the hebrew word for pitch is kofar which is related to the
18:45hebrew word kippur of yom kippur which means the covering of the blood of atonement so the kind of
18:52connection with the covering of atonement which was built which noah put into the ark now i guess it
18:58was literally some kind of waterproofing material which you put into the ark to cover it so it would
19:06would float but the fact that he uses this word kofar which has the same root as the hebrew word for
19:12kofar to atone for for yom kippur tells me that the ark has something to do with atonement with a place
19:19of sacred safety a place where you can go to be to be safe also it's interesting if you read the
19:25dimensions of the ark now god gave noah very precise dimensions of how long the ark should be 300
19:35cubits how wide it should be 50 cubits and how high it should be 30 cubits people who've studied this
19:43subject and worked out what a cubit is and what the dimensions of the ark are tell us that if you were
19:50to make this build this ark which would be a very big boat probably the largest boat which has been
19:55built at that certainly up to that time and even unto all time it was a huge construction if you
20:02wanted to build a boat which had to stay afloat in very turbulent conditions didn't have to get from a
20:10to b fast it just had to stay afloat that wasn't in some kind of race to get across the atlantic like
20:15the titanic just had to stay afloat in turbulent conditions what people who study the subject said
20:21if you wanted to build such a boat noah got exactly the right dimensions to build a boat which would
20:26stay afloat in turbulent conditions like this it wouldn't turn over it would stay afloat so how did
20:32noah work that out did he have a divine plan which or a human plan which he'd worked out saying now no
20:39this flood's going to come these are the right dimensions to put this make this boat float do you
20:44think he worked that out no of course he didn't but god knew and god gave him precisely the
20:50instructions for the ark which would float i find that very significant because god was preparing an
20:56ark for the salvation of life so god was preparing this ark and he gave it the right dimensions he gave
21:02it the right material and he told them to take food in to preserve life and while the ark was floating
21:07on the water god was keeping that ark afloat so that it would preserve life god gave the right
21:14dimensions he gave the right directions and god also made a covenant with noah that he would keep
21:20noah and the animals alive in the ark and also it says that noah did according to all that god
21:27commanded him so because noah was faithful and did exactly what he was told he preserved life on the earth
21:34if he hadn't done that then that would have been the end of the world it'd be the end of life on the
21:39earth and we wouldn't be here so you can be thankful to know that he got the dimensions of
21:44the ark right and he built it as god told him to do and that god gave him exactly the right dimensions
21:49for building this ark for salvation now as i was thinking about this this tells me something about
21:55the church what is the church for the church is to be a place for salvation for the people
22:04of the earth has god given us instructions about how to build the church yes they're all in the bible
22:11are we faithful in keeping god's commandments in building the church most of the time no but it's
22:21still there the plan is there and god has a plan to save people okay so let's go back to our four points
22:28which i made and see how they apply to the last days okay noah lived in a society of great wickedness
22:35noah was a just man in the eyes of the lord god going to bring judgment on the world in the days of
22:41noah and noah prepared an ark for the saving of the people
22:44does this apply to our time he lived in a society of great wickedness do we live in a society of great
22:53wickedness everyone says yes in the book of timothy 2 timothy chapter 3
23:03paul spoke about the last days he said know this this is chapter 3 verse 1 of 2 timothy
23:15but know this in the last days perilous times will come men will be lovers of themselves lovers of
