The Waters of Noah | Rev Paul White

praise the lord everyone i may not be the man of the hour maybe a half hour but uh it is my honor and privilege to be here tonight the house of the lord amen is it wonderful to be in the presence of a wonderful savior and a fine group of people like the saints of god can we give the lord each other a hand clap tonight for the opportunity to be in the presence of the lord this is the day the lord has made we will rejoice and be glad in it i give honor to you this evening and appreciate your faithfulness i give honor to pastor and his family love and honor pastor and his family amen without a pastor we would not be saved god loved israel so he gave them david to be their king god loved maryville so he gave us pastor carpenter to be our shepherd and i'm thankful for god's loving us enough to give us a man a family a ministry of individuals not just pastoral staff but teachers sunday school teachers daycare workers christian school workers all a part of the ministry everyone in sound audio video every part cleaning the restrooms whatever it may be whatever part of the kingdom we may have it is not too small for god to take notice and it's a privilege and honor to be a part of that amen i am blessed tonight and glad to have my wife with me i am blessed uh my youngest daughter is in carmel indiana at brother matthew balls our foreign world missions director's service tonight our middle daughter is in indianapolis at the upc united united pentecostal church general conference there working at a booth and my oldest daughter is home maybe watching with our brand new grandbaby so we are definitely blessed and thankful amen for the goodness of the lord i know i look too young to be a grandpa but it is true i am amen isaiah if you would turn with us tonight to the 54th chapter man god is good to us and anything is possible when god is in the presence when god is here anything is possible tonight if you come tonight and you're on top of the world and you're blessed i believe we have a word for you if you've come tonight and you're discouraged and you're weak and tired i believe we have a word for you the word of god is not bound the word of god can touch 400 different people 400 different ways in one message it matters not what you're dealing with what you're facing what you're coming to this service with there is not through man but through the word of god there is an answer there is a hope because his word ever lives and his word is alive matthew excuse me isaiah 54 and verse 7 to those who run the multimedia i thank you for your help but you probably will be lost in my running around tonight somewhat isaiah 54 verse 7 the lord is speaking and he says for a small moment have i forsaken thee but with great mercies will i gather thee in a little wrath i hid my face from thee for a moment but with everlasting kindness will i have mercy on thee saith the lord thy redeemer the lord is speaking to his people who have been wearied who've been warned who have felt rejected who have felt lost who have went through many things and yea the lord himself says it seems that for a moment i have forsaken you and it seems as though for a time i have hidden my face from you as it were but he says i'm going to have mercy on you and he says i want to show you everlasting kindness in verse 9 he says for this is as the waters of noah unto me for as i have sworn at the waters of noah should no more go over the earth so have i sworn that i would not be wrath with thee nor rebuke thee tonight for just a few moments i pray the lord would help us i want to bring to you this thought the waters of noah the waters of noah lord jesus we thank you for your presence god this is your house this is your people bought by the blood of the lamb which you shed upon calvary i pray that the holy ghost god will continue to minister in this place thank you god for your power and your presence thank you for your people god who have gathered in this place god not pray that you would loose my tongue help me to be lucid oh god and thought that you might could speak through me god for it's not by might nor by power but by your spirit and i pray that your spirit god would move in this place tonight touch us heal us strengthen us of god and we give you the glory and we give you the honor and we give you praise because someone clap their hands as you're seated tonight the house of the lord thank you the lord bless you as you're seated this evening isaiah prophet of the old testament prophesied from around 739 bc to 681 bc he prophesied during the rule of four judean kings he is considered the first major prophet because of the size of this book his first part of his writings deals with judgment deals with the the consequences of a people maybe who have fallen away or turned away from the lord but from judgment he begins to lead to deliverance into the coming messiah the new testament actually quotes from isaiah many many times including chapters 1 6 7 9 10 11 28 29 40 42 48 53 62 and 65 all of those chapters in the old testament are quoted in the new testament it is considered the most famous book of the messianic promises in the entire old testament writings isaiah writes sprinkled throughout his writings about a coming messiah who will save and deliver his people as a matter of fact in isaiah 7 he speaks of the virgin birth isaiah 61 he proclaims the good news isaiah 52 he prophesies of the sacrificial death of the messiah and in chapter 60 he declares that the soon messiah will come back for his people so isaiah in all of his writings dealing with the children of israel sprinkles throughout all of that the reminder that there is one coming who will deliver his people when we look at isaiah 54 this is actually a messiah a promise of israel's restoration from the messiah and i'm going to read several verses tonight amen in your hearing johnny james perhaps some of you have heard of him he said