Be Fruitful and Multiply.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] We’re going to be in Genesis chapter 8 and 9. [0:02] We’re going to start in Genesis 8, 17 this morning. [0:04] And we’re going to go all the way through 9, 17, so buckle up. [0:08] But I just want to let you know that last week I got a lot of feedback [0:11] on the sermon on Noah and the ark that he built by faith. [0:17] And one of the big things that I heard this past week

[0:20] from our group leaders is that during the group time, [0:23] people were saying, man, if only God had been as specific to us as he was to Noah. [0:32] Wouldn’t that be easy? [0:33] If God would just come to us and be just that blunt, [0:36] hey, you’ve got to build this specific thing. [0:39] You’ve got this is your purpose for the next seven decades of your life.

[0:43] Do this. [0:44] And it was like, oh, man, we wouldn’t even have to think about it. [0:46] We would just know what God has for us. [0:50] And here’s kind of the tension that we’re going to live in with our lives. [0:56] And this week and next week, we’re going to take a look at the tension [0:59] that we’re having in this world and God’s specificity.

[1:03] That is a word, by the way, as to what he wants us to do. [1:07] But the reality is that God has been specific. [1:10] It’s not that God has not been specific to us. [1:14] Here’s the reality. [1:16] All right. [1:17] And track with me for the next 45 minutes and we’ll get through this.

[1:20] OK, the reality is that we don’t like God’s plan as much as we like ours.

[1:26] That’s that’s the tension that we live in as followers of Jesus Christ [1:32] is that we have a plan, do we not? [1:37] You know, even somebody that doesn’t have great career aspirations, [1:40] they have a plan, they have things that that bring them happiness. [1:45] They have things that they’re chasing after with their lives. [1:48] No matter how fleeting the pleasures may be,

[1:50] there are things that we’re seeking with our lives. [1:54] But the reality is, is that more often than not, in my 32 years on this earth, [2:00] what I have found in my life is my default mode, [2:03] that which I naturally drift towards in my life is not the plan of God. [2:12] What I naturally drift towards in my life is the plan of me. [2:16] Is that which which I’ve I’ve decided when I was like 12 years old,

[2:20] this is what I like, this is what my personality goes towards. [2:22] And so that’s what I pursue. [2:24] But the reality is that God has been specific in what he has told us to do. [2:29] And I was encouraged this week by the dialogue on last week’s sermon [2:32] because it lets me know that the people of Village Church are a people that desire faith. [2:38] They are a people that desire to follow the Lord.

[2:41] But I also kind of I was encouraged in the reality that we want God to be specific. [2:45] And we’re almost there and we’re pushing to get there. [2:49] And then when we start to get specific, it’s like, oh, if only he had told me to build a boat.

[2:57] God’s told us to build a church. [3:00] Okay.

[3:02] The church is what God’s plan A is for our lives. [3:08] I’ll be that blunt with you and there is no plan B.

[3:11] Okay. [3:12] So as Christ has come into the world, he has given us this great plan of redemption [3:16] and everything that we need to know about God, everything that God says, [3:21] this is what man needs to know about me. [3:24] He has made clear in the person as well as in the work of Jesus Christ. [3:30] So what we see in the life of Jesus as he lived in this world,

[3:34] that is what God is wanting to know, wanting us to know about him. [3:38] And then what we see from Genesis all the way through to the book of Revelation [3:44] is the story of God’s gospel from his creation of the world, [3:49] his purpose for creation to give him absolute glory all the way through to Revelation. [3:53] We’re going to see where he restores his kingdom, [3:55] where Jesus comes and Jesus rules and reigns for eternity with his people.

[4:02] And so in Jesus, what we see is that he establishes this great church. [4:06] And then what we saw at the end last week is that through that church, [4:10] God is building his kingdom and making it manifest as we are a sign of what he’s going to do in the [4:16] future in the here and now. So God has been specific to you. [4:22] God has told us throughout the entire New Testament that we are to use all of the gifts, [4:29] all of the abilities that he’s given us to further his mission, to build his church,

[4:37] to institute his kingdom where he will reign forevermore. [4:41] Now where the tension comes is that we have so much going on. [4:49] I mean, I don’t know about you, but time is really valuable. [4:53] We got so much going on that there’s this constant push where we feel like we’re [4:59] just doing what’s natural to us. But here’s what I want to let you know about Noah. [5:02] He wasn’t working on the ark 24 hours a day. I mean, he had to eat, right?

[5:07] It just so happens that he lived in an agrarian culture and they probably

[5:12] grew their own vegetables. They went after their own food. They built their own homes. [5:19] So I want you to know that the story of Noah is a story of a man living and providing for his [5:25] family, probably not in corporate America, but in his land in that time. He’s planting seeds. [5:33] He’s harvesting crops. He’s building houses. He’s training his sons to build a boat because that’s [5:38] what he did. And that is what our drive is as people of faith. Your plan A is to be redeemed [5:47] into God’s plan A and that is what faith looks like.

[5:53] Now, when we see Noah come into the ark, what we are seeing there is a picture, and it’s literally [6:01] happened, but it is a picture of what God is doing to us and through us in the person and work of [6:08] Jesus Christ. And so the question that constantly kind of begs towards us is I know I’ve been [6:16] redeemed and I know I’ve been redeemed from sin, but what have I been redeemed from? [6:21] I’ve been redeemed for. And that is what I want to deal with starting in Genesis chapter 8 verse 17. [6:28] What does it look like once we come into this world through the redemption, once we’ve been

[6:33] changed by the redemption that’s available in Jesus Christ, what happens? So look in Genesis chapter 8 verse 17.

[6:42] Noah and his family are coming out of the ark. God comes to him and he says, [6:45] come out of the ark. And then he looks to Noah and he says, bring out with you every living thing [6:49] that is with you, all flesh, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, [6:56] that they may swarm on the earth and be fruitful and multiply. So Noah went out and his sons and [7:02] his wife and his sons wives with him, every beast, every creeping thing and every bird, [7:07] everything that moves on the earth went out by families from the ark. So here we see this great

[7:12] picture that God says that, you know, he’s dried up the land, he says come out of the ark, but then [7:18] he says release the animals, that they may be fruitful and multiply, that the animals will do [7:23] what his instinctive to animals to do and that they will reproduce and he but he says I want them [7:28] to swarm over the entire earth. So what we’re seeing here is the reality that God through [7:35] judgment though is not done with his creation. He desires for that creation to still function [7:44] and still bring him glory through the way in which it naturally works. And so he says send the

[7:50] animals out that they may be fruitful and multiply. That’s why he saved them through the ark. [7:55] But then keep going. Verse 20. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean [8:00] animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And when the Lord [8:06] smelled the pleasing aroma the Lord said in his heart, I will never again curse the ground because [8:11] of the will of man. For the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever [8:16] again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seed time and

[8:23] harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease. So what we see here is that [8:31] Noah comes out of the ark and what is the first thing that is on his mind that he needs to do? [8:37] Worship God. So Noah comes off the ark and immediately offers an offering to God. And then [8:44] God in his great glory and in his great plan throughout all creation he says I’m never again [8:50] going to do what I just did. I’m not going to wipe the earth out in the way that I wiped it out [8:56] right there. I’m never going to flood the earth again. We’re going to see that covenant in a few

[8:58] minutes. But then he says that the aroma of what Noah was doing was pleasing to his smell. But note [9:06] that sin still existed and God makes note of that. He says I’ll never again curse the way that I did [9:12] for I know that man’s heart is evil from his youth. That his intentions are evil. So it is [9:19] not that Noah comes out of the ark to a sinless world. You want to know why? Because Noah’s there. [9:25] Therefore there’s still sin in the world because Noah is not perfect. He’s not glorified at that [9:31] moment. But immediately God is pleased by what Noah does because Noah comes out to a spirit and

[9:39] to a heart of worship towards God. But then note in chapter 9 verse 1. And God blessed Noah and [9:51] his sons and said to them be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. So the exact same [10:02] thing that God says towards the animals. God looks to Noah and his family and he says be fruitful and [10:10] multiply and fill the earth. This is in reference to what just happened. That God desires and he [10:20] redeems to form a culture of worship. That’s the first thing I want you to understand about this [10:25] passage this morning. That God redeems to form a culture of worship. Now it’s very easy for us to

[10:34] look at this text and what our natural inclinations are going to be is to make this all about physical [10:39] multiplication. That God looks to Noah and he just says okay be fruitful and multiply. Be duggers. [10:46] All right you got to have lots of kids because man I mean fill the all right you got like seven [10:51] people here eight people here left and we got to fill the whole earth so that’s a lot of kids. [10:57] And you got to think Noah’s like 600 at this point. It’s a tough task. It’s exhausting.

[11:04] But what God is doing goes far past that which our physical capabilities will allow us to do. [11:14] God desires and I think we’re going to see this moving forward that God desires for his people [11:20] to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth but with a specific type of culture in mind that he [11:30] wants them to form and he wants them to spread throughout the entire world. But redemption what [11:37] Noah and his family just experienced it is going to mark a reset for the entire world. [11:45] Now here’s what we do. We want to move forward. We want to progress. We do not want to look back

[11:51] because clearly God’s got something new for them and something new for me. But what God is doing [11:58] with Noah here is the exact same thing that he was doing with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. [12:05] The exact same command for them to be fruitful and multiply is the exact same command that he [12:12] gives to Noah and his family. The exact same command that he gives here for them is the same. [12:19] Go spread my glory throughout the entire world. I desire for there to be people everywhere over [12:27] the face of the earth. I desire for there to be animals everywhere over the face of the earth.

[12:32] He even here says I’m going to make the ground produce agriculture. I want that to spread [12:38] throughout the entire earth and I want it to bring me glory. God is hitting a reset but not [12:45] in progress to move on to a new plan but to say I still want that same vision to happen.

[12:54] So God says let’s start this whole thing over and you get to be number one. I’m starting with you. [13:01] He redeems a remnant in order to refine and hit a reset on the entire world. What we see happen [13:11] in chapter 8 verse 20 is very significant here.

[13:17] This is the act of a man who has just experienced redemption. Now if I’m just coming off of a boat [13:28] that I’ve been on with all these animals, number one the first thing I’m going to do is go get [13:32] myself a good meal. Alright I’m going to start building a roof. I just saw it rain a lot and [13:37] I don’t want to get rained on. But what does Noah do? He starts with that which is to define his [13:46] very core for the rest of his life. He begins with an act of worship. Where he starts is what he has [13:57] a vision for towards the end. That his life is now and forever more going to be defined by worship

[14:06] towards the one who had great mercy on him, who gave him great grace, who gave him great favor, [14:13] and who fully redeemed him from the condemnation that all of the wicked in the world endured [14:18] and perished under. That is the same mandate, that is the same culture, that is the same thing [14:27] that God desires for all those who have been redeemed today through the gospel of Jesus Christ. [14:35] He looks to Noah and he says fill the earth rather than hide rather than blend. [14:43] Alright there’s a great parallel here with the great commission. Alright we see that after Jesus

[14:50] Christ is risen from the dead he goes to all of his followers and before he ascends up into heaven [14:53] he says go make disciples of what? All nations. There is a lot of parallel symbolism that goes [15:01] between the Old Testament and New Testament, between the mandates that we see in the book [15:05] of Genesis and what we see in Jesus Christ. I hope you’ve picked up on that through this series. [15:09] These are not just moral tales, these are foreshadowings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. [15:14] But when we see him tell Noah all over the world, it’s the same thing he tells us all over the world.

[15:21] Go form culture, go make disciples, go spread my worship. But we typically have two reactions that [15:28] are completely different than the be fruitful and multiply mandate. Our reaction is okay I’m a [15:33] follower of Jesus Christ, that’s a personal private thing, I cannot engage the culture with that. I [15:38] do not want to push my faith on others. You do not see that anywhere in the text. You do not see [15:45] anywhere in the scripture. God says team the world, fill it. Fill it with my praise, [15:53] fill it with my glory, that’s number one, there is no number two. In all of your doings

[15:59] that’s what you’re doing. And that bumps right into every aspiration you are ever going to have [16:07] in your life. Every inclination of what success is going to be about is going to come into tension [16:15] with that reality. You can mark it, I promise it. You’re already dealing with the tension right now [16:21] is how in the world could I possibly go into my job and do that. It’s not about your job, [16:26] it’s about your entire life. It’s about everything in it. There is an umbrella of be fruitful and [16:33] you can multiply with the glory of God, fill the earth with the glory of God and every single thing

[16:39] in your life is going to fall under that umbrella and it cannot escape it. Everything in your life [16:49] is a spiritual discipline. There is nothing where there is a divide to where this is God’s part of [17:01] There is no divide, that wall must be torn down. Everything in your life is spiritual. Everything.

[17:12] And the sooner you realize that, the sooner you will begin to understand what it is to have a core [17:20] of worship in your life. And until then you will be filled with excuses. You will be filled with, [17:29] that’s just not my gifting. I wish I had that type of faith. What other type of faith is there? [17:39] Nothing else takes any faith whatsoever. Everything else is just you doing your thing [17:47] and then turning and saying, thanks God. And God looks and says I don’t know why you’re [17:52] thanking me, you did that. I wasn’t involved, it was just you. You making your own plans,

[17:58] you going your own way, you doing whatever you want to and then acting like I was involved [18:04] in pushing you further and further away from me and not getting worship from what you’re doing.

[18:09] That which brings you glory, that which brings you success, that which brings you comfort, [18:16] that which brings you leisure, that which does not clearly point to the gospel of Jesus Christ [18:24] is not engaging God in worship. It’s not his vision of being fruitful and multiply.

[18:33] He tells us to not hide from the world but he also tells us to not blend in with the world. [18:39] Do not gauge your success by that which everyone else gauges their success by. We gauge our success [18:46] by that which brings God glory through the gospel of Jesus Christ. That which points to him, that [18:51] which proclaims his good news, that which takes the gospel to the lost of the world, that which [18:55] reaches the unreached, that which points clearly to him. So for us to just blend into the world [19:02] around us that’s not necessarily giving him glory for everything, it’s not his mandate, that’s not

[19:09] fruit, that’s not multiplication. And you say how do you know that? Oh track with me, remember I [19:14] said give me 45 minutes. All right, number two this morning, God redeems for the work of building [19:20] a fruitful faith. God redeems for the work of building a fruitful faith. Look in verse two, [19:28] the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every [19:33] bird of the heavens. Upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea into that, [19:38] excuse me, into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for

[19:43] you and as I give you the green plants I give you everything. Sorry vegetarians, but you shall [19:49] not eat flesh with its life, that is its blood. That means you know be careful with that rare steak, [19:55] cook it a little bit, just a little bit though because when you cook it too much, well done, [19:59] what are you doing? What are you doing? Medium rare tops, you’ll thank me. And for your life [20:08] blood I will require a reckoning. From every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow [20:14] man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man by man shall

[20:18] his blood be shed. For God made man in his own image and you be fruitful and multiply, team on [20:27] the earth and multiply in it. Okay, there’s a couple things in there that’s pretty obvious [20:32] I don’t feel like I need to cover, but what I want you to see here is clearly there are book ends [20:38] right here. Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth. Be fruitful and multiply, team on the earth [20:46] and multiply in it. So we’ve got this great book end of everything that we are to be about [20:52] while we’re surviving. While we’re eating, while we’re planting, while we’re working,

[20:59] while we’re not killing one another, we are being fruitful and we are multiply and that is what is [21:07] going to drive not only our survival but more than that our thriving in this world. Everything [21:15] you’re going to do apart from the gospel of Jesus Christ is just you surviving. Everything that you [21:25] will do for the gospel of Jesus Christ, everything that you will do as you are being fruitful and [21:31] multiplying, everything that you are doing as you are worshiping God, everything that you will do [21:36] as you are filling this world from coast to coast, from sea to shining sea and then further beyond

[21:43] that is going to be you thriving because it is what you were designed to live for. Look in [21:52] Ephesians chapter 5 with me. Ephesians 5 starting in verse 8. For at one time you were darkness. [22:00] There was a time when Noah is outside of God’s favor but then there’s a time where he’s inside [22:05] of God’s favor. But now you are light in the world. It was like really easy for Noah to see [22:12] that because he’s all that’s left. But what God is doing through us is greater than what he’s done [22:19] through Noah because he is shining his light through more of a remnant than one family. We are one

[22:27] family in Jesus Christ but we are multiplied more so over through the better offering that is Jesus. [22:36] And he says walk as children of light. And here’s where the parallel with fruitfulness and the [22:42] for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true and try to discern what [22:49] is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful work of darkness but instead expose them. [22:57] Now what I want you to understand is that in Paul’s writings, this is in my notes be careful, [23:04] this in Paul’s writings sometimes he gets a little facetious with people.

[23:08] When you get to chapter five he’s unpacked a whole lot in the book of Ephesians. If you were with us [23:13] last year when we went through that you know that’s true. But notice when he says try to [23:17] discern what is pleasing to the Lord. That is a word play. He’s reckoning back to chapter one [23:22] where he says the mystery of God’s will has been made clear through Jesus Christ. And so when he [23:30] says try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord, what he’s saying is don’t mess around you know [23:37] what I’m talking about. You know what it looks like to not walk in darkness. You know what it

[23:43] looks like to walk as the children of light. You know what fruit God is going for because it just [23:48] unpacked that in Jesus he’s made every mystery that his will has ever had clearly abundant to [23:55] you and then he spent chapters two, chapter three, and chapter four telling them you exist to build [24:01] and be the church of Jesus Christ. So when he gets to chapter five

[24:09] they know what they’re supposed to do and that’s what he’s saying there.

[24:14] Then he says take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness but instead expose them. [24:24] That is a dangerous text. He’s saying do not fall for the lies everyone else has fallen for. [24:34] Do not look at yourself as just another person on this earth. Don’t take part in the foolish [24:43] time wasters that the rest of this world falls into. Later on in chapter five he says awake oh

[24:51] sleeper. He says wake up. Live for my glory.

[24:59] We are to build a new culture of fruitfulness. I look out among you guys and man there are some [25:07] talented people in this church. You are fruitful. You’re fruitful. But the question that we must ask [25:17] ourselves in every day of producing the fruit that God’s image and his glory in us just naturally [25:23] does when we put our hand to the plow things happen. We produce things. The question we must [25:30] deal with and the question I have to deal with the question every one of us has to deal with [25:33] is the fruit that I am producing with my life a fruit for God?

[25:42] Is it going to outlive me number one and is it going to outlive this world number two? [25:53] We have to deal with that in our lives. What do we define as fruit? What do we define as good [26:01] things to produce with our lives and how do they gel with the cross? How do they gel with the resurrected life? [26:13] How does my definition of a fruitful life compare to God’s definition of a fruitful life?

[26:20] We need to build on a hopeful obedience to God. Look in Ephesians chapter five just back up a few verses [26:27] because we get confused sometimes but what I want you to note is that when Noah offered an offering [26:32] what does this text say in verse 20? It says it was a pleasing aroma to God and it pleased him so [26:39] much so that he looks to the earth and he says this is a culture of repentance. This is what I want to [26:45] build on. I’ll no longer destroy the world but I want to build on this.

[26:52] We want to live lives of pleasing aromas to God. We want to give offerings of pleasing aromas. [26:57] Look in chapter five verses one and two of Ephesians five. [27:00] Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children. [27:03] Walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. What? A fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. [27:15] A fragrant offering. So that tells me that the cross of Jesus Christ is that pleasing aroma to God. [27:23] But then look in 2 Corinthians chapter two verses 14 and 15 and I’m moving baby.

[27:29] But thanks be to God who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. [27:38] For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

[27:49] So God makes this clear mandate in the book of Genesis chapter eight verse 20. [27:54] He says that he desires offerings and he desires sacrifices that will be a pleasing aroma to him. [28:02] That will please him. That will give him glory. [28:05] And then he makes clear in the New Testament that the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate offering, [28:12] that which pleases him above everything else is the finished work of what Jesus has done in the cross. [28:21] And so throughout the rest of the New Testament what we see is God unpacking that you now through faith

[28:29] by trusting in Jesus you have that pleasing aroma coming off of you as you walk in following him.

[28:41] You know what that tells me? You are not created to build your own path. [28:47] You are not created to be the trailblazer. [28:50] You are not created to be anything more or anything less than a person who is being led [29:01] and following and finding his purpose in what Jesus has done and in what Jesus is doing. [29:09] That he is our commander. He is by the words of scripture the king of kings and lord of lords. [29:17] And when we get off of his path we are committing treasonous mutiny against our God.

[29:28] You are created for a purpose friend and it is not debatable.

[29:34] That if you want to please God the only path to do that in this culture, in this society, in any culture in society [29:44] is to passionately fall at the feet of Jesus Christ and say whatever you wish God. [29:50] Wherever you send, wherever you go I will follow. [29:58] You will not lead. You will follow. [30:04] And it is not an unfruitful dictatorship with no love. [30:10] Because we have a king that plunged himself into the greatest depths of suffering that anyone has ever known.

[30:16] And why did he do it? Because our offering was ultimately not eternal. [30:22] Our sacrifice was ultimately not sufficient. [30:25] And God in his great wisdom, in his great power, in his great glory he says the only sufficient offering is from me and I will give it. [30:38] And when you look at a king that will die for you, you look at a king that is worthy of your allegiance.

[30:49] The redemption that God gives us is what we are to live in light of. [30:56] In Ephesians 2 10 we have just come out on the other side of redemption just as Noah comes out on the other side of redemption.

[31:04] And he says we are the workmanship of God created in Christ Jesus to walk in the works that God has prepared beforehand for us to live in. [31:15] Do you ever consider that? That when Noah comes out of the ark everything he does is in light of the redemption that he has experienced. [31:25] Friend when you come into faith and favor through Jesus Christ you are coming into a life where you are walking in light of the redemption that you have experienced in Jesus Christ. [31:38] You are not earning. It has been done. You are redeemed. [31:43] No success you have in life is going to get you any more favor from God and no failure in your life is going to get you any less favor. [31:50] Because it is all about Jesus and it is all in Jesus.

[31:53] But what you are doing is living in light of the love and promise that God has given that there is coming a future kingdom where there will be no sin. [32:03] Where he will refine this world. He won’t flood it. Next time he is going to burn it. [32:07] That is a little more permanent. It leaves a little more of a mark. [32:12] And he says in Jesus what I am doing is I am going to refine the world because even then I am not done with it. Even then I am just going to make it better for you. [32:22] And Jesus is the ark of God’s promise to take us there. [32:26] Now finally this morning I want you to understand that God redeems for the purpose of multiplying the fruit of his salvation all over the world.

[32:37] Look in verse 8 of Genesis 9.

[33:13] Note this for all future generations. [33:16] So remember the covenant there is one that is to spread. Is one that is to go. Is one that is to cover the entire world. [33:24] And that phrase is very important to understand that.

[33:57] So now from then the rainbow is a sign of the covenant of God. [34:04] It does your heart pretty well that in moments when you see a rainbow understand that God says he is looking to that rainbow and remembering his covenant. [34:13] God is active in this world. And those are great moments where you need to be saturated with God’s word to consider God. [34:20] Romans chapter 1 says that when we look at the world around us it stands as a general revelation of what God has done. [34:25] What God is doing and how God intends to work in this world. [34:29] And so the rainbow is a sign that God has made for us.

[34:32] But what I want you to grasp here is that in this work that as God desires to build himself a culture of worship we have to constantly live in remembrance as God lives in remembrance. [34:49] Remember we are to according to Ephesians 5 verse 1 be imitators of God. [34:53] We are also to remember the covenant that God has established with us so that we will walk forward in remembering what God desires for us to do with our lives. [35:03] Those who experience God’s power to save must then live in light of it. [35:09] When we see in verse 12 that this covenant is for future generations just as much as it was for Noah. [35:14] Understand that he is making with Noah an eternal covenant that has not ended.

[35:19] An eternal covenant that will go on forever. [35:21] It is a covenant that lives for us that we are to team the earth with the glory of God and ultimately we see that God takes control of all covenants and in the personal work of Jesus Christ. [35:32] Every covenant he has ever made finds its yes in him according to 1 Corinthians. [35:37] That we live as those dependent on Jesus. [35:41] But what happens in our lives and what we must not allow is that we will hear a good sermon or sometimes a mediocre sermon. [35:51] Sometimes a really bad sermon that was like one sentence we are hanging on to from it.

[35:55] If he had just built everything else in that one sentence I know it happens. [35:58] I walk off stage I know what I said. [36:00] Here is the reality. [36:01] Sometimes we will be in the word. [36:02] We will be having our quiet time and something will jump out at us and we will be like this is what I am to live in light of. [36:09] I am going as these old preachers would say I am going to charge hell with a squirt gun.

[36:13] I am excited. [36:14] I am fired up about what God is doing in my life. [36:18] Then Sports Center comes on. [36:21] Doesn’t it? [36:23] You have an argument with one of your kids. [36:25] You are on the outs with your spouse or with another family member.

