Let us start a service. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth, who keeps the truth forever, who does not forsake the works of his hands. Amen. Grace, peace, mercy and comfort be unto you from God the Father and of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord in a communion with the Holy Ghost. Amen. Let's continue by singing Psalter 171, the stanzas 1 and 2. 171, 1 and 2. from rest, and joy on earth now send us, from our bodies to rest. and sing my people's song. And sing my people's song. And sing my people's song. And sing my people's song. Let's open our Bibles in the book of Exodus, chapter 20. verses 1 to 17, in which we will read God's holy law. And after that, we will answer by singing Psalter 233, verse 4, after God's holy law. And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them, for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. Wherefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. ♪ The grace to lead me ♪ ♪ Then from home I will proudly lead ♪ ♪ For thou wilt answer when I plead ♪ The second scripture reading this morning is from the Old Testament, the first book of the Bible, Genesis chapter 8. Genesis chapter 8. And the Word of God comes to us again as follows. And God remembered Noah and every living thing and all the cattle that was with him in the ark. and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged. The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained, and the waters returned from off the earth continually, and after the end of the 150 days, the waters were abated. And the ark rested in the seventh month on the seventeenth day of the month upon the mountains of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen. And it came to pass at the end of forty days that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. and he sent forth a raven which went forth to and fro until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Also he sent forth a dove from him to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground. But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. Then he put forth his hand and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. And he stayed yet other seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. And the dove came in to him in the evening, and low in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off, so no one knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove which returned, not again unto him anymore. And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried. And God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee. Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee of all flesh, both of fowl and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful and multiply upon the earth. And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth after their kinds, went forth out of the ark. And Noah built an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and burnt offerings on the altar, And the Lord smelled a sweet savour. And the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake. For the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I again smite any more every living thing as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest and cold and heat and summer and winter and day and night shall not cease. Congregation, this morning I would like to develop on a portion we read together from Genesis chapter 8, starting in verse 15 to the end of the chapter, like we read together already, and it speaks about Noah leaves the ark. And we will see three different thoughts. First, God's command. Secondly, Noah's sacrifice. And thirdly, God's answer. Noah leaves the ark. We will see God's command. Noah's sacrifice, and God's answer. But first, let us seek the Lord's face in prayer. And we will remember in prayer also Rosalie van der Bruinhorst, daughter from Jaco and Martina van der Bruinhorst, who has been in the hospital this week and is already at home again. Let us pray. gracious, most merciful Lord in heaven. Living God, Holy Father, dear Son, Holy Spirit, oh, when we come to Thee and we call upon Thy name, granders in mentioning thine names, an impression who thou art, that our hearts may be filled with reverence, but also with comfort. Thou art a holy God, Thou art an almighty God, but Thou hast also taught us, Lord Jesus Christ, to call upon the name of God as our Father, to encourage us to draw nigh to Thee, and to open our hearts before Thee, And that's such a privilege, Lord, given to Thy church, that we, although we are on earth, although we remain sinners, but for Christ's sake, we may approach Thee with hope and expectation. O God, and that's the reason why the angels are glorifying Thee. Because they experience day after day the riches of thy love and the riches of thy faithfulness. And their souls are impressed by that. And they have only one longing, to honor thee and to glorify thee for who thou art. And therefore they are so glad when also on earth there will be one sinner who is converted to God. Oh, their joy will be increasing. We pray, Lord, that also this day the joy of the angels may be increased. because the sinners come to Thee also today in our midst, and everywhere that Thy word already has been preached or will be preached. O Holy Spirit, our eyes are unto Thee to open our hearts and to open our minds, enlighten them in seeing who Thou art. In that light, to see who we are. Oh, that's what we need, oh God. Thy Holy Spirit to convince us and to show us the truth. Otherwise, we will hear words, maybe we will hear familiar phrases, and