Build An Alter

I'm gonna invite you if you can, we're gonna be reading today out of Genesis

Genesis 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8. This is now part 3 of our new beginning series looking at the life, the

faith of Noah, particularly in the moments after they enter the ark, stepping

into a new world and what this would say to us about our lives today. Genesis

Genesis 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8 and verse 20, if you were not here last Sunday and you did not catch

the live stream or the sound cloud or whatever we are, we're on podcasts now

with Apple Podcasts and Spotify. I mean we're trying to hit you from every

angle we can. Just find one of those things and listen to last Sunday's

message because I feel like it was a marquee message for all of our families.

Amen. But here we find in verse 20, reading from the new living translation,

then Noah built an altar, someone say altar, to the Lord and there he sacrificed

as burnt offerings the animals and the birds that had been approved for that

purpose and the Lord was pleased with the aroma, it pleased him, of the

sacrifice and said to himself, I will never again curse the ground because

of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent

toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things. My

topic today is build an altar, build an altar. I invite you to pray with me at

this time right there where you are. Father, I thank you for your presence that

we feel in this place today God. Our gathering this afternoon is not in

vain. We've come to lift up your name primarily God but also to encourage one

another. We do this Lord in a variety of ways. We do this God with the greetings

of one another and the fellowship through the edifying of songs, hymns and

spiritual songs God and also the breaking of bread of the word and I pray

God that as we go into your word God you would speak to us. God I take authority

right now over every spirit, every force, every mind set in attitude that is

contrary to the spirit and the word of God and I cast it out in the name of

Jesus and I give you Lord permission to speak to your church the way you want to.

Touch us God today and anoint my lips. In Jesus name we pray. Everyone say amen.

You may be seated in God's presence. Noah is perhaps the Bible's most renowned

builder and the Ark was of course the project that put his name on the map.

Cemented his place in history and eventually earned him a spot in the

prestigious Hall of Faith which is found in the writings of Hebrews chapter 11

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

detailing all the great acts of faith, men of faith and women of faith throughout

the ages. He's on the top of that list. It was his crowning achievement. If he

were a painter it was his Mona Lisa. If he were an inventor it was the light bulb.

Solstinonymous are he and his boat that upon hearing the name Noah one

instantly thinks of the Ark. That's how closely related they are. However the

Ark wasn't the only significant thing that he built in his lifetime. In fact

one could argue that what he built after the Ark was as important as the Ark

itself. Maybe not as grand, maybe not as famous, maybe not as big but no less

valuable to a man who was on a mission from God. Thus before staking his claim

in this new world that he had run aground into and before he built new

houses and farmland, Noah's first act when he stepped off the Ark was to build

an altar. Someone say amen. A place to consecrate his life and the new destiny

that he was embarking upon. And so from the very onset of this new journey that

he is on along with his family as I preached on last Sunday all of them as

a unit we see a principle that I want to build on this afternoon which is that no

step of faith is complete without an altar. I don't care where you go, I don't

care what you do, I don't care how successful or notorious or great you

become. No step of faith is complete without an altar. If you hope to thrive

in the things of God and in the season that you're in you need to build a

spiritual altar in your life. And the precedence that Noah sets for us today

church is one of great importance because of all the things that he could have

occupied himself with in a new world. Think of it, it's like a blank canvas

before him. A brand spanking new world. All the things he could have done. He starts

off with the most important thing that we could ever do before you build

anything else. Make sure you're building an altar. There are over 400 references to

altars in the Bible which makes this a prominent fixture worthy of our

consideration. Scripture reveals that every great patriarch of faith was known

to build an altar. And these altars staying with animal blood and human

tears were more than just places of prayer. More than just places of devotion

but places of sacrifice. Aside from Noah, Scripture says that Abraham whom we

refer to often as the father of faith built at least four altars throughout

his lifetime coinciding with every season of faith that he entered. There's an

interesting study there. Maybe I'll preach a series one day just on the

altars of Abraham because he didn't build just one but with every season of

his life. Every new thing that God did in his life he consecrated that season

with an altar. And then his son observing his father's faith also built an

altar. Isaac and then his son Jacob built an altar. And down the line Moses built

an altar. Amen. Then Joshua, Samuel, David, Solomon, Elijah. Are you noticing a

pattern here? All these great men of faith were known to be altar builders.

