Motive and Intent – Pt. 2

Wayne Matthews

July 5, 2014

Welcome, everybody, to the Sabbath.

The title of today's sermon is Motive and Intent, and this will be Part 2.

Today we will continue to look at this topic with regards to motive and intent, the reason why somebody does something, the reason why we do what we do, or the spirit in the matter. Motive or intent starts within our thinking.

Now, every action that we have or do in life actually has a motive or an intent behind it. Even though we may not realize it, things that we do have an intent. We do things for a particular reason. The human mind always does things based on its own worth. It's looking after itself. It's looking after its own interest. So it's intent, without know it, is to look after the self.

In Part 1 we established God's intent, which is to create a spirit family from mankind, "to bring many sons to glory." God's way of thinking is love, love towards His creation, and that's how God is. God is love. Everything that He does is about this thinking. His intent (His motive) is for the nurturing, the care, and the concern for His creation. And in building the creation, which we looked at, the creation of everything physical, it was all about the creation of a spirit family. And we looked at the fact that the creation of the spirit realm and spirit beings was all about this end result, this intent, this motive of God, which is to create a spirit family, beings that will enter Elohim from mankind.

We also established Satan's intent, which is one that is against God. Everything that God has planned or purposed, Lucifer (Satan) has set his mind against it. His intent is to destroy. And we looked at the name "Lucifer," we looked at the name "Satan," which is "a destroyer," someone who destroys. So Satan is known as "the destroyer, the deceiver, the adversary" of God. His intent is to destroy mankind's spiritual potential; therefore, Satan's intent is to destroy you and me at this time. And that destruction is not something on a physical level, but it is something on a spiritual level.

We also looked at how Lucifer (how Satan) set out to try to destroy God's plan of creating spirit from mankind by destroying the potential of having a Passover for mankind. So Satan set out to destroy Jesus Christ as a child.

We took a quick look at the way mankind is. Mankind's intent is selfish, hostile towards God, and "not subject to the law of God." And we looked at that in Romans 8. So mankind's intent is not known by man himself. He doesn't always see why he does what he does. Now, there are some things that he comes to realize, the “why” he does it, but he can't "see" the spirit of the matter. He can see that his intent is to get something or to become rich or to get rich quick—all those things are intents or motives—but he doesn't "see" the evil in that intent. He just sees that's what he wants to do. So he doesn't understand his own motives and intent.

Today we'll start to look at the time when all three intents are revealed: God's, Satan's, and mankind's. And so we're going to start looking at this particular topic in Genesis 2:15-25. Now, we've already reviewed the re-creation of the earth and the fact that God had rested on the seventh-day and we looked at the purpose, God's intent for the seventh-day Sabbath, why God made it that way. Now we're going to continue in this flow of the intents of mankind, God, and Satan.

Genesis 2:15-25—Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. So this actually reveals now what man should do. Man was to "keep and tend it." He was to look after it. Mankind was to "keep" what God had given them. So that's us, brethren, the same intent here. We need to be looking after our physical body and our spiritual condition because we are to "tend and keep it." So we have been placed in the Body of Christ, the Church of God, and God requires us to "tend and keep it," to keep our spiritual condition. And that, of course, we have looked at is only achieved by work. The only way that you can "keep" or "tend" something is to work in it. So here we have Adam, who'd been put into the Garden of Eden for the purpose of tending and keeping it. Well, we have been placed in the Body of Christ, which really is like a Garden of Eden on a symbolic way, because it is a place that we can grow, it is a place of fruit that can be borne, and we are to "tend and keep" our spiritual condition.

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may eat freely, so he's been given these instructions about what he can do, but, so this is now a warning, it's a condition here of entering into this... but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. Now, this is really pointing to something on a spiritual level. Adam wouldn't have fully understood it. He just would have seen this as a command, and that if he was to eat of a particular fruit in the garden that there was a consequence to it.

And the LORD God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him. So at this point in time Adam has been placed in the garden, but he is actually by himself.

Verse 19—Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. So here it is, he's going to be giving them actual names. Now, these names would have been placed into Adam's mind, because he was created with a mind that could think. He could actually reason, and he would have had to have been given a language. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.

Verse 20—So Adam gave names to all the cattle, and that is "beasts," to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. And it's important to understand that this is about a helper, someone that was to support and come alongside and to help and support.

Verse 21—The LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs (talking about God), and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He (God) brought her to the man. And Adam said: This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

Verse 24—Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. This is talking about unity, and this points to marriage, that the purpose of marriage is to be in unity, to become at-one. They weren't to be a separate being, or a separate unit. They were to be a unit of one, become one. And of course, looking at this out on a spiritual level, that's what our calling is all about. We are to come into unity with God. We are to be at-one with God, and hence, the Day of Atonement, which is about coming into unity, being reconciled to God, and to become at-one with God. Now, this process of becoming at-one with God all starts within our thinking. And we are called, we are then given the gift of repentance to begin to "see" why we are wrong, what it is we are doing that is wrong. We begin to "see" sin. And at baptism, we then walk anew. And we can only walk anew in the spirit of a matter if we have God's holy spirit, hence, with the laying of hands of a true minister of God we receive the gift of God's holy spirit. Then, from that point, we then are on the journey of becoming at-one with God, to become one, in total unity. And that starts within the mind, because we are "hostile to God; not subject to the law of God, and indeed, cannot be." That's our natural carnal mind of selfishness.

So we're to move from this selfishness, this "way of get," to the "way of give," this outgoing love and concern for the welfare of all, and including the creation, of animals, of all. Because it's the way we think, the way we treat other beings. So this in a parallel is that we are to come at-one, to be at-one with God, to be in unity with God.

Verse 25—And they were both naked, the man and the wife, and were not ashamed. So here they are, they are husband and wife and they are completely naked, and they have no thinking towards a subject of immorality or perverted thinking.

Genesis 3:1-24. Now we begin to see this clashing of the intents or motives behind each particular being. We have God, we now have Satan, and we have Adam and Eve. And the serpent, and that really is "a living being." This is "one of enchantment or one of seduction." So "the serpent" really is not saying that he is a snake. It's just the way that Lucifer/Satan acted, which is one of slithering around and one of deception. Now, the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. Well, that's true, because Lucifer (Satan as he's now called) was more cunning because he was a spirit being that had choice, the power of choice, and he had made choices and he had a mind that could think, where animals were born with instinct, and therefore, each after their own kind would continue to breed each after their own kind, and they would have the same mind. Now, animals do have a difference in "personalities." They have little traits that are different, but all dogs are dogs, all cats are cats, and all cows are cows. That's the way that it is. Well, we have here Satan who is "more cunning" than all of the animals because he has this mind that can think and reason and he can make choices.

