Dr. Tony Evans preaches about the matters of obedience to the Lord in all His requests. The daily practice of small obediences and the large ones, Dr. Tony teaches how and why to have that posture before God.
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hello everyone
this is dr tony evans with the urban
alternative and i’m excited to welcome
you to join us
on a journey a journey through hebrews
11 it’s known as the hall of faith
where men and women discovered
what god can do when god’s people
learn to live walk and
act by faith the beautiful thing is
it’s not just about them it’s about
us as the author of hebrews writes to
new testament believers
that’s who we are about how the lives of
old testament saints who learn to live
by faith
should challenge and affect
our lives as we live by faith
so we’re excited to welcome you on this
journey it’s going to be an exciting
trip
we’re going to learn a lot most
importantly we’re going to be
transformed
by the truth what it means to be a
kingdom hero
who lives by faith
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noah walked with god he was on the same
page that god
was on and trust me when you walk with
god he’s walking with you
nor walk with god and we’re told that he
was a man
of righteousness blamelessness and
spiritual integrity and character he
wasn’t perfect
that shows up later on in his life and
in his story
walking with god is called pleasing god
pleasing god means to make god smile
so make god happy it’s to
nothing pleases god more than to see
somebody walking by faith
making their decisions based on their
relationship with god
bringing god to bail on all their
decision-making
now god becomes real to you but here’s
what’s interesting
it is the context in which he walked
with god
because the first eight verses of
genesis chapter six lets you know
what the world around him was like when
he was walking with god
it says in genesis chapter six verse one
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it came about that men began to multiply
on the face of the earth
and daughters were born to them that the
sons of god
saw that the daughters of men were
beautiful they took wise for themselves
whomever they chose then the lord said
my spirit
shall not always strive with man forever
because he also is flesh nevertheless
his days shall be 120 years the nephilim
were on the earth in those days and also
afterwards when the sons of
god came into the daughters of men they
bore themselves children
those were the mighty men who were of
old men of renown
then the lord saw that the wickedness of
men was great on the earth and that
every intent of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil continually
the lord was sorry that he had made man
on the earth and was grieved in his
heart
the lord said i will blot out man from
whom i have created from the face of the
land
from the man to the animals to the
creeping things into the birds of the
sky
for i am sorry that i have made them
noah was walking with god when nobody
else was
noah was the exception to the world rule
he was marching out of step with the
culture because he was marching to a
different drumbeat
it says the whole world had become
wicked
what was some of the wickedness well if
you were to read the scriptures you
would find
that there was immorality violence
lewdness vulgarity profanity lying
killing
blasphemy and then it hit the bottom
demon possession
the sons of god cohabited with the
daughters of men sons of god are called
angels in scripture
so the fallen angels who are sexless
infiltrated evil men who had
relationships with women
with women producing a demonized
population
this was a demonized population that is
a population
who had been so infiltrated with evil
that
every thought they had was against god
the reason why your walk with god is
going to be a lot tougher than today
than maybe
in your yesteryears or what your
grandmother face
is we’re dealing with a demonized
environment it’s the
evil infiltrating mankind
so that demonic activity
dominates the environment and you know
when it’s dominating
environment because people are not only
doing
evil they’re coming up with new ways to
proliferate it
he says every thought was evil
i won’t go too deep into this we don’t
have time today but you need to
understand how demons work
demons work because they need a vehicle
through which to express themselves
because they’re spirit beings they’re
angels fallen angels
so they need a vehicle that’s why when
jesus cast the demons out of the insane
man they asked could we go into the pigs
because they were unclean and so give us
a place to reside we need a house
to express ourselves through so when sin
becomes dominant in my life or your life
or our lives
the demons say hey they’ve invited us
over there
into that environment so they go where
the garbage is
and that’s why sins then wind up
becoming addictions
so now the problem is not only
the sin that brought about the addiction
the reason why it’s
so hard for addicted people to get over
the sin
is they not only have to try to deal
with the sin but the demonic
amplification of the sin because the
demons have gone into