And you cannot separate the works of faith, the mighty works through which

God did through them from their altar. They are synonymous. They are incomplete

without each other. And so if we are to live a life of faith pleasing unto God, a

life of victory, a life that Christ calls us to live as his followers, then we

also need to understand that no step of faith is complete without an altar. Amen.

So Noah built this altar. He said first things first before we go on with living

our lives, before we go on in pursuit of what we want to do and where we want to

go and what we want to accomplish. We need to build an altar. So today I came

with a very simple mission today to I want to give you the raw materials to

help you understand how to build an altar and what that altar ought to look

like in our daily lives. Amen. We need a thriving altar in our lives if we are

going to achieve and apprehend the things of God. Building and maintaining your

altar might be the most important battleground in your life because I have

come to realize that if the devil could bring our altars into disrepair, if the

devil can get between us and our altars, then he can get between us and our

destiny and our future in God. So you better believe that the altar is of

utmost importance for us today. And Noah built his for three reasons. The first

that I want to mention is to build an altar to show God honor and gratitude.

Hallelujah. Noah stepped off the boat and he was overcome with appreciation.

Maybe he got emotional. Maybe him and his wife held each other in their arms and

shared a moment of reflection to think about where they had come from. Think

about the storm and the flood that they had just survived. Think about the

goodness of God in their life and how it was that the same flood that wiped out

humanity had served to be their mode of salvation. To think about to hold this

moment so precious and so beautiful that they they had to in their minds

consider the goodness of God. What is clear is that Noah understood that it

was only by the grace of God and the goodness of God that he survived

something that others did not survive. Oh, Hallelujah. He fully recognized that

if it had not been for the Lord that was on his side, he would have never made it

to the other side. Let me tell you why we build our altar today. We build them

because we as people of faith and people of God understand that it was not us in

our own power and ability and smart and education that brought us to the other

side but it was the grace of God and God alone that brought us to where we are

today. We ought to give God a praise right now. I said we ought to give God a

praise right now. Oh, thank me to God. Hallelujah. Noah's altar set a

precedence of honor and gratitude that would forever change the trajectory of

his life and his descendants. He wanted to drive a stake in the ground and said

we are primarily a thankful people, a grateful people. We recognize that we

did not get here on our own but we are here by the sheer mercies of God. And so

he pauses. And if you study the altars, the great altars in the Old Testament

with the succeeding patriarchs, you'll find that they were not merely designated

places of prayer. These were not just like a prayer spots where we just kneel

and pray. No, they served as physical and spiritual landmarks to the story of

what God has done in their lives. These altars served as monuments to help the

people of faith and of God. Remember that it was the Lord that had done these

mighty works in their life. These altars were built to commemorate life-changing

encounters with God. Things that God did for them that they were never to forget.

They stood as memorials for the hand of God, such as when Israel crossed over

the Jordan and into the land of milk and honey, the land of Canaan. Not only did

they set up these memorial stones in the river, but they also built an altar, an

altar that would serve as a reminder of the goodness of God, an altar that

every time the people of God, generation after generation, would come across and

see those stones. They would also see a bloodstained altar right next to the

stone. Hey, we have got to make sure that we are also handing down altars to our

children and to our next generation. We gotta show them what it's all about.

It's all about the altar. Hallelujah. Come on, let's give God some thanks right now.

Let's give God some praise today. Hallelujah. The altar you build is about

honoring and blessing God for getting you here. Let me remind you that you didn't

get here because you're smarter than others. I'm gonna say that again. I said

you didn't get here because you're smarter than others. You didn't get here

because you're lucky. You didn't get here because you know the right people. You

didn't get here because you've been perfect your whole life. No, you're here.