he may not come preach good but if you read the word they're going to get something out of it so we're going to read tonight isaiah 54 the writer says seeing o'barren thou that ditch not bear break forth into singing and cry aloud thou that did not travail with child for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife saith the lord enlarge the place of thy tent and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations spare not lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left and thy seed shall inherit the gentiles and make the desolate cities to be inhabited fear not for thou shalt not be ashamed neither be thou confounded for thou shalt not be put to shame for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth and thou shalt not remember the approach of thy widowhood anymore for thy maker is thine husband the lord of hosts is his name and thy redeemer the holy one of israel the god of the whole earth shall he be called for the lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit and the wife of youth when thou wast refused saith the lord and then we join where we first read in 7 8 and 9. the lord is declaring to his people get ready to break out get ready to enlarge your tents get ready to experience growth and blessings like you have not before he says though it seems you have been forsaken and though you've went through troubles and it seems like my face has been turned from you he said i will restore you i will come to you i will show you kindness and then he says in verse 9 a very interesting few words he says for this is as the waters of noah unto me the lord speaking in isaiah hearkens all the way back to genesis and he says something to his people he says my promise that i make to you now is likened unto the waters that happened many many years before why would god reference such a line in this display of his mercies and tenderness well let us look if you will to genesis to see what it is that god is referring to to his people in genesis chapter 8 we see the story here of where the flood begins to recede you recall of course that iniquity abounded so much to the point that god repented that he had ever made man and the in the intents and desires of men were evil continually so god looks upon the earth and he says i will destroy all flesh from upon the face of the earth but when he looked down he saw a man by the name of noah who had a tender spot in the heart of god and when god looked down he said i will spare noah and his family so noah builds the ark we've been told it took 120 years to build it people laughed and scoffed and mocked him as he built that ark day after day noah is it raining today i don't see any rain noah matter of fact it's never rain noah what is rain it's never happened we've never seen it we've never had a goalie washer we've never had a football game rained out because of a thunderstorm we've not seen any of that noah what are you doing noah he was perhaps was ridiculed and mocked but for 120 years he built the ark until one day the animals came from all around climbed up in the ark and the bible said god shut the door and when the rain began to fall the laughter and mocking turned to cries and tears looking for a way to escape the judgment that had come many days later the water has began to recede the floods have began to fall away and he sends a dove and a raven you know the story and finally he sends a bird and does not come back and ground appears and we join this story in genesis chapter 8 as the flood begins to dissipate and the bible said verse 1 and god remembered noah and every living thing and all the cattle that was with him and god remembered noah but we jump to verse 20 when noah is now out of the ark with all of the sheep the lambs the goats and his family noah being the eighth person the bible says verse 20 and noah builded an altar unto the lord and took of every clean beast and every clean fowl and offered burnt offerings on the altar and the lord smelled a sweet savor and the lord said in his heart i will not again curse the ground anymore for man's sake for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth neither will i again smite it anymore everything living as i have done while the earth remaineth seedtime and harvest cold and heat and summer and winter and day and night shall not cease god is looking upon a vacated earth if you will just a few small individuals remain but as noah builds an ark that sweet-smelling savor arises to the nostrils of god god says in his heart i will never again destroy the earth with a flood as a matter of fact excuse me while the earth remains seed time and harvest cold and heat summer and winter day and night shall not cease next chapter 9 verse 11 and i will establish my covenant with you neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood neither shall there be any more flood to destroy the earth and god said this is the token of the covenant which i make between me and you and every living creature that is with you for perpetual generations i do set my bow in the cloud and it shall be a token of a covenant between me and the earth and it shall come to pass when i bring a cloud over the earth that the bow shall be seen in the cloud and i will remember my covenants which is between me and you and every living creature and the water shall no more destroy all flesh genesis the beginning of life as we know it god says within his heart i will not flood again the earth as i have done so now and he says to noah noah for a sign i'm going to put a bow in the sky and it will be a sign for you to know that i will not renege on my covenant noah built an ark for the saving of his family and god honored that by making a covenant with him let me just simply stop to say momentarily tonight when you come here on a wednesday night on a sunday morning when you show your kids to class to school on sundays or the daycare monday through friday what you're