a garbage environment and made
themselves at home there
that’s why it is an addiction because it
has been demonically infiltrated
that’s why when people try to deal with
the sin without dealing with the demons
they wind up right back at it because
the spiritual was unaddressed
in whatever the addiction happened to
express itself to be
that’s why the world calls it addiction
the bible calls it a spiritual
stronghold
the spirit’s a stronghold of pornography
the spiritual stronghold of gambling and
spiritual
the spiritual stronghold of whatever it
happened to be drunkenness
because there has been a grip by the
demonic world
he says the demonic world had gripped
the culture
but here’s noah
who’s a righteous man a blameless man
who walked with god
meaning he’s the odd man out
he’s the weirdo he’s the crazy man
because he wasn’t conforming to the
culture
be not conformed to this world he wasn’t
agreeing just because everybody else was
going there
he wasn’t doing it just because
everybody else was doing it
his goal was not to be popular with the
world in which he lived
because the world in which he lived was
not popular with god
he saw himself as pleasing god
not pleasing the culture
but uh when you’re in a world like that
that’s a lot of pressure
that’s pressure some of you work in
pressured environments
you’re under pressure to do this to act
that way to go with them to be
there to submit to this and you’re under
pressure
you’re being squeezed some of you are in
educational institutions they’re
squeezing you and
pressing you because cause you’re the
odd man out if you’re walking with god
and they are
see it’s easy to be a christian here
there’s no competition in the house
everybody here basically agrees with
everybody else and even if you don’t
you’re gonna fake it
because of the environment in which you
are in
but once you leave here and go back to
family and friends and work
and and environments you’re going to
feel pressure
if you go in water and you go deep
enough you’re gonna get lockjaw you
won’t even be able to open up your mouth
because the deeper you go the more
pressure you feel
if a boat goes down in the water too far
the pressure of the water will collapse
the boat too much pressure
that is except if you’re a submarine if
you’re a submarine you can get to the
bottom of the ocean because the inside
in a sub is pressurized so it can go
down
way down and way deep in spite of the
pressure
because when they pressurize the
submarine there is more pressure on the
inside than the pressure coming at it
from the outside
which is able to allow it to sustain
itself
in the pit of the darkness of the depth
of the ocean
but if you go real deep and there’s no
pressure on the inside the pressure on
the outside is going to
flatten you like a pancake the reason
why so many
christians are collapsing is there’s not
enough pressure of walking with god on
the inside
to override the pressure coming at them
from the outside
and so we collapse
he walked with god didn’t just go to
church
this was how he rolled god’s perspective
dominated his life
when you try to be a noah in a secular
world
in this post-christian era there used to
be a time when we grew up
when the christian worldview dominated
so even if you weren’t a christian you
respected the christian worldview
that is the pre-christian era we live in
the post-christian era
and now christianity has become
persecuted all around the world
we’re now in a post-christian
environment where that value system
that ethic is no longer accepted as the
respected norm
and the more serious you are with your
walk with god
the more odd you will look like not
because you’re trying to be weird not
because you’re trying to
be different is that you just are
different
because you’re walking with god noah was
pressured
but because he was a righteous man who
walked with god
he was able to sustain himself in the
pressure
that we all feel and you’re going to
feel it more and more
he looked like a fool by the way whose
fool are you
god says noah
verse 11 of genesis 6 now the earth was
corrupt in the sight of god and the
earth was filled with violence
god looked on the earth and behold it
was corrupt for all flesh had corrupted
their way on the earth
then god said to noah the end of all
flesh has come for the earth is filled
with violence because of them and behold
i am about to destroy them with the
earth make for yourself an
ark of gopher wood
you got to be kidding me you’ve got to
be kidding me
god talks to him i’m going to destroy
the world
and i want you to make a boat
now let me explain something
hebrews 11 7 says
that noah built an ark
when he hadn’t seen anything meaning he
had never seen a flood
it hadn’t rained up to this point
because the earth was watered from
underneath
so god is warning him about something
he’s never seen
he’s going to destroy the whole world he
tells noah
build a boat on dry land even though
you’ve never seen rain
you don’t know what a flood is and trust
me
let me tell you how big this boat is
because god gives the measurements in
the chapter
to use our foot and yard measurements
the measurements god gives in the