23:22money boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankful unholy unloving unforgiving
23:28slanderers without self-control brutal despisers of good traitors headstrong haughty lovers of pleasure
23:35rather than lovers of god having a form of godliness but denying its power and from such people turn
23:41away do you think that describes our time you see things like that happening in our world today
23:48yes no
23:49tell you a story when i was seeking god which was back in 1969 before some of you were born
23:58i was riding on an underground train in piccadilly line going to where i lived and on the underground
24:07there was a they had bible texts and one of the bible texts don't have it too much today but on the
24:13bible text was this one i was sitting in the underground train going back from work thinking
24:19about my life which was not in a good state at that time i read these verses and i said that sounds
24:24like today and the thought came to me supposing it's true and i'd heard a bit about jesus coming back
24:30again suppose jesus is coming back again suppose he comes back while i'm riding on this underground
24:35train and i'm not ready for him i might be lost maybe i ought to start thinking about becoming a
24:41christian one of the little sign posts which pointed me to jesus but i thought that's sounds
24:48like today that was back in 1969 here we are in 2025 it sounds much more like today
24:54and as a result of this violence all this wickedness god says i'm sorry that i made this world
25:03and we see that what we're living in today is under that judgment
25:07and there's only one way out that's through jesus the messiah
25:12okay my second point said god looks for a just man for a just woman
25:17you're looking for people to be separate from this wicked world
25:21and be justified by faith by the grace of god
25:24that's what we should find in the true church of jesus christ
25:28a way to become a new creation become a new creation in the messiah the messiah yeshua
25:35god's looking for people who come out from this world and become new people in jesus
25:40he's looking for you and for me
25:42and we're the ones he wants to carry the message of salvation into the world
25:49let's read from verses from 2 corinthians chapter 5
25:542 corinthians 5 verse 17
25:57therefore if anyone is in christ he is a new creation
26:02all things have passed away behold new things have become new
26:06now all things are of god who has reconciled us to himself
26:09through jesus christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation
26:13that is that god was in christ reconciling the world to himself
26:16not imputing their judgment trespasses to them
26:19as committed to us the word of word of reconciliation
26:22now then we are ambassadors for christ as though god were pleading through us
26:26we implore you on christ's behalf be reconciled to god
26:29we made him who knew no sin to be sin for us
26:32that we might become the righteousness of god in him
26:34we then as workers together with him also plead with you
26:39not to receive the grace of god in vain
26:41for he says in the acceptable time i've heard you
26:43now is in the day of salvation i've helped you
26:46now is the accepted time behold now is the day of salvation
26:50now is the day of salvation
26:53now is the day when god is looking for us to become that new creation
26:56to be ready to meet with the lord
26:59and he's given us the ministry of reconciliation
27:02to talk to people how to be ready to meet with jesus
27:06we're to be ambassadors for jesus christ
27:08to be new people
27:09to come out from among the world in all its sin
27:13and to tell people the way to find salvation
27:16to find the acceptable time the day of salvation
27:20i was talking to somebody
27:22actually a relative not too long ago
27:26and they're telling me very much about these
27:29very much impressed with the story of jesus
27:31and the thief on the cross
27:33and how he at the last moment of his life
27:36he called on the name of the lord
27:38and he became a christian
27:39and this person said well
27:41i think i'll do that
