Are You a Brick or a Stone, Part 1

Greetings friends and new listeners. Welcome to the sound of faith.

I'm sure not thanking you for tuning in today because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. I believe you will be intrigued by today's message. Are you a brick or a stone. When I asked this question of Christians I know in preparation for preaching this message. I was surprised by how many said brick sounds reasonable. I guess since bricks are used to build strong buildings, but find out what God says about it in. Are you a brick or a stone you know what Jesus told the parent fees when they were upset because they saw the children worshiping and praising Jesus and saying hello hosanna in Jesus that if they would hold their peace even though what the rocks would cry out swing tryout.

You know, our message tonight is arguing or are you a stone.

Many brought a stone. Tonight let me see your hand if you brought stone okay that's not good majority. Amen. Everyone brought a stone. You will get Lord at the end of the message. Amen. Were going to start Jan smart about things like start in Peter first Peter chapter 2 will be two verses and I want you to remember this because of course since its first Peter who wrote it all. Give this manacled star Peter wrote it so were going to start off with the words of Peter were going to end with the words Peter but here were good to go for verse five you also, as a lively stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up ritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Christ Jesus.

Wherefore also it is contained in the Scriptures is putting the Old Testament, behold, I lay in Zion, but she cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believe in him shall never be confounded as the chief cornerstone sees us and will remember that so he said that we are lively and actually really better just to say our living stones. So how many can say that you're brick tonight. How many are your stone. That was a smart choice. We are living stones. Now this means that we are not. We don't just exist were not listed in stone. That's just sitting here but you got to understand, he's speaking supernaturally and in the spirit and he says you are stone because God has breathed into us and that has made us a living stone. Now, when God created Adam out of the dust of the earth.

He was this beautifully sculpted specimen of a human being, but he was in bed until why God breathed in him the breath of life and man became a living soul. So it became a living and when we are born by her mother and father we are born alive may know that you would not be here so you can get that one right, but when you are born again you are a knitting stone. Amen. In a very supernatural twist because doctors can do things like that in his word.

He said that we're not only the stones that make up the house of God, but where the priest who star in the house of God, offering up spiritual sacrifices and are not to take you there.

But if you're taking notes you can find out what they are. In Ephesians 519 Colossae in 316, Hebrews 1315 and 16 talks about Psalms and a lot of the Psalms of David are put to music and spiritual songs and hymns and praises supplications and thanksgiving unto our God. We offer these up because everything about God that he does in our lives is supernatural now I want you. You can't tell what hearing would actually happen just turn around and look at that back wall first, second, and tell me what that back wall of this church is built up. It's made out of bricks that we put paneling over top all around here but this church if you go on the outside and look all the way around.

Both buildings are made out of bricks and so God said he made us out of stones. Amen the physical church is made out of bricks, but the spiritual church is made out of stones and not bricks, and you might think to yourself, why is that significant and what does it matter because man-made bricks but God made stones. UCP bricks are all alike.

If you look at these two bricks that I had their identical and all the bricks to build this church are identical. There exactly alike. There made out of a mold and then when they're in the mold or put in the oven and their bait and every brick is identical man makes bricks but God makes stones and stones even on this are they are created from nature.

Stones are created from the exposure to the winds and the waters and the waves and the storms and the elements amen and plaster in the earth create stones and stones are beautiful and unique. No two stones are exactly alike. I have a couple stones that I brought with me tonight and this one is nice and round and pretty and it's white it's out of a rock garden.

Here's another one.

Out of the rock garden and then about this one.

It's really cool that my grandson Noah gave to me. I wrote it down in March 2005 and I wrote his name on it.

It's got sparkles on it.

You're up here. Can you see sparkles on their like glitter, it looks like you now I can put glitter on your projects and your little kindergarten project. This stone is not glitter all over it and I was in that room line down his back. Then I supply down service was going on and he came in there he was only six years old and he said grandma I have a very special stone.

This stone is special and I'm going to give it to you and the look on his face. He went thought he was given me $100 bill him and he really was impressed with this stone, and by giving it to me he was giving me something special. He was really tell me grandma your special. I love you so much. I would give you my special stone and I said okay no I thank you and it obviously made an impression on me because I wrote his name, the date on it and stuck it in my china closet the other day when I was digging out some things.

I found it and I thought, look at the difference now this pretty white stones by pretty but look at the difference in the stones.

No two stones are identical. No two stones are like their different shapes their different colors and some might even be like that when I sing glittery. Amen. But stones are created by nature and they are actually unique and bare the handprint of God but bricks are made by man and were going to go and read about the first brick maker on the earth, so turn with me. In Genesis the 10th chapter were during the first verse just to get the feel but they were going to drop down because I don't want to read all this be gaps because they really get tedious after a while we one is to zoom in on the ones we care about the chapter 10 verse one says now these are the generations of the sons of Noah Shanahan and Japheth, and under them were born sons after the flood. So now we have our timeline. Our timeline is immediately after the flood Noah and his three sons in the three daughters-in-law came out of the ark and God told them not be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and so they did. They begin having children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and we get down to verse eight and clutch now Kush was the son of Ham. He begat Nimrod, he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Wherefore, it is said, even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord and the beginning of his kingdom was Babel and he wrecked Endicott in town not in the land of Chino are how many have heard of Nimrod before. Amen. You know actually Nimrod is the very first prototype of the coming Antichrist and it says that he began to be a mighty one on the earth. Let's first begin by looking at his name because in Hebrew. Every name is significant and its meaning bears a lot of significance on their life. The name Nimrod in Hebrew. They do not like the valves release they didn't at that time so you're looking at the consonants and M RD and translated is he said RD translated is get down. Therefore, Nimrod means he said get down are you getting the feel of what kind of person Nimrod was Nimrod said to everybody else get down under me. He was subjugating the people he was Nimrod. And if you notice it said, and his kingdom was in the land of Chino are and if you notice we read those cities and one of them pop out at you a little bit Babel a.k.a. Babylon. Amen. So Nimrod he said all the other people said I said do what I tell you to do.

Amen. And he began to build his kingdom.

Now we read here that it says that he began to be a mighty one on the earth, and it even went on to say he was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Now if we just read through that in English will think nothing of it will be going out. He was a good hunter before the Lord as if it was pleasing to God will let me tell you something folks. Everybody was a hunter back then they can have grocery stores. They didn't have Sam's Club and Costco's every body was a hunter all man had to hunt for food for their families. Amen. How many understand that.

So the fact that he was a hunter.

Why bother to tell us that anybody hunted all men hunted, but if we understand the Hebrew text and even if we can even see in our own English Bible that what this is talking about is that he was a hunter of men you don't have to turn there but I'll give you a couple verses to support it. Jeremiah 1616 God said, I will send for many hunters and they shall hunt from every mountain and every hill and out of the hills of the rocks, and God is talking about hunting down rebellious men. Mike the seven to the good man is perished out of the earth, and there is none like among men.

They all lie in wait for blood, they hunt every man his brother, with the net so Nimrod said down and ride hunted other men and where it says before the Lord. It actually means in God's face. Are you getting the picture. What kind of person Nimrod was so another words he waxed great and mighty.

He told everybody else to get down. I'm over you and you do what I say and you help me build my kingdom, and he hunted Ned admin. Obviously I would try to get away from him to amen. But he hunted men down and this is all very very telling of what it will be like. As I'm sure you will hear tomorrow about the reign of the Antichrist.

They will hunt down men. Amen. And they will do it in God's face. He had no problem with doing what he did in God's face and he began to build his kingdom and as we saw which became Babylon. Now, folks, this is only about 100 years after the flood, how quickly how quickly Satan had his man had his person to raise up even after God and cleanse the earth after Noah and his righteous sons came out of the ark. It's only 100 years later and we had the introduction of Nimrod.

This wicked man.

Amen. So let's find out more about it. We know now that he built the city of Babel.

How many saw that now let's look at chapter 11 and let's read their and the whole earth was what one language in one speech and it came to pass, as they journeyed from the East room what you pay attention that will come back to it as the journey from the East that they found a plane in the land of Chino are and they dwelt there. Chino are is modern day Iraq and they said one to another bill to and let us make brick let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly and they had brick for stone, and slime they had were mortar and they said to let us build us a city and a tower whose top may reach on to heaven and led us, make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. Which by the way is exactly what God told him to do. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men.

Build it and the Lord said, behold, the people is one and they have all one language, and this they begin to do and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do so, go to, let us go down and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech so the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth, and they left off to build the city. Therefore, the name of it is called Babel, because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth, from thence to the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of all the earth, so now we have.

We know that Nimrod is behind this.

We know this because I took Peter chapter 10 first so you could see that he built Babel. So even though his name is not mentioned in chapter 11 we understand who is behind it. Amen. And so he's telling people get down and now he's telling people you're going to build this city for me and were going to make it out of bricks. Amen. Now it says they journeyed from the East.

Again, we would just look over that with quickly and think, okay, that's just saying there they journeyed from the East and they're going west but it's not the meaning in the Hebrew it's actually a figure of speech from the east is the same singing from the sun or from the light. How many know the sun rises in the east. Amen. And we know that in the Bible. Light always stands for truth. It stands for God. It stands for truth we are told in first John I chapter that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. What we say that we know God has come up with with with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we want the light, then we do have fellowship with him were told in John III chapter. Jesus said that men loved darkness rather than light, that doesn't make sense but why because their deeds are evil and they know if they come to the light will be exposed and are not willing to give up their evil deeds so they will come to the light.

Therefore, in Hebrew, the figure of speech from the east is the same as singing from the light is the same as saying from the truth. So you see Nimrod.these people when he thought them under subjection now and they're going away from the light there going away from the truth they're going away from what God told Noah and his sons when they came out of the ark to multiply and replenish the earth, but they are doing their own thing. Amen there going their own way and he says let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. Now here's the thing about things. If you've ever been to the holy land. You know there's one thing they do not have a shortage of and that is stones. They have stone stones. Stones and more stones. The holy land is covered with stones and so if you were going to build a fence or build a wall or build a building. It only makes sense to use those stones you know you back to clear the stones away anyhow before you can build anything you can build anything on a field or in a car. What ever convert with stones. You can plan a dog you can't plant the crops. You can build a building you can't really have a sheep and goats to pastor because of all the stones. The first thing you have to do is move the stones and that's why when you go over there you will see all of these markers that will divide the property and it's all these stones just piled up one another. Fences all the way around abiding everybody's in a property lines were they want to want to keep the sheep in the goats in and not get out. They have walls made of stone because they're plentiful there everywhere and get back to get rid of him anyhow so it only makes sense then to use the stones to build the building. It would only make sense for them to use the stones to build their tower, but what did they say oh no, let us make bricks. Let us make bricks that we make in putting a mold and put them in the fire burn is very hot, extremely high temperature furnace in order for them to bake hard enough to become that hard. What labor do you need to make such bricks. What kind of backbreaking labor does it take in that day with primitive tools to make such bricks.

It would take slave labor. Amen. It would take someone like Nimrod subjugating people and tell them you get down you get down in the dirt and you make me bricks and then you when your back is brick breaking from making those bricks you go over that hot hot oven and there in a tropical climate and you burn then Rex and make sure you burn them thoroughly. So these people were being treated like slaves.

Amen.

And Nimrod was taking this advantage to enslave the people and keep them under now things we all know the story about the children of Israel.

Don't wait when they were in Egypt. What did Pharaoh do to them. I'm going to read you what Pharaoh did to them out.

I'll just refer to it if you're taking notes Exodus chapter 1 in verse 13 and 14. It says that the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor and they made their lives better with hard bondage and mortar and in brick and in all manner of service in the field and all their service wherein they made them serve was with rigor the word rigor. There is means washing crushing pressure and labor. The children of Israel were slaves for 400 years helping the Egyptians build all those monuments all you know all the pyramids and I mean that we know about the three great pyramids, but they got pyramids and monuments all over Egypt and the children of Israel, they were slaves and they worked until they were exhausted beyond comprehension that their lives were bitter and they cried out to God.

They cried out to God and finally God's promise to Abraham said they will be afflicted for 400 years, but then I will bring them out. I will bring them out and that's a whole another message about why would God wait so long.

Why would he wait for hundred years. Anybody know the answer no. Okay I'm going to maybe I'll tell you Sunday will see God's not a meaning sitting up there didn't satisfaction I seen people suffer. He's not there. You know well just doing another hundred years. That's not my God.

But God has reasons for all that he does any things like this. You can find in the word if you dig it out. Amen. And so we see that the Egyptians made the children of Israel miserable. They were in bondage and what was their terrible bondage for Debbie exhausted from the building. That is, pyramids and everything else for man to be exhausted and turn them away from God. Nimrod was in rebellion against God without God does not like the idea that making this tower and he doesn't like the idea of men using bricks on anything that pertains to him in his holiness. It says in Deuteronomy the 27th chapter, verses five and six and God is telling them Moses how to make his alter and you know what he said, thou shall build an altar unto the Lord thy God in altar of stones.

Thou shall not lift up any iron tool upon them.

Build with whole stones and then now shall burn offerings.

Thereupon now God is saying for the author.

Not only did they have to be built with stones, but they had to be whole stones. They could use their iron tools and shape them. They had to build the altar out of one stone piled on top of the other. Now they would've you stones bigger than this.

Obviously, this is for illustrative purposes only. But just imagine these stones a whole lot bigger and they would have to put them together in such a way to build an altar to God. He said I want you to make the matter. Stones I want you to use whole stones and I don't want any tools to touch it. God wanted his alter holy and he did not want man's fingerprint on it.

You understand why I want to be a stone.

You can be a brick if you want to be but I want to be a stone.

Amen.

And so that we see also annexes the 20th chapter verse 2125 and altar of earth shall not make unto me, and shall sacrifice their will and by burnt offerings in all places where I record my name. This means, for now, even when you going to the promised land anywhere.

When the name of my name is recorded. You make an Alltel of earth and I will comment in the I will bless the and if you make an altar of stone. Thou shall not build it out of human stone.

For if thou lift up thy tooling did thou hast polluted it.

Did you know God was that particular did you know that that was that picky about holiness. Yeah God, and God has really got some ideas about what holiness is to him and he said you will make me an altar of stone out of whole stones and you will not lift one toll upon it because when you do, it's polluted and it's not worthy to be a part of my altar now this was before they went in. Now they're moving into the holy land in Joshua now has taken over. Moses has his diet is with God in Joshua now is the one who the Lord is chosen to take the children says in Joshua chapter 8 verses 30 and 31 Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel in mount evil as them, as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded the children of Israel, and as it is written, and altar of whole stones over which no man has lived up any iron and they offered it under the Lord and they sacrificed offerings. So Joshua was careful that when they went into the land.

Any they built the altar that he obeyed the commandment that God had given Moses. Now let's speed ahead to the time of Solomon now happened this time. Up to this point God's house was a big tent. How many know that when you read about the tabernacle. Don't think about the tabernacle of building. You gotta think about a tent because God's house was a tent but in the time of David. David said he desired to build God a house, a permanent dwelling place. And God said, I will let your son build it because David you been a man of war, the man of blood see how God is about anything that pertains to him. He doesn't want anything of man's pollution upon it, he said, but your son Solomon will be a man of peace and there will be no wars in all of his reign want you talk about a miracle back in that time that's all we read about his war, they went to war with this with this fight.

In that light in the other rights but he said no wars in Solomon's time and Solomon rain for 40 years and will essential be a man of peace. Now, let him build my house. I will listen when he tells them about building the business of first Kings 67.

He said that it's to be built of stone so that there was neither hammer or act nor any toll of firemen heard in the house where it was building. Amen. What an intriguing and eye-opening message. Are you a brick or a stone. Perhaps you think a brick because they are used to build strong buildings. The first brick maker in recorded history was Nimrod great grandson of Noah, his name meant. I said get down and he was the brick bully of Babel in rebellion against God.

He hunted men to be his slaves to make bricks to build his kingdom, and the infamous Tower of Babel to reach into the heavens until God intervened and disunited the people by confounding their languages and thereby scattering them abroad on the earth no later God delivered the seed of Abraham out of Egypt bondage where Pharaoh had enslaved them to make bricks to build his monuments, but when God gave Moses his blueprint for worship in the wilderness he commanded that his altars were not to be of man-made bricks, but of unhewn stones you see man makes bricks but God makes stones unique and unspoiled by the world bricks are all alike cast into the same mode and today the world is casting people in the mode and spirit of Nimrod, a spirit of rebellion against God and his word. Nimrod was the first prototype of what the antichrist will be and we see his spirit already at work, John said in his epistle, the apostle Paul declared in Romans 12 to be not conformed to this world. Don't let the world put you in it smoke and make you one of its bricks and apostle Peter said you were living stones built up as a holy habitation for God. Ask yourself, am I a worldly brick or a holy stone.

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Till next time. This is Sharon not saying Marinette and