Build Yourself an Ark Part 2

Build Yourself an Ark Part 2 Dr. Nasir Siddiki Visit www.wisdomministries.org to receive free teaching lessons each week from Dr. Siddiki. www.wisdomministries.org 918.712.7122 Copyright 2010 by Wisdom Ministries

Build Yourself an Ark Part 2 X. FAVOR Your giving places you in a position to receive God s favor. A. Philippians 1:6 And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you. 7 It is right and appropriate for me to have this confidence and feel this way about you all, because you have me in your heart and I hold you in my heart as partakers and sharers, one and all with me, of grace (God s unmerited favor and spiritual blessing). [This is true] both when I am shut up in prison and when I am out in the defense and confirmation of the good news (the Gospel). 1. Grace = unmerited favor and spiritual blessing. 2. The favor on Paul was imparted to the Philippian church. 3. You access favor through the seed of obedience. B. 2 Corinthians 12:7 And to keep me from being puffed up and too much elated by the exceeding greatness (preeminence) of these revelations, there was given me a thorn (a splinter) in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to rack and buffet and harass me, to keep me from being excessively exalted. 8 Three times I called upon the Lord and besought [Him] about this and begged that it might depart from me; 9 But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me! 1. The thorn was a messenger from Satan to stir up the religious Jews to harass Jesus. 2. Vs 8 God s grace was sufficient to deliver Paul from every affliction. 3. That same grace was on the Philippians because of their sowing. C. 2 Corinthians 8:1 We want to tell you further, brethren, about the grace (the favor and spiritual blessing) of God which has been evident in the churches of Macedonia [arousing in them the desire to give alms]; 2

2 For in the midst of an ordeal of severe tribulation, their abundance of joy and their depth of poverty [together] have overflowed in wealth of lavish generosity on their part. XI. 3 For, as I can bear witness, [they gave] according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability; and [they did it] voluntarily, 4 Begging us most insistently for the favor and the fellowship of contributing in this ministration for [the relief and support of] the saints [in Jerusalem]. 1. Vs 2 They were joyful in the middle of trouble a sign of their faith! 2. Vs 3 They gave their way out of all their problems. 3. Favor only goes to the seed of obedience. 4. Favor came through a seed; not through a need. D. 2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation]. Back up to Vs 6 [Remember] this: he who sows sparingly and grudgingly will also reap sparingly and grudgingly, and he who sows generously [that blessings may come to someone] will also reap generously and with blessings. 7 Let each one [give] as he has made up his own mind and purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or sorrowfully or under compulsion, for God loves (He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, prompt to do it ) giver [whose heart is in his giving]. 1. Vs 8 Earthly blessings are for here and now. 2. The seed of obedience is a pleasant and fragrant aroma to God. 3. Vs 7 Having your heart in your giving means you are in faith. THE GLORY Always preceded by giving an offering. A. Leviticus 9:23 Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord [the Shekinah cloud] appeared to all the people [as promised]. Back up to Vs 1 On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel; 3

2 And he said to Aaron, Take a young calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, [each] without blemish, and offer them before the Lord. A. The presence of the glory was preceded by an offering to the Lord. B. Vs 2 That offering had to be without blemish. B. Malachi 1:7 By offering polluted food upon My altar. And you ask, How have we polluted it and profaned You? By thinking that the table of the Lord is contemptible and may be despised. 8 When you [priests] offer blind [animals] for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Present such a thing [a blind or lame or sick animal] now to your governor [in payment of your taxes, and see what will happen]. Will he be pleased with you? Or will he receive you graciously? says the Lord of hosts. 9 Now then, I [Malachi] beg [you priests], entreat God [earnestly] that He will be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand [as a defective animal for sacrifice], will He accept it or show favor to any of you? says the Lord of hosts. 10 Oh, that there were even one among you [whose duty it is to minister to Me] who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on My altar to no purpose [an empty, futile, fruitless pretense]! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, nor will I accept an offering from your hand. 11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting My name shall be great among the nations, and in every place incense shall be offered to My name, and indeed a pure offering; for My name shall be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. 1. God is not interested in your leftovers; He is interested in obedience. 2. The wrong seed ties God s hands. 3. The right seed enables God to bless you in the measure you ve sown. C. Genesis 8:20 And Noah built an altar to the Lord and took of every clean [fourfooted] animal and of every clean fowl or bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 When the Lord smelled the pleasing odor [a scent of satisfaction to His heart], the Lord said to Himself, I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the imagination (the strong desire) of man s heart is evil and wicked from his youth; neither will I ever again smite and destroy every living thing, as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. 4

1. Prayer did not move the hand of God; seed did! 2. Vs 20 Noah presented an offering that was clean. 3. Vs 22 The laws of seedtime and harvest are still in effect today. D. 2 Samuel 24:10 But David s heart smote him after he had numbered the people. David said to the Lord, I have sinned greatly in what I have done. I beseech You, O Lord; take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly. Skip to Vs 17 When David saw the angel who was smiting the people, he spoke to the Lord and said, Behold, I have sinned and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray You, be [only] against me and against my father s house. 18 Then Gad came to David and said, Go up, rear an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 19 So David went up according to Gad s word, as the Lord commanded. 20 Araunah looked and saw the king and his servants coming toward him; and [he] went out and bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. 21 Araunah said, Why has my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing floor from you, to build there an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people. 22 And Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Behold, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and the yokes of the oxen for wood. 23 All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king. And Araunah said to the king, The Lord your God accept you. 24 But King David said to Araunah, No, but I will buy it of you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God of that which costs me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and Israel s plague was stayed. 1. David s obedience caused the plague to cease. 2. Prayer (Vs 10) didn t stop the plague, but giving an offering did (Vs 19). 3. Vs 19 God commanded an offering. 4. Vs 24 David could not offer to God something that cost him nothing. 5. Your seed is your only evidence of your faith. 5

E. Leviticus 9:2 And he said to Aaron, Take a young calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, [each] without blemish, and offer them before the Lord. 3 And say to the Israelites, Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both a year old, without blemish, for a burnt offering, 4 Also a bull and a ram for peace offerings to sacrifice before the Lord, and a cereal offering mixed with oil, for today the Lord will appear to you. 5 They brought before the Tent of Meeting what Moses [had] commanded; all the congregation drew near and stood before the Lord. 6 And Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord commanded you to do, and the glory of the Lord will appear to you. 1. Vs 6 God commanded the offering. 2. Their act of obedience would result in the appearance of the glory. F. 2 Chronicles 5:14 So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God. Back up to Vs 6 Also King Solomon and all the assembly of Israel who were gathered to him before the ark sacrificed sheep and oxen so numerous that they could not be counted or reported. Skip to Vs 11 And when the priests had come out of the Holy Place for all the priests present had sanctified themselves, separating themselves from everything that defiles, without regard to their divisions; 12 And all the Levites who were singers all of those of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, with their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, having cymbals, harps, and lyres stood at the east end of the altar, and with them 120 priests blowing trumpets; 13 And when the trumpeters and singers were joined in unison, making one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and other instruments for song and praised the Lord, saying, For He is good, for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever, then the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud, 1. They hungered for God more than anything else. 2. They brought their best offering and praised the Lord. 3. As promised, the glory cloud filled the place. G. Genesis 26:1 And there was a famine in the land, other than the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. 6

2 And the Lord appeared to him and said, Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I will tell you. 3 Dwell temporarily in this land, and I will be with you and will favor you with blessings; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 4 And I will make your descendants to multiply as the stars of the heavens, and will give to your posterity all these lands (kingdoms); and by your Offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, or by Him bless themselves, 5 For Abraham listened to and obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commands, My statutes, and My laws. 6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar. 7 And the men of the place asked him about his wife, and he said, She is my sister; for he was afraid to say, She is my wife [thinking], Lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah, because she is attractive and is beautiful to look upon. 8 When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah his wife. 9 And Abimelech called Isaac and said, See here, she is certainly your wife! How did you [dare] say to me, She is my sister? And Isaac said to him, Because I thought, Lest I die on account of her. 10 And Abimelech said, What is this you have done to us? One of the men might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt and sin upon us. 11 Then Abimelech charged all his people, He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. 12 Then Isaac sowed seed in that land and received in the same year a hundred times as much as he had planted, and the Lord favored him with blessings. 13 And the man became great and gained more and more until he became very wealthy and distinguished; 14 He owned flocks, herds, and a great supply of servants, and the Philistines envied him. 1. Vs 2 Do not go to Egypt means Don t mimic the world. 2. Obey God and He will make sure you have provisions. 3. The way out of recession is sowing the right seed. 4. Vs 8 Isaac remained in Gerar a long time before the blessing showed up. 7

5. Vs 12 The harvest sprang forth in a famine only when Isaac sowed seed. 6. Vs 13 The blessing was sustained because Isaac kept sowing. 7. Vs 14 A wealth transfer had occurred Isaac got rich off the Philistines! 8