Episode Transcript
So that's it.
Hello everybody, good afternoon.
I apologize for this the last week.
Sometimes the wonderful medication you take makes you feel worse than what you really had.
So I took some old signs from medicine last week.
It just knocked me out.
I could still was bad shape.
Couldn't focus too, but I have a strong focus and is now without medication.
So when I get on that medication program, I'll be That's how we're out of there.
Trying to not say that with the pastor.
But.
We are back today.
God will, we're going to get to it lesson here.
God will.
So we have been going through the book of Genesis verse 5 verse.
And the week before, we stopped in verse 9 of chapter 1 in the book of Genesis.
So to get us started today in verse 10, I want to back up to verse 6 and start reading down to verse 10 in order.
To discuss the word firmament again.
I want to go back over that word again, and I want to try to explain it a little better than I did before.
Where I work at, and I've had so many jobs over the years where I have to teach other people what I'm doing.
Where I work at now, I teach work well.
And God knows that I want to talk about His word.
If I don't explain something properly, I feel as if I let you down, and I don't know what I love God.
God used me to teach and I want to try what he teaches for a firmament.
So we're going to go ahead and And in order to help us stay in context and talk about the word firmament again, I want to start getting started.
Genesis 1:6.
And God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters.
And let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament.
And it was so.
And God called the firmament heaven.
That's very important right there that should help us to understand the word firmament.
And God called the firmament heaven, and the evening and the morning were the second day.
And God said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered together under one place.
And let the dry land appear, and it was sowed.
Verse 10.
And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering together of the waters called he seas.
And God saw that it was good.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank you so much, Lord, for each and every person that comes to hear your word, Father.
And Lord, I pray that you'll just teach through me, Lord.
Teach your word through me, Lord.
So you help the people to understand it, Lord.
Open their minds to your word.
Open my mind to your teaching the word.
Jesus teaches us here today, Lord.
Father, we're so thankful for your precious word, Lord, and I pray that it is the blessing of each and every person to come today to hear it, Father.
We thank you and we love you so much, Lord.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Amen.
Okay.
So let's look at this word firmament again.
Because when I saw it. .
I was like some of you who saw the beginning of the word, which is firm.
And when I was teaching on this, I heard somebody say the lamp.
And that's the same thing I thought, firm.
When I saw it, I was like some of you who saw the beginning of the world, which is firmament.
I thought of the ground as well.
But if we look in verse 8, we see that God called the firmament heaven.
Did he call the dry land or the firm heavens?
No, he called the firmament heaven.
And the word heaven used here means to be lofty.
Lofty, which is high.
It gives us the idea of the sky where the clouds move and even above the sky into the celestial.
Now there are other planets in outer space that are firm.
And there are meteorites and no telling what else that is floating around up there in space that is firm.
But when we start thinking like that We are taking God's word out of context.
What is God telling us right now?
Let's look back at verse 1 in Genesis.
Genesis 1. 1 says, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Okay?
So in order to keep this in context, we've got to be thinking about it.
Heaven and the earth.
Not the new rights.
He knows me for himself.
So right now in our study, we need to be concentrating on the creation of the heaven and the earth.
And if we use some good understanding.
We know that when we look at the clouds floating around, that they are not firm, are they?
I was out there in a parking lot earlier and I was watching the clouds moving through the sky.
Little puffs of air, they looking like things.
They are not firm.
If they were. an airplane would be doomed.
I have seen airplanes fly through clouds before, but I don't guess I've ever seen one fly through firm ground.
Airplane would have issues flying through firm ground.
So let's revisit this word firmament again and let me try to explain it a little better, hopefully.
Genesis 1, 6, and God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
Now in order to divide something from something, we have to have something different between them, don't we?
In order to divide something from something, we had to have something different.
If it was all the same, it wouldn't be divided, would it?
They're all the same.
So if we got all water, everything's water.
The whole earth is water now.
There is no This is all water.
All everything's water.
There's no land yet.
The earth is without form and void, remember in the previous verses?
Now God is going to make a firmament.
Genesis 1, 7, and God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament From the waters which were above the firmament.
And it was so.
And God called the firmament heaven.
And the evening and the morning were the second day.
Now the word firmament in Hebrew, and we discussed this through all the way, is Ra Ki Ah. means an expanse, visible arch of the sky.
Now last time I tried to explain this, I looked up the word arch.
And I went with that.
But this time I looked up the word expanse.
And I hope this will help you understand the definition of firmament even better.
Gotta have my expanse maker here.
Now the word expanse means a spreading extend.
My pastor has a pointer That brother Neil gave him.
And when he wants to point out certain things on our church monitors.
That shows the verses he uses to teach us God's word.
He will get that pointer out that he keeps in the pulpit.
Now that pointer is collapsed down.
Into a small size in order to store it.
But when he wants to use it, he will pull it apart in order to expand it.
He expands it.
He pulls it apart.
He spreads it apart.
If you want to know the wingspan of an eagle, how do you measure the span of his wings?
You spread those wings apart and you measure from tip to tip.
That is the expanse Of that bird's wings.
The earth was covered with water, and God made the firmament.
He spread the water from the water.
He divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament.
And God called the firmament or the expanse, the spreading, heaven.
So I said earlier, in order to have something divided, you have to have something different.
So this is all water.
God made something different.
He made an expanse.
So now we have an expanse.
This is our expanse.
My other one works better.
This is our, between the waters, we have an expanse.
Follow me?
That's an arch.
It's an expanse.
That's the division between the waters and the waters.
It's an expanse.
I know it's about clear as weather.
I'm sorry, guys.
That's the heaven.
So we have the heaven up here and the water down here so far.
We haven't got to the dry land yet, but we're fishing it.
The firmament is the difference between the waters.
This is the difference between the waters.
The firmament.
I was looking up at the sky as I was sitting out in the parking lot.
You notice the sky, if you notice the sky, what color is it?
Blue, blue, green.
What color is the ground?
Brown.
Have you ever seen blue ground?
Have you ever seen blue water?
Yeah.
Blue ground.
Bluegrass I've heard bluegrass.
Yeah, he'll be I've never seen blue ground, but I've seen the blue sky.
So we have water down here, water's blue.
We've got a sky up here, sky's blue.
That's the difference.
The firmament separates these two.
I thought that was pretty easy.
Without that expanse, you would be looking at water instead of clouds when you looked up at the sky.
Only God could have done this.
Psalms 19.
1.
The heavens declared the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork.
Something I thought about as I was working on this lesson, mankind can measure that eagle's wingspan.
But mankind can't measure that firmament.
Have you ever thought about that?
Mankind cannot measure that firmament.
They can guess, they can assume.
But they can't do it.
But they can measure that on the screen.
Don't the reflection of the sky make the water blue?
I guess you could.
Okay.
I hope that helps you to understand where firmament a little better.
So let's move on.
We see in verse 9 that God said.
And God said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear.
What happened?
And it was so.
And it was so.
We now have a firmament in place which is called heaven.
And the waters are separated, and the waters under heaven are gathered in one place, and dry land appears.
And verse 10 says, And God called the dry land earth.
And the gatherings together of the waters called he seas.
And God saw that it was good.
God saw that it was good.
What God sees is good, and what mankind sees is good.
It's two different things sometimes for us.
Psalms 24, 1 through 2 says, The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world. and they that dwell therein.
For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
Psalms 95, 9, 5.
The sea is his, and he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
The word earth used here comes from the Hebrew word eris.
Eris.
And it means, there you go, to be firm.
Not firm.
The word earth comes from the Hebrew word erret and it means to be firm.
So our firmament Is an arch or an expanse?
The word earth is to be firm, to be firm.
If the dry land was underwater, it would not be dry, would it?
No.
So dry land is called earth.
And the gathering together of the waters is called seas.
The word seas comes from the Hebrew word Yama.
Yom.
It means to roar.
To roar.
This word gives us the idea of breaking in noisy surf.
Have you ever heard the waves roaring along in the ocean?
My wife and I, I was stationed in San Diego, and you could hear the waves roaring out there.
Also means a large body of water.
And if you think about it, the earth is covered with more water than land, isn't it?
It's a large body of water.
And at the end of this verse, God saw that it was good.
God saw that it was good.
God saw that dividing the water from the water was good.
God saw that dividing the water from the land was good.
God saw that the names that He gave them were good.
God knows what is good and what is not, folks, when God sees you right now.
What does he see?
Does he see a person covered in sin?
Or does he see a person washed clean of sin by faith in Christ?
Are you washed in the blood, in the soul, living blood of the Lamb?
Are your garments spotless?
Are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Does he see a person covered in sin?