27:43i'll just wait to the last moment
27:44and i'll call on the name of the lord
27:45and i'll be a christian and i'll be accepted
27:47i said no
27:48now is the day of salvation
27:50one thing you don't know the day of your death
27:52another thing you don't know the day when jesus is coming
27:54and thirdly of course god wants you to be saved now
27:57so that you can be of use to him
27:59in his kingdom
28:00and the person also said
28:02maybe even after we die
28:04we have a second chance
28:05when god can reveal things to us
28:06i said i wouldn't take that chance if i were you
28:08you've got to do it now
28:10because now is the day of salvation
28:12and a lot of people out there
28:13who are just thinking like that
28:14think well you know
28:16i'll put it off
28:16and when the last moment comes
28:17when i know i'm going to die
28:18perhaps i'll then call on the name of the lord
28:20no
28:21now is the day of salvation
28:22now is the day when god wants us to get right with him
28:25and to put our lives right with him
28:27so that we can be followers of him
28:29and because noah did that
28:31he was able then to build the ark
28:34and he was also described here as being a preacher of righteousness
28:38you don't actually find in the book of genesis
28:42that it says that noah was a preacher
28:43but i guess while he was building the ark
28:46and he's on dry land
28:49people have never seen a flood maybe
28:51the water's just been flowing through the rivers nearby
28:53but they haven't seen floods
28:55and they see him building this huge boat
28:58and they're saying
29:00well what are you building a boat for
29:01and he says well god's told me
29:03that because of the wickedness of the world
29:05there's going to be a flood coming
29:06and the only way you're going to be saved
29:07when that flood comes
29:09is to come into my ark
29:10and be saved
29:11and people said you must be crazy
29:14this is a stupid idea
29:15how can you possibly be teaching that
29:17now whether that's what he said
29:19i don't know
29:20but that's some statistician
29:21but it does say that noah was a preacher of righteousness
29:23so god wants to have in these days
29:27people who be a preacher of righteousness
29:28who would tell people the way of salvation
29:30that's what we need to do
29:33now you might say
29:34well i'm not a very good talker
29:36and i'm not a preacher
29:36i'm not a speaker
29:37but every one of us can at least say to people
29:40that we believe in jesus
29:42and that jesus is the one way of salvation
29:44and we can say also that
29:46because the world's in such a mess
29:47that there is a time of judgment coming
29:48and we need to get right with god
29:50and also we're going to die one day
29:52and we need to be right with god
29:54because there is a heaven
29:55and there is a hell
29:56and the only way to be saved from hell
29:58is to believe in jesus
29:59so now is the day of salvation
30:00to put your trust in jesus
30:02we've got plenty of literature
30:04you can take it out
30:04and give it out to people
30:05you can even you can't talk to them
30:07you can give them a leaflet
30:07and tell them something about the way
30:09to find salvation in jesus
30:11so every one of us can be
30:13preachers of righteousness
30:15and we need to be preachers of righteousness
30:18because judgment is coming
30:19in the book of acts
30:22jesus uh paul
30:24speaking to the athenians
30:25he said god commands
30:26all people everywhere to repent
30:28because he's fixed a day
30:29on which he would judge the world
30:30in righteousness
30:31he's given assurance of this
30:32by raising jesus from the dead
30:34so
30:37it wasn't a suggestion
30:40he didn't suggest that you might like
30:41to think about this
30:42he said god commands
30:43all people everywhere
30:44to repent
30:45so god's actually saying to people
30:47everywhere in the world
30:49that they need to repent
30:50and believe the gospel
30:51are they hearing the message
30:53most of them are not
30:55only people are going to give them
30:57the message are people like you and me
30:59now they can hear it on the
31:01internet
31:02they can sometimes hear it
31:03well
31:05there are
31:06some
31:07christian tv programs
31:09but not many of them
31:10but
31:11there are ways in which people
31:13can hear the message
31:14but the primary way
31:14in which god is going to hear
31:15get the message out
31:16is through people
31:17like you and me
31:18and so god says that
31:21as
31:21judgment is coming
31:23we need to get the message out
31:24telling people
31:25the way of salvation
31:26you could say no
31:27was not a very effective preacher
31:29how many people went onto the ark
31:31eight
31:33only his own family
31:35so he didn't really
31:37get many converts
31:38you might say
31:39but god's actually not looking for
31:42numbers
31:43he's looking for faithfulness in us
31:45and whether people are saved
31:46or not saved
31:47if we give them the message
31:48we'd at least give them the opportunity
31:49to find salvation
31:51and basically it's up to them
31:53whether they follow up on it
31:54because we have free will
31:55and we can't make people believe
31:57we can only
31:57lead them to the water
31:59if you like
31:59but they have to drink
32:00themselves
32:01but god does want us to be those
32:03who can
32:03use the gifts that we have
32:05and i know there are people here
32:07who are
32:07trying to do that
32:09god wants to have
32:11more of us doing that
32:12and as i said
32:14without noah
32:15building that ark
32:16the whole human race
32:17would have perished
32:18so the last point
32:20noah built an ark
32:21for the salvation
32:22of the people
32:23noah being divinely warned
32:26of things not yet seen
32:27moved with godly fear
32:28prepared an ark
32:29for the saving
32:30of his household
32:31by which he condemned
32:32the world
32:33so god wants to prepare
32:35an ark
32:36the equivalent of the ark
32:37for the saving
32:37of the household
32:39for the saving
32:39of people
32:40so what is the
32:42equivalent of the ark
32:43today
32:43what is it
32:45jesus
32:48yes
32:49but what about jesus
32:51no
32:55the church
32:57what did jesus come
32:59to bring into being
33:00that i'll build my church
33:02and the gates of hell
33:02will not prevail against it
33:04what is the equivalent
33:05of the ark today
33:06the equivalent of the ark
33:07today is the true
33:08believing bible
33:09believing christian church
33:11a place where you can
33:12go and find salvation
33:13that's what god wants
33:15this place to be
33:16it wants to be a place
33:18where people can come in
33:19and find salvation
33:20so the equivalent of the ark
33:24today in my view
33:25is the true church
33:26as with the ark
33:28it's covered with pitch
33:29kofa
33:30atonement
33:31under the blood of jesus
33:32there's only one way in
33:34there's only one door
33:35there's only one door
33:36into the ark
33:37there's only one way
33:38into the church
33:40the true church of jesus
33:41that's through jesus christ
33:42who said i am the way
33:43the truth and the life
33:44no one can come into the
33:46father
33:46come to the father
33:48except by me
33:48and it has the right
33:51dimensions to stay afloat
33:52in the stormy situations
33:54of life
33:55jesus said
33:57build your house on the rock
33:58and it'll stand when the storm
34:00comes
34:00build the church on the rock
34:02of faith
34:02and obedience to jesus christ
34:04and it will stand
34:05when the storm comes
34:06build it on the sand
34:08of human intelligence
34:10and human wisdom
34:10when the storm comes
34:12it's going to fall down
34:13so i believe that the church
34:16is actually the equivalent
34:17of the ark today
34:18it's not jesus
34:20well jesus built the church
34:21but it's
34:22the church of jesus christ
34:24and noah spent 120 years
34:27building the ark
34:27jesus has spent the last
34:292000 years building his church
34:30and he said i will build my church
34:32and the gates of hell
34:33will not prevail against it
34:34there have been many setbacks
34:37many problems
34:38but it's still here
34:39and that itself is remarkable
34:42isn't it
34:43what did jesus leave behind
34:44he left behind 12 men
34:45one of whom had
34:47actually killed himself
34:48because he betrayed him
34:49and he said go into all the world
34:50and preach the gospel
34:51and as a result of that
34:542000 years later
34:55we have people all over the world
34:57here in london
34:58in china
34:59in africa
35:01in every country of the world
35:02who believe this message
35:03think about it
35:05it's
35:05could only have happened
35:07if god was behind it
35:08now it's had a lot of setbacks
35:10a lot of apostasy
35:11a lot of
35:11things have gone wrong
35:12a lot of persecution
35:13and yet it has survived
35:15it's still here
35:16and it's still the one way
35:17in which we can find salvation
35:19i will build my church
35:21the gates of hell
35:22will not prevail against it
35:24gates actually don't attack you
35:27you attack gates
35:28and the gates
35:30in the ancient world
35:31were the gates
35:32which made the opening
35:33into the city
35:34and we think of the world
35:36as the city
35:37which is under satan's control
35:38satan is controlling the city
35:40he's controlling the gates
35:41and he's controlling the gates
35:42so you can't get in
35:43there's a verse in the psalms
35:45which says lift up your heads
35:46oh you gates
35:47and be lifted up
35:48ye ancient doors
35:49that the king of glory
35:51may come in
35:51there is a
35:53a gate
35:54a stronghold of satan
35:56who is trying to keep
35:56the king of glory out
35:58and god wants us
35:59to attack those gates
36:00to go through those gates
36:01and to set the people free
36:03who are in the captivity
36:04of satan
36:05and how do we get there
36:09what's to be done
36:11well it's only through
36:13preaching the gospel
36:16and through building
36:17the church of jesus christ
36:18now noah and lot
36:20were both
36:22in some ways
36:23similar situations
36:24they were pictures
36:25they were pictures of
36:25people living
36:27under a world
36:28in judgment
36:28for its wickedness
36:29noah was a preacher
36:33of righteousness
36:33what we have to be
36:34lot wasn't such a great
36:36witness
36:37in sodom
36:38says he was
36:39oppressed
36:40by the filthy conduct
36:41of the wicked
36:41but god still rescued him
36:43he had a measure of faith
36:45and
36:46whoever we are
36:47whether we are strong
36:48or weak
36:48god sees in
36:50you and me
36:50the potential
36:52to build the church
36:53to build the true church
36:54of jesus christ
36:55now we're living
36:57in a jewish area
36:57i have to say
36:58that the word church
36:59is not a
37:00good sign
37:01because jewish people
37:03think of the church
37:03as
37:04an instrument
37:06which actually
37:06persecuted them
37:07in the past
37:08and we have a whole
37:09record in
37:10christianity
37:12which is
37:12harmful to our witness
37:14record of
37:16even persecutions
37:17of people
37:18in the name of jesus
37:19of all kinds of
37:20corruption
37:21but the church
37:22actually the word
37:23actually doesn't mean
37:24a building
37:24it doesn't mean
37:25an organization
37:25it means a group
37:26of people
37:27the true word
37:28is ecclesia
37:28it means the people
37:29have been called out
37:30from the lord
37:31called out of the world
37:32to become the body
37:33of jesus the messiah
37:34and
37:36the church
37:37is built upon
37:39the foundation
37:40of jesus
37:40found the word
37:42of god
37:42and
37:43the
37:44holy spirit
37:46which is to come
37:47into it
37:48and when we look
37:51at the book
37:52of ephesians
37:52which is perhaps
37:54the scripture
37:55i'm going to
37:55close with
37:56in ephesians
37:57chapter 2
37:58paul writes
38:03about his
38:04vision for
38:05the true
38:07church of jesus
38:08speaks about
38:12how we are
38:12once walking
38:14according to
38:15the course
38:16of this world
38:16according to
38:17the prince
38:17of the power
38:17of the air
38:18that's satan
38:18among whom
38:20we all once
38:20had conducted
38:21ourselves
38:21we were by
38:22nature
38:22children of
38:23wrath
38:23just as
38:23the others
38:24but verse 4
38:26it says
38:26god who was
38:26rich in his
38:27mercy
38:27because of
38:28his great
38:28love
38:29with which
38:29he loved
38:29us
38:30even when
38:30we were
38:31dead
38:31in
38:31trespasses
38:31made
38:32us alive
38:32together
38:32with christ
38:33by grace
38:34you have
38:34been saved
38:35and raised
38:36us up
38:36together
38:36and made
38:37us sit
38:37together
38:37in the
38:38heavenly
