Lord I Hear You Calling?

Lord I Hear You Calling

HHM Pastor Jim Parisi July 14, 2002

Have you ever been woken in the middle of the night feeling the Spirit of God so physically powerful in your presence that you just had to sit up and listen?

You knew that there was no way you were going back to sleep for a while.

Knowing with out a doubt that there is was something that the Lord was personally commissioning you… to do for Him.

Many men and woman of the bible like - Abraham – Jacob – Joshua – Deborah – Ester – Isaiah - the 12 Paul

Have had this same appointment with Fate

Even one man before he was born…. John the Baptist. Was called of God we see in Matthew 3 to prepare the way of the Lord… prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ the messiah

We could say that these people were called by God to His “Special Service”

Individuals that God desired for a specific Task, in a specific time, for his Holy purpose

Most of them were just ordinary Folks

Trying to live a life acceptable before God

People with all these different lives / Who lived in varied times

They all had at least one thing in Common, A Tuned Ear to hear the Voice of God….

And a willingness to serve their GOD

One who stood for such a purpose called of God was Noah.

He was one of the first men , who was summoned by God to this “special service”

God for His Purpose. Commissioned Noah

Noah became A Man with a Plan a Man with a mission became a man with an appointment in History

We all know something about Noah and his ark

You know the little 371 day cruise to nowhere that it rained 40 days and nights straight.

The one where you could bring you pets along.

Little children sing songs about the animals marching in two by two.

Let us start in Genesis 6 and see how and why the Lord recruited Noah

Most see Noah’s life as a man who was involved in One Great Flood

I see it another way I see Noah as a man whose life was involved in not one…. but two tragic Floods…

One the flood of water and number two the flood of evil

The Earth with Man inhabiting it was young

The peoples sin was grieving God Let’s Look

Gen 6:5 -9

5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6 And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the Lord said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them."

8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. 9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations Noah walked with God.

Sin in this day was consuming the earth and its people

God was showing an expression of his sorrow for the state of mankind

Mankind the expression of God… which he created out of the love and want for fellowship with man … had turned into this vile stench in the nostrils of God

God was sorry that the people chose sin and death instead of a relationship with Him HIS heart was heavy

The day Noah lived in was a day that the world was possessed by wickedness and immorality

Men began to multiply upon the face of the earth - This was the effect of the blessing,

Genesis 1:28 God blessed them and told them, "Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters over the fish and birds and all the animals.",

And yet man’s corruption so abused this blessing,

That the one time promise of having authority over all the earth and its creatures had become a curse.

Man was on the tightrope to nonexistence

He was in a place with

God that there was no more Grace.

and God was going to destroy man,

because man was a disappointed to Him

But one man found favor in the eyes of God Noah

Aren’t we glad there is always one man?

Noah was the contrast to all of the sin that the earth had absorbed.

Not that Noah was sinless No not at all

Noah was a man that whole-heartedly loved and obeyed God

Noah was one man that stood as a friend of God

A man of patience, consistency and obedience

Like Enoch Gen 5:22 Noah walked with God