Has God forgotten me? Has God forgotten us? Has God forgotten his church? Who hasn’t asked these questions in recent months? God’s judgments have been raining down upon us – physical, financial, and social judgments. But there have also been spiritual judgments. Churches have been closed for months, public worship has become private worship, and the sacraments have not been administered. Funerals and weddings have become small private gatherings of a handful of people.

Has God forgotten me? Has God forgotten us? Has God forgotten his church? We feel abandoned. We feel vulnerable. We feel doomed

Noah must have felt like this when being swept along on the waves of judgment for forty days. Does God remember me? Has God forgotten us? That’s why the words in Genesis 8:1 are so precious. “And God remembered Noah.”

It’s not that God forgot Noah at any point. It’s not that God just remembered Noah at that point, as in “Oh, I just remembered.” So what does God’s remembering mean?

GOD LOVES THINKING ABOUT HIS PEOPLE 

• God chose to think about Noah: He deliberately decided to think about Noah and his situation. Our remembering can be accidental. Something just springs to mind. That’s not God’s remembering. No, God, chose to give Noah extra special consideration and attention.
• God enjoyed thinking about Noah: God chose to think about Noah because he enjoyed thinking about Noah. Just as we can sometimes decide to recall a loved one and spend some time thinking about them with pleasure, so God did with Noah.

Our remembering can be accidental, but God’s remembering is intentional.

But Noah might have said, “I need more than thoughts. I need action.”

GOD LOVES PROTECTING HIS PEOPLE

God’s remembering is always connected to action. He doesn’t remember just for mental pleasure.

• God thought about Noah’s safety: The context makes clear that God’s remembering was especially focused on thinking about Noah’s safety.
• God ensured Noah’s safety: God didn’t just think about the danger Noah was in and his need for safety. He also acted to guarantee it by sending a wind to blow away the waters of judgment and navigating the boat to rest on Mount Ararat (Gen. 8:2-5).

Remember God’s remembering and you will never feel forgotten

Do you see how powerful an act God’s remembering is?

LIVING THE BIBLE 

Has God forgotten you? No. Has God forgotten his church? No. God loves thinking about his people and God loves protecting his people. Put your name in place of Noah’s name: “But God remembered [David].”

So let’s ask and trust God to remember us in the midst of his judgments. That’s what the thief on the cross did in the midst of an even greater divine judgment than the flood. “Lord,” he pled, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). And what was Jesus’s reply, “This day, you shall be with me in paradise” (43). Now that’s a remembering we will never forget.

This episode of Living the Bible lines up with Expedition 3: Day 5 in  Exploring the Bible Together: A 52 Week Family Worship Plan and Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids. You can catch up with previous episodes of the Living the Bible podcast here or subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcast.

Do you struggle to obey God? We know what we should do and shouldn’t do, and yet we still disobey God. Why is that? Why is obeying God such a struggle?

Even when we do obey, we often resent it. We don’t like someone telling us what we can or can’t do. Our obedience is grudging and bitter. Why is that? Why is obeying God so dissatisfying?

Obedience is a struggle and dissatisfying because we often view God as a law enforcement officer who simply wants to keep rigid peace and order, rather than a heavenly father who wants to love and enjoy us.

If we could change our view of God, we would change our view of obedience. If we obey our heavenly father rather than an earthly police officer, our obedience will be much less of a struggle and much more satisfying. Genesis 6:17-22 can help us to do that. In verse 18, God says to Moses, “But I will establish my covenant with you.”

A COVENANT IS A SPECIAL PROMISE FROM GOD 

• It’s not a general promise but a personal promise
• It’s not initiated by Noah but by God
• It’s not a promise of something but a promise of someone
• It’s not a shaky promise but an unbreakable promise.

A COVENANT IS A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD 

• God commits himself to Noah and his family
• God invites Noah and his family to commit to him

A COVENANT PRODUCES SPECIAL OBEDIENCE TO GOD 

What’s the result of this covenant? “Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him” (22).

• It’s not cold legal obedience – something for something
• It’s warm personal obedience – something for someone

As Jesus said, ““If you love me, you will keep my commandments….Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (John 14:15, 21). It’s love before law. It’s relationship before rules.