38:38places
38:38in christ
38:39jesus
38:39that in
38:40the ages
38:40to come
38:41he might
38:41show
38:41the exceeding
38:42riches
38:43of his
38:43grace
38:43and his
38:44kindness
38:44towards us
38:45in
38:46messiah
38:46jesus
38:47by grace
38:48you have
38:48been saved
38:49through faith
38:49that not
38:50of yourselves
38:50it is the
38:51gift of god
38:51not of works
38:52that anyone
38:53should boast
38:53for his
38:54workmanship
38:55created in
38:55christ jesus
38:56for good
38:56works
38:57which god
38:57prepared
38:58beforehand
38:59that we
38:59should walk
39:00in them
39:00so the
39:02people who
39:02do those
39:02things are
39:03the people
39:03who are
39:03born again
39:04into the
39:04church
39:04you have
39:05the new
39:05life
39:05in jesus
39:06and god
39:07wants you
39:07to do
39:07good works
39:08to demonstrate
39:10the life
39:10that you
39:11have
39:11but he
39:11says also
39:12you are
39:12now raised
39:13up
39:13together
39:14and made
39:15to sit
39:15together
39:15in heavenly
39:16places
39:16in christ
39:17jesus
39:17so if you're
39:19in the
39:19church
39:19if you're
39:20in the
39:20true
39:20church
39:20of jesus
39:21you're
39:22sitting
39:22with jesus
39:22christ
39:23in heavenly
39:23places
39:24probably you're
39:26thinking well
39:27i'm not
39:27i'm sitting
39:27in bridge
39:28lane
39:28christian
39:28fellowship
39:29in a
39:30rather hot
39:30sunday
39:31evening
39:31and i'm
39:33waiting for
39:33the preacher
39:34to stop
39:34preaching
39:34because i
39:35want to
39:35have a
39:35cup of
39:36tea
39:36i don't
39:37know
39:37maybe
39:37that's
39:37what's
39:38going
39:38through
39:38your
39:38mind
39:38but
39:39actually
39:39literally
39:40from god's
39:41point of
39:41view
39:41we are
39:43seated
39:43with christ
39:43in heavenly
39:44places
39:44in jesus
39:45christ
39:46in a
39:46new
39:47relationship
39:47in a
39:48place
39:49which is
39:49far
39:49above
39:49all
39:50that's
39:50taking
39:50place
39:50here
39:51on
39:51the
39:51earth
39:51and he
39:53goes on
39:53to say
39:54in verse
39:5414
39:54he says
39:55he himself
39:56is our
39:56peace
39:57who's
39:57made
39:57both
39:57one
39:57has
39:58broken
39:58down
39:58the
39:58middle
39:58wall
39:59of
39:59partition
40:00verse
40:0318
40:04through him
40:04we both
40:05have access
40:05by one
40:06spirit
40:06to the
40:07father
40:07in verse
40:0819
40:09now therefore
40:09you're no
40:09longer
40:10strangers
40:10and foreigners
40:11but fellow
40:11citizens
40:12with the
40:12saints
40:12and members
40:13of the
40:13household
40:13of god
40:14having been
40:15built on
40:15the foundation
40:15of the
40:16apostles
40:16and prophets
40:17jesus christ
40:18himself being
40:18the chief
40:19cornerstone
40:19in whom the
40:20whole building
40:21being fitted
40:21together
40:22grows into a
40:23holy temple
40:23in the lord
40:24in whom
40:25whom you
40:25are being
40:25built
40:25together
40:26for a
40:26dwelling
40:26place
40:27of god
40:27in the
40:28spirit
40:28so he
40:30says here
40:30that what
40:30you
40:30the purpose
40:31of being
40:32brought
40:33together
40:33is we
40:33might
40:34build
40:34together
40:34into a
40:35place where
40:36god
40:36can dwell
40:36by the
40:37holy
40:37spirit
40:38so the
40:40true
40:40church
40:40of jesus
40:41christ
40:41is not
40:41a building
40:42it's not
40:42an
40:42organization
40:43it's a
40:43place
40:43where god
40:44can dwell
40:44by the
40:45holy
40:45spirit
40:46think about
40:47it
40:48when noah
40:48built the
40:49ark
40:49he built
40:50a place
40:50where god
40:51could dwell
40:51and could
40:52preserve
40:52life
40:53to get
40:54into the
40:55ark
40:55you had
40:55to go
40:55through
40:56the
40:56one
40:56way
40:56the
40:57on
40:57door
40:57when you
40:58went in
40:58you were
40:59under the
40:59covering
40:59of the
41:00atoning
41:02sacrifice
41:03and you were
41:04in a place
41:04of safety
41:05and you were
41:05in a place
41:06where god
41:06was present
41:07we come
41:09into the
41:09church of
41:09jesus christ
41:10the true
41:10church of
41:11jesus christ
41:11we come
41:12in through
41:12the one
41:12way
41:12through
41:13jesus
41:13the
41:13messiah
41:14we're
41:14in a
41:14place
41:15of
41:15safety
41:15under
41:15the
41:16blood
41:16of
41:16jesus
41:16and
41:17we're
41:17in a
41:17place
41:17where god
41:21the equivalent
41:22of the
41:23ark
41:23is the
41:24true
41:24church
41:24of jesus
41:24christ
41:25it's the
41:25place
41:25where you
41:25can go
41:26to find
41:26salvation
41:27so my
41:29final question
41:30have you
41:30found
41:30salvation
41:31are you
41:32truly in
41:32the
41:32church
41:33are you
41:33in the
41:33true
41:33church
41:34of jesus
41:34christ
41:34do you
41:35want to
41:35help to
41:36build the
41:36church
41:36of jesus
41:37christ
41:37do you
41:38want to
41:38help to
41:39build the
41:39church
41:39in this
41:40place
41:40do you
41:41want to
41:41make it
41:41a place
41:42where god
41:42can
41:42dwell
41:42by the
41:43holy
41:43spirit
41:43if so
41:45god
41:46bless you
41:46if not
41:48you're still
41:48welcome to
41:48come
41:48but that's
41:49what we
41:49want to
41:50see people
41:50who can
41:51help to
41:51build our
41:52fellowship
41:52that it
41:53might be a
41:53place where
41:54people can
41:55come to
41:55find salvation
41:56and can be
41:57saved from
41:57the wrath to
41:58come because
41:58there is indeed
41:59a wrath to
41:59come that's
42:00what i'm talking
42:01about this
42:01morning the
42:02day of the
42:02lord is
42:03coming in
42:04the day of
42:04the lord
42:04there's going
42:05to be
42:05judgment and
42:06things happening
42:07on the earth
42:07which will cause
42:08people to be
42:09afraid of what's
42:09coming and
42:10seeking some
42:12of them seeking
42:12for salvation and
42:14deliverance already
42:15is happening and
42:16we want to be a
42:17people who can
42:17point people
42:18to one way of
42:19salvation in
42:20our time and
42:22so that people
42:22can find eternal
42:23life and hope
42:24for the future
42:25through faith in
42:26jesus the messiah
42:27so a few thoughts
42:29on this subject
42:30remember there are
42:31four parallels in
42:32the book of
42:33noah in the
42:34story of noah
42:34noah lived in a
42:36society of great
42:37wickedness we live
42:38in a society of
42:38great wickedness
42:39noah was a just
42:41man who was
42:41redeemed from the
42:42wicked society
42:43through whom god
42:44could act
42:44god planned to
42:46bring judgment on
42:48the world in
42:48the days of
42:49noah
42:49god's going to
42:50bring judgment
42:51on the world
42:51in our days
42:52noah prepared
42:54an ark for the
42:54saving of the
42:55people
42:55the ark was
42:57the place where
42:57you could go to
42:58find salvation
42:59god wants us to
43:00prepare a place
43:01where people can
43:01go to find
43:02salvation
43:02that place is
43:04the church of
43:05jesus christ
43:05jesus the messiah
43:08and i say the
43:10church is not the
43:10building it's not
43:11the organization
43:12it's the people
43:13who come together
43:13in yeshua's name
43:15and jesus said
43:16where two or
43:17three are gathered
43:17together in my
43:18name i'm there in
43:19the midst the
43:20minimum number you
43:21need to have for
43:21a church is actually
43:22two people where
43:23jesus is gathered
43:24together in his
43:25name if you don't
43:26have the two people
43:27you can still pray
43:27to god you can
43:28still be a witness
43:29to god so even
43:30if you're just one
43:31person on your own
43:32you can still be the
43:33ambassador for
43:34jesus the messiah
43:35but he does want us
43:36to he does want his
43:37fellowship to be a
43:39social thing as well
43:40so that we come
43:40together we share
43:42our burdens we share
43:42our needs we pray for
43:43one another and we
43:45also work together
43:47for one purpose for
43:49the salvation of the
43:50lost and to bring
43:51about god's purposes
43:52in this generation
43:54okay let's just have
43:56a word of prayer
43:56and
43:57lord we just thank
44:03you that you i want
44:04to build your church
44:05thank you that we are
44:06the people who called
44:07out of the world
44:08to be your
44:09representatives
44:10show us what we
44:11can do lord to be
44:13part of that building
44:14and to make sure
44:15that we are in your
44:17purposes and in your
44:18will we pray in
44:19jesus name amen
44:21amen
44:21amen
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