[36:30] You have to go to work and it is just not a good day and you go home and you have zero recollection of what happened. [36:36] That fire is gone. [36:38] That memory of the mission of Jesus is out. [36:41] Here is what I want to do. [36:43] I want to end this morning with four steps. [36:46] You are like four steps?

[36:48] Steve never does that. [36:49] I know I probably should more often. [36:51] It is just not how my brain works. [36:53] When we were coming together as a team in Planting Village Church. [36:59] We came up with four reminders. [37:03] For us to constantly hold on to the passion and constantly hold forward our purpose for starting a church.

[37:11] These four steps, these four things are charges for you to live the mission of teaming the earth with the glory of God. [37:21] Number one. [37:22] Remember the mission. [37:24] Remember the mission.

[37:28] You are going to have what some people call spiritual bulimia. [37:33] You are going to get filled up and then you are going to walk to your car and just puke it out. [37:37] It happens. [37:38] T.J. Afrades is calling. [37:42] We forget. [37:43] But put yourself into environments where you are constantly remembering the mission of Jesus Christ.

[37:52] He came to seek and to save that which was lost. [37:56] And guess what? [37:57] We live for that now. [37:59] Walk in the light of his glory. [38:01] Saturate yourself with God’s word. [38:03] Put yourself into community where mission is at the forefront for us to live our lives.

[38:09] Remember, remember the mission. [38:12] Paul constantly ends his letters. [38:14] I have written to you by way of reminder.

[38:19] Do not go out into this world without having reminders of the mission of Jesus in your life. [38:26] That is what he has done and what he has called you to do. [38:31] Second. [38:33] Live differently. [38:34] Ephesians chapter 2 tells us that we are not like the rest of mankind. [38:39] But we were at one time.

[38:41] But that means we were children reserved for the wrath of God. [38:43] But now we have been brought through redemption. [38:47] We have been brought over into the other side. [38:49] Now we live with reminders. [38:51] Now we live as people who have his redemption. [38:55] People under his covenant.

[38:57] And guess what? [38:57] That is going to call you to a different lifestyle. [39:01] It is about motivation. [39:04] God has been specific in the Bible as to how differently you are supposed to live. [39:09] It does not mean you are just some weirdo for the sake of being a weirdo. [39:12] It means you are living in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[39:15] As those who do not have the gospel will not live. [39:19] It is about motivation. [39:21] You raise children. [39:22] Go to work. [39:23] Love your wife. [39:24] Because of and for the gospel to go to the whole world.

[39:31] You must redefine what fruit looks like in your life. [39:36] Live differently. [39:38] It is about motivation. [39:39] And whatever is motivating you will change the choices that you make. [39:45] It will. [39:46] It will change how you spend your money.

[39:48] It will change how you view your job. [39:51] It will change how you view leisure. [39:54] It will change why you love your children. [39:57] Why you love your wife. [39:58] Why you love your husband. [39:59] Why you do everything that you do.

[40:01] Because you are remembering the mission. [40:03] You are saying I live in my household as a man who is on mission with Jesus to see my family live redeemed. [40:12] It changes what I raise my son for. [40:14] Friends I am not raising my son for the purpose of becoming a scholar. [40:19] I am not raising my son so that he will be the best athlete in the world. [40:23] I am not raising my son so that he will be just Mr. Macho Machismo.

[40:28] I am raising my son to be on mission with Jesus. [40:33] That is why I am raising my son. [40:35] That is why I am raising my daughter. [40:36] That is why I love my wife. [40:38] I love them and live for them. [40:40] For the gospel.

[40:41] And everything else has got to be sacrificed. [40:43] Everything else has got to be put off. [40:45] Everything else has got to be put on hold. [40:47] Stop wasting your time with your families. [40:51] And redeem it. [40:53] For Jesus Christ.

[40:54] Live differently.

[40:56] Thirdly, every person matters. [41:00] Your relationships must have an agenda. [41:04] God puts one on them. [41:06] He says make disciples. [41:08] He didn’t get more specific than that. [41:10] So that means every guy I meet, I guess he is supposed to be a disciple that I make.

[41:17] Look at people that way. [41:19] Enter into relationships. [41:20] The ones you have already got. [41:22] But then guess what? [41:23] Push forward. Make some more. [41:26] Don’t let the ones you got hold you back from the disciples Jesus wants you to make.

[41:31] Live differently. [41:32] Every person matters. [41:35] Don’t allow any person or circumstance hinder you from living the mission of Jesus. [41:41] Don’t let them hinder you from making disciples. [41:44] Push forward. Every person matters. [41:47] Fourthly, move with God.

[41:51] Moving with God is not you doing whatever you want to and turning to say thanks to him for all he’s given you. [41:58] It is moving in the direction of his mission. [42:01] And living for the purposes that he has laid out in scripture. [42:06] If you want to talk about being fruitful and multiply. [42:08] Romans chapter 8 verse 28 and 29. [42:12] I may have done a typo in the notes here.

[42:14] Verse 28 and 29 tell us this. [42:16] In verse 28 it says everything is going to work for the good to God for those who love him to those who are called according to his purpose. [42:22] Then in verse 29 it says that those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to what? [42:26] The image of his son. [42:27] But look at the second thing. [42:29] In order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

[42:36] Firstborn. [42:36] Look in Colossians chapter 1 verse 18 through 20. [42:40] And he is the head of the body of the church Jesus is. [42:42] He is the beginning the firstborn from the dead that in everything he might be preeminent for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. [42:51] And through him to reconcile to himself all things whether on earth or in heaven making peace by the blood of the cross.

[43:01] I want you to hone in on one term in those two texts. [43:06] Firstborn. [43:08] That brings with it a presupposition that there is to be a second a third a fourth a fifth and on and on and on. [43:17] There is a parallel between the Old Testament use of being fruitful and multiply in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[43:26] He is to be the first and then he says go be fruitful and multiply. [43:33] I want a big family because I got a big house.

[43:38] Friends we are to move with him. [43:40] God is on mission. [43:42] He wants to go to the ends of the earth and we are to join him on that mission. [43:48] We are to find joy in that mission. [43:51] We are to look for glory in that mission. [43:53] We are to look for our happiness in that mission.

[43:55] We are to look for everything in light of the great redemption that we have in Jesus Christ. [44:01] He is not complacent. [44:03] He is not docile. [44:04] He is not sitting still. [44:06] He is moving and we are called to join him. [44:10] Remember these steps.

[44:12] When we keep them at the forefront we can see real specific change in our lives and be used by God in the lives of others. [44:22] And there is nothing better. [44:25] There is nothing better than one person giving glory to God and then there is two and then there is three and then there is four. [44:31] There is nothing better than the multiplication that God has defined and designed through the gospel of Jesus. [44:39] Take your joy in it. [44:41] Find your peace in that.

[44:46] Don’t try to find it in anywhere else. [44:49] Because it is not God’s glory in that point. [44:52] As the band comes up I want us to take a moment. [44:57] That was a lot. I know. [44:59] I want us to take a moment just to sit back.

[45:04] Everything Noah did was in light of what God had done. [45:11] I hope you see that in the story. [45:13] That when God redeemed him he took him, brought him through and said now live because you got the power of what I just did. [45:23] I think that changed Noah. [45:25] Probably changed his perspective.

[45:28] Look at what God has done for you in Jesus.

[45:34] Look at the spiritual blessings that he has given you. [45:37] Now friends look at the life he wants you to live in light of that.

[45:43] And here is the picture that we have through communion. [45:46] The cup has shed blood. [45:48] The bread has broken body. [45:51] When we eat and drink it is the picture that you have. [45:56] Have the life of the first born of the dead in you. [46:03] And that is the life that as I heard this week will energize dead flesh.

[46:12] His life is for you. [46:14] If you don’t know him this morning you need him. [46:19] You know you need him. [46:21] Today can be the day of salvation for you. [46:24] And we can baptize you on Easter Sunday.

[46:29] You can have communion with God for the first time today if you will just trust him. [46:34] If you will just trust his finished work and then you can live in light of it the rest of your days.

[46:39] If you are a follower of Jesus if you know him I want you to do something this morning. [46:43] I want you to dedicate your life this morning. [46:44] I want you to come forward and say Jesus I need your life. [46:47] I want your life every day. [46:48] I want you to help me to live walking in triumphal procession with Jesus.

[46:57] And may this morning be a day you can look back and say that was the day that I remembered the mission.

[47:08] When you are ready come.