And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? So this is that business of putting doubt. His intent is to create doubt. His intent is to create doubt, to challenge God. He is out to destroy God's intent. God's intent is to create a spirit family from mankind. So here we have Satan now intervening, starting with this doubt, this beginning of the manipulation, of deception. He is trying to deceive them.

And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. Now, this is pointing to something here that is actually physical, but this is also giving us the pointing to something that is actually spiritual. Because there are things that we can consume, which is things that God allows us to consume, things that are good, things of the truth that God provides through His Church. We may eat, we may touch, we may consume them and we will live, but in the midst, the midst of the world, there are things that we should not touch...we should not touch because if we touch them, if we eat them, if we consume them, we will die on a spiritual level. So we can "see" there are fruits that are borne; there is the truth that comes through God's Church, there are God's ways of thinking, God's ways of being, or we can touch things of Satan which will cause us to die on a spiritual level.

Verse 4—And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die. So this is, basically, implying that they have an immortal soul, that they cannot die. So he's openly lied to them with regards to this fact. Now, they wouldn't have understood this. They would have just seen this on a physical level, saying, "Well, if you eat this fruit, if you're going to touch it and you grab it, and you're going to eat it, what will happen..." —Satan is saying, "Well, you won't die." So this would have caused this doubt now in their minds. For God knows in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, ("You will be like Elohim"), knowing good and evil. Now, this ability to decide what is good and evil, does this remind us of something, brethren? Because this is exactly what Satan had set out to do. Remember when we looked at the story of Lucifer, when he went up against God and he said, "I will be like...I will become the Most High... I will become like God!" Well, here he is now, he is now deceiving Adam and Eve because he's implying the same thing. He's implying that if they were to eat of the fruit in the midst of the garden, "You will be like God! You will become like God!" And this is the ability to discern what is right and what is wrong for yourself, to set your own standards. You will have your own authority! You will have your own authority about making decisions." And that's exactly what Lucifer originally set out to do, which was "to become like the Most High." And here he is saying, "knowing good and evil," making the decision, perceiving what is good, working it out, knowing and making decisions, therefore, ruling with authority based on what they thought was good and what they thought was evil...just like Lucifer did. He set out to take over God's throne because He wanted the authority and He wanted to make the decisions, what was good and what was evil.

Verse 6—So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise... Now, this goes back to this human reasoning that we have within ourselves, the way that we were made. She started to think, started to reason—"the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" all kick in at this particular point—and she was now being convinced in her own mind that this was the way to go, this was the way to live her life. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. So now they have actually decided for themselves, they've made the decision what was now right and wrong. They were going to be "wise" in their own eyes. They now thought that they were going to be "like God," to make decisions, what was right and wrong.

Verse 7—Now the eyes (mind) of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. So here we have now their minds, their minds-eye is now open. They now see things differently than the way that God had explained it to them. They now started to have their own thinking. They lifted themselves up. They made themselves better than others by their thinking, which is that "pride of life." They were now thinking about their own standards. So this is actually a perverted thinking. The natural carnal mind no longer is a sound mind. Because once we lean on it, once we "lean on our own understanding," it's actually perverted thinking because it actually thinks differently than God. God's mind is a sound mind. God's mind is a pure and perfect mind. So anything contrary to that is actually perverted and unsound.

Verse 8—And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden of the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. So this is that mind, this thinking, believing or thinking that they could actually hide from God. Well, it's no different for us, brethren, that when we sin, do we really believe that we've hidden something from God, so that we have in any way not revealed our true intent or motive before God? Because the natural carnal mind's motive and intent is selfish, and sin is selfishness. It's very straightforward. Sin is selfishness. All sin is based on pride and all sin is basically selfishness; it's about satisfying the self.

Now, sin is actually a form of deception, self-deception. That's exactly what Satan had set out to do. He had set out to deceive Adam and Eve. Well, that's what Satan does today. He sets out to deceive; that's his intent.

Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, Where are you? "Where have you been?" is another way to put that.  And so he said, I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself. So this is that change of thinking. Now guilt has entered into his mind. And He said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you that you should not eat? Now, this really is not about "fruit in a garden." This is about a choice of obedience or disobedience, and it's reasonably straightforward. We're either going to obey God and follow the instructions, follow the truth, submit in spirit and in truth—in other words, yield our intent or our motives to God, in other words, yielding—or we're not. We're going to seek our own way of doing things and be disobedient to God's way of life. We're not going to believe the truth. We're not going to have our motive and intent submitted or yielded to God. We are going to work out what's right and wrong in our own eyes.

Then the man said, The woman whom You gave me to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate. This is that justification. This is that human reasoning that we all have, which is moving the guilt or the blame to someone else. We don't take responsibility for our own sins. So here we have Adam saying, basically, "It was Your Fault, God, because if You hadn't of given me Eve, this wouldn't have happened." He justified himself and he refused to take personal responsibility for his actions.

Well, that exists today in our lives. It happens in all humans. And even in the Body of Christ, the Church of God we have to be on guard about this, because this goes back to motive and intent. We now set out, our motive is one of setting aside and blaming others for our actions. That's our intent, justification of the self, the defending of the self. The intent of justification is to make ourselves look right...to make ourselves look right. We are not wrong; we are justified! Well, that's the intent of justification.

Justification's intent is one of self-protection, not to carry any guilt or any blame, but to protect the self, to protect the image. So we can ever see that whenever we find ourselves justifying, if we ever find ourselves refusing to take personal responsibility for a matter, our intent behind that, why we are doing that really is about this image protection. It's all based on pride.

And the LORD God said to the woman, so now switch tact her. God has now asked Adam and he's justified himself and defended himself to make himself look right and blame God, then God has now turned around to the woman and said, What is this that you have done? Asking the question. And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate. So she did exactly the same. She justified herself. She didn't take personal responsibility for her actions, but defended herself. So this intent of hers is one of defending self—pride! And God knew that Satan would turn up and would tempt Adam and Eve and that they would fail in that, because God's purpose was for mankind to be fruitful and multiply so that we could get through a period of 7,000 years where man would be fruitful and multiply, then a hundred-year period where mankind would be on the path of salvation, this conversion, so that God could fulfill His plan over 7,100 years, so that mankind could be changed to enter Elohim.

Now, God knew that, and He knew what Satan would do, that Satan as the deceiver (because his personality hasn't changed, his intent, his motives have not changed), he is out to destroy. And here it is that Satan, at this point, would have thought that he has actually succeeded in achieving the failure of God's plan. But the reality was that it was part of God's plan. It was part of God's plan and timeline with regards to how He would create a family from mankind.

Verse 14—So the LORD God said to the serpent, so He's talking now on a symbolic level to a spirit being, Because you have done this, because you have deceived, which is what his intent was. So this is that clashing of intents we were looking at. God's intent is to create a family. Satan's intent is to deceive and destroy. And mankind's intent is one of self-justification and pride. His intent is to protect his image, and we've seen that. Adam and Eve did exactly—their intent was exactly what was revealed here. They justified themselves. They defended themselves. They were riddled with pride. And Satan has done exactly as he had intended, which was to set out to destroy.

Verse 14 continuing...Because you have done this (deceived), you are cursed more than all,

and more than every living thing of the field. On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust, and this is basically referring to this disappointment, this constant disappointment that he will have with regards to the plan of God, that he will see God's plan and it is going to be achieved. And every time that he steps up to destroy God's plan, he will be disappointed, because he will see how God's plan will come to fruition. He's going to see God's plan come to fruition. ...all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you (which is Satan) and the woman (the Church), and between your seed (Adam) and her Seed (Eve), and this is pointing also to Christ here. Continuing in verse 15, referring to Christ, He shall bruise your head, which is Satan's, you (Satan) shall bruise His heel, which is the physical death of Jesus Christ.

To the woman He said (so that is what God pronounced on Satan for his intent, what he had done) I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; the result of sin is suffering. The result of sin is suffering. Families would be affected, and that's where this sorrow is going to come in. There is going to be great sorrow in families because of the natural carnal mind, because of sin. ...in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be towards your husband, and he shall rule over you. Because he's carnal. Because he has this "superior" attitude. Because he has pride. And of course, he is physically stronger, and therefore, God had made him a particular way, a particular way of thinking, and a woman has been made a particular way, which is a way of thinking slightly differently. So the woman here, God is saying, that there is a curse that she will now be "subject to." And of course, we've had truth revealed to the Church that the future is not like this. And this truth (of coming into the Church) that men and women are equal, has now changed things within the Church, but it takes time. So that truth is actually something that is going to affect the future greatly. It will change the Millennium and the last hundred-years greatly! Because we're not going to have this dominance or this "superior" attitude reflected by man over woman.

Verse 17—And to Adam He (God) said, Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat it… This is that direct disobedience, and this is the cause, the sin that he has done. It is Adam that has made this decision. He listened to Eve. He had a choice. But being natural, being carnal, he actually gave into a decision that was made by his wife. He should have put God first! And because of that, mankind will now suffer, and everything associated to mankind would suffer. Cursed is the ground for your sake, so this is that progressive thing that is going to take place. In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. So this is going to be hard. It's going to be difficult. Life is going to be difficult. There is going to be great suffering. It's going to have to be hard work to take place on a physical level to sustain life, whereas previously God had provided a garden, that everything was there and all he had to do was "till it and keep it." He was to nurture it and care for it. Now it's going to be hard work, hard physical work. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat of the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face, this hard work, you shall eat bread. So you're going to have to work very hard to provide for yourself and for your family.

For out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and dust you shall return. So, you're physical and you've been taken out of the dust, and you're going to die and you're going to return to dust.

Verse 20—And Adam called his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

Verse 21—Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. So they had now been provided, again, by God, and they were given a covering.

Then the LORD God said, Behold, the man has become like one, to know good and evil. Now, this is that very point where God had said that He would make man for the purpose of creating a family, and Satan has come along and has deceived them to convince them that they wouldn't die, but they could know good and evil. They could make the choice for themselves what was right and wrong. And that's exactly what God has said, they've come to this point.

Verse 22—Then the LORD God said, Behold, the man has become like one, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever — therefore, the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So this separation was to take place. He was now cut off from God, from having access to God. So He (God) drove out the man; and He placed a cherubim at the east of the garden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. So he was cut off from God. Here it is, he's been driven out of the Garden of Eden and he does not have access to God. Well, we can look at this on a spiritual level, brethren, where sin will cut us off from God. And there's many of sermons that cover this very point.

The Garden of Eden was a place where Adam and Eve were provided for, things were there. Now, the Church is like that, where we have God's spirit dwelling, living in the Church, and God provides His spirit to His people so that they can know truth. They can come to understand truth and to live truth. They have to yield to this flow of God's holy spirit. Well, the moment we're cut off or cast out from the Body of Christ, the Church of God, or cut off from God's holy spirit, we are then left to ourselves. We have to work out what is right and wrong, what is good and evil by ourselves, because the only way to know good and evil is to have God's holy spirit. It's the only way to work it out, because it is God's holy spirit that convict us (by the power of God's holy spirit) what is right and what is wrong. God teaches us on a Sabbath what is right and what is wrong. We have to then yield to making the right choices. Well, once we're cut off from the flow of God's holy spirit, once we're cast out, we cannot work out what is right and wrong. We'll only work out what is right and wrong based on our own reasoning. We will be like this statement, "Man has become like one to know good and evil." He's had to work it out for himself. We will go back to being of the natural carnal mind, and it's selfish; therefore, we'll decide for ourselves what we think is right based on what suits us, what we think is best for us.

So there we've seen these three intents clash, and the outcome was part of God's great plan to create a family.

Genesis 6:1-14—Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, that daughters were born to them, (verse 2) that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful, and took wives for themselves, for all whom they chose.

Verse 3—And the LORD said, My spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh, yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years. So here we see this shortening of the lifespan, because previously there were people living up in the 6-7-800 years old. But here is, God is saying He is now going to reduce it down to 120 years of age at this point. There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. These were mighty men who were of old, men of renown. These four verses have been misunderstood by the world and have been translated into a thinking. So we're going to take a little bit of time and go through these verses to explain them in a bit more detail.

Some maintain that these verses mean that angels (which are "sons of God") married women before the flood and engendered a race of giants. So this is some of that thinking that has come into being. And these are doctrines that are out in the world that cover this because they misunderstand the terminology that is being used. This scripture does not say that angels married women. It states that, "The sons of God..." Now, we've looked at that previously, that there are definitions of the "sons of God," that God has used this term for the angelic realm, but he also uses it for mankind. ...took them wives of all which they chose, which was Genesis 2:6. These sons of God were not angels. The fact that angels do not marry is the main point. Jesus said "those in a resurrection neither marry nor are given in marriage," so this is talking about physical humans. When they are resurrected they neither marry (this is about physical beings being resurrected to spirit) "...neither marry, nor are given in marriage," because each one is an individual, "but are as the angels." So the angels do not marry.

Hold your place. Matthew 22. We can see that in Matthew 22:30 it's talking about humans that are resurrected to spirit life. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels, which are individual created beings (so they're individuals)... they are like angels of God in heaven. So that is the point. So they are just individuals and they don't marry and are not given in marriage.

Angels cannot cohabit with women and produce sexually. So, angels cannot breed where they can reproduce. So it's impossible for an angelic being to come down and have a relationship with a human being where they would produce an offspring. Angels are spirit beings and created to minister, to serve, to serve God's purpose in creating Elohim from mankind. And we've read that in Hebrews 1:14. So it's impossible for angels to produce children from humans. Women are human beings. Here we have two different kinds. God established a law that each kind produces only after its own kind. Now, we read that in Genesis 1 where if something is created after mankind that is the way that that kind can only breed, through mankind. And then things of the animal kingdom, "each after their own kind." A dog is a dog. A cat is a cat. A cow is a cow. So that is how God established this particular law within His creation; therefore, it is impossible for angels to breed with mankind. Mankind can only breed with mankind.

So that will clear up a lot of the thinking of these particular scriptures. This is made clear in the context as well in Genesis 6:3-4 where God says, "My spirit shall not always strive with man." So it's talking about mankind. God is speaking of mankind, not angels. Genesis 6:4 shows that "the children of the sons of God, and the daughters of men were mighty men." It doesn't say "mighty angels." So it's talking about "sons of God," mankind, and "the daughters of men," mankind again "were mighty men." Now, this term "mighty men" is actually something that comes from the word "strong or valiant," and it is someone, referring to someone like Nimrod, who was "a mighty man." Amongst mankind he was considered as "mighty." But he's still only a man. It's only somebody from mankind.

The Bible phrase of "sons of God" can differ and have different meanings. Now, we know from Job 1:6 and Job 38:4-7 that angels are called "sons of God," so let's look at that in Job 38:4-7. And here is God referring to when He made/laid the foundations of the earth, and He's talking to Job, bringing Job into a sense of knowing his real condition, his true condition (which should be one of humility), and this is the best way to outline it, which is to say...Well, where were you when I (God) laid the foundations of the earth? Well, tell Me, Job, tell Me, if you have understanding. So, "Where were you? Where were you?" And we can take this onboard ourselves. Where were we when God laid the foundations of the earth? Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! "Surely you know what the size of it all is! Where were you?" Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone...

Verse 7—...when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? So they were in complete unity at this creation of the physical universe. So these "sons of God," which had been created by God, spirit beings, messengers of God, servants of God were there when God created the universe, brought the physical creation into existence - all of the planets, all of the universe, and including the earth at this point in time. And "the sons of God shouted for joy," so it's very clear that the term "sons of God" can be referring to angels.

The second point is it can refer to mankind in general because all men are called "children" or "son" of God, "sons of God." Now, we know that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God. He is actually that way. Now, we also know that Adam is referred to as a "son of God."

The third phrase of it is sometimes referred to as spirit begotten Christians. We are begotten. So that is another aspect of it. So mankind has been referred to as "children of God." Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, as He has had all of God's mind, begotten of God's spirit without measure.

Since these who are referenced in Genesis 6 were obviously not spirit begotten Christian's at that time, it wasn't people that had been begotten of God's holy spirit, and it couldn't be angels, it is evident that these "sons of God" are simply mankind in general who have forsaken God and were in defiance of God's law. So they are actually men of renown. They were called "mighty men." They weren't angels and they weren't spirit beings.

The term "giants" actually is used twice in the Bible. This particular term that's used, this word, and it actually means "violent." In Genesis 6:4 it can mean "giants," "mighty ones," or "men who have fallen from the favor of God." So it can mean either one. Here it means that they are men who have rejected God and obtained what they wanted by bullying and violence. So they were "mighty." They were similar to Nimrod.

Now there is another term of the term "giants," which is a different word that is used, and it's referring to "taller men." So that is that explanation. It has nothing to do with angels breeding with humans. It is simply men of renown. It is men that are considered "important" were marrying and giving in marriage.

Back to Genesis 6:5—Then the LORD (the Self-Existing One) saw/considered that the wickedness of men was great, and that is "much or many" on the earth/in the earth and every intent of the thoughts, this is that "intent" that we're talking about, this devising or planning. So every intent of the thoughts of the heart/of his heart was only evil continually. So what it is, is that here we have God is now considering where mankind is at on a spiritual level in the sense of his thinking, his spirit, where's he at. And God is saying now that "every intent of the thoughts," this planning, his continual thinking, his devising, the way he's thinking about it "was only," and that is "all together, nothing but evil continually." So it's day and night; it's always! This is the way that he is thinking all the time, which is about self and how to get. That is all that is happening.

The "intent" means "imagination, purpose, or frame." So in his imagination, what he's thinking about all the time, is evil. He's just thinking about "get," how to satisfy self. His purpose (his intent or his purpose) is about the same thing, how to "get." And his frame, the frame of his thinking, the way that he is structuring his thinking, the way it's framed up "is continually evil." It's always. That's all he ever thinks about.

Today, generally, people's intent is to "get rich quick," at the expense of another. So this thinking that has permeated the world is about, "How do I get..." "How do I get rich quick?" "How do I become rich or important in the eyes of others? But I've got to do it quickly!" That's mankind's intent. It's not about serving God or loving God or loving His neighbor. His intent is money. The thought is money, continually, devising plans, thinking about nothing else but looking after self. Because it's thought that money will bring contentment and satisfaction. But it doesn't.

Without mankind knowing or understanding it, "their intent is evil continually," as they strive to take, to get for or from, to satisfy self, to satisfy their needs. That's mankind's thinking all the time, and they don't even know it. They do not even know it.

Now, we often think that people that are wealthy are important. The reality is they have been more cunning than somebody else. That's all it is. They have put their thoughts towards something, and generally they've been more cunning. But all the thinking is selfish. All the intent is selfish no matter whether you're rich or poor. It's just the way we are.

Pride is evil and it is what drives mankind's actions. It fills mankind's intent. As we saw in a previous sermon, "The eye is never satisfied. More is not enough!" So now we come to this stage in life today where the thinking of mankind, the intent of mankind "is continually evil!" Well, at this particular time we see now that this is where God has come to this point, where He sees this is where he's got to, this is the stage where he's got to – his intent "is continually evil." All he does is think about how he can "get," how he can acquire, how he can satisfy himself.

Genesis 6:6—And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Now, this is often misunderstood, this word "sorry," because the word really is "to comfort or have compassion on." So really it's saying that "The LORD was at a point where He was going to have compassion on mankind." He was going to have compassion on mankind because He could see where mankind's mind was, where his heart was, where his intent was—that it was so bad and so evil that God would now intervene to destroy them out of love and concern, because He's going to save the spirit. How merciful is God!

So God saw this, that mankind was continually evil. That's all he thought about. And now God was going to have compassion on him at this particular time.

God hates sin and its effect. Because of the sin and the intent of sin within mankind and that it was His continual way of thinking (mankind's way of thinking—sin), God established that the best thing for mankind was to save the spirit in man for another time, the hundred-years. Destroying mankind at this point in time was a demonstration of God's love for His creation. God's intent is "to bring many sons to glory," so by God intervening at this time, it was about "bringing many sons to glory," to save the spirit. If these people were not destroyed, they may go too far that they cannot be recovered and set their minds against God, and therefore, they cannot be saved. So God in His mercy would now set out to destroy them—in His compassion for them, because of their thinking! Because of the way they were, it was more merciful to destroy them, to save the spirit for another day.

Verse 7—So the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping things and the birds of the air, for I am sorry ("I will show compassion, comfort and have mercy on them") that I have made them ("that I have fashioned them this way.") Because of the mind. With a mind that will establish a motive and intent to sin continually, death is merciful...death is merciful! So here it is God is going to intervene to destroy them for the purpose of saving them for another day, and that God is going to now demonstrate His compassion and His mercy by destroying them.

So here is God's motive. This now reveals God's motive. God would destroy mankind for the purpose of salvation, for the purpose of fulfilling His ultimate goal, which is to create Elohim from mankind.

I want to read from the post True Fellowship – Pt. 10, “Spirit Becoming Set.” Because it's important to understand this revelation here of God and His mercy, of why He did create mankind and why He did flood the earth—and it was for a reason! The reason God destroyed mankind was to save mankind! Isn't that incredible!? People don't understand it! People of the world do not understand it! They see the story of the flood as a story, but they don't understand the deep love and compassion that God really demonstrated; that He destroyed all of mankind for the demonstration of His compassion. He was going to "comfort mankind" because their thoughts were continually evil, their intent. Mankind's intent had got to the maximum where it may even be "set" if it's not careful. If it goes too far and continues down this path it would become a habit and be "set," the choice would be made. So God in His mercy would destroy them all before they get to the point of being "set on evil," not able to be redeemed, not able to be reconciled back to God.

From the post... “Spirit Becoming Set”: "God’s purpose for completely cutting off someone from access to Him (with no flow of His holy spirit into their life)" — this is talking about someone that has been called, that has had God's holy spirit— "is most often done so that the spirit-begotten spirit in man does not become “set against” Him. That is what happened to Lucifer and a third of the angels when they chose to turn against (to think and act against) God’s ways." And we've covered that. "Their mind instantly and permanently became “set against” God – perverted from the way God had created it. The spirit in man does not become instantly “set” when someone chooses to go against God by disobeying or living against God’s way, even if by ignorance (no knowledge) of God’s truth." Well, that takes us back to the flood. Even in ignorance they don't know God's truth, they weren't called to it, but they can become "set against" God if allowed to go on. And their minds had become continually (their intent, their motive) was self-satisfaction. Continually, that's all they thought about.

"To more fully understand that last sentence, it is necessary now to clarify some things concerning the spirit in man and it becoming set. It needs to be understood that ‘in time’ the spirit in man does become set in one or two ways. It will become ‘set against’ God or ‘set in agreement’ with God."

"This spirit in man can only become set in agreement with God if it is begotten of God’s holy spirit, and then only over a lengthy period of time of constantly repenting and choosing God’s way of life, can a spiritually completed transformation become established (set)." So this is a time period of being called and having God's holy spirit and continually yielding to or choosing God's way of thinking into our lives. And over time we can become set, "set for" God. "This result of a spiritual begettal and a complete transformation is the only way the spirit in man can become ‘set’ in order to become at-one with God (in full agreement with God). The spirit in man, however, can also become ‘set against’ God and in one or two ways."

"The spirit in man can become ‘set against’ God as a result of a personal choice at some point following begettal (usually much later)." So, somebody can have God's holy spirit and then choose to not yield any longer and set their mind against God. "These are people who have been begotten who have made a free-will decision that they do not want God’s way and prefer to live out their own life in opposition to God’s purpose and instead follow the way of pride, selfishness, and lust." So this is that decision that we have. This is about yielding or not yielding. "However, there is another means by which the spirit in man can become “set against” God. It is fully separate from what happens after spiritual begettal, as it occurs before even coming into the knowledge of the truth, the ways of God." Hence, we looked at that period of just before the flood. They were heading in that direction, and therefore, God in His mercy was to destroy them so that they could be saved in the future. "Spiritual begettal has not and will not be granted to every human being. Such a statement and what is stated following is and needs to be read closely and not misinterpreted."

"Over the past several decades, it has been widely believed within the Church that every human being will be able to become begotten of God’s holy spirit. However, God is clearly revealing that this is not true. That concept is a type of Protestant ‘mindset for salvation’ and ‘perceived fairness,’ which is a distortion in understanding God, His plan, and His purpose in life."

"God knows the mind of every human being. He knows the ‘state’ of the spirit in man that is in every person. God does not owe every human being the gift of His holy spirit. It is not owed to every person that they be begotten of His spirit or given the opportunity to be in Elohim."

Now, the heading “Those Set Against God”:  "The truth and reality is that there are people who even when shown what God has done with the earth and mankind over 1,000 years of the reign of His Kingdom and the manifestation of the Family of God, they will not want to live by God’s way. Once they are given the ability to see what is true in God’s purpose and the truth of His one way of life that is to be lived, they will not want it. Their minds became ‘set against’ God in their first lifetime. Such a mind cannot be transformed, for it is ‘set’ in perversion, evil, pride (its own way), and lust. Such a mind does not want God’s way, even as Lucifer and the third of the angels came to that state of thinking – of not wanting God’s way – ever."

"There are people throughout history who have so perverted their thinking and have chosen such evil in life that they are ‘set’ in their choice in life. Some people are simply set on evil by choice, and regardless of what they might suffer or experience in life, even if witnessing miracles or wonders from God, they would never be of a humble or repentant mind. They are simply ‘set against’ God’s ways, even if they have never known anything about the truth. God’s purpose is not to force anyone to receive Him and His way of life in order to come into His Family. It must be of free choice and from a true and sincere desire."

"So throughout time there are indeed vast numbers who have lived such evil in life that they have fully corrupted the spirit in man that is in them. Their mind became ‘set against’ everything that is good. A mind so set on evil, perversion, and lust against mankind will never repent and accept the true goodness of God and His way of life. Yes, the carnal mind is by nature against God," and we've read that, "(Rom. 8:7), but there are very large numbers of people who, through time, have so deeply corrupted and perverted their carnal mind that the spirit essence in their mind became fully set in evil and can never be transformed. Such a mind will not “willingly choose” to repent."

Now, we don't know how many out of this time period where God has now seen that man's mind has started to become so corrupted. So we just don't know how many have actually set their minds during this period to be against God, and therefore, they won't be resurrected and given the opportunity in the beginning of the hundred-years but face a second death at the end of the hundred-years, where they will be resurrected for a purpose of destruction.

"Although these people whose spirit became set in evil in their first lifetime (apart from any knowledge of God’s truth) will be resurrected at a future time, they will not be granted repentance of sin after baptism and will not be given the impregnation of God’s holy spirit, as they will never genuinely repent of sin. They simply will not want God’s way of life. At a future time, God will reveal more about how and specifically when these people will be dealt with for refusing Him, once they are brought face to face with the fullness of the truth of His purpose for all human life."

"As a matter of God’s righteous judgment, once He has completed His work of a complete (full) 7,000 years, He will resurrect all of the rest of mankind (all who are dead) into a physical life for those who have not yet and will not yet at that time enter Elohim. This will be a resurrection of all who will be granted the opportunity to repent of sin, be baptized, and then become begotten of God’s holy spirit."

"In addition to this great resurrection into a second life at the beginning of the 100 years, there will be those who are still alive when the Millennium has ended who are still too young (physically or spiritually) to be sealed who will live into this period of time as well. This is the time observed in the Holy Day's called The Last Great Day."

So we can see, brethren, that there are two periods of time that are yet facing us. We have the Millennium, then we have the Hundred-Years. So during this period of the flood, when all of these people were destroyed, we don't know how many of those actually set their minds against God, but God had obviously seen that they had gone to a point where if they had been left too much longer that they would set their minds permanently against God, because of the way that they thought.

Well, we're at the same point now, where mankind is getting to the point where they are beginning to enter this period where their minds are continually evil. That's just the way that they think, and things are just getting worse and worse and worse. God will soon intervene to establish His Kingdom on this earth, because that is a sign, a sign of mercy. A period of 6,000 years will be brought to an end, all for the purpose of God creating Elohim from mankind.

Psalm 103. So from all of that we can see why God does the things that He does. He intervened into the lives of mankind just before the flood to establish Noah, all for the purpose of saving eight from that period. But the real intent, also, is to save mankind from himself, because of the thoughts of evil, the continual thoughts of evil, that in His mercy God would destroy mankind.

Psalm 103:1—Bless the Eternal, O my soul, and this is that inner thinking. This is that giving the credit and glory to God. In humility we come before God to praise His name, and we do that through thankfulness. All the credit must be given to God. ...and all that is within me, so everything, our whole being, praise His holy name! Praise/Bless the LORD, O my life (O my soul), and forget not all His benefits. So what are the benefits that we can rejoice in? Well, God in His loving mercy has called us. What a great benefit that is! Forgiveness of sin. That is a great benefit. So we can be thankful for God's very plan. So we're not to forget all His benefits, all that He's done for us in calling us and bringing us out of this present evil age.

Verse 3—Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals your diseases, or "heals all your diseases." So the first one there, "Who forgives all your iniquities," so this is on a spiritual level and it's all done through Jesus Christ, that we can have forgiveness of sin. "Who heals all your diseases," well, we're spiritually diseased, and therefore, we can be healed. It is the healing of the mind that is the most important. And God has, at times, healed physically (people physically) and it's all done for the benefit of a spiritual benefit. Because a physical healing has a spiritual connection. It's to the spiritual advantage of a person; therefore, God may heal or God may not heal on a physical level because it's all about the healing of the mind, the way that we think.

Verse 4—Who redeems your life from destruction, so we have been redeemed through Jesus Christ, we've been "purchased," and it's all done because of the death of Jesus Christ. Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, so it's something that we don't have by nature, which is this "loving kindness." We don't have this, but we can be "crowned" with this loving kindness because we can have God's holy spirit living and dwelling in us. And His "tender mercies" can be living in us out to the benefit of others. He's already demonstrated His loving kindness and His tender mercies to us by calling us. Well, we can demonstrate it by the way that we live. We can demonstrate Jesus Christ living and dwelling in us by the words that we use or actions that we choose to do.

Verse 5—Who satisfies your mouth with good things, which is both physically and spiritually. We're shown the truth, we see the truth, and therefore, we can be satisfied. We can consume the truth. So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. So we are begotten sons of God and we can be renewed by the flow of God's holy spirit. So the truth flowing into us renews us and we can be then children of God, walking as children of God.

Verse 6—Who exalts/works righteousness, and justice for all who are oppressed. So this reveals God's intent. God works righteousness and justice to all who are oppressed. Well, that's all of mankind. So God's purpose still remains. And although mankind doesn't see it and they can't understand what God is doing, but God is expressing His love to mankind. The fact that mankind just continues and they're multiplying on the earth, their time is coming, where judgement will come for them and they will have that opportunity unless they have set their mind against God. They may not know God, but they still can choose evil to the extent that they continually think of evil and they have set their mind on it so that they desire that pleasure of evil, the pleasure of sin. Although it's only temporary, they desire it, and no matter what God was to do they still would not change their thinking. Well, they have committed this unpardonable sin because they have set their mind against God. It's unpardonable. They will not repent. They refuse to repent. And no matter what God would do with them they have set their mind against God, even though they don't know God.

Verse 7—He made known His ways to Moses, and this was all about government and law. God showed His intent to Moses by what He did in saving Israel. Because saving Israel out from Egypt was a "type" of saving mankind out from Satan's system. ...His acts to the children of Israel. His power. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, so now we see God's motive. God is very merciful because He knows our state, and He is gracious, and He is slow to anger, because there's no self involved. God has a plan, He has a purpose, and He knows us because He made us. So He treats us and deals with us in a loving and gentle way because He knows our potential. We see it in the Church. We understand our potential in the Church, but mankind doesn't understand his potential. ...and abounding in mercy.

Verse 9—He will not always strive/plead with us, nor will He keep His pleading forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, because if He did, we'd be destroyed, just like those from Noah's time. We'd all be destroyed. Nor punished us according to our iniquity, to our sins. Why? Because He has a plan for mankind. It just demonstrates His mercy.

God has a plan and He's going to stick to that plan, and no matter what happens with mankind God has set out to redeem them from the earth. That is His plan.

Verse 11—For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him. So, who is that referring to? It's referring to those that obey God. So to fear God is to obey Him, to put God first into our lives. We are to respect – respect God's Church, respect God's government – we are to respect God's word, and the most important thing is to believe God.

If you look back on scripture and we realize that God has outlined the truth through Jesus Christ and revealed the intent or the spirit of the law to mankind. Well, that's the most important thing, is that we come to understand the intent of why we do what we do. And in future sermons we're going to go into looking at that, about the magnification of the law, how God provided this law for the purpose of understanding the spirit of the law, which is about why we do what we do, to come to understand the intent of our actions, which is the spirit of the matter...to understand the spirit of the matter.

