Alright, let's take our Bibles
and turn back to Genesis chapter 9. Genesis chapter 9. Noah and his family has been in the
ark now for a year. And the Lord has commanded Noah
to leave the ark. And Noah left the ark according
to the command of the Lord and immediately In a spirit of thankfulness,
obedience, worship unto the Lord for His mercy and His compassion,
Noah built an altar unto Jehovah, the Lord. An altar to the triune God, to
the Father that chose Him, the Son that redeemed Him, the Spirit
of God, who regenerates, blows as the wind, seeking out God's
sheep. And now we see where this altar,
having been a burnt offering, burnt sacrifice, says the Lord
smelled a sweet savor, verse 21 of chapter 8, a savor of rest. That offering that set forth
the obedience, that's what the burnt offering was. It was an
offering that was given unto the Lord. Man got no part of
it. There were some offerings that
the priest could eat from. But the burnt offering was only
for the Lord. And what it set forth was the
willingness and the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ finishing
of the work that was given him by the Father. And then in verse
1, and God blessed Noah and his sons. The Lord was pleased to
cause them to prosper, is what it means. He blessed them. And
He said unto them, God was pleased to bless Noah His sons in Noah
in a way that was marvelous. It was miraculous. God spoke
to Noah. And whether He heard it verbally,
whether He heard it in His heart, it doesn't say, but He heard
it. He knew it. And the Lord said unto them,
Be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth. Now, the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the one to whom this book is written. This book, this is the holy scriptures,
and it is the letter, it is the word of God that is sent to the
people of God. And the Lord, blessing Noah and
his sons, He gave them this word of command. He said, first of
all, Be fruitful. Be fruitful. Now, the second
word is multiply, the third word is replenish the earth. So being
fruitful is something other than multiplying and replenishing
the earth. Be fruitful. Now, the Lord is
commanding something which only the Lord can accomplish. Be fruitful. This is what it means. Bear fruit. Bear fruit. We're the branches, the Lord
is the vine, and we glorify the Lord, according to John 15, 8,
as He produces in us the fruit of His Spirit. Now here's what
He's saying. He's blessing Noah and his sons. And He says to
Noah and his sons, Be fruitful. John 15.8, Herein is my Father
glorified that you bear much fruit, so shall you be my disciples. When believers walk, in the truth. They walk in love. When they
adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in their obedient walk. What is that obedient walk? They
believe God. They believe Him. They're sinners
saved by the grace of God. If we say we have no sin, we
make God a liar. But they believe God. They believe
that the Lord has saved them by His grace and mercy. They
believe that God has loved them with an everlasting love. And
they manifest the fruit of God's Spirit. Love, joy, peace, and
long-suffering, and gentleness, and meekness, and kindness. So
the Lord says to them, Be fruitful. Magnify the grace of the Lord. that has been shown you. Magnify
the grace of God. Believe in God. Be fruitful. Philippians, hold your place
right there. Turn to Philippians 1 verses 9 to 11. Or I'll just read it to you if
you want to. Philippians chapter 1 verse 9 to 11. The Apostle Paul says, in this
I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge
and in all judgment, that you may approve things that are excellent,
that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,
being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by
Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God. So here the Lord
is commanding Noah to do something that only the Lord can do in
Noah. The Lord says faithful, I mean
the scripture says in 1 Thessalonians 5.24, faithful is he that calleth
you who also will do it. Whenever in John chapter 20,
verse 26, remember when Thomas, right there after the Lord was
raised from the dead, all the disciples were there but Thomas.
And they told Thomas, they said, Thomas, we saw the Lord. The
Lord was here. He said, unless I see the Prince
in His hand, put my hand in His side, I won't believe. I won't
believe. A week later. They were all together
and the Lord met with them again. Thomas was there this time. John
chapter 20 verse 26 to 28. Eight days. Again his disciples
were within and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being
shut, and stood in the midst and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach
hither thy finger and behold my hands and reach hither thy
hand and thrust it into my side, and listen to this, and be not
faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said
unto him, my Lord and my God. I've said this before to you,
but we need to remember it. When the Lord said unto Thomas,
and be not faithless, but believing, that wasn't a suggestion. That
was a command that the Lord accomplished. Be not faithless. God gave him
faith. And believe. Believe. And he
believed. God spoke and it happened. So
back in Genesis chapter 9, the Lord blessed Noah and his sons
and he said unto them, be fruitful. And the Lord that commanded that
is the one that accomplishes that. I mean, the Lord could
say to any of us, be fruitful. And unless He does something
for us, what's going to happen? Nothing. What are we going to
do? How are we going to produce the
fruit of God's Spirit? God must do something. So He
blessed him. He blessed him. This is the church
right here. Be fruitful. And then He said,
and multiply and replenish the earth. Now the Lord created man
in His own image. There was an elect. All of God's
elect were chosen before the foundation of the world. Before
man was ever created. God's elect were in Christ. They've always been in Christ.
And the Lord here, knowing that there's an elect people, says
to Noah and his sons, Noah's wife and their wives, that's
all there is. That's it. There's eight souls
left in the world. Eight. And God has an elect. An elect that He's going to call
out of every nation, every kindred, every tribe, every people. Those elect that were in the
Lord Jesus slain from the foundation of the world, the Lamb Himself.
And that Lamb, the Lord God Himself that shall come in time and shall
lay down His life for the sheep. They're going to have to be born.
They're going to have to be born. They're going to be born into
this world a bride that the Lord has eternally known. A bride
that ravishes the Savior's heart with one of her eyes. And though
she fell in Adam, she never fell from Christ. But she's got to
come through natural generation. The Lord has always known her.
But she's not born yet. So he tells Noah and his sons,
multiply. Multiply. Replentish the earth. And God shall. He's going to
raise them up. Almighty God will order all the
marriages that's ever been made. They're going to put men and
women together, and children are going to be born, and God
knows who they are, and He's going to call them out of darkness. And so here He's continuing the
institution of marriage. He started it in the garden,
and now here it is, continuing. So He's telling Noah of the blessing. Be fruitful. Multiply and replenish
the earth. And the fear of you and the dread
of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every fowl
of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, upon all the
fishes of the sea into your hand are they delivered. Now, here's
an amazing evidence of God's blessing set forth by the Lord
unto Noah. There was gonna be a fear, a
dread, of every beast, every fowl, every moving thing upon
the earth, all the fishes of the sea toward man. The animals
would fear men. And you notice that. You know
that. I know that there are instances found even in the scriptures
where animal aggression is recorded against men and men were killed
by animals. I know that. But based upon God's
word, even animal aggression is found to be based upon fear.
They're fearful. And that fear that finds its
source in God who made man in God's image the fear of the Lord
concerning men. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. But it's only found in men after
that respect, that fear, that reverence for the Lord. After
a man or woman is called out of the darkness of sin and unbelief.
But fear is a characteristic That's natural. It's not natural to men because
of sin. But fear is natural to the animal
kingdom. It's from direct creation of
God and is a reminder of that which man owes God respect. Even animals know that. Animals
know authority. Animals know authority. Animals fear men. The Lord told
Noah in that same verse, into your hand are they delivered.
So therefore you see that even the restraint of animals that
God created was another evidence of God's blessing. Restraint,
you know, I've delivered them into your hand. Dominion over
the animal kingdom. Back in Genesis chapter 1, that's
what the Lord said in creation. Genesis 1.26, God said, let us
make man in our image after our likeness. Let them have dominion
over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air. over the
cattle, over the earth, over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth. Can you imagine if God didn't
put a restraint on animals? I mean, look at the size of some
of these things. Tiger? Bear? I know, listen, I know
there's fear. There's fear in them. There's a God-given respect for
man that is the evidence to man of what man lost in the fall. He said, into your hand they're
delivered. The Lord's promised, I'm not
going to leave you. I'm not going to forsake you. We behold, even
in the submission of these animals toward man, a beautiful picture
of our duty. Then verse 3, every moving thing
that liveth shall be meat for you. Even as the green herb have
I given you all things. Now, there were distinctions
placed upon animals in the use of the offerings, the sacrifices. Clean and unclean animals, there
were differences. Clean animals were used in the
sacrificing, picturing the purity, the holiness, the willingness
of our Lord to lay down His life for the sheep, lay down His life
unto the Lord in the payment of our debt. But as to the daily
use of animals for food, It's like the green herbs. The Lord
sets no restriction. The scripture says, Romans 14,
14, I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus that there is
nothing unclean of itself. But to him that esteemeth anything
to be unclean, to him it's unclean. Paul says there ain't nothing
unclean as far as that. If you like snails, eat them. I mean, there's all kinds of
things that are eaten. You know, I read where John the
Baptist ate locusts and honey, I thought. I've never eaten a locust. I
don't know if I'd really want to try one. I don't know. It
may not be that bad. But he did, but there's nothing
unclean. There's nothing of itself. 1 Timothy 4.4, for every creature
of God is good. It is good in its place, good
for the purpose for which God made it, and nothing to be refused,
the Apostle Paul says, that is when it's used for the purpose
concerning God's creation, if it be received with thanksgiving,
giving thanks always for all things unto God the Father in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So the Lord is blessing Noah,
and here he is, now these animals, Every one of them. All the animals.
All the clean, all the unclean animals. All the clean and the
unclean fowl. All the creeping things. Everything
that was going to come forth in the animal kingdom to replenish
this earth. He said, that's food for you.
It's food for you. There's nothing forbidden for
you. God's going to replenish the
earth. For in that replenishing of the earth is going to be His
elect. And He's going to save them. And He's going to feed
them now. He's going to tell them. He said
it's, you know, every moving thing that liveth shall be meat
to you. Green herbs, you know. The problem with us is our ignorance
of the mercy of God when it comes to the benefits of what God has
provided. I never cease to be amazed when
I hear about something. Some of you people are really
into herbs and things like that. I really don't know that much
about it, how good food is for you. Good stuff. And certain
things, certain herbs, certain things that the Lord is providing
that are healthy, healthy, healthy. And it's just our ignorance.
But it's not that it's not good. It's good. It's just that we
don't know what it is. But so concerning whatever Noah
and his sons and their wives chose to eat, the Lord said it's
there. But here's a divine exclusion and restriction. Verse 4, with
the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. Now here the Lord set forth the
preciousness of blood. Now there is something that is
in all living creatures, all living animals, blood. We all have blood. The blood,
even blood found within the animals, the blood of animals would have
to be shed. He said, now here's the restriction.
In verse 3, every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for
you. Verse 4, but flesh with the life thereof which is the
blood thereof shall you not eat. Now this prohibition was made
to serve the purpose of teaching the people the idea of the sacredness
of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the purpose of
this. That blood that was shed for
the atonement of God's people. God put a restriction on eating
the blood. Whenever that animal was killed,
that blood was poured out. Listen to Leviticus 17, 10 and
11. And whatsoever man there be of
the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among
you, that eateth any manner of blood, I will even set my face
against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from
among the people. For the life of the flesh is
in the blood. And I have given it to you upon
the altar to make an atonement for your souls, for it is the
blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Now here we're
taught the same truth here that shall be taught in the law of
Moses that was now given to Noah. God's jealousy for the blood,
all blood that was such of divine restriction that it was placed
upon the consumption of blood, all to the honor of Christ, His
blood. You know, all nature bears witness
to the glory of God. Romans 1.20, all nature sets
forth the glory of Almighty God. Romans 1 verse 20 says, For the
invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
So even in the killing of animals for the sacrifices, for food, A divine restriction was placed
upon them just taking that blood and using it for their own consumption. The Lord said, that's mine. That's
mine. You're not to eat it. Sacrifices
were made, that blood was poured out. That blood on the Day of
Atonement was taken and it was sprinkled, that blood. So the
bearing of all nature, bearing witness to the glory of God. And in that creation, the blood
itself of whatever you were going to eat, but of the flesh with
the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, you shall not
eat. The Lord put that restriction.
The blood of offerings was shed for the Lord. He's the one before
whom the atonement must be made. Leviticus chapter 1. Leviticus chapter 1 verses 1
to 5 says this. And the Lord called unto Moses,
and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation,
saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,
If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, you shall bring
your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, And of the
flock, if his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him
offer a male without blemish. He shall offer it of his own
voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation
before the Lord. He shall put his hand upon the
head of the burnt offering. It shall be accepted for him
to make atonement for him. He shall kill the bullet before
the Lord. And the priest Aaron's son shall bring the blood and
sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the
door of the tabernacle of the congregation. God said, it's
mine. It's mine. That blood is a picture. All blood was a picture of the
shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was the blood of Christ
Himself that eternally answered for the salvation and the acceptance
of God's people in Christ. Revelation 13.8 says, And all
that dwell upon the earth shall worship Him whose names are not
written in the book of life of the Lamb, slain from the foundation
of the world. All the blood that was shed,
sacrifices, food, whatever, the Lord says it's mine. It's mine. It is a remembrance, it is a
reminder, it is a setting forth, it is the type of the shed blood
of Christ. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
set forth in all these types, precious blood. The scripture
declares 1 Peter 18, 1 Peter, for as much as you know that
you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition of your fathers,
but with the precious blood, the valuable, the honored, the
costly, the esteemed blood of Christ as a lamb without spot
and without blemish. It was His blood in particular.
As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father. I lay down
my life for the sheep. The Lord Jesus is known by the
Father. as the chosen lamb, and the Lord
Jesus knew the Father as the electing God of His covenant
mercy. And the Lord, in finishing His work given Him by the Father,
laid down His life, shed His own blood to redeem, to buy back,
to pay the debt of God's sheep. The blood of the Lamb is the
blood that cleanses His people from all sin. Revelation 7, 13,
14. One of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these
which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said
unto him, Sir, thou knowest. He said unto me, These are they
which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes,
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The Apostle Paul
was moved by the Spirit of God in Acts chapter 20, verse 28,
to pen this precious passage of Scripture. Romans 20, 28. Now listen to this. Take heed,
therefore, unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the
Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God which
He hath purchased with His own blood. You take heed. All of our redemption, all of
our salvation rests upon Christ and His shed blood. Hebrews 9.22,
without shedding of blood, there is no remission. There is no
forgiveness without the shedding of the blood. God created man,
animals, all the living creatures. All of them. And in them is blood. We all got it. And in that blood
is the life. You bleed out, let me tell you
what's going to happen. You're going to die. You can
rest assured, you bleed out, you will die. The life is in
the blood. But it's a reminder. So the blood
that was shed in the sacrifices was ordained of God. It was to
be that which was respected before God as a type and picture of
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a remembrance. It's a remembrance. When you see blood, you see blood,
that's a remembrance. So that's a gory thing. He laid
down his life. His visage was marred more than
any other man. He laid down his beard, plucked
it, beaten, stuck with a spear, nailed to that cross. It's a remembrance. It's a remembrance. By His blood. We are justified
by His blood. Peace with God is established. So the Scripture declares, in
this precious passage of Scripture, you just flesh with the life
thereof, which is the blood thereof, ye shall not eat. And surely
your blood of your lives will I require at your hand. Of every
beast will I require at the hand of man. At the hand of every
man's brother will I require of man. Whoso shedeth man's blood,
by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God made
he him." So Almighty God considers the blood to be a precious thing,
a precious remembrance. And then He says in closing in
verse 7 again, Be you fruitful. Where he started, this is where
he ends. Be you fruitful, and multiply, bring forth abundantly
in the earth, and multiply therein. The blessing of Noah. God blessing
this man is a picture of the church. This was the whole church
at that time, right there. That's all of it. And this is
the blessing to us. He says to God's people, be fruitful. Be fruitful. Faithful is he that
calleth, who also does it. Manifest his mercy and grace
in us, bestowing upon us the fruits of God's spirit. I pray
that God be pleased to bless this to our hearts, glorifying
himself for our good, edification for his sake. Amen.