0:00 [Music] We sang a song this morning. What a glorious day it's going to be. I ask you a question. Is that going to be true for everyone? It's going to 0:19 be a glorious day for everyone. No, it's not going to be a glorious day for everyone. But depending on what we do today, it will decide whether it will be a glorious day for us or not. It's very important when we sing 0:38 songs like that. It's not for everybody. It's going to be a glorious day, but it'll be glorious for some people. And when we think about that glorious day, the final day when Christ comes back, the Bible talks about two 0:56 families. It talks about two families when it describes when Jesus described the last days. The last days will be like one family and another family. Do you know the two families? It'll be like the days of Noah 1:16 and the other the days of Lot. There's two families, two examples of people living in the last days. And it's important to see which one we follow. We all follow after different 1:34 examples. If you turn with me to Matthew 15, Matthew 15, it says in verse 12, Matthew 15:12, Then the disciples came and said to him, "Do you know that 1:53 the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?" 13 But he answered and said, "Every plant which my heavenly father did not plant shall be uprooted." Verse 14, "Let them alone. They are blind guides of the 2:11 blind. And if the blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into the pit." And I used to think, you know, the blind man, the blind guide, he's evil. He's going towards the pit and 2:30 he's taking this other person. What did the blind man who was holding the other blind man's do? He just decided to follow this man. But do you see the outcome of both of them? The one who guides him and the one who follows. Both of both of them end in the 2:50 same pit. And so I say, Lord, I want to be careful. Each one of us has to be careful who we follow. If we follow a blind guide, then we're going to follow fall into that same pit that that blind guide is going to follow. And so as we 3:09 think about those two families, the family of Lot and the family of Noah, one gained God's approval. If you turn with me to Hebrews, Hebrews chap 11, Hebrews 11 talks about all these men 3:28 who had faith, but it was not not merely their faith that God was commending or appreciating. Look at this. Hebrews 11:1. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of 3:46 things not seen. Verse two, for by it the men of old gained approval. They got God's approval upon their life by their faith. Not everybody got 4:04 approved by God. But there were some. And in Hebrews 11, you see these people who God lists out that they God approved of their lives. God looked at their entire life and said, "You know what? I approve of their life." And 4:21 there's other people as well that God did not approve of their life. I have a question for you. You you've seen u Noah's you you've read about Noah in the Bible. You might have seen cartoons of 4:39 Noah. I have a question. When did the flood come? You know the story of Noah when is it A seven days after Noah entered the ark the flood came or B the very day that 4:59 Noah entered the ark the flood came. So if you think it's a it's it was 7 days after Noah entered the ark raise your hand. Okay there's some people who think it's seven days after. Okay, if you think it was B, the very day Noah 5:15 entered the ark. Okay, some of you also think it was if you said A, you are correct. The flood did not come on the day they entered into the 5:32 ark. So, if you turn with me to Genesis, Genesis chapter Genesis chapter 7 verse 1. Genesis 5:49 7:1 Then the Lord said to Noah, "Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before me in this time." Verse two, you shall take with you of every clean animal by the sevens, male and female, 6:07 and his animals that are not and of the animals that are not clean. Two, a male and his female. Verse three, also of the birds of the sky by sevens, male and female, to keep the offspring alive on the face of all the earth. Verse four, 6:23 for after seven more days I will send rain on the earth 40 days and 40 nights, and I will blot out from the face of the from the land every living thing that I have made. Verse 5, Noah did according 6:40 to all that the Lord had commanded. And so you see that it was not immediate. It was 7 days after that the flood came. And I see why would God keep it 6:58 seven days later and not on that same day. And I think one of the reasons I believe was this. I remember when I first heard about Jesus, about eternity, it's setting 7:15 matters right with God as each one of us must. I thought to myself, okay, I know eternity is real. I know I'm not right with God, and I know that Jesus can save me, but why do I have to set it set it 7:33 right now? Let me wait for some more time. Maybe when I'm older in my later years, just before I die, let me set matters right. I've enjoyed this life and also safe for the life to come. That's what I was 7:51 thinking. But even as a young teenager, I had already known of people who had passed away. It's not always you live old and then pass away. Sometimes some people pass away when they're young. sometimes in an 8:10 accident. And then I realized that we're not guaranteed a certain age. And then I can say, "Okay, I'm going to set right my life at that age. When should you set right matters?" You can shout it out 8:32 now. And this is what I said to the Lord. Lord, I am not going to play games with you anymore. I'm not going to play games. I'm going to take it seriously about eternity, about setting matters right. I'm going to do that today. One day, I 8:52 sat in my room and I told the Lord every single thing I had ever done. I confessed it before the Lord. I repented of my sins. I asked God to forgive me. And just like we heard, there's a fountain that flows from Emanuel's veins that can cleanse the 9:11 sinner plunged in his blood. And that happened for me where God had forgiven me and cleansed me from all my sins. I went and set matters right with others that I had harmed. But I decided one day that I would not play games with 9:29 God. Maybe you're there today. Are you playing games with God? Turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 9:53 19. If I'm if I'm trying to be clever and play games with God, this is what it says. Verse 19. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, he he is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness. They're trying to be 10:13 crafty and clever and trying to outwit God. Can anyone outwit God? No. And I believe that's why one of the reasons why God did not close the door. Soon as it started, the clouds started 10:31 getting dark. What would people do? They'll run and say, "You know what? I want to be saved now. I want to get into the ark." But it says in Genesis, you turn back to Genesis chapter 10:48 7. Genesis chapter 7 verse 14. They and every beast after its kind and all the cattle after its kind and every creeping thing that 11:07 creeps on the earth that is its kind and its and every bird and its kind all sorts of birds. Verse 15. So they went into the ark to Noah by twos of all the flesh in which was the breath of life. Verse 16. Those that entered male and 11:24 female all of flesh entered as God had commanded him. And the Lord closed the door behind them. So when did the door close? It closed six days ahead. Uh seven days ahead. It closed not when the clouds 11:47 were dark in the sky. I believe the clouds were there were no clouds. It was like every other day. The day God closed the door was like every other day. God was seeing who would enter the 12:04 ark not because judgment was coming because they knew that they wanted to be in that ark. Today also God is not waiting for the final signs to show up. It's going to be an ordinary day when Jesus returns and we 12:23 meet him. And those who are ready today will be ready to meet him. Those who are thinking, "Oh, don't worry. I'll set it right another day." Do you think they'll get a 12:42 surprise? I believe they will. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 24. Matthew 24:48. But if that evil slave says in 13:00 his heart, "My master is not coming for a long time." Jesus is not coming for a long time. He doesn't say it out loud. It's just in his heart. He's thinking, you know what? I'm going to live life as if 13:16 God's not coming for a long time. And then because he doesn't believe that his right life reflects it. He's not nice to the fellow slaves and he's not careful. He's loose in his living. Verse 13:34 50. The master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and in an hour which he does not know. That is a promise. Just like we have promises in the Bible, this is one 13:53 of the promises that for the one who says in his heart, "The Lord's going to delay his coming. I can live how I want to live, there's a promise for everyone who thinks that way, that God will come on a day that they're not ready 14:13 for." Why does Jesus say this ahead of time to all of us? Why did he say this ahead of time? So that today when we hear his voice, we will not harden our hearts to say, "Oh, it happened to them in Noah's day. Oh, but it won't happen to 14:29 me." No, it will happen to me and us. If we're not ready today for the Lord's coming, he will come. He keeps his promises. He will come on a day I'm not prepared if I'm not willing to set matters right today. We cannot outsmart God. We cannot 14:53 play games with God. God's very serious about things and that's why he says these things. And so I I I can imagine Noah there preaching to all those family members with a great burden because he 15:11 knows what's coming because God told him there is coming a day when I am going to judge this world with a flood and he was a preacher of righteousness kept on preaching telling them turn from your ways turn from your ways and I don't know some of those 15:29 people thought okay Yeah, once it gets dark clouds, I'll run into the to the ark and I'll be saved. And then when they saw the dark clouds, the the door was already closed. In Matthew 25 also, the virgins as well, they said, "Oh, you know what? 15:47 We'll buy the oil just before the door closes." By the time they got to the door, the foolish virgins who didn't have the oil, the door was already closed. And I believe just seeing that, do you 16:06 know if if Noah had brothers and sisters? Do you know? Yes or no? What do you think? I hear some yeses. Yes. Yes, he did have brothers and sisters. You know how? Because Lamek, his father, it says that he had 16:25 other sons and daughters. The other sons and daughters of Lamek, his father would have been his brothers and sisters. So he had brothers and sisters. He had probably a father-in-law, mother-in-law. All his his uh three sons 16:42 had wives. So he would have had in-laws as well, right? All of these people, all of these relations, how many of those people set their lives right and got into the ark? None of them. Not even 17:01 one. And I'm sure that he would have been I I believe he would have preached and asked, "Lord, save save." And he didn't see any of them come into the ark. I'm sure that they might have 17:22 ridiculed him and all of that. Yeah. Noah, where's this flood? You've been building this ark for a hundred years. No flood. And even after they went into the ark and you know, day four and day five in the ark. See, Noah went into the ark. 17:41 It's not even raining. Look at them. They're sitting in the ark there and it's dry. They didn't realize it was just time before that flood came. But I believe that there had to be something that Noah had to 18:01 decide. He had to decide whether he was going to please men and offend God or offend people at the cost of pleasing God. You can only please God or man. Whichever one you have to pick 18:18 one. And Jesus said, "Unless you love me more than father, mother, brother, sister, wife, son, daughters, you cannot be my disciple. You cannot be a and mo and and 18:37 Noah realized that he realized that he could not love God and love his relatives too. He couldn't love God and please other people. And I believe as he took a stand, the lines were drawn. You know that expression, the lines were drawn. 18:55 Which side of the line are you? Are you going to get into the ark or are you going to stay behind? But I don't think it was just that conflict between him and all his relatives. Read with me. If you read here, it says, 19:14 It says that it was 7 days before the flood came. Think about his conversation with his wife and children. He was the one who heard God telling him, "Noah, I want you to get into the ark because 7 days from now the flood is coming." His wife 19:33 and his children didn't hear that. Now he's telling them, "Let's go into the ark. Dad, I don't see any clouds. Dad, why should we get into the ark now? Son, God has told me that we need to get into the ark 19:52 now. And I can see Noah's wife maybe saying, you know, the the the boys, it's going to get a little claustrophobic. We're going to be there for 40 days and 40 nights anyway. Let's be reasonable. Let's let's wait a little bit and then 20:06 go into the ark. What would Noah have had to say? No, we're going into the ark right now. I know you don't under you may you may disagree with me. That's okay. I'm going into the ark right now. I believe Noah's wife and his kids had 20:30 seen this man Noah for a hundred years and see how how many people opposed him and misunderstood him. I believe they supported him. I that's my my my opinion that they said you know what dad said go into the ark and everything that 20:48 I see God backing up his life the words he's speaking is true it's going to happen listen to your dad and I believe the children would have come in as well and said you know what I I recognize the Lord is with my dad we're going to go 21:08 in couple of after after the flight is over. Look here as well if you turn with me to Genesis 8 verse 13. Now it came about in the 601st year in the first month on the first of the month the water was dried 21:28 up and the earth from the earth then Noah removed the coverings of the ark and looked and behold the surface of the ground was dried up. By this time, they had already been about 10 months inside the ark and finally they're opening up the roof and 21:47 they're looking down and it's all dry. What would you want to do after being in to in the ark for 10 months with all these animals and everything? What would you want to do? What would you want to do? You would want to come out. You want 22:05 to come outside. You've been there all this time. And so, "Dad, it's dry. Let's go out." What does dad say? He says, "No, but dad, it's it's dry, Dad." And Noah's wife is saying, "Yeah, 22:24 the kids been here tucked up over here for 10 months. Let them I think it's good to get let them go and run around." What did Noah have to say? No. Why Noah be reasonable being 22:44 misunderstood? Because they did not hear what he heard. He said, "I have not heard from God to ask us to go out. So, we're not going out." Misunderstanding. Jesus also when you remember when they 23:02 sent for Jesus, Mary and Martha said, "Your friend Lazarus is sick." What did Jesus do? He stayed for two more days. He went there for the funeral of Lazarus. What did they say? Jesus, if you were 23:21 here, he would have not died. That Martha said that, Mary said that, the Jews said that. Despite all that misunderstanding, Jesus said he did not justify himself. And so I see this with Jesus, with Noah and 23:41 others. It's not easy, living before God. But yet he didn't compromise. He didn't love his wife or children more than he loved God. Like Jesus said, if you want to be my disciple, you have to love me more than all your 24:01 relatives. And Noah did that. What was Moses life? I mean, Noah's life before the flood started. Every day they had to go cut the wood, take 24:20 the wood, put it down. The blank one. Take pitch. Put pitch on the inside and put pitch on the outside. Next day go cut the wood. Bring it. Put it on the other 24:38 wood. Pitch on the one side on the other side. Think of it. You're doing this not one day, two days, not even 20 years. For a hundred years, you're doing the same job. Going getting that Somebody comes and says, "Noah, what are 24:53 you doing? I I'm going to go cut the wood today and then I'm going to put it on here. I'm going to put the pitch." Isn't that boring? Go boring, Noah. God has called me to build this ark. And I'm going to do it faithfully. 25:10 It's ordinary. Ordinary. Every day the same thing. But it's a important work that God has given me because through this ark is what's going to save my family. Think of it if you you know in 25:28 100 years there's a lot of days and one day you're feeling tired and you put the the uh pitch on one side and and the mom Noah's wife calls and says, "Hey children, come. It's time for lunch." and they forget to put the 25:45 pitch, what would happen? It would sink. Yeah. And they won't be able to even find the leak. It's all dark and you're like, "Where's the leak? I don't know. It's one of one of these three floors is 26:03 leaking." They had to make sure there was no leak. Every single spot needed to be covered. Every day of their hundred years, they had to be faithful. Noah and his sons had to make sure every single nick and corner was covered with 26:19 pitch. Each one of us also in this church especially needs to make sure the love inside the ark stays inside the ark. The coldness of the outside world and worldness of the world does not come in. You have to put 26:37 the pitch nice and thick, making sure there's nothing that comes in or goes out. And you see that there was a Did you know that Cain had a son? Yes, Cain had a son. Do you know what Cain's son's name 26:56 was? His son's name was Enoch. And then Cain built a city. This is after he was kicked out of the Garden of Eden. I mean guard out of God's presence. And then he he started building the city and named it after his son and it was called the 27:12 city of Enoch. And among the descendants are those who had musical instruments and medals and all of that. And so I believe that Noah and his family had to go and maybe make purchases at the city of Enoch, meet with those people, probably 27:28 preach there. So he'd go there and I I believe he'd buy things and whatever he needed and come back and they would say, "Oh, come on. What are you doing always building the ark? Come enjoy here. We have musical instruments. We have metals and 27:43 all of these things. Come and enjoy yourself." And I believe Noah would have said, "I'm walking with God. I have a family to bring up and there's much of work to be done on the ark. I don't have time for the city of Enoch. And today 28:04 also those who have time for the city of Enoch will be the ones who don't have time to build the ark. The ones who are building the ark won't have time for the city of Enoch. They'll have to touch this world lightly. There's a beautiful verse in uh 1 28:28 Corinthians 7. 1 Corinthians 7. As you see this, you can see that Noah was a disciple. Verse 7 uh I mean sorry chapter 7 verse end of 30. Those who buy 28:47 as though they did not possess. Verse 31. And those who use this world as though they did not make full use of it for the form of this world is passing away. Yes, they use the world, they get the the whatever things they needed from 29:04 the city of Enoch, but that's not their life. They were not living in the city of Enoch. They had a work to do. And for each one of us, especially those who have been called to this church, God has a work for each one of us in this 29:20 church. He did not bring you here for no purpose. And as you say your memory verse, that's like Noah's family taking that plank. I believe uh Noah's wives and his daughter-in-laws would have been helping. They had to clean the take care 29:39 of the home, take care of the children, cook the meals. the laundry, all of these things. It was an ordinary life that they lived out just like us. Yet they were preparing for the day to come. That glorious day, they were 29:53 preparing, preparing, preparing. You too go to work, go into meetings, come back. Ordinary things. That's what Noah did as well. But in the midst of it, he was seeking God's kingdom. He was seeking to build that ark. And as you children even come and say 30:11 your memory verses, you pray, you take down notes, you're listening, you're sharing what God has done in your life, you're also like the Noah's family coming and taking your your part. You're playing your part in getting ready for 30:26 that day. I always used to think once you got into the ark and the flood came, you know, you you you think of all these cruises that people go and they relax and enjoy themselves. Okay, the hard work is over. 100 years of building the ark. Now, 30:45 let's go and relax. But I don't think it was like that for Noah and his family. It wasn't a time of relaxation. Jesus said, "Of those you have given me, I have lost not even one. I've not lost 31:04 any of them." And I I believe that when the animals came into the ark, I believe that if you turn with me to Genesis chapter 6, Genesis chapter 6, Genesis chapter 31:27 6, verse 20. of the birds after their kind and of the animals after their kind of every creeping thing of the ground after their kind. Two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. Two of them will come to you to 31:47 keep them alive. Every single creature would be coming to you, Noah, and they're going to be coming into that ark. and their very life and their survival is going to be dependent on you and your family. If you have only two animals, 32:04 how many can you afford? A male and a female, how many can you afford to lose? None. You have to have both. And so they had to make sure every single animal, and I I can picture this. The animals are coming into the ark and 32:22 they're looking at Noah's eyes and saying, "Our lives are depending on you, Noah. The survival of our our our species is depending on you and your family taking care of us." And I can picture their eyes, each one, the the 32:38 birds coming in and looking at Noah and his family and the the the dogs and the cats and all of the other animals as they're coming in looking at Noah saying, "Noah, our very lives are dependent on you." When I came here to this church 11 32:55 years ago, I was desperate and I needed I know how my eyes were when I came here. Lord, I need you. I need a church family. I need I need help. And my eyes also are like that. In life, what was life like in 33:15 that ark? They believe that there was about six 6,800 animals of different kinds that got into that ark. If you divide that by eight, it's about a 850 animals that each person on that ark was responsible 33:35 for. And they couldn't let even one of them die. They had to make sure all of them, every single one was okay. So every day you'd have to wake up and if you divide 850, you had like a hundred animals you have to take care of every hour. every 33:54 hour. Okay. Take care of the dogs and the cats and next next hour the birds and the every hour they're busy busy busy. I don't believe they were resting. And if one of the animals was sick, they had to nurture it and take 34:14 care of it, spend extra time in it. And think of one of Noah's family members fell sick. What would happen? The rest of the family members would have had to take the extra 850 and split it among them to take care of the 34:32 extra load. And that's where I see in the ark is a picture of that church family where everyone had a care like it says in 1 Corinthians 12 verse 25 and 26 a care for one 34:50 another. If one member is sick everybody else has to pitch in and take care of it. And brother, sister, if God has planted you here in this church, you have a very very very important responsibility. Each one of us, if I 35:07 don't do my responsibility, other people will have to pitch in to make up for the work that I'm not putting in. In Colossians, it says one place that I fill up that gap in the body of Christ of the sufferings of 35:26 Christ. I fill in the gap. That's what Paul said. There's a gap there. I need to fill it in. And for each one of us that God has called here, there's a gap that each one is called to fill in. And if I don't do my part, it'll get done. But the others in 35:44 the body will have to take up that extra work that I had to do that I was responsible for. And as I think about I have a piece of paper that I 36:06 have with me. Do you know what this is? It's a list of all the people in this church. The names of all of you. And I would encourage you if you're a part of this church, write down all the names of the people in this church. If you believe 36:25 that God has called you, you never know what other people in this church family are going through. And if you're like that in Noah's ark and have a care for each and every animal that everyone does well, take a piece of paper, write it 36:43 down, and as you go through and think about the different people in the church and you know this person might be sick or has something, think about them. Pray for them. That's what that would have happened in Noah. Oh, the birds are 36:56 sick. Let's pray. They had a care, an intense care, and that proved that they were part of that family. And you have two animals, the ravens, the raven and the dove. And if you turn with me to Genesis chapter 8, 37:15 Genesis chapter 8, verse 6. Then it came about at the end of 40 days that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. Verse 7, and sent out the raven, and it 37:32 flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth. And so this raven, it forgot all the things that it received. The day it came into the ark, it would have looked at Noah's eyes and said, "You know what? My life is in your hands. Preserve 37:51 it. But after 10 months of being with the other animals and all of that, it forgot about all the things. The way Noah and his family cared for it, made sure it was doing well physically and was taken care 38:08 of. But the moment that he was he let he was said Noah Noah let him go. He flew here and there and never came back. And that's a picture of if I'm one who comes to the church, receives everything that the church has to 38:27 give. Perhaps I get offended at something that the other animal didn't do or Moa and Noah or some somebody I got offended and then forget all the good things that came out of the church for me. How the church took care of me 38:41 and then I fly away. I say, "Lord, how ungrateful after all you did to me, for me through this church, like that raven fly away using everything that the church has given me for my benefit and then leaving." But the dove, it couldn't do 39:03 that. It went out. It couldn't find any rest. It says that further along. Came back to Noah. I I can't find any rest anywhere else other than here in this church. in this ark that you placed me. But the good news is that God can 39:19 even take ravens like he does in the time of Elijah, change their heart and use them to minister to Elijah. So even if you're even if you and I are like a raven today, there's hope for us. There's always hope. But 39:37 God can even take a heart that's like a raven and change it to be like a dove that appreciates. And as I think it says in among the people in Hebrews 11 that gained God's 39:57 approval, if you turn with me to Hebrews 11, it says verse 7, "By faith, Noah being 40:14 warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household by which he condemned the world and became a heir of righteousness which is according to faith. And it goes on verse 39 and all 40:33 these having gained their approval through their faith did not receive what was promised. Verse 40, because God provided something better for us so that apart from them, they would not be made 40:51 perfect. So Noah after he built the ark, God approved of his life and said, "You know what? I saw your life, Noah, and I approve of your life." and his his family. Guess whose family 41:10 is not named there? Who was among those who were approved of God in that list? Lot's family wasn't. You know, you read through Hebrews 11, you won't be able to find Lot's family. Even though he was a righteous man according to second Peter chapter 41:30 2, he was not one who got God's approval. And today also we can be one of two people. We could be a righteous person and live for ourselves. But like Lot lost his wife 41:46 because his wife turned back. And Jesus says remember remember Lot's wife how she turned back. If you turn with me to Jude chapter 1 verse 5. Now I desire to remind you 42:07 though you know all things once for all that the Lord after saving a people out of the land of Egypt subsequently destroyed them who did not believe. He took them out of Egypt. If you ask them did you leave Egypt? Were you saved out of Egypt? Yes. 42:24 Did you make it into the promised land? No. Lot's wife, if you ask her, did you leave Sodom and Gomorrah? Yes. Did you endure to the end? No. And so there's that family, the 42:44 family of Lot's wife and Lot and Lot's wife who didn't endure to the end even though they were saved out of Sodom. And then you'll have Noah's family who God himself approves of. And so it says that if you go back to 43:01 Hebrews 12 11, Hebrews 12:1, he said there's something better for us. And I can think of as I as it says here Hebrews 12:1. Therefore, since we have so cloud of w cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay every encumbrance and sin which easily 43:21 entangles us and let us fix our eyes on let us run this race with endurance that is set before us. And so you see Noah after he got the approval from God. Think of think of this big 43:41 stadium, the big stadium and all the people in the stands. And Noah walks up and he goes into the stand and his ticket is God has approved of my life. I'm going to stand in the I'm going to be in the stands. And I this is what I picture 43:58 Noah saying to me. Noah says to me, "You know what? I I can stay on the stands, but I could never run that race. That race and running that race, following after Jesus, I can never do. Even though I built the ark, the best I 44:17 can do is get a seat in the stands, being approved of God." But guess what? The way you can get approved by God is by running this race, following Jesus. Look at Jesus who who did not love his relatives, love his own life, endured the cross for the joy set 44:40 before him. You also can run that race. Noah said, "I can't run that race." But if I were to have a conversation with Noah, I believe this is what Noah would tell. Noah would say to me, "Tell everybody that all of you have an 44:55 opportunity from the youngest to the oldest. You might not be able to build the ark, but you have an opportunity that I will never get to do. And that is fixing your eyes on Jesus and running this race. Jesus said, "Follow 45:08 me." And so I I say, brother, sister, and young person, you have an opportunity to follow Jesus, which Noah didn't have. And Noah's waiting on that stands. He's going to get his prize one day, but he's waiting. You know what he's waiting for? 45:26 He's waiting for each one of us to finish our race. And when we finish our race, that day will be a glorious day for us when God rewards all of us who have walked faithfully, carrying our cross every 45:45 day. May the Lord help each one of us to stay faithful like Noah was. We see that example of Noah and say, "Lord, I want to be faithful in this generation, me and my household being in that ark, being able to endure to the 46:00 end." So, we'll close our eyes and pray. Heavenly Father, I pray for each one here, Lord. I pray, Lord, that we would not compromise. I pray in these last days, you gave a warning to Noah and he took that warning seriously and he saved his 46:18 household. And I pray, Lord, for each one of us. I pray that you would put a care for each one of us. That we would have a care for one another, that you put in our hearts, Lord, that we would be those, Lord, in this final days, in 46:29 these closing moments, who stay faithful to you, Lord, who love you and love the church that you're building, Lord. May you be glorified in Jesus name. Amen. 46:41 [Music]