chapter for the ark is one and a half
football fields long
that’s how big the ark is one and a half
football fields long
it is four stories high so it’s higher
than this church building
and it took him 120 years to build it
scripture says 120 years
some of you been saying i’ve been
waiting on god for a long time
and i ain’t seen it rain yet i haven’t
seen a flood yet i haven’t seen
anything yet but what we find out in the
scripture is it says
that noah as soon as god told him verse
22
of genesis 6 thus noah did according to
all that god
had commanded him so he did
now let me tell you what we do we do
some of what god tells us to do
to walk by faith involves
completing what god tells you to do
the work he’s called you to the
obedience he’s demanded of you
but remember that obedience is coming
because you’re walking with him
if you’re not walking with him and told
to obey him
obedience becomes an irritation if
you’re walking with him obedience
becomes a natural outgrowth
that’s why some people like obeying god
and some people hate obeying god
even though they may be doing the
outward thing they
may hate obeying god because they
haven’t been walking with
god the folks who love obeying god are
the folks who are walking with god
so you need your walk to appreciate the
obedience even when the obedience
doesn’t make sense
noah exercised faith when he went out
and chopped down the first gopher wood
tree
and he was going to spend 120 years
obeying god
without seeing anything i don’t know
this but i’m sure there had to be days
when he’s saying
tired of trapping trees
i’m tired of putting this thing together
this huge boat on dry land
but not only that guess what second
peter says
ii peter says that noah
was a preacher of righteousness
talks about the second peter 2 5 first
peter 3 20.
noah is a preacher of righteousness to
watch this now
noah is chopping down trees during the
day
because he has to work during the day to
see what he’s doing
and he’s going to town to preach at
night
now he only got a three word sermon it’s
gonna rain
it’s it’s gonna rain god god told me to
tell you it’s gonna rain
they said well what’s raining all i know
is you know
wet stuff coming down from earth and
it’s gonna rain god told me to tell you
it’s gonna rain
you talk about looking like a fool he
worked
and he witnessed
like enoch before he proclaimed his
faith
he was not a secret agent christian a
spiritual cia representative
a covert operative
paul says i am not ashamed of the gospel
it is the power of god unto salvation
to everyone who believes if you can put
placas on your car placards on your lawn
about who you’re voting for in the
election
then why are you an undecided voter when
it comes to standing up
and proclaiming your faith in jesus
christ
it says he proclaimed his faith
in other words on your job if you were
accused of being a follower of
christ would there be enough evidence to
convict you
or would you be found innocent of all
charges
he was crystal clear where he stood
so he worked by day he witnessed
by night and he walked with god
that’s how he rolled so he out there
chopping down go for jesus i praise you
i give you glory i don’t see no rain but
i’m praising you i’m giving you glory
i’m putting up this wood just like you
told me
and i’m going to bless your name in the
middle of the work even though i don’t
see any results of the work i don’t see
what you’re doing
i’m going to give you glory you worship
while you work
he says he built his ark in reverence
he built the ark
for the salvation of his family
because a job of a real man
is to save his family the job of a
kingdom man
is to save his family kingdom men don’t
walk away from their family
don’t abandon their children don’t don’t
sit home while she goes to work
and he does nothing no no no he was out
working
he was out working and it was clear that
if nobody
else believes me i’m gonna make sure my
family believes me i’m gonna make sure
my wife’s walking with me i’m gonna make
sure my children walking with me
because a real man delivers his family
even if nobody else believes it
says noah built the boat and he saved
his family
he says there’s going to be these seven
other people
and they’re gonna see my faith at work
they ain’t gonna see me sending them the
church
they’re gonna see me leading them to
church i ain’t gonna be saying
when they have a bible question ask your
mother
i’m going to discover the answer myself
and i’m going to i’m going to
best i can give it to him why because
i’m responsible for my family’s
salvation
i’m responsible to lead my kids to
christ i’m responsible to take a because
the definition of a man is you’re
responsible
even if you’re not to blame you can’t
walk with your heavenly father and let
everybody else dictate to you because
they’re your friends
you’re walking with god
and it says and by his walk he condemned
the world hebrews 11 says
verse 7 he condemned the world he
condemned the world with his work
and his witness and then it happened
120 years later
with all his silence
plop plop
plop water coming down from the sky
north says to his family it’s time
mr lyon looked at mrs line and went
wrong
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mr bird looked at mrs bird sweetie d
twinly down
the species of snakes started the
gravity
noah was given instruction
without knowing how god was going to
pull it off
how are we going to get all the animals
into the ark
in fact god you asked me to build an ark
and you all of all the instructions you
gave me you gave me nothing related to
navigation
so how do i know where i’m going
fact how am i even going to get to water
because he didn’t know how all this was
going to work
how is all this going to work how am i
going to get enough food to feed all
these animals for 40 days and 40 nights
god may not give you all the information
but do the work of obedience he’s called
you to do
until he shows you how he plans to pull
it off
if you’re from the kingdom of god you
need to believe first
and then you see and you believe by
moving the stone
not just by having this psychological
feeling well up in you
you bleed with your feet not with your
feelings
so i don’t care how much doubt you have
get your feet moving the right way
and you’re moving in faith don’t wait
for the emotions
the commotions are the caboose your
obedience is the engine
and the reason why we’re not seeing more
of god in the unseen
back to the scene is our feet
are moving in the wrong direction
all of a sudden became clear crystal
clear
that the one man was right and the
civilization was wrong
okay it became crystal clear it took a
while
i know some of you want to give up some
of you want to quit you’re trying to
live the christian life
nobody’s buying it nobody’s believing it
maybe ladies guys are rejecting you
because you won’t compromise your
standards maybe
maybe maybe folks are leaving you
because because you won’t hang out with
them and do what they’re doing
but there is coming a day when god will
make it
inextricably clear where he stands
and if you’re walking with god he’s
standing with you
and there came a day when they began to
realize
noah’s walk with god was the truth their
rebellion against god was a lie
and they found it out too late
because the floods came
the bible declares that one day jesus is
coming back
it says it’s as it was in the days of
noah shall it be when the son of man
returns
we are seeing the days of noah right
before us we’re seeing the demonic
possession we’re seeing the
the compromise of values we’re seeing
the rebellion against god we’re seeing
the dismissing of god from the culture
we are in the days of noah the bible
says when you see those days look up
your redemption draweth nigh
you will be the one who will be clean
and i love this uh
i just i’ll just mention this it says
that he had to seal the boat with pitch
pitch keeps the water from getting into
the boat it’s a sealant
he sealed the boat with pitch the hebrew
word
for pitch is the root word for atonement
so he sealed the boat with the atonement
of pitch
guess why you’re going to be safe for
eternity you’re going to be saved for
eternity because
the hebrew reward for pitch is atonement
and the blood of jesus christ
seals the eternal destiny of anyone
who comes to god by faith in the
finished work
of jesus christ
so jesus is your arc of safety
god has an ark for you to build
he’s waiting on you to obey and to obey
him completely
not partially if god says do
this and you only have done this much
he won’t move he will not move until
obedience has been completed
until faith has been fully exercised
one of the old television shows i love
was simply called early edition
it was this man who got tomorrow’s
newspaper
today he got tomorrow’s newspaper today
so he saw what was coming the day before
it came
because he had the early edition the day
before the actual event
he could do things to make changes
because he knew what was coming tomorrow
noah knew what was coming tomorrow he
walked in light of it today
if you are a believer in jesus christ
you know where this thing is going
so why don’t we walk with god today so
that we can hear his voice be
prepared for what he wants to do in this
life and reward us in the next life
because like noah we walked with god
saved our families condemned the world
and then it closes by thing
and he became the heir he was the
beneficiary
because his family was saved and
protected
may god help us as a church collectively
as
individuals personally to be known
not for our buildings not for our
program not for our resources
not for that that all that’s good but to
be known for one dominant fact that
those folks
walk with god may that be
what we really known for
walking with god is a major theme in the
bible
it has to do with a lifestyle of
intimacy
it has to do with close fellowship
enoch walked with god there are a lot of
agendas you can walk with there are a
lot of
people you can walk with but when we’re
not
walking with god we’re not walking by
faith
because to walk with god is to walk with
someone that you do not physically see
but who you’re in deep deep
fellowship with so watch
not only where you walk but who you’re
walking with
a lifestyle of intimacy by faith with
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god
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you