Hear me loud and clear today. My God, cannot preach just like I want to. You're

here because God ordained it. Oh, my help somebody right now. I said you're here

because God ordained it. If the devil had any word in it, he would have stopped

you from ever getting my God. If the devil had a say in it, you wouldn't be

sitting where you are today. But the devil is a liar. God ordained for me to be here.

And that's why I lift my hands. That's why I lift my voice. That's why I worship him

in praise of the day. Hallelujah. You survived things that should have drowned

you. Sin and shame. You survived. Somebody say I survived. Amen. Sickness and

injury, heartbreak and affliction, family crisis, financial crisis, mental crisis.

You survived layoffs. You survived recessions, pandemics, countless personal

tile and tribulations. But I've got a question for you. Have you built an

altar of honor and gratitude to God? Did you thank him for preserving you?

Hallelujah. And I've got news for you. You don't have to like they did in the

Old Testament. You don't have to kill any animals. Amen. Unless you're gonna eat

them. Praise God. Peter said, Lord, tell them rise and kill. Amen. But you don't

gotta kill any animals. You know what you gotta kill this flesh. Oh, my God. You

gotta kill this flesh. You don't gotta kill any animals. The Bible says in

Hebrews 13 and verse 15, therefore, by him, let us continually offer the

sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of our lips. Giving thanks to his

name. So how do I thank him? You don't gotta slay any animals today. You just

gotta slay this flesh. Open up your mouth and say thanks. Be the God for

everything that you have done for me. I will bless you, Lord. Come on, people of

God. That's how we do. We do with our lips. We do with praise. You don't have to

wait for Thanksgiving Day to be thankful. Praise him while you can. That's what I

say. And so Noah steps into a new world. A new destiny. And he says, no, we just

can't go on living life. And no, lest we repeat the mistakes of humanity past,

lest we repeat the mistakes of the pre flood civilization. We have got to set

things in spiritual order and we've got to let this brand new world know that God,

this is God's territory. Have you marked your territory for God? Have you marked

your living rooms for God? Have you marked your car for God? Oh, my Lord, have you

let everything know around you that this is the praise zone right here? This is a

praise zone right here. Noah steps foot into this new world and he builds an

altar first to give glory and honor to God. And secondly, you build an altar to

sacrifice for a new season. Noah stepped into a newly baptized earth, which Bible

students you will know and you will learn that this portrays a new birth

experience in Christ. You see, what happened with Noah and the new earth is a

picture of what new life in Christ looks like. It is a foreshadowing of you and I

being covered like the world was in Noah's time with water coming out new. We

were baptized, if you were baptized in water in Jesus' name, that you were very

much like the earth was in Noah's time. Amen. In the words of Paul, therefore, and

second Corinthians 517, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.

Old things have passed away. Behold, all things. Someone say all things. Say it

again. All things have become new. He said, old things have passed away. I want

you to think about just for a moment, what are those old things? You see, old

things here is not just a term for the old nature or the sinful nature. That is

at the root of it, but old things here represents anything that God wants to

replace with something new. How many of you like new stuff? Oh, come on now. I said,

how many of you like new stuff? Yeah, I like new stuff. I like new stuff.

Sometimes when you get something new, you don't want to touch it, right? You get a

new pair of shoes. I don't want any creases in there. You know, I don't want

to, when it's new, it's like, man, we like new stuff. Get something new. And then

once it's no longer new, it's like, okay, but we like new stuff. New opportunities.

Amen. New business. New relationships.

I don't know where you all went with that one. I just, you know, we can keep doing

this all day if you want. Hallelujah. Amen. New seasons. Let's get back to this

book. New seasons. New thing. I like new. However, you got to understand that

every new, and I'm not just talking about like, like a new material thing. I thought

every new thing that God does requires a new cost. With every new season comes a

cost. There's a price that has to be paid. Oh, hallelujah. Noah knew that whatever

he sacrificed and offered before the flood was for that season. Now, this is

conjecture, but I suppose that this was not Noah's first altar. The Bible says

that he walked with God for all those hundreds of years prior to the art. He

walked with, he had a relationship with God. So if you would allow me some

license, creative license here, I've got to think that he had to be an altar

builder even back then. He walked with God. He knew how to please God. And Noah

understood that whatever he built for God, whatever altar existed for God in

that season was for that season. But now God has brought me into a new season. He's

brought me into a new destiny, into a new place. And he understood that the further

in God you go, the more he requires. Not the less brother and sister, but more.

