Fact-Checking Your Lifestyle - Part A

Most people are willing to blend into the background of culture and not stick out is easier to do that go with the flow. But you know what any dead fish can float downstream. It takes real faith in stamina and got say that's a long time to go a different way. God calls all believers to behave, which simply means set apart should live differently than the world today on connect with Skip HiTec Skip inspires you to step out in faith and shine for Jesus in the world through the story of Noah the first want to tell you about what you can learn about God and his word in a flexible academic environment. Are you looking to pursue biblical studies beyond church and personal Bible study take your learning and your life's purpose to the next level with Calvary college registration for the 2021 spring term is open now and the curriculum features both online classes and on-site classes at Calvary church Albuquerque. Classes include biblical studies like spiritual foundations and the history of authenticity of the Bible class classes and key books of the Bible, like Daniel, Romans and Revelation with video content from world renowned biblical scholars Skip HiTec Calvary college partners with Veritas international University and Calvary Chapel University so you can earn an accredited undergraduate or graduate degree or simply increase your knowledge of biblical studies. The deadline to get your application in for the 2021 semester is December 4. Find out more and apply today at Calvary ABQ.College Calvary ABQ.College Hebrews chapter 11 as we dive into our study with good height working on our study called fact check and I love the whole idea fact that because it's something that is a recent phenomenon.

You can't say things today and get away with it unless it's true yet enough people out there with her phone.

You can Google you right away to make sure you're not lion, and so on you, you fact check in and in a life of faith with the Lord.

It's essential that we stop with all the messaging the world is giving us to see if that's accurate or not.

Usually it's not.

And to fact check that with truth, that we find in the word of God, will become the story tonight found in one verse of Hebrews 11 in the seventh verse as I was reading this week. My mind went back to the scene in a movie called jaws. I see that movie did I refuse to see that movie when it first came out because where I lived. I lived four blocks from the ocean. I would see it because I knew that people wouldn't go in the water. A lot of my friends wouldn't do as I just refuse to speak movie but there's what I did see it.

There's one thing in the movie when Brody I think God is like the chief of police is on the boat and he sees that big shark a big monster combined. He says that the captain, you're gonna need a bigger boat and usually that's come to become a catchphrase for something goes wrong you need a bigger boat but in in the case of Nola.

Whatever he thought were the instructions from the Lord to save. He and his family.

It was more than that he was going to save that the inhabited world, all the animals included. He was gonna need a bigger boat. You have to admit, it takes enormous faith to build boat to build a box the size of an aircraft carrier, inland in Iraq where there is no body of water for anything that size Nola through the building of this are preached. The coming judgment of God upon the earth.

Most people in that day and age, though believe the fake news. The fake news is you can live anywhere you want to live the matter son, is everybody's doing it. Just go with the flow.

Noah was one of just a very small people in a minority report who said that's fake news fact check we have to walk with God fact checked. We have to be pleasing in God's sight fact check. We have to go his way.

That sort of it summed up in a nutshell tonight. We can look at that fact checking your lifestyle, your lifestyle, how the manner of living. You can't. You and I can't live any way we want to live.

Doesn't matter if everybody's doing. Most people are willing to blend into the background of culture and not stick out is easier to do that go with the flow. But you know what any dead fish can float downstream.

It takes real faith in stamina and guts to say that's wrong, I'm gonna go a different way, here's the biblical mandate we know it also well the book of Romans. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

I believe Nola really encapsulates that in his lifestyle. There was a French philosopher who said those who walk on the well trodden path always throws stones at those who are walking a new road. The road that no one walked was the road of obedience and that's because he had insight into the future he would had foresight and insight because of a revelation that God gave him of something that was coming down the pike that would wipe out the whole world. I was reading an article about Eagles.

Not that I read articles about Eagles necessary lot, but this one article said that Eagles have the ability to see so well because they have eight times the amount of visual cells per cubic centimeter eight times than a human being. So what that translates into an eagle at 600 feet can spot an object the size of a dime in 6 inches of grass because of the construction of the iron Eagle can spot a 3 inch long fish jumping in a lake 5 miles away that you wish you could see that well you know the older I get I I I always remember the days when I could see better than I do, but I could never see that good none of us could butter and Eagle can now say gives you a certain amount of foresight certain amount of insight and an ability to see what people can't see. So we will look at that in verse seven by faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith so far we've looked at a couple other examples in the book of Hebrews chapter 11 we look to enable looked at the neck and now we look at Nola.

He is the third example in this list.

Abel is the example of worshiping faith. The neck is the example of walking by faith and now Nola is the example of working faith or faith that works.

James said faith without works is dead. So whatever you believe should be translated into your behavior. Belief will correspond to behavior of its genuine faith now looking at verse seven and I just want you to think about this as were delving into it and unpacking this verse looking at one verse one verse two sum up the entire story of Noah, so think about the author of Hebrews is summing up in a single verse Genesis chapter 6 chapter 7 chapter 8 and chapter 9 by this one verse 41 words he does entire story of no almost 4 chapters now because he does that. There's an assumption that is made he is assuming that the audience to whom he is writing as a working knowledge of the store because he summing it up.

You wouldn't just tell a story of some obscure Naaman and no reference at all. He's assuming that they already know the story and that's because he's writing to the Hebrews so because there Hebrews.

This is their history.

They all knew the story of all the people he mentions the list here in Hebrews 11 would be considered a cryptic list is not exhaustive. Detailed list is just you will talk about able in a couple verses and then the neck in a couple verses and then one verse of Nola. Assuming that the audience knows all the stores and of course they did. They were Jewish people who knew their history and he's he's working off of that Nola is the man who put feet to his faith he walked in faith is faith produced action of faith is the only way to reach God, not religion, not ceremony, not ritual, not effort, but there was a Judaism that had been sort of accepted by the time that the author writes this in the New Testament there was a corrupted perverted form of Judaism and that perverted form of Judaism had come to believe that you can be pleasing to God by your own effort by your own works by her own rituals by circumcision by ceremony, etc. what point the author is making is that God never allow that God always and only accepted people by faith, not just in the New Testament, but Old Testament as well. It was always salvation by grace through faith. And he quotes back in chapter 10 the book of Habakkuk or Habakkuk, depending upon the country or from a chapter 2 verse four, the just shall live by faith, or my righteous one shall live by faith. Back in chapter 10 verse 38 so that's an Old Testament thing and so he saying this idea of faith isn't new. Although a lot of numbers thinking boy this just trusting in Jesus for my salvation.

This is new Dr. using Nono.

It's all the way back to able and Enoch, and no, that's the example he is using to show them and undergird the idea that salvation by faith was always God's plan that is perversion of of coming to God by works is something Paul said was part of his own personal experience. He gives his testimony in the book of Philippians and he says I was circumcised on the eighth day of the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin. I was a Hebrew of the Hebrews as touching the law Pharisees concerning righteousness which comes from the law. I was blameless or perfect, but then I made a discovery. All these things that I thought were again were actually rubbish and I push them aside, that I might gain Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but the righteousness which comes by faith in Jesus Christ as Paul's experience. He is saying with the writer of Hebrews is saying they may be one and the same. They may be different. I talked about that a few weeks ago but he saying that God always and ever and only allowed people to approach him, not by works, not by religion, not by ceremony, not by circumcision but only by faith. So he's giving these examples as part of the last part of the fact check. So were given one verse to some up for chapters.

So what we need to do is go back to chapter 6 of the book of Genesis, fill in the details so that we really understand him and read verse seven again and were gonna go back by faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen moved with godly fear repaired an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became heir to the righteousness which is according to faith. Now go back to Genesis 6 and listen so to dig into the story and get the details and come to give you a working outline of first of all, Noah witnessed a deterioration of his culture are your you're going to see is very similar to our culture and why am I bringing this up because Jesus made a promise as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the Son of Man is referring to a second coming sewing so here's a tip off when when when the world gets as bad as it was in the days of Noah before God judge the world. That's how it's going to be in the very end. So the days of Noah, the coming of the Son of Man.

Noah experienced and witnessed a deterioration. Noah lived one of the worst times in human history. Let me rephrase and say probably the worst time in human history except for the time of the end because God destroyed the entire population base of planet Earth.

It was that bad.

So back in Genesis chapter 6 verse one, it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, but the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful and took wives for themselves of all whom they chose and the Lord said, my spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh, yet his days shall be 120 years.

There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thought his heart was only evil continually in the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and his he was grieved in his heart, so the Lord said, I will utterly destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth. Both man and beast, creeping thing, and birds of the air, for I'm sorry that I have made them, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The chapter begins by talking about an increase in population it says men began to multiply on the face of the earth. Never go out going into too much detail in me just assume that you have a working knowledge of some of the earlier chapters of Genesis. So you know the people at that time were living enormous lifespans. 800 years old 700 years old, 600 900 Methuselah 969. You can have a lot of kids. If you live that long. There can be a lot of multiplication of the lifespan is is is that hot and it was during that time and I've written a book on Genesis that explains how that worked and how it is possible in and filled in all those details, so there was a massive increase in population is a great book called the Genesis flood by Dr. John Whitcomb and Henry Morris, and these are two scientists will apply their science to the text of Genesis. They took the geological tables found in the book of Genesis and calculated the longevity and average number of kids per family probably and they came up with a figure that at the end of 18 generations, there would be 774 million people at the end of 18 generations 774 million people and that the a conservative estimate of the earth's population at the time of the flood, or by the time of the flood could easily have been 1 billion people, 1 billion people and could've even far exceeded that.

I just think about that for a moment, because at the time of Jesus Christ.

Millennia later, the earth's population with figures about 250 million soda gone down from a billion. That's because God destroyed everybody. It took till the time of Christ to get 250 million people. It took until 1804 to get one billion people again back so if there were a billion people. The time the flood I don't know but if there were, it took to the year 1804 to have that happen again today. There are 7.8 billion people on this dirt clod in the sky coleader is estimated that by 2150 there will be far more than 11 million people. We are multiplying on the face of the year not bringing this up because this makes Noah's walk with God. All that more noteworthy if there were a billion people there were only eight out of all the people on earth who walked with God and really I think they got inquisitive related to Noah. Noah walked with God.

He found favor in God so talk about the minority report.

Everybody is going one direction. Noah said not to do it, so there was an increase in population. Second thing to note here in our taxes. It was an increase in sexual depravity. It says in the next couple versus the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful and took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. This is actually one of the most asked questions I've ever gotten by people who are the sons of God who are the daughters of men and who are these giants the Hebrew word nestling. Who are the welders a few different views. View number one their fallen angels who married human women, fallen Angels, demonic angels, who married human women thus interpretation because in the Old Testament the term sons of God is usually most always a reference to angels. In fact, probably without exception.

In the book of Job, the sons of God appear before the Lord, and Satan was among them and had to give an account of God.

In chapter 1 and chapter 2 also in second Peter chapter 2, and in the book of Jude verses six and seven. It identifies angels with this incident in committing some grave sin.

So that's one interpretation or the response to that interpretation want to get bogged down in the weeds here, but that response to that is, angels don't reproduce a Jesus that in the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but will be like the angels so because angels are non-corporeal beings you like a term non-corporeal is that our body because their spirit beings non-corporeal beings don't meet with corporeal beings and have offspring so that that's that's one thought.

The other problem with that is that the the idea nestling these giants. They appear the same word is used of the giants in the land of Canaan.

When the 12 spies go out to look at the land of Canaan to bring back a report.

They saw giant salon naphthalene in the numbers chapter 13 and chapter 14 and so if they were destroyed by the flood.

What are they doing the giants doing here at that time. So that's one idea they were demonic beings fallen Angels, married human women interpretation number two. These are our godly descendents of Sarah marrying ungodly women from the lineage of Canaan so godly satellites marrying ungodly Canaanites. Now the response to that. Against that interpretation is that sons of God in the Old Testament, this, that would be then an exception to the term sons of God in the Old Testament, which is used almost exclusively to refer to angelic beings to see the problem is 1/3 interpretation. These are rulers who married women dynastic rulers human rulers who married women, they may have been controlled by demons controlled by fallen Angels, but they are just simply human rulers who marry women because in ancient literature of the term sons of God is often given to rulers of kingdoms so the idea that, in this interpretation is these are simply kings wanting to build up their harems so that the sons of God went to the daughters of men. The problem is the term naphthalene their diesel people to call giants but but it also says they are men of renown. And so this interpretation favors the just simply talking about powerful giant like in their stature militarily powerful military leaders. So I've given you three interpretations I told you which one I believe I'm I'm just gonna let that kind of you can argue among yourselves. I do lean to an interpretation.

I won't tell you what it is and in his what I want to get to the meat of this without distracting from whatever it was it was bad. Whatever was it was immoral, whatever was it was sexual.

Whatever was it was a God against God's original design. Simply put, at the time of no other was a breakdown of the traditional family replaced by a wholesale sexual freedom, is that sound familiar design sound contemporary basket-message from this you respect you right now want to share about a helpful resource to rediscover the power of prayer. Recent research has found that Google searches for the word prayer surged worldwide alongside the spread of the novel coronavirus Google trends data shows that the search intensity for prayer doubles every 8000 2/19 Jesus, but is there a right way or a more effective way to bring best-selling author Kay Arthur where the battle is raging were to be on the frontlines on the frontline center needs the frontline standing in the full armor of God Chi's book, Lord, teach me to pray in 28 days offers simple but powerful instruction on how and what to pray and what to expect when you do, and it's on our way to see you when you give a gift of $25 or more today to help keep this ministry on the air. Give online securely connectwithskip.com/offer more, call 800-922-1888. We are excited to share how God uses support from friends like you to connect others to his word, just listen to this letter. One listener signing. Thank you so much for your clear, true, precise, interesting and challenging messages.

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His righteous lifestyle was a review for their wicked like black looks always blacker with some white castle may Skip presentation of connection communications ever-changing true ever-changing time