I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Genesis 9:1
“Then
God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase
in number and fill the earth.”
-- one day, a group of frogs was
traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit -- All the
other frogs gathered around the pit, and looked down at their two friends --
when they saw how deep the pit was and how steep the sides were, they lost all
hope -- they told the two fallen frogs that they were as good as dead
-- But the two frogs in the pit didn’t
listen to their friends -- instead, they jumped with all their might, trying to
leap up out of the pit -- the other frogs kept telling them to stop wasting
their energy -- that it was hopeless and they were as good as dead -- finally,
one of the fallen frogs took heed to what they were saying and gave up -- He
lay down exhausted and died.
-- The other frog continued to jump as
hard as he could -- once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the
pain and just die -- but the frog in the pit just jumped harder and harder and,
lo and behold, he finally made it out
-- when he got out, the other frogs
said, "Didn’t you hear us? -- Why didn’t you give up like the other frog?”
-- the frog who made it out of the pit explained to them that he was deaf -- he
thought they were encouraging him the entire time he was struggling to get out,
and that gave him the strength to do the impossible1
-- this morning, I want us to talk
about the power of the tongue -- the power of words -- and, especially, the
power of receiving and speaking blessings into the lives of those around us
-- in our day, we take the concept of
blessings and curses lightly -- if someone sneezes, we flippantly say, “Bless
you,” without even thinking -- the idea of blessing someone has just become
common-place and is considered just empty words without true power or meaning
-- but the Bible says otherwise -- to be blessed is a momentous occasion
-- to bless something is to speak life
into it -- to speak goodness and holiness into it -- to impart meaning and
purpose and goodness into the life of another
-- that’s why one of the first acts of
God to His new creation was an act of blessing -- the Bible tells us that after
God created the heavens and the earth -- after He created all the animals and
the plants and Adam and Eve and put them in the Garden of Eden -- God looked
down on all that He had done and saw that it was good and He blessed it
-- four hundred times in the Old Testament,
we see God speaking blessings on people and on nations -- four hundred times,
we see the word of God go forth into the lives of His people to transform them
and change them and make them into who He had called them to be
-- the Bible makes it clear that there
is power in the blessing from God -- and it tells us that there is power in our
blessings to others, as well
-- that is why the blessing of the
father to his children was such an important ritual in biblical times -- when a
father spoke blessings into the life of his children -- as he proclaimed God’s
goodness and righteousness and providential blessings into their lives, his
words formed new life and a new reality through the blessing -- that is why it
was such a big deal when Jacob stole the blessing of the firstborn from Esau --
because words had power and the blessing of the father onto his sons carried
with it the future
-- it was because of the power of the
blessing that Jacob, when he was wrestling with God before his reunion with
Esau, wouldn’t let God go until God blessed him -- blessings, and words, were
powerful in the Bible
-- even in our day, words matter --
the old adage, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt
me” is not true -- harsh and negative words can wound deeply and affect the
future course of a person’s life -- in the same way, encouraging words can lift
up the broken-hearted and inspire others to greatness
-- we need to realize this truth, and
be careful of the words we speak to those around us -- we need to speak words
of encouragement and blessing -- and we need to realize that when we bless
others, it isn’t just meaningless, empty words, but a prayer for God’s grace
and mercy and power to be made manifest in their lives -- by blessing others,
we are asking that they would come to know the providential grace of God and
that they would experience His presence in the manifold spiritual and material
blessings they enjoy
-- blessings still have meaning and
power in our day, and we need to remember and reclaim the power that is
inherent in this spoken word
-- that’s why this morning I wanted us
to look at this one verse in the familiar story of Noah -- the blessing of Noah
by God and his call to bless others, in turn
II. Scripture Lesson (Genesis 9:1)
--
now, everyone in here is familiar with the story of Noah and the flood -- as
you remember, when men began to increase in number on the earth, their
wickedness increased, as well -- in Genesis 6:5, we read that it reached the
point where every thought that came from the hearts of men were filled with
only evil all the time -- and God was grieved by the presence of sin and evil
in what was His perfect creation and decided to start over -- to sweep away all
the evil and the corruption from the earth in a great flood
-- but Noah was not like the rest of
the people in his day -- in Genesis 6:9, we read that Noah was a righteous man
-- blameless among the people of his time -- and that he walked with God --
and, so, God chose Noah and his family to be spared from the flood
-- you know the story -- God had Noah
build a great ark to keep his family safe and to protect the animals that God
chose to repopulate the earth after the flood -- so Noah did everything that
God commanded -- and he went in the ark and the rains fell for forty days and
forty nights -- and Noah and his family and all the animals inside were saved
-- after a full year on the ark, the
flood receded -- and Noah and his family and all the animals came out -- the
first thing Noah did was build an altar to the Lord, and offer sacrifices to
Him for His blessings and His protection during the flood -- which brings us to
Genesis 9:1
Then
God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase
in number and fill the earth.
-- now, like you, I know the story of
Noah and the ark -- I’ve read this passage multiple times -- I’ve studied it --
I’ve preached on it -- but, if you were to ask me what happened when Noah got
off the ark -- what God said to Noah and his family -- the only thing I would
be able to tell you was that God told them to be fruitful and multiply and fill
the earth -- that God established a new covenant with them -- and that He gave
them the sign of the rainbow as a symbol of that covenant
-- but, you see, I skipped right over
the most important part of this verse -- the very first part -- “Then God
blessed Noah and his sons”
-- “then God” -- this is a reminder
that it all begins with God -- and it all begins with His word -- for it is
only through God’s grace and His blessings that we live and breathe and have
life
-- “then God blessed Noah and his sons”
-- just as God blessed Adam and Eve and all creation in the beginning, now we
see God speaking His blessing on Noah and his sons -- when God blessed Noah, He
imparted His power and goodness and holiness into Noah’s life -- this was a
pronouncement of God’s favor on Noah and his sons -- God’s blessing gave them
what they needed to begin a new life and a new creation
-- God’s blessing was like the very
breath of His Spirit being poured out afresh onto Noah and his sons -- this
blessing washed away the sins of their past -- it washed away the evil that had
come on the earth -- it gave them strength and power -- it gave them
encouragement and direction -- it let them know that God was pleased with them
-- and this blessing ushered in a new creation and a new world for Noah and his
sons to enjoy
-- this verse goes on to tell us that
after God had blessed Noah and his sons, He commanded them to be fruitful and
to multiply and to fill the earth -- as you hear that command of God, the thing
to remember is that God doesn’t bless us to make us happy -- He blesses us to
make us a blessing to others
-- when God blessed Noah and his sons,
He empowered them to fulfill His commandments to go forth from that place and
to be fruitful, to multiply, and to fill the earth
-- now, it’s easy for us to look at
those commands as nothing more than an instruction to start having babies and
repopulate the earth -- but there’s so much more than that in what God is
telling Noah and his sons to do
-- before the flood, the world had a
lot of people -- the land was literally filled with people, in farms and
villages and cities and nations -- everywhere God looked, people filled the
earth -- but there was something wrong with those people -- their hearts were
wrong -- and that’s why God swept them away in the flood
-- so, when God tells Noah and his
sons to be fruitful, to multiply, and to fill the earth, God means more than for
them to just make more people -- He means for them to make people in His image
-- people who are like Noah -- righteous, blameless, and who walk with God
-- to be fruitful means that you
reproduce the nature and image of God here on earth -- that the fruit you bear reflects
God and makes others see God in you and your actions
-- this command to bear fruit was not
just given to Noah -- it was given to us -- Jesus told us that we were to bear
fruit, as well
-- how do we become fruitful?
1) first, we must be mature -- only
mature trees produce fruit -- that means that we are like Noah -- we are in a
right relationship with God -- we walk with Him -- we know Him -- we follow His
word and His way -- it is only when we are mature in our faith, that we are able
to bear fruit
2) next, we must be nourished -- only
trees that are fed and watered produce fruit -- to be blessed by God is to be
fed and watered and nourished through Him -- we are fed through the word of God
and we are watered with the Living Water of the Spirit within us -- as we walk
with God and seek Him in His word and in our lives, streams of refreshing and
the bread of life will fill us and nourish us through His grace
3) finally, we must be strong --
tested and true -- withstand trials and testing in our lives, just as Noah and his
sons endured a trial of testing during the flood -- trees that persist -- trees
that survive and continue to bear fruit throughout generations -- are those who
have been through the storms and the heat and the floods -- these make us
strong -- they teach us to depend on God -- and they deepen our faith
-- next, God tells Noah and his sons
to increase in number -- to multiply -- once again, this is not just
physically, but spiritually -- we are called to go forth and make disciples of
all nations -- to increase daily the number in the church and in the kingdom of
God
-- it was not enough for Noah and his
sons to just have children, but they needed to raise children of the blessing
-- children who were brought up in the knowledge of the Lord -- who walked in
His name and who sought Him in their lives -- who were obedient to God’s
commands and who followed Him all their days
-- that is our mission, as well -- we
need to increase in numbers -- we need to share God’s word with those around us
-- we need to impart God’s blessings on our family and our friends and those He
puts in our lives, so that we will increase in numbers and the church will be
made stronger
-- finally, God tells Noah and his
sons to fill the earth -- once again, this is more than just physical, but
speaks to God’s spirit going forth and filling the earth with His presence --
Jesus said that the gospel would be preached to the ends of the earth -- as
Christians, we are called to carry God’s message beyond our walls to the
far-flung places of this world
-- we can do that as we share God’s
word with others -- and we can do that as we share God’s resources with His
missionaries, with those who are specially called to go forth into other lands
to share the gospel -- right now, the resources from this church are going
forth in India as Bill Newcomb is there sharing God’s word and proclaiming God’s
blessings to a people living in darkness
III. Closing
-- the thing I wanted you to see today
is that we need to receive God’s blessings on a daily basis and we need to
share His blessings with others by being fruitful and increasing in numbers and
by filling the earth with His presence
-- the power of a blessing spoken into
the life of another person is miraculous -- the power of God’s grace poured out
into another’s life can change their life forever
-- let me close by sharing with you a
story from Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy’s book, “In a Heartbeat,”
-- There is a little-known
congressional program that awards internships to young people who have aged out
of the foster care system -- these are the kids who were never adopted and have
turned 18 and are no longer eligible for state support.
-- A senator the Tuohys met hired one
of these young men as an intern -- one morning the senator breezed in for a
meeting and discovered that his intern was already in the office, reorganizing
the entire mailroom. The senator said to the intern, "This is amazing—the
mailroom has never looked so clean. You did a great job."
-- A few minutes later the senator saw
that the intern had tears streaming down his face. -- [He] said, "Son, are you okay?" --
"Yes," the intern answered quietly. -- "Did I say something to
offend you?" -- "No, sir." -- "Well, what's wrong?"
-- The young man said, "That's
the first time in my life anyone's told me that I did something good."
-- "A little bit of attention and
a kind word—that's how little it takes to affect someone's life for the
better."2
-- God has blessed you -- just the
fact that you are here this morning is evidence of God’s blessing in your life
-- He has blessed you and called you and empowered you to go forth in His name
to carry His message of grace to this world
-- speak His blessing to those around
you -- carry His message of grace to those you meet -- be intentional in doing
what God has called you to do -- be fruitful -- reproduce His grace and
goodness so that you might bless those around you -- increase in number by
sharing His message of salvation to those He puts in your path -- and fill the
earth with His praise and with the knowledge of His Son, Christ Jesus
-- I want to close by praying over you
a blessing that I read in a sermon from John Ortberg that really spoke to me --
let’s pray
--
May the Lord God Almighty, in his mercy obliterate every word, statement,
experience, and invisible barrier you may have constructed that is keeping his
blessing from reaching your heart.
--
May the unrelenting love of God pursue you and surprise you with his compassion
for you.
--
May the forgiveness of Jesus Christ restore and renew your hearts.
--
May the living waters of the Holy Spirit fill you and flow through you to a
struggling and broken world.
--
May God's peace rest upon you, and may the Lord fill you with his joy.
--
May his joy become your strength.
--
In the name of the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.
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1
Illustration modified from: https://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-bobby-mcdaniel-stories-christianvalues-14489?ref=AllSermonPrep
2 Men of
Integrity, "How Little It Takes," (November/December 2010)
1 comment:
Pastor Lee,
Good Sermon. We hope you will continue to support your website.
David
Greenville, SC
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