Someone say more. Yeah, you should have praised God when you had the chance.

Because now I'm talking about more. In other words, let me put it to you this way.

Your level of sacrifice should rise with your level of faith. You should never

let your success get bigger than your altar. Oh man. You should never let where

God's taking you. I don't care how big the door is. You better be taking a new

altar with you. I pray that my success, no matter what it is, never overshadows

my altar. That my platform never gets bigger than my altar. God, whatever space,

whatever rooms God allows me to enter, that I still know there's an altar that

needs to burn for him. And no, Noah did not just offer up theoretical offerings,

mystical offerings. He offered up something of real value and substance.

Remember all the animals that he had on the Ark? Right? God said fill up the

fill up the Ark with all these animals. You have to excuse the way my mind works.

But I'm thinking man, what would it like to be one of those animals? You just

survived a worldwide flood. Everyone's getting used to the new world. Like man,

I can't wait to the place I'm gonna fly, the things I'm gonna do, and then Noah

looks over that said, not so fast little guy. That's messed up. That little guy was

getting ready to start a new life and he found out he's about to be barbecued for

the Lord. I like to have fun when I read the scriptures and my mind was thinking

about those poor guys, man. But here's the thing, it had to have hurt Noah as well.

He had a relationship with all these animals. He was the zookeeper, if you

will, feeding them, taking care of them, nurturing them, calming them when the

storm was raging. He was for all intents and purposes like a father to all of

these creatures. He cared for them. They were under his responsibility, under his

care, almost like members of his own family. So when the Lord says, okay, now I

need you to take from some of those flocks, those precious birds. Hopefully he

didn't name them yet. I need you to take those and offer something of value unto

me. Because in order for this to be a sacrifice, Noah, it's got to hurt you a

little bit. My God. It's got to hurt you. And his whole life was affected by this.

And we see a New Testament reality in Romans chapter one, or excuse me, chapter

12 and verse one, that we are to by the mercies of God. Who, my Lord, present your

bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable

service. He said, present your body, someone say my body. This

encompasses everything about our lives. It's everything. It's not just the parts

that we want to give. We have a habit of only offering God what's comfortable. Only

certain parts and not, but that's not a sacrifice. Amen, somebody. Is this okay?

I'm just preaching for a little bit more. Amen. So let me ask you a question today.

What qualifies as a sacrifice? What makes a sacrifice a sacrifice? I feel like we

could be talking about two different things right now. When we hear sacrifice,

what does that even mean? Let me tell you what it is. A sacrifice is something

that hurts or is significant to you. It's something that you feel when you give it.

Whether it's physical, spiritual, financial, every aspect of our life, listen to the

words of David. David was an Old Testament soul with the New Testament

revelation because watch what he says in Psalms 51 17. The sacrifices of God. This

is a man who lived during the period of animal sacrifice and yet he says, are a

broken spirit. Someone say broken, a broken and a contrite heart. These, oh God, you

will not despise. So listen, when it stops breaking you in some way is when

it stops being a sacrifice. Oh my God, because then, you know what ends up

happening? It becomes just another thing on a long list of other things.

Sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. How do I know that it's a sacrifice?

Brother David, when it breaks me. Oh my Lord, this is going to separate some of

the things we think are sacrifices versus what actually is a sacrifice because if

it doesn't affect me, if I don't feel it, if it doesn't touch me in some way, if

it's not significant, if it doesn't hurt, then it's not a sacrifice. And I've come

to a place in my life in my walk with God. I don't want to praise him and I don't

want to offer up God praise or thanksgiving or offering or anything else I

can give and it be just another thing. I don't want coming to church to just be

another day of the week, brother. I don't want Sunday to just be like Monday and

Tuesday. I want it to be a sacrifice. You don't think there's other places that I

can be right now on a Sunday afternoon? My goodness, the weather's beautiful. We

can be a lot of places doing a lot of different things. It's got to be a

sacrifice and I don't want the things of God to be treated like every other

thing. I don't want to treat my giving like it's just another bill. I don't want

to treat my praise and give God the same level of praise like I give to the

Golden State Warriors or to the San Francisco. Oh, come on now. If you can

shout for those things and you can lay your bow, my God, sacrifice your flesh

for those things, then surely you can do it for the name of the Lord. Come on now,

somebody. I wonder if there's somebody right now that can give God a sacrifice

or praise. Hallelujah. Come on, give Him a hallelujah. Give Him a praise.

It hurts. And so the Lord is convicting, Holy Ghost is convicting all of us today,

me included, and the big question that I am to ask you and is this, and this is

the question, this is the question is that, is what you are offering? Hear me,

this is good. It's not on the screen, so pay attention. Is what you are offering

consistent with what God has done for you and what you're still expecting Him to

do? The question is so good, I'm going to ask it again. Is what you are offering

consistent with what God has done for you? Don't tell me, well I think it's a lot.

No, don't compare your offering to mine. Don't compare your sacrifice to mine.

It's all relative to what God has done for you. Oh my God. And if the answer to

that question is no, then this is where the Holy Ghost is now leading us to a

place to an altar where we say, now it's time for me to level up my sacrifice to

the level that I, because God's been letting us get away with some things,

you know. We've been living on house money for a little bit. We've been

living off yesterday's sacrifices. Oh God, hallelujah, it's getting quiet now.

We've been living off yesterday's blessing, living off yesterday's, hey,

that was for yesterday. What about today? This is the day that the Lord has made.

Someone say amen today. So I pray that my ministry, that my life, my success, never

outgrows my altar. My altar needs to grow in proportion to whatever God is doing

in my life, if not greater. I don't want to preach better than I can pray.

Never get to a place where you can play, sing better than your altar. Serve

better than your altar because you can fool people for a while, but you can't

fool God. So I know your altar. I've seen your altar. You got some cobwebs on

there boy. It is stained in the blood. There's no fresh blood on that altar. I'm

almost done. I'm gonna end with this final point as to why.

Noah built the altar. He did it to change the course of the future. Amen.

Noah, after he built his altar and made his sacrifice, God was pleased with it.

He smelled the aroma of the worship and the sacrifice that he gave. And watch

what God does in response. If you want to get God's attention, offer him a worthy

sacrifice. If you don't believe me, not just this story, read what happened when

Solomon offered thousands of burnt offerings to the Lord. Oh God said boy,

he brought him a blink check. Anything you want, man. I got you. Imagine

God saying that to you. You tell me what you want. It's yours. He asked for wisdom.

He's a better man than me. Just give me wisdom. I pray that I could be like that.

But the Lord said, you gave Jesus whatever you want. It's yours. Here is now Noah

offering up this burnt sacrifice to the Lord. And the Lord said, man,

when you offer up God the kind of sacrifice that Noah did, God's like, he

looks at you and is like, man, how can I bless him? He's looking for a way. How

many of you would like God to be looking for a way to bless you? Like, I want to

bless you so good that you didn't even pray for what I'm doing for you right

now. Oh my God. The other player, I'm going to invite you on up. I'm going to

bless you so because where in the Bible did Noah pray, God, please don't ever

curse the ground again. Please don't ever. We don't read that. He said any of

that. And yet in verse 21, the Lord said, you know, I am in such a mood right now.

This is what I'm going to do for you, Noah, and for your generation and for

your descendant. I will never again curse the ground because of the human race.

And he said, I'll never again do it. Someone say never again. Man, I was reading

those words this week. I was meditating on them, brother. And I just said, never.

I don't know. I just couldn't get past those words. And the more I read, never

again. I will know. You know, there are some things that once you get past, God

said, I'm never going to take you through that again. Oh, some. I got about 10% of

you believe what I just said right now. Oh, there are some trials, brother, that

once you pass the test, you don't have to take that test again.

Oh, he told Noah, he said, he said, look, I'm going to give you a deal. You can't make

you an offer. You can't refuse. Noah, I'm going to bless you so good. You're never

going to have to go through one of these again. I don't know about you, but there's

some things I don't ever want to go through. Can I get an amen out there? I don't have.

I know what it's like to be in certain places. I know what it's like to be

without. I know it's like to be hurt. I don't ever want to go through that again.

Unless God is absolutely or danger. I don't want to ever. And there are some

tests and it's like school. It's like school. You only have to retake the test

that you failed. If you keep retaking the same test, honey, it's probably because

you're not learning whatever it is that God wants you to know.

Because God's not like that. God just, you know, he not just putting you through

stuff just for the fun of it. It's to develop you. It's to teach you something.

It's to show you something about him.

You only retake those things you didn't learn.

Jesus. But once you pass certain tests of faith,

once you graduate like Noah did, hallelujah, then you get to this place of

life where God said, I'm not saying life's going to get easy.

Because as you continue to read his story, Noah's story,

life didn't, it wasn't easy. The world was new, but it wasn't perfect.

There were still challenges that he had to deal with in his family and

all sorts of things. But listen, he never had to go through that again.

And the next level for Noah looked totally different than his past.

What's with the Lord continue to say in verse 22, I might help you out one more.

Man, I got just a few more last minute things to give you here.

Verse 22, as long as the earth remains, what's what he tells them?

There will be planting and harvest. Come back next week because I'm going to preach

on that one right there. Oh my God, I'm excited about that one.

There will be planting and harvest. Cold and heat, summer and winter, day and

night. What did God mean by all of this? He's

telling Noah, he said, Noah, I'm about ready to set some things in

motion. I'm about ready to start some cycles

in your life that nothing is going to be able to break.

I'm going to set some patterns of blessing, some things that you can bank on.

So that as you step foot into a new beginning, as you step foot into a new

life, Noah, you're going to know that you can depend on me, that my word is

true, that what I said I'm going to do, I'm going to do it. And you can take that

all the way to the bank, Noah. I invite you to stand with me at this time,

church. Oh, hallelujah. Now obviously this impacted the

earth's environment, right? It impacted everything.

It changed the climate of the earth. God said, I'm going to set these things in

order. Planting, harvest, cold and heat.

I'm going to set the seasons in order. I'm going to set the cycles in order.

God's a god of cycles. Oh, I said the Lord is the god of cycles.

He's a god of seasons for every time.

There's a season, a time for everything under God.

God's a god of season, God's a god of cycles. And he's, I'm going to set these

things in order. Now why did God do all of that?

I'll tell you why. So that when Noah starts to plant for his family,

the most important thing that a farmer needs is stability in the environment.

To know that what I plant in the spring, what I plant in the summer,

will produce a harvest in the fall.

God was giving Noah stability. Someone say stability.

I'm going to bring, I feel this in the Holy Ghost right now.

God is telling somebody today, I say this prophetic, I'm going to bring you

into a stable place.

I'm going to bring you into greater stability

so that you can plant with confidence, so that you can serve with assurance,

so that you can move forward with faith knowing

Noah that what you sow, you shall also reap.

Knowing Noah that I've got you and I'm going to take care of you.

I've come to tell somebody today that if you will build a real altar prayer in

your life, a real altar of sacrifice,

I feel the Holy Ghost. In fact, right there where you are,

would you just begin to pray? I feel something happening right now.

Come on, I'm inviting somebody right now to pray.

I'm inviting you to pray here with me right now.

Oh, come on, tap it to the Holy Ghost right there where you are.

Tap it to the Holy Ghost right there where you are.

Oh, if you don't build an altar, nothing else you build is going to stand.

You got to have that place of consecration.

You got to have that place of sacrifice. You got to have that place

that belongs to God and put your whole life on that altar

and burn for Jesus, God, and burn for God.