we will go out of church with a feeling, satisfied feeling. We have done our duty. But Lord, our hearts can never be satisfied without Thee, without an encountering with Thee, and we pray. Oh, we pray, triune God, glorify Thy name in our hearts, in the hearts of our children, in the hearts of our midst. Oh, Holy Father, help us in listening, Keep us from wandering thoughts. Help us in preaching. We pray, Lord, remember the congregation in all circumstances. We thank Thee for all the blessings, and there are many, every day again. Thou art faithful. Remember us also, Lord, in all our needs and concerns, burdens. We pray for widows and widowers. Remember them. We pray for our elderly people present today or listening at home. all thou knowest their specific needs. Remember them and comfort them and teach them also. Pray for those who are lonely. Give also in our midst an eye on those people. Lord, remember those who are sick were not able to gather together with us because of the aging of their youth, who are listening at home or even are able to do that. Oh Lord, remember them. Remember those who were struggling with mental problems. Lord, be with them and strengthen them. May we pray, Lord, for Bernard van Woerden. May we pray for Jason van Landerseel. In their specific circumstances, oh, be with them and strengthen them. Lord, we also would like to find thee that thou brought Rosalie van der Braunhorst safely back home. Oh, that little baby. when he had to go to the hospital. And Lord, we see how weak human life is. And we pray, Lord, remember her. Remember Jaco and Martina and the other children. Oh, Lord, grant them also a thankful heart. that Thou hast spared up till today the lives of the children and of them. Lord, be with each and every one of us and remember us. And in particular, Lord, grant us Thy Holy Spirit in listening, in preaching, For Jesus' sake we pray, Amen. Let's now sing Psalter 128. 128. We will sing all stanzas and in between there will be the collections. 128 All Standards. Amen. you ♪ God on earth ♪ ♪ Israel with exultation ♪ ♪ Israel, heavenly host ♪ I'll be there at dawn Congregation, we sung together, behold what God has done on earth. His wrath brings desolation. His grace commanding wars to cease brings peace to every nation. Behold what God has done on earth. actually where we would like to think about this morning. For a couple of weeks we are already speaking about God's dealings with Noah. We have seen how God, and we started actually at the beginning of the Bible in the book of Acts, in the book of Genesis, how God created this world. We have seen the sin of man We have seen how the sin of man came to a climax, and God at that moment, He decided to destroy this world, and He did. He warned the people for 120 years, children, proclaiming His Word, building the ark as an example, as invisible preaching. There's a visible preaching that we need to be in that ark to be saved. And we know how God fulfills His Word, not only in His promises, also in His wrath. And the whole earth was destroyed by water. And Noah has been in the ark with all the animals and his family for over about five months before the ark got stuck on the Mount Ararat. And we have spoken about that last week, how Noah was in the ark and how he was and how he knew and remembered that God has spoken to him to go in the ark and that the Lord closed the door behind him. He was not able to leave the ark. And we have seen last week how Noah, although he was just a human being, also a sinner, tempted by all kind of doubts probably. still trusted his God. Why? We saw because God remembered Noah. God didn't forget his child, also not in the ark. But children, you can imagine when that ark was on the Mount Ararat, and Noah has opened the ark and the raven went out and later the doves, that he would expect it to go out every moment. But it took quite a while, seven months, seven months of waiting, and Noah didn't know when God would come again. He didn't know that. He had just to wait. Maybe you know that a little bit. Waiting, that's hard for human beings. If you don't know what's the outcome, if you don't know the date and you have still to wait, that's a hard thing for people who likes to be in control. You know, it's easy to say to trust God. Of course, we easily can, we will say that. But in practice, that's not an easy thing. But that mighty thing happened, and that's our first thought, God commanded Noah to leave the ark. God has spoken again, verse 15, and God spake unto Noah, saying, go forth of the ark." Our congregation, this is a wonderful thing in the life of Noah, that God That we not only know God remembered him, that's what is written there, but that Noah also in his personal life experienced very clear that God wasn't forgotten him. That God spoke to him again. And that's God. My dear people, that's God. God is always faithful. to His Word. And the come between, you know, those specific moments in the life of Christians, they are only a few. I really believe that. There are, in the life of God's people, very specific moments that the Lord speaks in their And you will never, never forget Him. When God comes in our lives, when the Lord Jesus is revealed in our souls, you will never forget Him, never. The first time you see grace, you see by free grace, that way of salvation outside yourself, the precious Lamb of God, you'll never forget. But there are so many days that there are not that specific words of God, not that specific revealings of God. That God doesn't, sometimes it seems it's God speaking to me. But what a