doing is you are building an ark for your family the flood waters of sin are rising but there is a god that says if you will build an ark for the savior in your family i will make a covenant with you that says i will not leave you i will not forsake you but i will be with you always noah built an ark for his family and god responded by making a covenant god in isaiah talking to his people reverts all the way back to genesis and he says to his people in isaiah do you want to know how serious i am about not leaving you do you want to know how serious i am about showing you kindness and mercy if you want to know how serious i am look in the sky from the days of noah because i made a covenant with him that said i will not again flood the earth and my promise to you is as the waters of noah what god was saying to the children of israel was that the same promise i made that caused the waters to recede the same promise i made that put a bow in the sky is the same promise i'm making to you to not leave you nor forsake you it's as important to me as the waters of noah noah is more than just a fun little story we tell our kids it's more than just a nice little mobile that dangles above the grand babies crib in the night time it is a promise excuse me from an almighty god that says i will do what i have said i will do so god looks at the children of israel and says get ready to burst forth get ready to enlarge your tents because the promise i make to you is as strong today as it was in the days of noah's time side note the word of god is still as real and potent today as when it was first pinned by men of old the word of god does not lose his power does not lose his strength because society changes because the news declare it to be god's word is the same these god said are as the waters of noah god is a promise making god he is an oath making and a covenant-making god when god spoke to noah concerning his promise and when god spoke to the children of israel and isaiah reminding them of his promise what he was saying was i am a god of covenant both past and present in other words god was saying i do not go back on my word we know people who make promises sorry folks it's not coveted believe me it's not corona i think it's old age there that's better take two when god said to the people my promises are yea and amen he was declaring that he changes not though society changes the situations change those circumstances dictate different things in life god stays the same he is the constant thing that never changes aren't you glad he is a god that never changes aren't you glad gravity doesn't change what if you got up tomorrow morning put your foot in the bed and went up in the air instead of on the ground because gravity was to change god has just got some things that don't change and it causes a stability and one of the things that doesn't change is his word regardless of what you're going through what we're facing the situations of life god promises and his oaths do not change he is a promise making god he is an oath making god and he is a covenant making god but he is also a god that is able not to only make a promise or a covenant but he is able to keep that which he has made so to the children of israel god declares reaching back in time to say this is as important to me as the very first promise i made to a man called noah this is as the waters of noah my promise to you god throughout the word of god many times made promises made covenants and oaths with people to declare and show his faithfulness to his people as a matter of fact continuing in the book of genesis we find a wonderful tremendous story about the god of his word this is what isaiah and genesis was talking about god was declaring to his people it matters not what anyone else says or does it matter how you stumble and fall it matters not what course of path a life you may take he says i declare by myself i declare with myself i counsel my own self says the lord and because of that i am able to complete and finish whatever it is i decide to do so god in isaiah is telling his people i am a god that decides by making oaths and promises and because i consult with myself i am a god who is able to finish what i have started i must admit quiet wife don't say nothing i sometimes have a hard time finishing what i start anyone there you're all very good i'm pressed very proud i need to get with you please but there's a lot of times i have good intentions and want to start a good thing but finishing it is not always the greatest accomplishment i achieve but god is not like that god never says oops on a promise god never says oops on a commitment god never says oops to you i'm sorry my grace isn't going to reach you my mercy can't reach you god is able to complete what he starts point genesis chapter 15 god making a covenant this time not with noah but with the patriarch of the faith a man by the name of abram who would be called abraham in his future this is the story if you will of a blood covenant between god and abraham genesis chapter 15 abraham is asking the lord concerning a child abraham is talking to the lord and says you've given me no seed and the one born in my house is not my own you know you made promises that you know i'm going to have children in abundance but i don't have a child i don't have any kids and verse 5 let me do verse 4 and behold the word of the lord came unto him saying this shall not be thine heir speaking of the bond child that was in his house but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine error thine heir and he brought him forth abroad and said look now toward heaven and tell the stars if thou be able to number them and he said unto him so shall thy seed be and he believed in the lord and he counted to him for righteousness and he said unto him i am the lord that brought thee out of er of the chaldees to give thee this land to inheritance and abraham says lord god whereby shall i know that i shall inherit it and the lord begins to talk with him and he says unto him take me a heifer of three years old a she-goat of three years old and a ram of three years old and a turtle dove and a young pigeon and he took unto him all these and divided them in the midst and laid each piece one against the other but the birds divided he not and when the fowls came down upon the carcasses abram drove them away and when the sun was going down a deep sleep fell upon abram and lo a horror of great darkness fell upon him and he said unto abram know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and shall serve them and they shall afflict them 400 years and also that nation whom they shall serve will i judge and afterward shall they come out with great substance and thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace thou shalt be buried in a good old age but in the fourth generation they shall come hither again for the iniquity of the amorites is not yet full and it came to pass very interesting words and it came to pass that when the sun went down and it was dark behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces in the same day the lord made a covenant with abram saying unto thy seed have i given this land from the river of egypt unto the great river the river euphrates this is a blood covenant that was common in those days but not between the two parties that were reading about the blood covenant would be when you would take some animals and you would divide them in half you would lay one half of the animal on one side and the other half on the other side and you would divide them evenly and equally to make a path between the two in the middle and it would be called a blood covenant because it would be through that two people would unlock arm and arm if you will and they would walk and pass between the sacrifice and when they pass between the sacrifice they were saying god do to me as these have been done too if i fail in keeping my promise so we see in this story abram and god have your conversation and god who is a covenant making god god who would be a covenant maker with noah of the children of israel is looking now with abraham and he says god you promised me some kids i don't have any how's it going to happen and god begins to talk with him about it and finally god says i'm going to tell you what we're going to do abram me and you're going to have a covenant i'm going to promise something to you and i want to promise it so big and so great that it'll never ever cease to be in your mind what i'm going to promise you okay god what do you want me to do god says i'll tell you what go get some animals go get me a heifer go get me a she go go get me a ram give me some turtle doves and pigeons and take them and divide them and so abram knowing the deal was going on he takes them he grabs them he cuts them in half he didn't take 20 minutes to do this it took hours to divide these animals to set him aside and abram is working he's laboring and he's saying oh man this is awesome i'm going to go this is a covenant this is a blood covenant god has got me dividing animals for a blood covenant and as he begins to work the bible says as the day prolongs he begins to shew away the birds as they're attracted to the bloody mess of a dead sacrifice and as the evening time comes suddenly abraham begins to yawn something like some like some of us sometimes that's the night but he begins to yawn he's getting sleepy and he's worked hard and he's slaving there's blood on his hands and blood on the ground there's sacrifices and he's showing away the birds and the bible says that god if he will manifests himself and he says abram just drift off to sleep and abraham closes his eyes and a great darkness settles upon abraham as abraham just slowly and driftly falls off to the side in deep slumber now he would be normally getting ready to pass between those sacrifices but this day he goes drifting off to sleep and god begins to talk to him it says abram you're going to have a people for sure they're going to be mighty they're going to be strong but they're going to suffer persecution they're going to go through trials and troubles but i want to deliver them out of that and i want to be a god to them i'm going to bless them and the bible said that as abram slept and god began to speak with him in regards to his promise the bible says that appearing between the sacrifices as the sun went down was a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between them abram's asleep and suddenly a manifestation of the spirit of god arises and begins to show itself and a lamp that is smoking excuse me a furnace that is smoking and a lamp that is burning suddenly passes between the sacrifices while abraham sleeps interesting story but what does that necessarily mean what that means in that story was god who was a covenant-making god a god who was a promise-making god looked at a man who wanted to please god he looked at a man that be willing to walk between the sacrifices if allowed to he was looking at a man that would say god i'm going to walk between his sacrifices and i want to commit to you that i want to be the man you want me to be i'm going to raise up the people you want me to raise up i'm going to trust you and honor you but god knew that the task was so great the promise of covenant so big that god said abram sit this one out i'm going to pass through it all by myself and when the furnace and the lamp pass between the sacrifices the bible said god walked between them all by himself thus giving a promise to abram don't worry about sometimes making mistakes and failures i've promised all by myself that i'll uphold the bargain that we have made it was a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between them and the sacrifice was consumed what does that furnace and lamp mean in that situation the smoking furnace was affliction he said to abram your people will be afflicted as a matter of fact he said for at least 400 years they're going to have struggles and trials in this covenant relationship there will be hard times there will be trials there will be furnaces that you will go through that's what the smoking furnace was indicative of but there was also a burning lamp that went side by side the burning lamp was the symbol of god's ever presence spirits it was a symbol that said thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path what god was saying when he walked down the sacrifice by himself he said there's going to be a fiery furnace but there's also going to be my spirit walking side by side what i've come simply to tell you tonight is this when you're in a covenant relationship with god you're going to go through a fiery furnace sometimes you're going to go through a struggle sometime you're going to go through situations that are going to be hurtful and painful but there is not only a furnace in the coveted relationship with god but there is a burning lamp of his presence he said he would never leave us nor forsake us but he would be with us always even to the ends of the earth what he's saying brother white i'm saying that god walked between the sacrifices all by himself he was saying i will carry you when you can't go on by yourself when you stumble and fall and make mistakes i will not throw in the towel just because you do if you turn around and backslide and walk away from me i'm not just going to give up on you and walk out i am promising by myself i am making a covenant while you sleep that says i am a covenant keeping god he was telling abraham i will be with you in the furnace i will be that lamp with you in the times of trials and temptations he said he'll never leave us nor forsake us matthew 28 he said lo i am with you alway even to the end of the world the fiery furnace was referenced in egypt the fiery furnace was referenced in daniel when the three hebrew children the bible said were thrown in a fiery furnace because they would not bow to the king's image the heat the king heated it heated up the furnace seven times hotter it was so hot that when they threw the three hebrew boys in the captors died because of heat but the bible said in that fiery furnace when the king looked in to see if they were dead the king said how many did we throw in there they said hey king we threw three in there the king said well i see all three of them up walking around and i see a fourth one that looks like the son of god even in that furnace with the children of israel god was walking in that with them so tonight whatever it is you're going through i've come simply and easily to tell you this you serve a covenant keeping god it doesn't matter what you're facing it doesn't matter what you're going through god says i stay the same whether your situation is good or bad in newly wed or divorced i'm still the same god at birth or in a casket i'm still the same god whether you're going through good times got a pay raise got fired i am still the same god with you in the fire and i'm a lamp that walks right beside you the struggles that you are facing we serve a covenant keeping god he is a promise making promise keeping god all by himself that's why we can get excited when we talk about the god whom we serve because he stands all by himself with his own decision that says i am complete within my own self well what did the new testament have to say about that little story i just read concerning abram and god hebrews chapter 6 several verses verse 13 references god given promise to abraham in a couple places hebrews 6 and 13 says this for when god made promise to abraham because he could swear by no greater he swore by himself that's just that's incredible you hear the bible says because god could swear by none greater god are there any other gods beside you he says i know not any i can't see one on my left my right i don't know of any of the guys before me the bible said when god made a promise to abraham because he could swear by none greater he swear by himself saying blessing i will bless thee and multiplying i will multiply thee when you went to a covenant you wanted to go with someone who was greater than you who could carry the bigger burden but when god made promise to abraham he said abraham i know you've got good intentions abraham i know you want to do good abraham i know i heard you at that sunday night altar service when you promised she's going to fast eight days this week he's going to read 42 chapters a day he's going to heal the sick and raise the dead a little license here a little liberty he said i know you planned all of that you had good intentions he said but i know that your good intentions are going to sometimes let you down and i know your intentions as admirals they may be you're going to let some days the flesh get the better side of you he said but abraham saint of god fac young person he says but when i make a promise i don't swear by anybody else but by my own self and i am the god who spoke light i am the god that said lazarus come forth i am the god who was and is and is to come and when i say it can hell stop it can't bad attitude stop it can't your mistakes stop it can't carnality stop it when i say i'm going to do what i'm going to do i swear by none greater than by my self that's why it's exciting to serve a god who remembers the waters of noah who says you know what 2021 homosexuality on the rise abortions on the rise christian persecution all around economies and people all this stuff he says that all may be going on but i'm the same god i'm the same guy that walked between the sacrifice with abraham i'm the same god that's still in the mountains that caused the waters to go back i'm the same god then as i am now because we serve a covenant making covenant keeping promise keeping god he will do what he says he will do that's why if you're discouraged you don't have to be discouraged because the same god who can heal some can heal all if he can forgive some he can forgive all if he can encourage some he can encourage all however it is you came in here tonight well i want us just to remember in this simple bible study is we serve a god who swears by none other than himself therefore i have no need to fear he can't he cannot lie the difference between us and him is i can be a liar and sometimes tell the truth he doesn't just tell the truth he is truth i can be mean and hateful and sometimes love but he doesn't just love he is love he is the culmination of everything good all wrapped up in himself there is nothing lacking in him he never has a bad day he never forgets one word he never forgets one hair on your head he never stumbles at any of the promises that he has given to you he is never confused he is never in doubt he is never concerned on a slow sunday night or a slow wednesday night he's never nervous in a one-on-one bible study when people get all awkward and weird and don't know what to say the verses god is none of that because he is complete in himself he is self-fulfilling he is self-sufficient and he can handle everything because he swears by none greater than by himself so that ought to make us a little glad that god's love toward us is not contingent on how we act god's love toward us is not contingent on whether i'm saved or not saved his love is not contingent upon whether i had a good day or a bad day his love is forever settled deuteronomy chapter 7 god speaking to his people deuteronomy 7 i'll just read six through nine he's speaking to his people and he says for thou art and holy people unto the lord thy god the lord thy god hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all the people that upon the face of the earth listen to this the lord did not set his love upon you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people for you were the fewest of all people here's god saying you know what you're the greatest there is you're the best there is you're wonderful he said has nothing to do with you though it's not because you're all that in a bag of chips he says but because the lord loved you and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers hath the lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondman from the hand of the king of pharaoh of egypt know therefore that the lord thy god he is god the faithful god which keepeth covenants and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations he says hey guys you're incredible you're wonderful people but just to let you know it's not because you're just that spectacular he said it's because this may it's because i made a covenant and i made an oath to love you that ought to encourage every one of us to the most spiritual to the worst backslidden among us he doesn't love you more because you fasted today than he loves the guy who just smoked marijuana this afternoon he loves us all now there are consequences and there's relationships that develop in that but he doesn't pursue you because you're all that what do you mean he loved what do you mean the bible says that while we were yet sinners christ died for us he didn't wait for you to determine in your heart well i guess it's time for me to get saved so god here i am he didn't wait for that he didn't wait till when you got off that bar stool and finally said you know what i've had enough of this this is kind of getting ridiculous he didn't just decide then to touch you he is the reason you kind of grew tired of that alcohol because he'd been dealing with you unbeknownst to you it wasn't just when i decided to say god i'm tired of what i'm going through i'm tired of what i've what i've been doing that god decided to love me the reason why i got tired of that is because god had been dealing with me and you behind the scenes for a long time while we were yet sinners he loved us because of his covenants and oath that he made to love us tonight we serve a god who remembered the waters of noah he remembered the bow in the sky he remembered the furnace and the lamp that passed between the sacrifices and he remembered that we are but flesh and he loves us in spite of ourselves he does not give us excuse nor allowance because the reciprocation of that is up to us he can love me all the way to the gates of hell if i don't reciprocate that love to him if i don't grasp that concept that he's willing to love me but to those that will love him to those that will look to him he has already provided a way of escape god doesn't just look at you when you decide to love him he's been working on us for a long long time and anyone who's walked in this room tonight who says how could god love me why could god love me i'm telling you his love was not predicated on how you're acting on what you're doing that may affect your life that may affect some of the consequences but god loves you just because you are his child breathing his air when he breathed the breath of life into you and god is faithful and just to forgive us if we confess our sins to him second timothy 2 13 the bible says if we deny excuse me if we believe not yet he abideth faithful he cannot deny himself hebrews 10 23 says this let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for he is faithful that promised titus 1 2 in hope of eternal life which god that cannot lie promised before the world began in hope of eternal life which the god that cannot lie promised before the world began how was that well the bible said he was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world i'm telling you it's going to take a lot for you to go to hell not too excited about that maybe not so much what i'm saying is we serve a god that is ready and willing to forgive to save to heal and if i walk out those doors if i drive away from home and i scuff the the dust off my feet it's not going to be to a god that's doing the same thing to me it's going to be to a god that's reaching out to us i heard it said that of course the bible says that one day he will look at us if we are not saved and say depart from me i never knew you but he will not say that with a smile on his face he will say that with a tear in his eye mom dad what would you do to keep your kids safe your kid gets in trouble your girl gets pregnant your son gets on drugs i know it can make you mad but does it break your heart do you look at that kid and say well you sh you got what you deserve in the moment of anger we might in the flesh feel that way but i don't know if any true parent that ever looked at their kid who just got strung out on drugs or thrown in jail look at their kid and say well tough luck i know there's hard love and tough love but the heart of a real mom or dad somewhere is going to be breaking because in no matter what they're going through they're going to be saying but i still love you have you ever seen in the news a killer a murderer and we all hate his guts except the one little lady that stands up in the court and she's crying that's my boy and we look at her and we think but you know what that's love he is maybe a scoundrel she may be a scoundrel but that mom the tears down her face says but that's my boy that's my daughter this evening if you musicians would come we serve a god that is a covenant-making promise-keeping faithful god that loves us in spite of ourselves that has made a way for us through our struggles through our trials through our temptations through our failures and our mistakes he is a god that is faithful if you stand with me this evening god why do you bring up noah's waters for it's kind of an odd thing to say well i just want you to know how important it is that you understand how serious i am do you know how serious god was he was so serious that he took upon him the stripes you take upon him the crown of thorns hell is so horrible hell is so terrible that god be willing to climb down from the throne of glory onto an old regular tree and get whipped and beaten mocked and ridiculed he'll be willing to do all that to keep us from having to go there as great as his sacrifice was that's how terrible hell is but we serve a god who says i'm being faithful to you and if you'll turn to me i'm already waiting and ready for you the writer said it in revelation 19 and i saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true and in righteousness he death judge and make war so tonight whether the floods arising your life the flood tides of this world or whether you're in the furnace of a fiery trial going through a struggle i want you to know god has declared all by himself to never leave you nor forsake you but be with you always i heard this one said i've mentioned it before but it's worth saying again just because i like it brother jeff arnold said this and i've mentioned it i know in free class and and i'm sure i've said it here because my repertoire is kind of small so i repeat a lot but if you've been in church for 50 years 100 years six months and you get out of church you backslide do you think the devil will say to you ah i don't want you you've been in church already you know you know you'll probably go back to church in six months i i don't want to mess with you you know i don't want to take you know i don't want to get you hooked on drugs again i don't want to mess with you i don't want to i don't want to mess up your life again because you'll probably just go right back to church in six months so i'm not going to waste my time on you does the devil ever do that no why do we think that god does that to us we make a mistake we stumble and fall when we mess up why do we think that if the devil would not refuse us why do we think god would no you fell out again you know you made a mistake you someone fell i'm just not gonna mess with you anymore don't worry about coming back you know the sacrifice i made on the cross the blood i shed yeah don't worry about it it's not it's not that important just stay what you're doing do it do it keep what you're doing why would we believe satan would want us back and not believe god so tonight if you want to draw close to him he's already waiting for us to draw near to him the bible said he is not far from any one of us i know this is probably a little odd tonight uh maybe a little odd subject but if you close your eyes with me as they begin getting ready to sing tonight i just want you to contemplate and think about a god that is not dependent upon our good days to be faithful a god who's not dependent on what culture does what society does to be a keeper of his promises i'm telling you we serve a god that all by himself says hell can't stop me mom and dad's addictions can't stop me yesterday's problems can't stop me your last name can't stop me if you want to be saved i am more than able to save heal and deliver we serve a god that's that kind of god as they begin to sing tonight would you just lift your voice just lift your hearts into the presence of the lord tonight and let's just thank him that he's a promised keeping a faithful god anybody feel the furnace anybody feel the water's rising there's a god tonight that'll be with you there's a god tonight that'll walk right with you through your troubles there's a god that will walk right with you through your struggles through your situations tonight he loves you he's a faithful god does anybody feel like committing to him tonight god i may make mistakes i may stumble but i want to commit to you to do the best that i can i want to commit to you god that i want to love you like i have never loved you god i may not be perfect to god but you're not looking for perfection if you're looking for a willing heart god i want to walk with you you promised you'd always be faithful god i want to be faithful to you as best i can and if i make a mistake my fall down help me get up holiday i want to love you god because you first love me hallelujah