LIVING THE BIBLE

God’s special covenant promises enable and empower special obedience. If we put relationship before rules, we will find obedience less of a struggle and much more satisfying.

This episode of Living the Bible lines up with Expedition 3: Day 4 in  Exploring the Bible Together: A 52 Week Family Worship Plan and Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids. You can catch up with previous episodes of the Living the Bible podcast here or subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcast.

We can feel very lonely in this wicked world, can’t we? The world is so hostile to God. God is so hostile to the world. If the world is so hostile to God, how can I have any friends in the world? If God is so hostile to the world, will he want to be friends with me? No friends in the world. No friend in heaven.

But Noah encourages us that we can have a heavenly friend in this hostile world. “Noah walked with God” (9). Noah walked with God even though surrounded by a wicked world. God walked with Noah even though surrounded by a wicked world. We can have a heavenly friend in this hostile world.

WALKING WITH GOD MEANS AGREEING WITH GOD

The prophet Amos asked, “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” (Amos 3:3). Not for long. Who wants to go on a walk with someone we disagree with on everything. That’s not a walk; that’s a war.

• Noah and God agreed about truth
• Noah and God agreed about holiness

If we’re not agreeing with God, we’re arguing with God. We cannot agree with God without disagreeing with the world.

Yes, but I need someone to talk to and someone who will listen to me.

WALKING WITH GOD MEANS CONVERSATION WITH GOD

Noah and God didn’t just walk in silence. They talked together.

• Noah spoke and listened to God
• God spoke and listened to Noah

Walking with God is talking with God.

Yes, but I can’t grow spiritually in a world like this?

WALKING WITH GOD MEANS ADVANCING WITH GOD

You can’t walk and stay in the same place, can you? No, you go forward. You progress. You advance.

• Noah advanced in faith: He believed God’s Word about the promised flood.
• Noah advanced in obedience: He built in ark for many decades surrounded by daily mockery.
• Noah advanced in courage: Walking with God made him courageous in a hostile world.
• Noah advanced in happiness: He was the perfectly blessed man of Psalm 1 before there even was a Psalm 1.

We cannot grow upward in faith, unless we go forward with God.

LIVING THE BIBLE

If God can walk with us despite with wickedness of this world, let’s walk with God in every-day life despite the wickedness of the world.

This episode of Living the Bible lines up with Expedition 3: Day 3 in  Exploring the Bible Together: A 52 Week Family Worship Plan and Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids. You can catch up with previous episodes of the Living the Bible podcast here or subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcast.

Do you ever look around the world and wonder, “When is God going to judge?” The next question is “Can I escape if he does judge?”

Let’s answer these two questions as we think about Genesis 6:5-8. In the process we will put even more amazing into amazing grace.

WE DESERVE GOD’S AWESOME JUDGMENT (5-7)

• Great wickedness (5a)
• Constant wickedness (5b)
• Grievous wickedness (6)
• Punishable wickedness (7)

Sometimes God seems awful quiet, but he is preparing awe-full judgment.

Is there any hope for anyone?

WE GET GOD’S AMAZING GRACE (8)

As Mercy Me sing:

“We’re on the edge of our seats saying it’s too late
Well let me introduce you to amazing grace.”

• Amazingly undeserved grace: Noah found “favor” means he got what he didn’t earn or merit. He was not entitled to this. He was no different to anyone else but was treated very differently.
• Amazingly sovereign grace: Noah was picked out by God’s powerful choice. He didn’t choose God; God chose him. He didn’t pick God; God picked him.
• Amazingly personal grace: God didn’t chose a group or a class of people, but an individual person. He wasn’t a number or a category, but a single human being. He said, “Noah, I am going to love you in a unique and special way.”
• Amazingly saving grace: Noah was not just saved from the greatest ever earthly judgment but from the greatest ever eternal judgment. All because he found the grace of God.

If you aren’t amazed at grace, you can’t be amazed at anything.

Let introduce you to grace grace
God’s grace.

No matter the bumps
No matter the bruises
No matter the scars
Still the truth is
The cross has made
The cross has made you flawless
No matter the hurt
Or how deep the wound is
No matter the pain
Still the truth is
The cross has made
The cross has made you flawless

(Mercy Me: Flawless)

LIVING THE BIBLE

If we deserve God’s awesome judgment, but get God’s amazing grace, how much should we thank him? Put your name in place of Noah’s. “But [your name] found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” Let’s praise God for his amazingly undeserved, sovereign, personal, and saving grace.