wonderful thing, when God comes back, And He does. Oh, He does. I'm sure every Christian this morning in our midst knows. Oh, sometimes that voice of God, that soft voice of God, maybe in our personal devotion in the morning, just reading your Bible, just on your knees, that the Lord enables you again to open your heart and to believe and to feel the love of God in Christ Jesus again. And you know, You can be often so in doubt. Yesterday night I had a phone call and that man, he told me, he said, oh, there are so many days that I can't believe and I'm wondering everywhere, but on those specific moments that I see again that precious Savior, there is no doubt. There is no doubt. It is so sure and it's such a comfort. It's God. God comes back on His own words like He did in the life of Noah. Congregation, that's the first thing I would like to mention this morning. Also on this new earth, also after the flood, God remains a speaking God. There is still communication between heaven and earth, children. Often we think, where is God? And I was always looking to the skies when I was a young man, and I thought, yes, far away, there is God. And I thought, oh, when I was able to have a plane, I would try to go to heaven by a plane. Have you ever thought that? And you think God is so far, so far away. Maybe when you are praying congregation, you are praying on your knees, hopefully you did it this morning, and you think God, it seems to go not further than the ceiling. God, but the Bible teaches us God is not so far away. Oh no, He is not so far away. God is here today. God is in His Word. God is in His Word. And this morning He comes in our midst to teach us again that God is an answering God. We will see that. That God is a speaking God. That God is a communicating God. Children, oh, God is answering. God didn't forget. Noah, no, he came back and he's speaking to Noah saying, go forth of the ark. Yes, in the time of Noah, God spoke in a supernatural way. Nowadays, God didn't do that. maybe sometimes when it is necessary, but the usual way of God is to speak through His Word. The author to the Hebrews, he says, God who at sundry times and in diverse manners speak in times passed on to the fathers by the prophets. hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds." So, congregation, God speaks through His Son. In the past, through the prophets. But now God speaks to you and to me through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And children, where you can find the Lord Jesus Christ? Where is the Lord Jesus Christ? You will say, yes, pastor, the Lord Jesus Christ is in heaven. That's true. But the Lord Jesus Christ you also can find in your Bible. Everything you need to know about Him, that He is a listening Savior, you can find in your Bible. So the Lord Jesus Christ is in the Bible, so God speaks to us, to you this morning through His Word. Yes, God speaks also through circumstances. We have seen that in the life of Noah. Noah was not a lazy man. He was trying to figure out how it was going on on earth. And then he, for that reason, he sent out the birds, God's providences. But in particularly, God speaks through His Word by decongregation. Listen, God is speaking now. I'm but a servant. God is speaking to you. God is dealing with your soul. My dear young people, God is waiting for sinners to save them. Communicating God, that's a wonderful reality. That's what the Bible reveals to us. God is a speaking God, a calling God. You remember maybe the sermon in which we reinstalled the office bearers and we have spoken about a calling God. And I quoted in that sermons also the canons of Dorf who said, who are confessing, as many as are called by the gospel are unfeignedly called. For God hath most earnestly and truly declared in His Word what will be acceptable to Him, namely, that all who are called should comply with the invitation. He moreover seriously promises eternal life and rest. to as many as shall come to Him and believe on Him." Noah was called to leave the ark. And what he did, children? He did. He did, right away. He was obedient to the Word of God. And ye, and I, when God is here this morning, When the Lord Jesus Christ is here this morning, He calls you. Like the Apostle Paul speaks in 2 Corinthians 5, therefore we are ambassadors for Christ's sake. We pray you in Christ's name be reconciled with God. It's God. God is calling you this morning. Maybe you will say, I can't come. Tell it Him, He will bring you. Maybe you will say, I have no faith. He'll say, I give you. Maybe you will say, oh, I have, if you know what I did this last week and this last month. The blood of Christ washed away every sin. He is receiving sinners. ungodly sinners this morning. God is calling Noah. No, Noah wasn't perfect. When he left the ark, he was still a sinner. God didn't… You know, the earth after the flood was really different from that created earth on the day of creation, although it was a new begin. Noah still remained a sinner, but God was dealing with him. God was speaking with him. How is that possible? Let's go to our second thought. We will find an answer over there. What did Noah when he came out of the ark? Can you imagine, children, what would Noah have seen? I tried to imagine that in preparing the sermon. When he left the ark, what he saw outside, a huge chaos of mud, of death. And what would be the first thing you want to do on that moment? And you see that huge chaos and you have to leave the ark and all the animals you see going out. Now, the first thing maybe we would like to organize is where do we sleep tonight? and how we have to keep all those, the animals, and where he will stay. He has three big sons. Maybe I want to say, I want to order my sons, you go that direction and you will do that, and you will do that, and you will organize that, and then everything will be organized maybe tonight that we can sleep and have food. It would be human to do that. And these are important things. But what he did, and the first thing Noah did, and Noah went forth and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him, and Noah built an altar unto the Lord. Maybe he has asked his sons to search for stones, to bring them all together to build an altar. The first thing he did on this, that you can say actually on that new world, in that new world after the flood, the first thing Noah did was to build an altar. What does that mean? Why, children? Why had to build an altar? Today we don't build altars, isn't it? No. But why Noah built an altar? Because that means that he turns to God. And the altar, in the time of Noah, was the means to to God, it was the way to God. Noah was very aware, I have survived, many people not, my family did, but now I can't, I can't, I can't live without God. I first of all in this desolated world, I need to go back to God who called me to leave the ark. So this sacrifice, this altar first was a confession, a confession, a confession for His family. as a father to his children and to their wives. My dear children, first of all, we need to go to God. Children, that's hopefully you did. Also you did this morning, the first thing you did, to go on your knees and to turn to God in prayer. to turn to God in prayer. And you need not to be old for that, you can read it in 1 Samuel chapter 1, also the little Samuel, maybe five, six years old, and he bent his knees. So Noah, he erected a altar as a confession, a confession when animals were slaughtered. Why he erected an altar, why he made that confession? Well, the sacrifice was also a prayer for atonement. I mentioned already, Noah wasn't perfect. Noah still was a sinner. Noah was at the same place as all the other people who died under God's judgment. Noah was very aware of that. I'm not holy, and he wasn't actually. That's what you can read. Verse 21, for the imaginations of man's heart is evil from his youth. This also was the case in Noah's life. And so Noah was aware, and he had to confess, Lord, I'm not able to survive on my own power. Oh, I need Thee, and I also need forgiveness. I need atonement. be merciful to me, a sinner." But it was not only a prayer for atonement. Further, you also can say this altar is also a prophecy and a preaching of atonement. The first thing Noah shows to his family on this world is there is reconciliation with that God, that God who is holy, and in His anger He destroyed this world. But that God we have not to be afraid for, children. No, He is a God of reconciliation. There is forgiveness. also in this new world, that's what Noah is preaching. And therefore, God had ordered Noah, we know children, before the flood came, He ordered to have from all the pure animals, seven couples in the ark. And at that time, maybe you remember that, that I explained it already, why seven of them? only the pure animals could be used for a sacrifice for God. And Noah, he used them as a sacrifice, as an atonement for God. O congregation, this is a message. for each and every one of us. Noah, he was very aware of the reality of sin. And Noah will show it later in his life. He wasn't perfect. Children, God's people are not perfect. God's people remain sinners. Please, do never forget that. Do never forget that. Often we can think about God's people, they are holy and they need to be holy, that's true. But they are not. That's the need so often. Also Noah, he wasn't perfect. Oh no, we know how he has fallen in sin again. So, this sacrifice was a message of an expression, you can say also, of misery. Noah was confessing when he was killing the animals, that's what I deserve. That's what I deserve. All, all the people, all the people outside the ark went lost. But I'm sure in Noah's heart has been that cry, oh God, why those people and not I? That's what I also deserve, Lord. I'm not better. I'm really not better. I'm also a child of Adam. And why, why thou hast saved my life? And why, why the life of my children and all the lives of my neighbors? They all are gone. Oh, the sacrifice is one confession, oh Lord. I'm not, I'm a sinner, also in this new earth." But it's also a preaching that God is in a way of a sacrifice, is reconciled. and is ready to forgive our sins. O congregation, this is what happened, and that's what we read. This is beautiful, isn't it? Verse 21, and the Lord smelled the sweet savor, and the Lord said in His heart, I will not again curse this world. God, God smelled a sweet savor. What does that mean? Now, children, I don't know, have you ever smelled burned flesh, burned meat? Sometimes it happens in the kitchen of your mom. Is it a nice smell? It isn't. It's a dirty smell. Burned meat. But in the nostrils of God, like it says, it was a sweet savor. Oh, God was, God was smelling that, that new life. God was smelling His, God saw His own work in the hearts and lives of Noah and in the sacrifice. He saw, yeah, what did He see? He saw the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work in it. You can, maybe you will say, Pastor, now I can't follow you. How you can speak about from this portion that the Lord smelled the sweet savor of that, that burned meat, that burned animals? How you can draw a line to the Lord Jesus Christ? You can read that in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 2, where the Apostle Paul writes, "'And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor.'" Shall we read that word again? Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering, and to sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor." Oh, the sacrifice of Noah was one prophecy of the sacrifice of Christ, the Son of God. Oh, when God smells the sacrifice of Noah, He remembered and He was thinking about that great work His Son would go to do and has promised to do, that He would go through this world to be a Lamb of God, to be slaughtered for sinners as a sweet-smelling savor." What a preaching congregation. Oh, Noah, he was the first man on this new world, and the first preaching of that new world. That God, that holy God. shows to Noah and his family, in Christ Jesus, I'm your God. I'm willing to wash away all your sins today. The first message on this new earth, you can say, after the flood. No, the second message of it, there was no life without a sacrifice. No life without a sacrifice. It's also today. It's also today, my dear people. Not your prayers, not your tears, not your confessions. but only the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, they are such a sweet smell for God, such a sweet smelling savor. And how did God respond to that? What was the effect of that? That's our last thought, it says, and the Lord smelled the sweet savor, and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground anymore for man's sake. For the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, neither will I again smite anymore everything living as I have done. That's the negative. And then verse 22, while the earth remaineth, see time and harvest, cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. That's the positive. Let's start with the last one, the positive response of God. He says, while the earth remaineth, the earth was still there. See time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." God gives a guarantee for human life on earth. Day and night, summer and winter. We have a clear example children, today we can see we are in the midst of the winter. Have you ever realized when you saw the snow coming down, that's because that's an answer on the sacrifice of Noah? Because God smelled the sweet savor and the Lord said in His heart, It's an expression of God's decision, God said in His heart, while the earth remained, sea time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease. It's a fruit of the sacrifice of Noah. And you, we have seen, the sacrifice of Noah is just a preaching of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. winter and summer. It's because of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, how often we can complain about the weather, isn't it? Too much rain, too warm, too cold. Oh, how often we are complaining, complaining, complaining. But when we realize, when we realize it's just a preaching. Every, every, every single snow, it's a preaching of God's grace in Christ Jesus. Every drop of rain, it's a preaching of God's grace in Jesus Christ for us. It's a visible preaching. Day and night, what a blessing, isn't it? That God gives us every night a possibility to sleep. What a blessing when we are able to sleep and to rest. It's a fruit. of God, or congregation, I know, we are so used to it, but this is what I want to stress this morning. Or maybe you can struggle with the things, and you can say, oh, will God ever hear me, and is there salvation for me, and you know, and we can struggle with all these questions. But I just want to say, my dear children, look outside to the snow. Look outside through the snow. It's a visible preaching that the blood of Jesus Christ covered all sins like the snow covered all things on this world. It's a preaching, day and night, sun and moon, of God's grace, of God's willingness to save us all. Oh, God has also opened His heart in those visible things. God cares for our lives, temporal lives, spiritual lives. But God also answered negatively in verse 21. I will not again curse the ground anymore for man's sake, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I again smite anymore everything living as I have done." Children, God is promising there will never come a flood again. God will never destroy human beings in the way he did during the flood. He will never do that again. Oh, God is comforting Noah that God will give life and make life possible on earth. God gives a certainty for life. That's the message at the beginning of this, of that new world, to comfort Noah, and that Noah can be a comforter for his people. That's his name, we know. His name is Comforter. This man will comfort us, and that's what he did. And this is the message of God given to him. God will not destroy and curse the ground anymore for man's sake. And we have seen, no, the people were not better. It's very clear in this portion, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. It's always there, but it is because of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ that God will have mercy on sinners. Oh, what a preaching! My dear people, what a preaching for you! That the blood of Jesus Christ washed away every single sin, and this is the hope of every Christian, isn't it? Oh God, He promised, I will not again curse the ground. That's what we deserve, isn't it? Have you ever realized that? That's what I deserve, Lord. We are totally not better. We are living in the times of Noah. But God sent His servants to proclaim that wonderful, but at the same time that simple gospel, O congregation. I become more and more aware that I think, oh, so easily we can make it so, so difficult in our minds, and we… sometimes it's… and it is an impossibility from our side. That's true. But that's our side. But it is totally not a difficult thing on God's side. Oh, totally not. Oh, there where a sinner comes, honestly. confessing and taking responsibility for all the consequences of his sin. Have you ever done that? Oh, no. We prefer to be a victim. And we will say, Lord, yes, but hopefully you will answer one day my prayers. But yeah, I'm not able to do that and I'm just waiting. And go lost. I'm afraid. But when I take my responsibility for my life and my sins, that's hard, I know that. Oh, when I see the sins in all my life, and I see the sins in all my religious things, in my prayers, in my thoughts, in everything, oh, to take responsibility and to say, oh Lord, I'm but an enemy of Thee. That's who I am, and that's who I remain. That's the whole thing. And you have nothing to bring to God, and then you are willing to receive everything from Him. That's the whole thing, congregation. That's the whole thing. And I'm empty and guilty and dirty and lost. Here's a Savior. Here is the power of the blood of Christ. This morning He is ready. He is presented right on the first day of this new world in the sacrifice of Noah. God is presenting His Son to this new world. There is forgiveness. There is atonement. Reconciliation. I am a God of reconciliation. Can you imagine that? Oh, the greatest honor you can give to this God this morning is not to bring your sacrifices of prayers, of money, or whatever, but the biggest Glory to God is today to bring your sins, your unbelief, your heart of stone, and only to rest upon the sacrifice of His Son. Oh, if you want to glorify God, come with your lost life, come with your unbelief, come with all your needs to this precious land of God. God has promised, I will not again curse the ground. Yes, congregation, there will be a day. No, then will God not curse the world in the same way as He did with the flood. There will be a day of judgment. Yes, there will be a day of judgment. And we don't know when it will be. Are you ready for the day? Are you ready for that day? And that day God will judge the people, separate them, the sheep from the bucks. And then this earth will be cleansed completely by fire. Then the earth, and it is called in the Scripture, creating a new earth and a new heaven, then this earth, this created earth will be renewed by fire. Why? Why? to create a new world, a new earth. Oh, children, I try sometimes to imagine what that means, to walk on a new earth. That will happen in the life of every Christian. Dear people of God, that's your future. You will walk on a new earth. Not only be in heaven, there will be no difference between heaven and earth. in the presence of God, to walk on that new earth, which is filled with righteousness, in the presence of God, in the presence of Jesus, without sin, without sin, in the love of God. Oh, what will that be? Can you imagine that? You will see your Savior face to face. able to speak with Him. Oh, what a day it will be to be forever with Him. And we don't know exactly how it will be, but there will be a new earth, new heavens. And like there was communication today, there will be direct communication, all without sin. My question, congregation, will you be there? It's an important question to know. Don't postpone that answer, You need to have an answer on that question today. Those who are in Christ, relying on the sacrifice will be there, only those. And today, this sacrifice, this altar, out of the Scriptures, out of the Old Testament is erected in our midst as a preaching of the crucified Jesus which has his arms wide open at the cross, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give thee rest forever, forever, forever. Amen. 262, Psalter 262, the first stanza we will sing, 262 verse 3. Amen. Let's pray. O precious Lord God in heaven, O, we have to confess we always have wrong thoughts of Thee. And always, Lord, we think that we are willing and Thou art, that we are ready and Thou But oh God, we have seen it this morning again. Oh, it's on every page of the scriptures. And that's our hope. And that's why we live with that expectation every day again that thou art a God who is reconciled in the Lord Jesus Christ. And for that reason only, There is still that day and the night and the winter and the summer preaching the sacrifice of Christ. Oh Lord, remember each and every one of us. And thou knowest all the questions of our soul. But O Lord, we pray, grant us to see who Thou art, and make us willing to believe that our guilt is from earth to heaven. Grant us to believe that we are lost. Grant us to take responsibility for all our sins, in particular for all our unbelief this morning. But grant us also, Lord, to look on the altar. Have mercy upon me, the sinner. O God, we thank Thee for Thy Word. We pray, be with us in the furtherance of this day. Bless also the gathering of the Sunday school classes and of the catechism class. Help the teachers. Bless our youth. Bring us all safely back this afternoon, we pray, for Jesus' sake. Amen. ♪ And the home of the brave ♪ ♪ And crown him, Mary, in raise above. ♪ ♪ In the foundations ♪ ♪ Let me enter ♪ ♪ And lay inside you ♪ Amen. Go in peace and lift up your hearts and receive the blessing of our Lord. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the comforting communion with the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen.