November 17, 2024
Sermon Part 5: “Lessons From the Tent of Noah: Don’t Let Satan Sift You Like Wheat!”
THIS MESSAGE IS RATED “R.” ONLY THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD SHOULD READ IT. PARENTAL GUIDANCE IS SUGGESTED IF UNDER THE AGE OF 17. THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD KNOW THEY ARE NOT WHAT THEY USE TO BE, THEY ARE WHO GOD MADE THEM TO BE.
Whatever sin we choose to practice in the “secrecy” of our tent (brain), will eventually come to light. Satan only hopes that we will continue in the sin so he can steal from us the most Precious Gift of the New Covenant we have with God and destroy our blessed lives on earth.
Happy Sunday Saints, Let’s Apply the Word of God to Our Hearts Today!
Introduction
As we move toward the close of this Sermon Series entitled, “The Story of Noah: You’re Gonna Love It,” it behooves us to spend the time wisely by doing some “preventive maintenance” on our thought-life. If you have missed any of the Sermons in the Series, I encourage you to go back and read them on our website: exousiaministries.net.
As stated last week, our born-again hearts (spirit, soul, and mind of the soul) have been made “perfect” by God in Jesus Christ, and Satan and sin have no access to it. (Heb.10:12-17) The heart of a born-again Christian cannot conceive sin, nor produce it. Glory be to God! (I John 3:9 & Rom. 8:1-3) While Satan does not have access to our hearts, he does have access to our brains, in which he continually attempts to bombard us with evil thoughts and imaginations that seek to exalt themselves above the knowledge of God. (II Cor. 10:5) If we choose to harbor evil thoughts in our brains (tents), eventually we will commit sin, and even practice it. When we commit sin, Satan sits right on our shoulders and reminds us that we have sinned, and how bad and unworthy we are of God’s Love, Fellowship, Work, and Blessings. Satan is the master of transmitting thoughts of guilt, shame, and condemnation when we miss the mark and sin. (Rev.12:10) And, I tell you Saints of God, there is no born-again Christian that is absolved from this assault.
The truth is, many Christians “dangerously” allow Satan to occupy their brains and play house-made to evil thoughts towards God, His Word, and/or other people. Thoughts, called strongholds that they refuse to relinquish. At this time, some of you in this Church Service on Zoom, or hearing an audio recording, or reading this Sermon online are suffering from demon harassment and oppression in your thought-life, and need to be set free by blood of Jesus Christ and the Word of God.
Yes, this Sermon and the one next week are rated “R;” it’s exclusively for God’s Redeemed people. Those who are true worshipers of God, not willing to continue to hide sin in their tents (brains). But are willing and ready to be chastened by the Lord, which leads to change and true Holiness with God. Saints who are ready to get off the fence of hypocrisy and mediocrity and live with a pure conscience that they are living a holy life before God.
The human brain is the “control tower,” where all final decisions are made on what we believe, think on, speak about, take actions, and choose to commit to memory.
As I said before, if we as born-again Christians elect to think on evil things, then the result will be that we will commit sin. All sin, has “negative consequences” that can diminish the quality of life we enjoy on earth, and even destroy our lives, and the lives of others. (Rom. 6:23) Jesus Christ came that we might have life to the full, until it overflows with abundance. (John 10:10) Jesus, did not come and shed his precious blood at Calvary, so we can live by “greasy grace,” sinning at will, and suffering the consequences in our human experience. This grieves the Holy Ghost. God forbid! (Rom.6:1-2) With Christ, we are to reign in life, having dominion over sin, and helping one another over- come sin through the confession of faults and fervent prayer. (James 5:16)
Do not be deceived Saints, sin is a “seed,” and when sown, it will bring a greater harvest of sin into your life. The Apostle Paul wrote at Galatians 6:7-9:
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Thus, we find Paul’s writing to be consistent with the Tenant of the Everlasting Covenant God made with Noah and Mankind that, “while the earth remaineth seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” (Gen. 8:22)
As we will see in our Lesson today, after the Flood, Noah sowed the sin-seed of drunkenness into his flesh, and reaped a harvest of corruption that he had to endure throughout his life on earth. Noah reaped the wicked actions of his youngest son Ham who uncovered him in his tent, which thereafter resulted in Noah cursing Canaan (Ham’s son) and his descendants with “servanthood” (slavery) to the descendants of Noah’s other sons, Shem and Japheth. (Gen. 9:20-27) By the grace of God, Noah was buoyed by the loving actions of Shem and Japheth who took a garment and walked backwards, turning their faces the other way, and covered their father’s nakedness.