This episode of Living the Bible lines up with Expedition 3: Day 2 in  Exploring the Bible Together: A 52 Week Family Worship Plan and Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids. You can catch up with previous episodes of the Living the Bible podcast here or subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcast.

You’re a hater!” It’s one of the worst insults anyone can hurl at us today, isn’t it? To be a hater is to be outside civil society. If you’re a hater, you’re a non-person. The media tells us that there’s too much hate in our culture and that hate is causing so many problems.

The problem is that we don’t hate enough. We don’t love enough either, but the two are connected. In Proverbs 6:16-19, Wisdom University offers a class on how to hate. Specifically it’s how to hate what God hates. That’s the first part of the class. The second part is how to love what God loves.

What happens when we get this wrong, when we hate what God loves or love what God hates? We become part of what God hates, and miss out on experiencing God’s love. Let’s therefore learn what God hates and loves. In the process we will become better haters and better lovers.

Read more in my sermon notes.

What’s happening to our nation? A pandemic, mass unemployment, a recession, riots, racial division? Little surprise that many of us are pretty depressed and discouraged.

We’re all asking, “What’s happening? And “Is there any hope for the future?” The good news is that the Bible explains what’s happening and the Bible gives us hope for the future. We find that explanation and hope in Genesis 6:1-4. Let me give you the explanation and hope in summary and then show you how we get that from the Bible.

What’s happening? National sins will be punished by a withdrawal of God’s Spirit

What’s our hope? An outpouring of the Holy Spirit to revive our nation.

Now let’s see how Genesis 6:1-4 leads us to these answers.

GOD’S SPIRIT IS GRIEVED WITH PEOPLE

• God’s people were separated from world: God called his people to holiness  (1-2)
• God’s people joined with the world: God’s people (the sons of God) married worldly people (the daughters of men) (1-2).

If we delight in sin, God’s Spirit will be grieved with us.

So does the Holy Spirit just get upset with sin, but he doesn’t do anything?

GOD’S SPIRIT WILL STOP SPEAKING TO PEOPLE

This is not only that God’s Spirit will stop speaking to God’s people through and with God’s Word, but that he will stop speaking to people who never hear God’s Word. The Holy Spirit works in the consciences of people even without His written or preached Word. But God says, he’s going to stop doing that: “My Spirit shall not contend (strive) with man forever” (3).

• The Holy Spirit will not dissuade from wrong: People will not be restrained from doing evil.
• The Holy Spirit will not persuade to good: People will not be motivated to do any good.

That’s what explains our headlines about the breakdown of the family and of societal norms.

When people don’t listen to God’s Spirit, God’s Spirit will stop speaking to them.

So we can just go on with our lives and God won’t bother us anymore?

GOD’S SPIRIT WILL STOP SUPPORTING PEOPLE

“My Spirit shall not contend with man forever” (3) can also be translated, “My Spirit shall not abide with man forever.” What’s the effect of that?

• He will not support spiritual life: “For he is flesh” means that people will be left to just their own sinful natures. When the Spirit is withdrawn, all that’s left is our fleshly, worldly natures.
• He will not support physical life: “His days shall be 120 years.” Before the flood, people lived 600-800 years old. God is saying that he will withdraw his Spirit so that the average age of death will be 120. how did God do this? We don’t know, but maybe with a virus.

When we reject the Spirit our spirits and bodies will suffer. 

That’s quite the response to national sin, isn’t it? God’s Spirit will be grieved with people, will stop speaking to people, will stop supporting life. That explains our national situation doesn’t it?

LIVING THE BIBLE

But what about the hope? Well, it’s implied in the explanation of our disaster. Pray that God would not withdraw his Spirit but rather pour him out in revival so that our nation can please him instead of grieve him, be restrained from sin rather than running to it, be preserved from plagues and violence, and be awakened in a national revival and a new reformation.

This episode of Living the Bible lines up with Expedition 3: Day 1 in  Exploring the Bible Together: A 52 Week Family Worship Plan and Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids. You can catch up with previous episodes of the Living the Bible podcast here or subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcast.