Flourishing in Famine

Do you take notes when you hear your pastor's sermon? To be honest, I don't do that enough. Our pastors spend time listening to God all week, and get a specific word for us weekly. If we don't take notes we will forget by that Sunday afternoon. We should honor God and our pastor by taking notes each Sunday.

Here are some notes from Pastor Brock Lillis this past Sunday at Bethel Murfreesboro.

Our sermon series that we're currently going through is called "The Blessed Life". The title of this sermon was Flourishing in Famine. 

These are just some bullet points that I personally don't want to forget.

• Hearing precedes having
• Live by what God says not by what you see
• Walk on the Word more than the water. Peter walked on water by Jesus word, but began to sink when he looked at the water.
• Fear is how the enemy's kingdom works. Faith is how God's kingdom works
• In a famine you'll have fear and die, or faith and flourish
• Faith always puts God first
• No famine in heaven. We have access to heaven
• Either we will worship money or use money to worship

I'm going to try and be more proactive at taking notes during the sermon. I encourage you to do the same. How many sermons do we wish we could remember? 

And War Broke Out In Heaven

Have you ever battled rebellion, pride, self-sufficiency, selfish-ambition, and idolatry in your life? Well you're not alone. In fact, we all battle those things on a daily basis. Those are all character traits of the sinful nature imparted to us from Adam and Eve through the deception of Satan in the garden. Satan used to be an angel named Lucifer. Lucifer was one of the most beautiful, talented, and powerful angels ever created by God. He lead heaven's choirs in worship to God. He was an anointed cherub. He held a high office and had authority in the throne room. He had it all, but wanted more.

"You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub from the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings that they may gaze upon you. You defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities...; therefore I brought fire from your midst; It devoured you, and I turned you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who saw you. All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you; You have become a horror, and shall be no more forever. Ez. 28:12-19(Italics added)

Lucifer fell in love with his own beauty and fell into rebellion, pride, self-sufficiency, selfish-ambition, and idolatry. In fact, the first sin ever committed was by Lucifer. The sin of rebellion. His rebellion is identified by 5 'I WILL' statements in Isaiah. "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: I WILL ascend into heaven, I WILL exalt my throne above the stars of God; I WILL also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I WILL ascend above the heights of the clouds, I WILL be like the Most High." Isaiah 14:12-14.(Caps added)

Regardless of what Lucifer willed to do, God had the final word. "Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the pit. Those who see you will gaze at you, and consider you, saying: "Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed cities...? But you are cast of of your grave like a despised branch...like a corpse trodden underfoot. You will not be joined with them in burial..." Isaiah 14:15-20 God had 5 responses to Lucifer I WILL statements. God said that he'd be thrown into hell. He'd be gazed upon and made a spectacle. He would be talked about and mocked. He would be cast out of his grave like a carcass, and that he'd be alone.

How did it actually go down in heaven? Let's take a look..."And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." Rev. 12:7-9

According to this scripture we see that Lucifer didn't act alone. In fact, he gathered himself an army of angels to go to war against God. Lucifer and his angels were cast down to earth. The first sin of Adam and Eve was rebellion and disobedience of God's word. Do you notice a trend here with Satan and his traps?

What can we apply from this story to my life today? Let's finish with the rest of the passage in Revelation. "Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." Rev. 12:10-11

They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony. The key to overcoming is Jesus Christ, and the Word of God. Jesus said, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you." Luke 10:18-19 Jesus battled the temptation of the devil when He went into the wilderness. Jesus would always begin is answer with, "It is written..." Jesus knew the Word.

To overcome the enemy we need to hide the Word of God in our heart, and know that Jesus has given us authority over all the power of the enemy. We don't have to cower in fear of Satan or his demons(fallen angels). One day we will look at him, and say that's...that's him. Now, we're not to underestimate him, but we're not to cower in fear of him either. My God is greater than Satan or any demon. He's already been defeated! We win! We've already won! We have the victory. The victory was won by Jesus Christ when He rose from the dead! Don't let Satan deceive you into a rebellion against God or His Word. That is the only way he can win-if you're rebelling against God and His Word. Please don't let the enemy's deception hold you any longer. Come back to God right now. Repent. He is calling you right now as you read this. I'm praying that you come back to God, or come to Him for the first time. Call on His name, and start walking in victory. Start walking in true freedom. Satan's deception is very real. He's been doing it since he deceived those angels to join him in rebellion. I pray that the blinders of deception would fall from your eyes right now by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Just pray this simple prayer with me:

Jesus, I humbly come before you right now. I repent of my sins and I ask that you would forgive me of all my sins. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for me, and that you raised Him from the dead. I want to receive you as my Lord and Master. Please help me to recognize the enemy's deceptive traps. Please deliver me from those traps, and give me the strength to be obedient to your Word for the rest of my life. In the name of Jesus, Amen. 

Now begin walking in victory. You have overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of your testimony. Now, go tell somebody.

Live Long and Prosper

"And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's nakedness. So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him." Gen. 9:20-24

I'm imagining myself in Noah's shoes. Don't be quick to judge him. How would you feel if you had just spent 120 years building an ark, and at 600 years old went through the flood experience? Then after the flood began to sacrifice a bunch of animals on an altar. And on top of all that were the only people on the planet. He became a farmer, planted a vineyard, and had a little too much to drink one night. I'm imagining even Noah was a little tired and worn out physically.He was just a man. So, don't be too quick to judge Noah that he became drunk one night.

His son Ham made the mistake of judging and disrespecting his father. Instead of covering his dad, he uncovered him to his brothers, "Hey guys come look at dad! He's drunk and naked in the tent!" His brothers, I'm imagining they were a little older, covered and respected their father. I think if Ham knew the consequences of his actions then he would have behaved differently. When Noah woke up and knew what Ham had done, he cursed his son. "Then he said: Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren." And he said: Blessed be the Lord, The God of Shem and may Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant." Gen. 9:25-27

What can we learn from this story besides don't mess with Noah when he's got a hangover? Come on that was funny. God is very serious about honoring our father and mother. In fact, it made it to the 10 Commandments. It's #5 on the top 10 list. "Honor your father and mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord you God is giving you." Exodus 20:12. It's also mentioned by Apostle Paul, "Honor your father and mother, "which is the first commandment with promise: "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth." Eph. 6:4. It's so important that it's the first commandment with a promise. The promise is that you may live long and prosper, and you thought that came from Star Trek.

As a result of not honoring his father Ham was cursed, and was not prosperous. Shem and Japheth on the other hand were blessed with a great blessing because they honored and covered their dad. Ham's descendants ended up becoming Shem and Japheth's servants as a result of his action. His descendants also ended up being major enemies of the Israelites. His action of dishonoring his father affected generations to come, and it's still being felt today. Our actions today have the potential to affect generations, for either blessing or cursing.  While God was giving out the 10 Commandments he gives a warning and blessing, "For I the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." Ex. 20:5-6

There is blessing of returning to God, and there is choice of life and death that is very real today in our lives. Moses gives this admonition to the Israelites before his death, "I call heaven and earth as witness today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of days." Ex. 30:19-20

We have a choice either to choose life or death, blessing or cursing. We choose life by loving God, obeying His voice, and clinging to Him. Let's love, obey, and cling to Him. If we choose life then our lives, and our descendants lives will live long and prosper.

A Man Apart - Noah

Before the great flood the average life span of mankind was 900 years. Adam lived 930 years. Seth lived 912 years. Methuselah lived 969 years, and Noah lived 950 years. After the flood men's life span rapidly and gradually leveled off. Shem, Noah's son, lived 600 years. Eber, Shem's great-grandson, lived 464 years. Abraham lived 175 years, Jacob lived 147 years, and Joseph lived 110 years. Some people think this is due with major environmental changes brought about by the flood, but God was so frustrated with man and the evil on the earth that He set the age limit. "And the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." Gen. 6:3

"Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thought of his heart was only evil continually, and the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart, So the Lord said, "I will destroy man whom I created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." Gen. 6:5-8 I can't imagine the evil men got into by living over 900 years without Jesus Christ. Noah found favor with Jesus, and God decided to save him and his family. "And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.Make yourself an ark." Gen. 6:13-14 

"Noah was a just man, blameless, having integrity, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God." Gen. 6:9 "But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark-you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you." Gen. 6:18 This is the first mention of a biblical covenant. God's protection through the impending Flood is His first installment of covenant promise. Noah's obedience is a model of God's working with man for establishing His kingdom purposes on Earth.

"Then the Lord said to Noah, "Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation." Gen. 7:1 Because Noah walked with God and was righteous before Him; God established His covenant with Noah, and saved his family in the ark. When it was time for the flood, all the animals were in the ark, and Noah and his family entered-God shut them in. 

"On that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and nights." Gen. 7:11-12 "So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days." Gen. 7:23-24  

Noah was in the ark 150 days. 40 days of rain and flooding, and 110 days of floating on the water. Basically a little over 5 months. THEN GOD REMEMBERED! "Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided." Gen. 8:1

After Noah put his feet on dry ground the first thing he did was build an altar to the Lord. "Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the intent of man's heart is evil from youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done." Gen. 8:20-21

This is the first blood covenant between God and man mentioned in the Bible. Noah didn't receive any instruction from God to offer the blood sacrifice, but this clearly suggests there was a precedent set going back to Abel's sacrifice of the firstborn in the garden. Noah's first order of business was to give glory and honor to God for saving his family through the blood sacrifice, and it was a soothing aroma to Him. And as a result, establishes a covenant with Noah to never destroy the earth again. 

"Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood to destroy the earth." And God said: "This is a sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: "I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. " Gen. 9:11-13

Can everyone say,"Thank you, Noah!!!" 

Tree of Life

After the fall of man, God drove out Adam and Eve from the garden, so they could no longer eat of the tree of life and live forever. "Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life." Gen. 3:22-24

That is the end of Genesis Chapter 3, and the beginning of life as we know it. In Gen. 4, we see the start of Adam and Eve's family and the effect it had on mankind. Adam and Eve had two sons-Cain and Abel. Cain was a tiller of the ground, and Abel was a keeper of the sheep. Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel brought of the firstborn of his flock as an offering to the Lord. God was not pleased with Cain's offering, but respected Abel's. Cain resented his brother, and became angry. Why was God not pleased with Cain's offering? Let's take a look at it closer. "And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell." Gen. 4:3-5

These verses puzzled me for years. I did not know why God did not respect Cain's offering. It wasn't clear to me in these verses until my Pastor made it clear to me one Sunday. The key words to look at are in verse 3. The words are "And in the process of time". God requires the first, and best as an offering. Cain was selfish. He made sure he was taken care of, and all his bills were paid. He kept the first and best for his self, and in the process of time brought his offering to God. He gave God the leftovers. Abel on the other hand brought the firstborn of his flock. He brought the first and best to God.

"So the Lord said to Cain,"Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it." We know the rest of the story. Cain did not rule over his sin, and he deceived his brother and killed Abel. This is the first murder recorded in the Bible. "The the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground."

Poor Adam and Eve. They basically lost their two sons in one fell swoop. Have you ever thought about that? Luckily, God is in the redeeming business. "And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, "For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed." And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord." Gen. 4:25-26.  God gave them another son, Seth. Seth was a redemptive son for the loss of Abel. I love how Genesis 4 concludes, "Then men began to call on the name of the Lord." Seth is the first in the bloodline that will trace to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. God shows out by giving us the first sign of redemptive work through Eve. Eve failed badly, but God's mercy plants the seed of the promised Messiah through Eve. No matter how deep our failure, God's mercy goes deeper.

God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden, and they could no longer eat of the tree of life. Jesus Christ is like the tree of life. "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John. 14:6 Adam and Eve had eternal life when they ate from the tree of life. Jesus Christ promises us eternal life through Him. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

God begins His redemption through the bloodline of Seth, and makes a way for man to be saved and have eternal life. I thank my God for His firstborn acceptable sacrifice-Jesus Christ on the cross. Jesus Christ hung on a tree. Look toward Jesus Christ on the cross. The cross is your tree of life today.

and he ate...

"So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden." Gen. 3:6-8

Notice that the eyes of both of them were not opened until Adam ate the fruit. He listened to his wife instead of being obedient to God's command. In fact, when God approaches them after they have eaten the fruit they make clothes out of fig leaves and hide from God. There is not much interaction between Adam and Eve written in the scriptures, but Gen. 2:25 says, "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." Before their eyes were opened they were not ashamed, and did not even know what nakedness meant. They were covered and clothed in the purity of God's presence in the garden. The tree of knowledge of good and evil was named rightly. Adam and Eve only knew good. The serpents deception changed human kind forever, and evil entered their hearts. 

"Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself. And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?" Then the man said, "The woman who You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate." Gen. 3:9-12

I can't imagine the nerve of Adam at this point. Did you notice his response? He blamed Eve, and God! The woman You gave me. That blows my mind every time I read this story. He blamed Eve and God for his own disobedience. Mankind has been passing the buck ever since. It's not my fault. It's my circumstances fault. It's my parent's fault. It's my wife's fault. It's my children's fault. It's my boss's fault. It's the devil's fault. It's God's fault.  I want to speak to men for a minute. As men of God we need to say, "THE BUCK STOPS HERE." One of the true marks of manhood is accepting responsibility for our actions. It's to go against Adam's response, hold up our hand, and say, "It's my fault." 

I'm upset with Adam for a few reasons. Adam first stood right beside his wife, and let the serpent deceive her. He wasn't on the far side of the garden. He was standing right next to her. Why didn't he pick up a garden hoe, and cut the serpent's head off? Why didn't he protect and cover his wife? He should have stopped it right at the beginning. What if he would have stopped the serpent, and then told God about it. How can we apply this to our life? As men, we are called to protect and cover our wives from the enemy. We're to pray, and tell God about it.

"Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish." Eph. 5:25-27

As men, we're to pray and read the Bible over our wives and children. When we do this we protect them from evil and the enemy. Adam didn't protect his wife from the serpent, but stood there and let her get deceived. Adam wasn't deceived. In fact 1 Tim. 2:14 says, "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression." Adam did something worse. He directly disobeyed God, and listened to his wife instead. When God spoke to Adam his attitude was one of blame and passing the buck. What if Adam repented instead of blamed God and Eve? The Bible calls King David a man after God's own heart. This is because King David was quick to repent. As men instead of passing the buck we need to cultivate an attitude of quick repentance. We'll never know what would have happened if Adam had repented, but we need to learn from Adam's mistakes. We need to learn to be quick to repent, accept responsibility, and cover our families from spiritual attack.

Adam and Eve made for themselves fig leaves as coverings and clothes to hide their nakedness. They tried to cover themselves and sin on their own strength and efforts. God had other plans. "Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them." Gen. 3:21 God sacrificed an innocent animal, and covered them with clothes. This was a foreshadowing of God's sacrifice of Jesus the innocent lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. We can not cover our sin by our works or efforts. It's only by the atoning cleansing blood of Jesus Christ we can be saved. 

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

Let's not be like Adam. Let's be like King David, and quick to repent. The buck stops here.