Or does he see a person washed clean of sin by faith in Christ?
Psalms 51, 1 through 3.
This is right after David has sinned with fashionable.
David says, have mercy upon me, O God.
According to thy loving kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
For I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.
David acknowledged he was a sinner unto the Lord.
He was talking to the Lord, folks.
He's not talking to another human being about his sins.
He's talking to the Lord.
He's not asking somebody on this earth.
To forgive him of his sins.
He is asking the Lord to forgive him of his sins.
1 John 1, 7 through 9.
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, remember who created the light, folks?
It's in the book of Genesis.
And God said, let there be light, and there was light.
But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.
And the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin.
All sin.
Not just the little itty bitty sins.
Not just the great big massive sins.
Not the sins that you think you're getting away with.
The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.
That's very important.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Remember, David acknowledged his sin.
Verse 9, if we confess our sins.
Now, folks, it does not say if you confess your sins to another person.
It says if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
Now, if you've sinned against somebody and you need to apologize, by all means you go to that person and apologize.
But you're not looking to that person.
To get you into heaven, folks.
It's not their forgiveness that's going to get you into heaven.
It is the forgiveness of God and the only way you can get forgiveness From God is to believe on his dear Son who died for your sins in order that you may have forgiveness.
For by grace are you saved through faith.
I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No man cometh unto the Father but by me through Jesus Christ.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
That is a promise.
That is a, well, I did that yesterday.
I won't do that last week.
I don't do that no more.
That is forever.
He is faithful and just to forgive us all our sins.
And you cleanse us, cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Wow.
That's wash clean are you wash wash clean Woo!
Psalms 34, 8, and we'll close, folks.
Psalms 34, 8.
This is the best advice that I can give to you folks right here.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.
Blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
If you don't know Jesus Christ was your Savior, folks, taste and see.
Taste and see.
You get God's word in here.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
I'm telling you to use.
And by God's grace, and if it's God's will, I'm going to learn how to do all this.
I want to teach this more than I can pay.
I want to learn to teach.
And if y'all just pray with me, we're going to learn God's word.
I want you to know God's word.
I can study it and I get these things going and then when I try to teach it, sometimes it just don't come out the way I learned it.
God's grace, it'll start happening.
The guys that work that I teach how to do what I do.
They don't give up.
They keep trying to learn.
And they encourage me to keep trying as well.
You just don't sleep with this underneath your pillow, folks, and wake up the next morning at dawn.
It takes time to effort.
Oh God's gracious God keeps coming back and keep seeking God.
You will start to amen.
I promise you.
God is faithful.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.
Heavenly Father, we thank you so much, Lord, for each and every person that's coming to hear your word from.
I pray, Lord, that each and every one of them receive a blessing more.
That church is blessing, Lord.
Lord, we want to pray for those, Lord, who can't make it, Lord, because they can't get out of bed, Father, during the condition, Lord.
We pray for those who want to be here, Lord, and just can't get here, Father.
We pray, Lord, that you'll be with them, Lord.
Let them know that they're not alone, Lord.
Let them know that you'll favor to be with them, Father.
Lord, I pray, Lord, that there's one here that hasn't tasted, Lord, of your goodness, your grace, and mercy, and your loving kindness, Lord.
I pray, Lord, that you will draw them to the cross, Father, and that they will reach out to you.
Seek Jesus, Lord, as their Savior.
We sure thank you, Lord, for all those who are faithful to come forward.
It's just such a blessing open.
Lord, to know Jesus as our Savior, Father, and we just want to share it with others, Father.
We just want to share Jesus with others.
And we pray, Lord, that you will teach us, Lord.
Father, we just thank you so much for each and every blessing bestow upon us, Lord.
Thank you for those who come to help us here, Lord.
We thank you for them more than one prayer for it.
Brother Cleric, Brother Larry's wife, will share a prayer for her health issues process.
Pray for it to be with the Lord.
Pray your will be done in your evening.
Pray your will be done in each and every person that teaches here today, Lord, that he.
And we pray, Lord, for the unsaved, Father.
We just pray, Lord, that they will seek your face, Father.
And reach out, Lord, and seek you, Father.
And we know that you're good, Lord.
And we know all you do is good, Lord.
And we know that you mean no harm to us.
Thank you, Father.
We love you.
Ask these things.
In Jesus' name today, Father, and we give thanks, Lord.
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