So the beginning of all these things is about learning to fear God, and the only way to fear God is to learn to hate evil. Now, to learn to hate evil we have to learn to hate the evil within ourselves. Because it's so easy to hate evil when we see it in others, but to hate it within ourselves, to hate the wrong motives, to hate the wrong intent of selfishness that comes out from us, now that is conversion. That is putting God first in our minds, in spirit and truth, when we learn to hate the wrong motives and the wrong intent from within ourselves. Now that is actually learning to fear God.

Verse 12—As far as the east is from the west, so far has He (God) removed our transgressions from us. And that's done by forgiveness of sin, which is all done through Jesus Christ. And that was God's intent and purpose, of providing Jesus Christ as our Passover sacrifice, so that sin could be covered, so that sin could be forgiven, so that God the Father and Jesus Christ could live and dwell in us. The flow of God's holy spirit could flow into us so that we could learn to choose to yield to the flow of God's spirit, the flow of God's thinking within our minds.

Verse 13—As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him. So this is going back to this learning to fear God. We have to learn to respect God's word, to believe God, to believe the truth. And when that happens God says that He will demonstrate His mercy to us because of the forgiveness of sin. God's mercy is revealed by His willingness to forgive us for what we really are, our sin, how we choose sin. But we can always turn to God and ask for the gift of repentance. And God says that if we forgive, He will forgive.

Verse 14—For He knows, He understands, our frame... Now, this word "our frame" is the same word that we've seen before about "intent." It's about the forming of the imagination. So God knows the way we think! God knows the way we think. God knows why we do what we do. He knows our intent and motive. And we have seen previously about God's word, that God's word "is sharper than a two-edged sword and it divides" into the intent of the heart. And that's what it's all about; it's God's spirit in us can reveal our intent.

So it says here in verse 14, "He (God) knows," He understands, "our intent," our imaginations, the way we think, the way we do things, the why we do things. God knows all that. We can't hide from God. We can't hide these thinking's or this thinking from God. He remembers that we are dust. He remembers we're physical, that we're weak and carnal, because that's the way that He made us. It's not that He has to be reminded of it, He knows it and He made us this way for a purpose—all that He could create something from nothing. Because we're nothing and He wants to create from us, from mankind, from this mind, a carnal physical mind of selfishness. Through the power of God's holy spirit it's going to be transformed into something new. Isn't that exciting to understand that whole process? Well, God knows our imaginations, He knows our thoughts, He knows our intent. He knows why we do what we do. A natural carnal mind. And God has set out to provide the thoughts of His mind into our mind so that we can yield and choose, so that we can choose good over evil, so we can come to know good and evil in its true sense, the way that God has established good and evil. What is good is from God and what is evil is from selfishness, which is from Lucifer, from Satan, from the natural carnal mind.

So we are to be brought into this choice, of choosing good and evil. Not to know it, to understand it in the sense of from the natural carnal mind like Adam and Eve did. They came to know good and evil by their own reasoning and their own choices. That's what they decided to do. But we can actually come into see good and evil by the power of God's holy spirit. And when we choose God, we will end up in Elohim where only good exists, where only God's thinking on a matter exists. And there will be no evil. This is an exciting plan, this transformation that is to take place in us.

So God knows our frame. He understands the way we think. He knows our imaginations. Now, when we look back at Noah, and that time, this is exactly what God did. He saw that the intent/frame/imagination of all of mankind was continually evil. Well, that's the same today. That's mankind's thinking. But it is about degrees. It is about degrees of selfishness. And if people begin to think a particular way and dwell on it and go down a particular path too long and yearn for it and desire it, they become "set against" God, and they cannot be redeemed from that. Well, God in His mercy intervenes into mankind's life to save mankind (mankind's spirit) for another day.

Verse 15—As for man, his days are like the grass; as a flower of the field, as he flourishes, which is now 70 years. That's about as long as he's got, and by strength after that. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, so it's only temporary, there is no remembrance, he's soon forgotten, and its place remembers it no more. But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting. So this is what God is about. God is about His mercy for mankind, and He's demonstrated His mercy many-a-time, and in particular, at the flood. He demonstrated His compassion all for the purpose of saving the spirit for another time. ...on those who fear Him. So this mercy that God has showed is about those who fear Him, those who hate evil, those that have learned to hate evil within themselves, to hate their intent, their wrong motives, to hate the wrong that is in the human mind. ...and His righteousness to the children's children.

Verse 18—To such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His Commandments, to do them. So it's the "doers of the law," it's not just the "hearers of the law," because there are many of people out there that hear the law, the words, but it's the doing and it's the intent behind the law. So we're going to get into that in more detail soon, in the next sermon or so.

Verse 19—And the LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all. So it's over the angelic realm and it's over all the physical realm.

And this is referring to the angelic realm. Bless the LORD, all you His angels, all these spirits, who excel in strength, because they're spirit and they are powerful, who do His word, so this is the two-thirds of the angels that have submitted to God and are in obedience to God and yielded to God and are serving God, serving God's will and purpose, Heeding the voice of His word. Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, so this is the striving to worship God by obedience.

Verse 21—Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, you ministers of His, it's talking about servants of His, who do His pleasure, the angelic realm, the two-thirds. Bless the LORD, all His works, in all places of His domain. Bless the LORD, O my life! So in this third heaven the angelic realm were created to serve God's purpose, and we understand God's purpose, God's intent and plan. We understand Lucifer's, which is to destroy, but we understand man's intent, the base nature of man was exactly what happened prior to the flood; his intent, his heart was continually evil. God in His mercy and His intent was to save mankind from himself so that He could save the spirit for another day. How merciful is God?!

Back to Genesis 6:8—But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. So we can understand this point of "many are called, but few are chosen." So in this early period, before the establishment of God's Church on 31 AD, the Day of Pentecost, there were many that were not called, but there were a few that were called and chosen by God, and we know that Noah was one of those. And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth was corrupt, so here we have this period of time where we know that their hearts are continually evil.

So verse 11 is saying, The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. This word "corrupt" here was "corrupt, to go to ruin, to decay." Mankind's thinking, his intent was to destroy. His thinking was corrupt, his intent was evil. So this is that mindset where they're continually thinking of selfishness, which is that "get rich quick," which is "take to self as much as possible at the expense of somebody else." And the word here, "filled with violence" is "filled with wrong, with cruelty, with injustice.” So this is total selfishness, and it also involves violence, physical violence, but also mental violence towards one another.

Verse 12—So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; and all flesh had corrupted their ways on the earth. Mankind's thoughts were evil and selfish continually. The way of "get for self" at any cost was at work. So this is that thinking, the way of get at any cost. It doesn't matter how you hurt others or how other's suffer in the acquiring of getting for self. Satan was broadcasting to mankind and it was taking it's affect on the thinking of mankind. Pride filled the earth. Because here we have Satan now broadcasting continually and this way of get and selfishness is happening to mankind. Satan's intent is to destroy, and he's believing he's doing it because he's corrupting the thinking of minds. He's corrupting mankind's thinking.

So mankind is now becoming to the point of being "set against" God, which is Satan's will and desire. He desires that mankind set their mind against God. Even though they may not know God, Satan's desire is to have them set their mind against God by choosing a way of life contrary to God's (even though they don't know it), but that they become so hardened and set that they can't be saved at another point in time. Well, Satan here is broadcasting and he would believe he is achieving this. But God knows what His plan is and what His intent is versus what Satan's intent is, to destroy; God's is to create and to beautify.

Verse 13—And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Now, this is that great act of mercy to save the spirit.

Genesis 8:18—This is after the flood has taken place— So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever creeps on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark. Now, we do understand that God provided pairs and He also provided pairs of seven of the clean animals that were able to be consumed after the flood.

Verse 20—Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took every clean animal, of every clean bird, and offered a burnt offering on the altar. Now, it's not that he took every single one of them and destroyed them all, because then they wouldn't exist. Here it's saying that he took some (doesn't say how many, exactly, whether it was one of a kind there, but he did take some) and offered them up to God, because that's what God had said as far as what was to be offered to God, was something that was clean. You couldn't offer an unclean animal to God.

Now, people have turned around and misunderstood the whole flood saying that, "Well, you could eat all the different kinds of animals; therefore, you could just consume anything. You could eat whatever." Well, these scriptures, if you go through them clearly, it actually outlines very clearly that that is not the case. Because if Noah had come off with Shem, Ham, and Japheth and the wives, (there was eight in total), if he did and he took one of the lions and killed one of them, what's the result? Go and kill the female, then what? Therefore, there would be no lions left. So it's obvious here that God made it very clear through scripture that it was about taking a clean animal. There's a clear definition here. And the unclean animals, because they were only pairs, were not taken and eaten or, you know, destroyed. They weren't offered as an offering, because if they were, there would be no lions, or there would be no camels, etc... So here it is, it's clean animals, of every clean bird, were offered as an offering. And that is one or so, but it wasn't all of them.

Verse 21—And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Now, what's that about, really? Well, that's really about this accepting the will and the intent of Noah, because of Noah's heart. What was Noah's heart about? It was one of thankfulness. It was an expression. So this sacrificing of the clean animal to God and the clean bird to God as a burnt offering on the altar (and he built the altar the way that God had said it was to be built) and here it is. It's pleasing to God because it's not the offering that is pleasing, it's the attitude, it's the intent, it's the motive behind why Noah did what he did. That's what's pleasing to God. God saw his motive. God saw his intent. God saw the spirit behind the burnt offering, and that's what was pleasing to God. Because that's what God is all about. God is looking at our motive and intent, why we do the things we do.

Then the LORD said in His heart, I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination/although the intent, this is the same word as in Genesis 6:5. Therefore, although the intent/the motive of man's heart is evil from his youth, because this is the way we are. So God recognizes that, God knows it, that that's the way we are. But this is coming down to whether or not the mind is set or mind is "set against" God or it is not set against God at this point. Because that's what it's really about; it's about how far minds will go. The heart, the inner thinking is evil from his youth, because that's the way we are, nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.

Verse 22—While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night shall not cease. So God created this cycle of time that we saw from Genesis 1, and we've been through that. God is now promising that after the flood that this would continue, this seed time and harvest, this progression of the seasons, there would be cold and there would be heat—all for the purpose of generating food. Winter and summer, day and night, all for a purpose, that they would not cease, that God would not intervene and destroy these things.

So God knows the intent of the heart, and we'll look at Hebrews 4. We'll close by looking at Hebrews 4:12. Now, we've been through this, but it's important to understand this, because this is about the spirit of a matter, why we do what we do. And we've been looking at what God, God's intent is, but for mankind it is very important that we understand our motive and intent. Why are we actually doing the things we do?

So often it's mentioned about how somebody can be a Sabbath person, and you only see the person on a Sabbath, but what happens on the other six days is what God knows. Although people can deceive other people by their actions on a Sabbath and it all "looks good" on the outside, but God knows. God knows the intent. God knows whether we're acting out a role or are we genuine and sincere. Are we really?

Well, this explains it in Hebrews 4:12—For the Word of God... Well, what is "the Word of God?" Well, it's the truth, it's everything that God reveals about His way of life. It is God's thinking. It's the Logos. So the Word of God, the truth, the Word of God is living and powerful. So this power of God's holy spirit living and dwelling in a person is what gives us the ability to think, to know good and evil on a spiritual level. Because God is the one who establishes what is good and what is evil. It's not up to us by our human reasoning. So this Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword. Now, there are swords that are made with one edge and some are made with two. So this is sharper than a two-edged sword. Now, a two-edged sword will cut going both ways, so it cuts going in and cuts coming out, because both sides cut. Whereas a one-sided sword only cuts one side. ...piercing even the division of the life and the spirit. Now, this is the important part, because it is God's Word, God's holy spirit living and dwelling in us that cuts into the division of the spirit, the intent. It cuts into the intent, the spirit in man. God can now see the intent within a person. And our ability is to work out good and evil based on the power of God's holy spirit. ...and the joints and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts, so this is the "discerner of the spirit," and intents of the heart. And this is the important part, it is through God's holy spirit that we can see our own thoughts, our own motives, our intents, why are we doing what we're doing. Now, it cannot be that we can see our thoughts and intents, our true motives, without God's holy spirit. It's absolutely impossible. It's only by God's Word, the power of God's holy spirit living and dwelling in us that we can discern our own thoughts, our own attitudes, our own selfishness. This is the only way.

Verse 13—And there is no creature hidden from His sight, so there is nothing from within mankind that is hidden from God – nothing, not a single thing. Not one thought, not one intent, not one action is hidden from God. So that's why we have to be honest and open about who we really are and what we are seven days a week, not just on one day.

Verse 13—And there is no creature hidden from His sight, so God sees and knows all things, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him (to God) to whom we must give account. So there is no pretense, there is no acting it out. It's time to be realistic. It's time to examine our motives and intents so that we are genuine, that we are sincere, and to look at why we do what we do, why we say the things that we say. Why do we do these things?

So with that, brethren, we will leave Part 2 and we'll pick up the sermon series in Part 3 next time.□