But most important in this dreadful episode in Noah’s life, and this seemingly has gone unnoticed in most Christian Circles, Noah’s drunkenness caused him involuntarily to forfeit God’s Greatest Commandment/Promise made to him; impacting generations that should have come through his personal blood-line. More on this will follow.
Satan is the author of confusion. This means, he creates nothing, but only turns “Truth” into lies and wickedness. Satan is what Jesus Christ said about him: Satan was a “murderer from the beginning,” “there is no truth in him,” and he is the “father of lies.” (John 8:44) Satan is a homicidal serial killer of relationships between God and Mankind, destroyer of good things, and a habitual liar who sires liars. While Satan’s evil schemes may vary, he comes with a single-mission. That is, to attempt to block and separate Mankind from the Covenant Promises of God.
What Every Born-Again Christian Must Know About Satan
This fundamental Truth about Satan every born-again Christian must know of, and diligently watch and pray that we enter not into temptation. For we are never to give Satan an advantage over us, by remaining ignorant to his devices. (II Cor. 2:11) Saints, I beg you to never forget this:
Whomever God has blessed and made Covenant with becomes the bulls-eye target of Satan’s attacks.
Satan sets out to sift like wheat those who have been blessed of God, as he is the cunning deceiver of the hearts of men. For example, this surely was the case of Adam having been blessed by God and given the Covenant Commandment and Promise to be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth. Adam was given authority and dominion over the earth. (Gen.1:28) In Covenant with God, Adam received the Commandment not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for the day in which he did, he would surely perish. (Gen. 2:16-17) Every other tree in the Garden of Eden, Adam and his wife Eve, were free to eat of.
Thereafter, Satan beguiled Eve, Adam with her, and enticed the couple to eat from the forbidden tree, and they did eat of it. As a result: Satan gained entry into their hearts, they lost the Garden of Eden, as well as their authority and dominion over all the earth to Satan. (Gen. 3:4-24). You see Adam’s sin resulted in him loosing God’s most precious Promise of “ruler-ship” over the earth. Satan’s mission was to steal, kill, and destroy what Adam was blessed with “authority and dominion” over the earth.
Satan sifted Adam and Eve like wheat by posing the question, “hath God said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” Satan tempting the first couple to doubt God’s Love and Providential Care for them, so they would take actions “independent” and “opposite” of God’s Commands. This would ignite the spirit of rebellion in them, and move them away from fellowship and worship of God. To make God the enemy, and Satan their constant companion.
Also, consider Jesus Christ, as Satan unsuccessfully tried to steal from Him, the “Covenant of Son-ship with God the Father.” (Luke 3:21-22) After Jesus’ baptism in the River Jordan by John the Baptist, the Holy Ghost descended on Jesus as a dove, and a Voice came from Heaven announcing “this is my beloved son in whom I am will pleased.”
In that blessed Moment, God was affirming His Covenant Relationship with Jesus; that God is the Father of Jesus Christ, and Jesus is the Christ, Son of the Living God. God in Christ are One! As the Son of God, Jesus only walked in footsteps ordered by His Father God. He only said what He heard God say, and did only what He saw God the Father doing. (John 5:19 & 12:49) The Covenant Relationship between God and Jesus put the whole-world, Satan, and every demonic force in the kingdom of darkness on notice that God the Father was the only Source, Supplier, Provider, Protector, and Sustainer of Jesus’ Life.
Thereafter, Jesus, being driven by the Holy Ghost into the wilderness, fasted 40-days, and afterwards He hungered. Saints, do you recall what happened next? Satan came tempting Jesus saying, “If you be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.” (Luke 4:1-3)
Satan’s goal in tempting Jesus in His Covenant Relationship with God was to entice him to disobey God, to sin against God; which would have disqualified Him to be the “Savior of the world!” (John 3:16) The devil also tried other ways to sift Jesus like wheat; all intended to dismantle and dissolve His Relationship with God the Father. All-encompassing; the lust that is in the world: the lust of flesh, lust of the eye, and the pride of life. But every time Jesus resisted the temptation with the Word of God, and the devil left Him for a season. (Luke 3:21-22, 4:1-13)
Throughout Jesus’ Ministry on earth as the Son of Man, Satan used the Jews (for whom He was sent to save) in an attempt to taunt, entrap, and mock His Covenant Relationship as the Son of God, yes, even all the way to the cross! While suffering on the cross, they chided and derailed Jesus saying, “…If you be the Son of God come down off of the cross.” (Matt. 27:39-44)
But, praise God, Jesus walked perfectly in His obedience to God the Father. At Philippians 2:5-11, the Apostle Paul described the Father and Son Covenant Relationship this way, and noted we should adopt the same mentality in our tents (brains/thought-life). Paul wrote:
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Come on Saints, (in advance of next week’s Lesson) let’s take advantage of this Passage of Scripture right now, and purge and purify our tents (brains/thought-life), and decree the following:
“Through Jesus Christ, God has made me equal with Himself. I willingly humble myself in God’s sight, and take on the form of a servant (minster) of God, to obey God the Father in all things, even unto death. So that when I use the name of Jesus Christ, in obedience to the Word of God, every thing named in heaven and on earth shall obey the Lord and bow down and submit itself to the original Purpose for which God created it, to the glory of God the Father.” Amen.
Now, let’s turn to the Noahic Covenant. Like Adam, Noah, allowed Satan to sift him like wheat, and he stole the central Tenant of the Noahic Covenant Command and Promise God made with him.
The Attack of Satan on Noah with Drunkenness Stole a Precious Covenant Promise from Him
Satan comes to steal, and to kill, and to destroy because He hates God, and as I noted, especially those who enter into “Covenant” Relationship with Him. Satan knows that in every Covenant God makes, He keeps; and sets a benediction of prosperity on the recipient of the Covenant, called the “blessing.” The blessing causes “everything” in a person’s life to push forward, to prosper, and have good success. (Prov.10:22) That, no matter what trial or tribulation might come by way of the adversary; God’s great Love, Mercy, Grace and Justice will prevail and give the victory for the person blessed of God.
Please remember Saints, Satan comes to steal the very Promise of whatever a man is blessed with. Come on and say it with me now: “Satan comes to steal, and to kill, and to destroy the “thing” God has blessed a man with.” Satan’s fondest desire is to tear our relationship with God into pieces. To sift our relationship with God like wheat, little by little, or as quickly as we allow him to. This may be hard to take Saints, but let us look again closely at the central Tenant of the Covenant God made with Noah and his three sons after the Flood. Thereafter, Satan went to work to sift Noah as wheat.
At Genesis 9:1, we see that God made a Covenant with Noah and his three sons, essentially the same Covenant that he had made with Adam (Gen.1:28). Genesis 9:1 states:
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
God restated the Covenant Command at Genesis 9:7-9, saying:
7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
8 And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
As we consider these Passages of Scripture, I know this question may sound elementary, but let me ask it any way. Didn’t God specifically Bless and Command “Noah” to be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish earth? (Verses 1, 8-9) God pronounced the “Blessing” on Noah and his three sons, God gave the same “Commandment” to Noah and his three sons to procreate, and in the Spirit revealed to Noah and his three sons the fulfillment of the Promise of their seed being multiplied throughout the earth in their respective generations. In making the Covenant, God ordered every male, starting with Noah, to procreate.
Yet, there is no record in the Bible of Noah and his wife having given birth to more children after the Flood. Noah had only three sons Shem, Japheth, and Ham; which he had at age 500 before the Flood. (Gen. 5:32) After the Flood and Covenant God made with Noah, he lived another 350-years to the good old age of 950. But, Noah did not reap a harvest from the Covenant Commandment to procreate. God expected Noah and his wife to have many more children in fulfillment of His Promise to be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth.
The Bible does not specifically tell us the reason why Noah had no more children after the Flood. But, let me ask this, would God give Noah a Commandment and Promise of procreation, and not also give him the ability to have children? God is not a man that He should lie, nor the son of man that he should repent. He does not author confusion and His Commandments are not grievous. (Num. 23:19, I Cor. 14:33, & I John 5:3)
Something is amiss here! With the exception of Jesus Christ, in my humble estimation, in the history of Mankind there is no person recorded in the Bible that walked more faithfully and circumspectly before God in a time of worldwide sin, than Noah. For 120-years, being mocked and ridiculed of all the people, Noah and his sons built the Ark precisely as God had told him to do. (Gen. 6:22) Noah was so faithful to God, that even after the Flood, having been in the Ark for over one-year, he saw that the land before him was dry. But, faithful Noah waited on God to tell him when to disembark from the Ark with his family, and the animals for dry land. (Gen. 8:16-19) Noah’s first act on the new earth was to sacrifice liberally of the clean animals on an altar he made to honor God. Noah loved God! (Gen. 8:20-21)
So, why would Noah choose not to obey God’s Covenant Command to procreate for the remaining 350-years of his life? The answer is because on the day Noah got drunk with wine in his tent and passed out, his youngest son Ham, (his son Canaan with him) came into the tent, uncovered Noah, and most likely sexually abused Noah. (Gen. 9:23-24, Lev.18:7) Immoral acts, such as sodomy, rape, or intentional castration are among the despicable sex acts that some Bible Scholars have posited and debated may have sadly been done to Noah by Ham.
I concur with experts who contend that Ham “intentionally castrated” his father Noah. While it’s entirely conceivable that he may also have been victimized by rape or sodomized, only intentional castration would render Noah incapable of obeying God’s Covenant Commandment and Promise of procreation.
While we do not know the reason why Ham chose to do this vile and reprehensible act to his father, we know from the evil imaginations of his heart, that when Ham uncovered Noah, he “saw” Noah’s nakedness. (Gen. 9:23) Meaning, when Ham saw Noah’s nakedness, he thought and sought to do even more evil to Noah than uncovering him. Satan had gained an advantage in Ham’s life, and used him to commit this gross violence against Noah. Then, Ham used by Satan, the Father of lies, went outside of the tent and told his brothers of Noah’s calamity.
Attempting to make his brothers think, that Noah, in his drunkenness, had done this great harm to himself. To make them think that the Holy Prophet of God, Noah, in his own drunken stupor had turned away from God and broken Covenant Relationship with Him. Ham’s evil actions made Noah a “slave” to infertility, robbed him of his masculinity, ruined his marital relations, and killed-off future generations that were to proceed from Noah’s loins.
In this context, please understand Saints, that when Noah’s sons Shem and Japheth were told by Ham of the incident, they did not take the actions of picking up the garment and walking backwards, with their faces turned the other way for merely the shame of their father being drunk, passed out, and unclothed in his tent. No way! It is far more likely that the sons carried the garment backwards to cover Noah, because they could not bear to see the horror of their dad’s gentiles laid-damaged or removed. Grievously, their father had been made a eunuch by Ham.
Before the Flood, Noah and his sons had been exposed to every kind of sin and debauchery known to Mankind, as the earth was filled with violence and every person had corrupted their own way. (Gen. 6:11-12) If Noah had only fallen drunk, unclothed himself, and passed out (as some in Christian Circles have supposed) his sons would not have been so ashamed of him that they could not bear seeing their father’s unclad body. Loving their father as they did, more logically, Shem and Japheth would have immediately gotten the garment and walked right into the tent, covered Noah with it, and helped their father dress himself.
Moreover, Noah’s disciplining/cursing of Canaan, and omission of the blessing on Ham, would not seem to fit the crime, of Ham merely telling the brothers what Noah had done to himself: Of getting drunk, taking his clothes off, and passing out. Really? Surely, Noah being a just man would not have pronounced a generational curse on Canaan for that cause.
Jesus Christ talked about eunuchs in the context of whether it is good to marry in Matthew 19:12. He identified three types of eunuchs, in which Noah would have been the second type. Jesus said:
For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.
Sadly, Ham made Noah a eunuch robbing him of the fruitfulness of his physical body for life. When Noah woke up from his drunkenness and cursed Canaan, notice what Noah cursed Canaan and his descendants with, “servanthood” (slavery). (Gen. 9:25-27) Canaan and his descendants would forever be social outcasts; disinherited from the family of Noah. Noah had to live out his years on earth enslaved to infertility. While Canaan and his descendants would live out their days as servants to Shem and Japheth and their respective descendants.
In Noah being castrated, one might wonder why neither he, nor his sons, took action to kill Ham. However, God’s Covenant with Noah and his sons specified that they were not to shed another man’s blood, as it would result in their own death, “for in the image of God made he man.” (Gen. 9:6) Thus, Noah and his sons kept this Tenant of the Covenant with God.
From True Worshipper, to Wine Maker and Drinker, Noah Was Sifted As Wheat
As we look at this tragic story, we ask how could Noah have gone from, the man who walked with/in God, faithful in all his ways; to a man who was found drunken with wine, passed out, and sexually assaulted in his tent by his son? The answer can be gleaned from Genesis 9:19-21. It reads as follows:
18 And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.
19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.
20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
After God made the Everlasting Covenant with Noah and his three sons, they looked out and saw the whole earth before them. (Gen.9:19)
As the heirs of the new world it was their responsibility to be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth as God had Commanded. Theirs’ was the responsibility to establish and grow civilization again in the earth. Not by themselves, but with the “blessing” of God working on their lives under God’s Providential Care and Favor.
From Satan’s perspective, however, there was no greater person to attack with evil than Noah. Noah being the one who was responsible for building the Ark and escaping death with his family and the animals, while every other living human being and thing in the earth was destroyed. Noah was specifically named in God’s new Covenant with mankind. Surely, every demon in hell, including Satan himself were bombarding Noah’s thought-life daily with doubts and fears of procreating; reestablishing civilization; building an economy; surviving the great beasts of the earth; as well as how they would have their needs met for food, water, shelter, and clothing. Yes, the temptations had to be great upon Noah and the family to “trust” in themselves, to feel the need to take “care” of themselves, and to lean on their own human instincts and knowledge, and go their own way.
Such was the case with Noah. He lost his focus on God, and vigilance against the whiles of Satan, who gained an advantage and sifted him like wheat. Here is where Noah’s focus shifted from being a true worshiper of God, to wine maker, and consumer in excess. We can see it Genesis 9:20-21. It reads as follows:
And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
Noah began to be “an husbandman” (a Tiller, Farmer). While on the surface there would seem to be nothing wrong with Noah becoming a farmer, indeed it is a noble profession. It would seem to make sense that Noah would go into farming, given that within the Everlasting Covenant, God had proclaimed to Noah and his sons, that “while the earth remained there would be “seed-time and harvest…” (Gen.8:22)
However, Genesis 9:20 is clear to say that “Noah began to be an husbandman.” God did not tell Noah to become a farmer, nor did he tell him to plant a vineyard. The earth had been blessed to grow seed planted, but that didn’t mean Noah was called by God to be a farmer. Jerimiah 10:23 says, “O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.”
Saints, here is a Lesson for us: Not everything that is good to do, is what God has called you to do. So, if God didn’t tell you to do it, DON’T DO IT! (Rom. 8:14)
Sometimes we can set-out to do things that by all appearances look wholesome and good, but there are hidden dangers lurking in the work itself, or there are evil motives that lie within our tents (brains) of misusing a thing that God wants us to stay away from.
Noah saw the land, and of his own volition, independent from God, he chose to become a farmer; he chose to plant a vineyard. Noah was interested in doing what pleased him, the way it pleased him, for as long as it pleased him. He was being sifted like wheat and didn’t realize it. Without question, God had a work in mind for Noah to do in the new world he was made the heir of. But, Noah didn’t wait on God to find out what it was.
For God would never tell his creation to be “fruitful” and not also reveal his divine gift to maximize the blessing placed on his life. For the blessing of the Lord makes rich and adds no sorrow with it. (Prov. 10:22) Just as God took Adam and placed him in the Garden and told him to tend to it. (Gen. 2:15) God would have revealed to Noah the work he had for him to do.
This is another Lesson we all must learn as born-again Christians: “Whomever God blesses, He takes the person and places them where they are to serve and be a blessing.” Wait I say, wait on the Lord! (Ps. 27:14)
Some might disagree with my next statement when I say that Noah’s motives for planting the vineyard were not pure; but for the wrong reasons. I say this because, when Noah harvested the grapes from the vineyard, he did not first bring an offering from the harvest to God! Nope, not a single grape! I lament, “Oh, Noah where are God’s grapes; where is the first and best of the grapes from your harvest?” “Where is Noah’s thanksgiving to God for the harvest?
Even after Noah had pressed the grapes into wine, he didn’t offer to share the first and best of the wine with God. Not even a drop of wine! Noah had flipped from being “selfless,” to “selfish!” For that matter, I also lament, “Oh Noah, where is the altar you first built when you came into the new world and sacrificed from the choicest of the animals to God? Has the altar been knocked down, has the grass grown over it, or have you planted over it?
God was Noah’s first love and every thought when he disembarked from the Ark onto dry land, but where is Noah’s heart now? It would take approximately 5-years, from planting to harvesting the grapes, to making the wine. During this time Noah’s affections turned to loving the “things” he could harvest from the earth, more than loving the Creator of the earth! Noah had fallen in love with his vineyard, more than the true VINE. He had no time for his first work of altar sacrifices of animals, or fruits from the ground to honor God. Too busy Noah was working his “JOB.” Complacent and thankless had become Noah’s lifestyle.
Noah’s drunkenness and passing out reminds me of how many Christians in the Church are today. They are in love and intoxicated with the things of the world. They are in a deep sloshy sleep!
So many Christians have passed-out in their tents! (Brains) Many have chosen to do as they please in every facet of life, especially in regard to the harvest of wages God has placed in their hands. In like manner to Noah, they offer God nothing and consume everything on their own lust. Thereby, opening the door to the murderer, thief, and liar the devil who gains the advantage and proceeds to devour their welfare and those that concern them. (Mal. 3:10 & Matt. 6:24)
With Noah, the very thing in the Everlasting Covenant God had warned Noah about; that evil imaginations are in the heart of man from his youth, Noah had begun to display. (Gen. 8:21) Of choosing a profession and planting a vineyard independent of God’s council and approval. To withholding the first of his fruit crop and wine made with the grapes. In the heart of Noah, was a lust for wine-drinking, from the days of his youth; that had been stirred up in planting the vineyard. Satan no doubt fed and fueled thoughts within Noah of consuming the wine, to enjoy as much as he pleased as a relaxer and escape from a world of old, and new “cares” before him.
In closing, Noah’s episode of the fault of drunkenness resulted in God’s Covenant Command and Promise personally given to him of procreation to go unfulfilled. Noah suffered a great loss both physically and psychologically at the hands of his youngest son Ham. He had to live the rest of his life, 350-years, as a Eunuch. He lost his vigilance and became complacent in his walk with God for a season. Yes, Noah fell down, but God saw to it that he got back up.
After Shem and Japheth covered Noah with the garment, he woke up and Noah knew what Ham had done to him. Under the Mercy and Grace of God, Noah got back up in the Power and Might of God, because his loving sons Shem and Japheth walked blindly backwards to their father, covering him in love and forgiveness. As I said last week, we are to always be ready and willing to walk blindly backwards to cover the sins of fellow Christians and all others. We must be willing to forgive and forget all sin, but remember to always love the person who committed the sin either against us or others. And, lift them up and bring them forward to walk with us in Christ.
What Noah wanted to keep secret, in the darkness of his tent, was brought to light. Not so God could judge and condemn him, but for Noah to learn the chief lesson in life. That is, without God, Mankind is nothing, sin-prone, and destined for destruction. As born-again Christians, we must understand, that no matter how holy and righteous we may walk with God for a time, the journey in this life must daily be taken step by step, hand in hand with God, until God calls us to Promised mansions on High. Thus, our sobriety and vigilance in our tents (brains) must never be compromised by the enemy Satan with independent thinking, images, and actions that are apart from God and His Word. Amen.
Next week, we will examine the central Tenant of the New Covenant Satan tries to steal from us, and we will learn how to resist him with the Word of God, to keep our tents (brains) clean and holy as God expects. Amen for the preaching of the Word of God.
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